Tufts University - Jumbo Yearbook (Medford, MA)

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Student Li! ' 7

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The Campus Center, Carmichael, Dewick, Hodgdon, MacPhie and Pound ... all choice dining! Daily dining at Tufts is full of choices. From deli sandwiches at Carmi¬ chael to make you own pizza at Hodgdon to “tunafish at every meal” (a la Jean Mayer), there is something around campus to please almost everyone. As freshmen, the chosen dining hall depended on the location of the 10:30 class or one’s dorm room. As sophomore year rolled around, we braved our way across the campus to suit our palates. Pizza, burgers, fries and ice cream were available on a daily basis at Hodgdon. The place for scoping and socializing was unanimously Carmichael, and MacPhie was definitely the place to do serious eating, and simultaneous¬ ly enjoying the music at the Pub. When we heared about Pound from upper-classmen, more than one of us tried to sneak our way in. Howev¬ er the carding policy there was even stricter than many of the local bars. Dinner was another story alto¬ gether. Dining choice was usually based on weather conditions. Rain, snow and sleet tended to keep uphill people up and downhill people down. But the (now extinct) option of Candlelight kept us happy even when tofu lasagne didn’t bring us running to the dining halls. The coming junior year brought about new rites of passage: lunch at Pound. Din ing with Fletcher stu¬ dents in a small room was not as great an attraction as was the real ice cream that you could scoop for yourself. Pound’s attraction lagged slightly when attended too often — the line often inched forward and seats were all but impossible to find at the 12:30 crunch. In the second half of junior year, a new dining ex¬ perience appeared to replace the sorely missed Curtis Hall, it was the Campus Center. At last there was a place to dine with friends or profes¬ sors who did not subscribe to the mealplan. And the do-it-yourself salad bar was not forgone! Now it seems that new options for eating are cropping up every day. Instead of waiting for the bi-annual Pancake Festivals, we can indulge in Waffleworks nightly. It presents us with a last chance to put on those “freshmen 15’’ (which we all learned can strike at any time, re¬ gardless of one’s class standing). On-campus dining means a lot more than the food (which we all enjoyed complaining about). Meet¬ ing people for lunch constituted ma¬ jor social events. Dining halls were a place to see and be seen, to talk with that friend you never seemed to run into anymore, to try new concoc¬ tions and eat creatively at the salad bar. The staff made a difference as well. What would MacPhie be with¬ out Ellie, or Carmichael without Lil? They were our surrogate moth¬ ers, clucking if we hadn’t been eat¬ ing properly. Dining services kept our plates and bellies full — and many of us employed. The experi¬ ences and conveniences of on-cam- pus dining are not things we are likely to encounter again. by Donna Elgart Dining On Campus 26 St udent Life

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M s C O o £ Dining Off A significant step in maturing in the Tufts process includes weaning oneself from the meal plan. Some people drop the mealplan slowly, going first from the 20 to the 14, then to the 10 or even the 5, gradu¬ ally adding in fillers and substitutes, ' while others go cold turkey, forsak¬ ing the comforts of pre-prepared food all at once. A kitchen of one’s own is not necessarily a prerequisite for cooking on your own — it’s amazing what you can make with a hot pot and toaster oven — but it does make things a whole lot easier. If practical experience is the key to learning, then the sudden respon¬ sibility for one’s nutritional survival is a crash course in growing up. Quickly the shopper learns the in’s and out’s of comparison shopping. On the micro level, one considers Prego vs. Ragu, Parkay vs. Butter, and the artisitic value of linguini over spaghetti. On the macro level, this means choosing between the proximity of convenience stores vs. the savings of Heartland or Star Market (pronounced Hahtland and Stah Mah-ket respectively). The question lingers — is any price low enough to justify being charged for paper bags? Once where to shop has been de¬ termined, the next question is when ? This is where Heartland’s true value comes through. A midnight Heart¬ land-run is the time you’re sure to run into all those people you met freshmen year and haven’t seen since. Off campus dining tests the inno¬ vative powers of the student. One learns the art of opening a wine bot¬ tle without a corkscrew, converting a frying pan into a makeshift wok, and making (or NOT making) chocolate mousse without an elec¬ tric mixer. Time relationships be¬ come crucial as one figures out how to chop, slice and dice all the ingre¬ dients for a meal with the only sharp knife in the house, while all the friends you invited over to sample your culinary cuisine stand around asking if there’s anything they can do to help. Time relationships be¬ come crucial as meal preparation cuts into study time. Spatial rela¬ tionships take on new dimensions, especially when relating to refriger¬ ator and cupboard shelves. Though off campus dining signals the end to lunch lines, powdered eggs, soggy vegetables, and over¬ cooked pasta, it also eliminates the ease of “ready and waiting, come- and-get-it’ ' food. One begins to ap¬ preciate Dining Services, especially the people in the dishroom. The dai¬ ly scoping and socializing opportu¬ nities of dining hall eating are no longer so readily available. Perhaps the greatest inconvenience of opting for dining off is the complication of locating The Tufts Daily. This pro¬ vokes much anxiety, especially in large, extended block lectures. While dining off has its disadvan¬ tages, it also has many advantages. No more settling for chicken-fried steak when you were really in the mood for some tacos. And it is a bit difficult to have a dinner party in the middle of MacPhie Pub. Of course, if your cooking skills aren’t quite up to par, you can always go to Jay ’s! by Jennifer Fisch 28 Student Life