Students urge Sodexo to go “cage-free”

The University of Pennsylvania and the State of California are cage-free. Organizations gathered 4,000 signatures for Temple to follow suit.

Three Temple student organizations are campaigning against university dining services’ use of battery-caged eggs in the cafeteria. The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Environmental Law Society and the Promoters of Animal Welfare issued a policy paper imploring the university to go cage-free, according to a new Web site, cagefreetemple.com.

Battery-cage egg farms aim to produce mass quantities of eggs for food distributors, so hens are kept in smaller cages that often are stacked on top of each other in a warehouse, the cage-free Temple site says. Birds can live in close proximity to other birds’ waste and can develop sores from rubbing against the confined cages, the site adds.

“It’s wrong. [Temple University Dining Services] shouldn’t buy them,” freshman Spanish major Tara Woody said.

The Web site says more than 4,000 students have signed the petition, the form for which can be found on the site’s homepage, for Temple to go cage-free.

Former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, now a political science professor at the university, said he was lobbied by students to get involved as well and wrote a letter to Temple’s dining services.

“I have a responsibility to encourage people,” Street said. “It’s our responsibility to treat animals humanely. We really could do better.”

University Dining Services are supplied by Sodexo, Inc., the self-declared “leading provider of integrated food and facilities management services in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.” The company serves “10 million customers in 6,000 locations every day,” according to its Web site. Though other top Sodexo-run institutions, such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania, have gone cage-free, Temple has yet to do so.

In a meeting with students from PAW, Temple University Dining Services representatives said they’re including cage-free eggs in the budget for the 2010-11 academic year. The budget has been submitted to Temple, and students are awaiting a decision from university officials.

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and the Compass Group, one of the largest food service providers in the United States, have both gone cage-free, Cage-Free Temple says.

“If all the other universities are going cage-free, why shouldn’t Temple?” Woody said.

California became the first state in the nation to outlaw cages that confine egg-laying hens and put a ban on restrictive pens for veal calves and pregnant cows, according to the Los Angeles Times. The law, effective in 2015, will affect the state’s 20 million egg-laying hens.

Opponents said it will be economically disastrous for California egg producers.

“Society needs to come into the 21st century with some of these things,” Street said. “All we can do is urge people to do the right thing. It’s very difficult to judge the economic impact of these things.”
Students like junior BTMM major Lukas Hagendorf agreed that money plays a major role in the deciding of the issue but said he believes times have changed.

“It’s the capitalistic idea in this country to get everything mass produced,” Hagendorf said, “and it’s really not that way anymore.”

Andy Whitlatch can be reached at andy.whitlatch@temple.edu.

Stay satisfied with smart swaps

Ditch the mayo, and grab a slice of the whole grain bread; the right choice can go a long way in keeping off extra pounds.

J&H’s Louis J. Esposito Dining Court
If it’s pasta that tickles your fancy, opt for whole wheat instead of regular white pasta to cut out 13 calories per serving without sacrificing much in the taste department. Then, choose marinara sauce, which only contains 18 calories, over meat sauce, which packs 56.

If it’s pizza that a student’s craving, he or she should grab a slice of either cheese or veggie, as these are the two lowest in calories and fat.

Finally, if you are really looking for the pinnacle of healthy eating, grab a salad, but be sure to help it retain its healthy status by choosing a balance of toppings and a low-calorie dressing. As a general rule, the lighter a dressing is in color, the fewer calories and less fat it should have.

- Emily Heller

Student center’s Valaida S. Walker Dining Court
Keep it healthy when dining at the Student Center by choosing vegetarian options, which are offered at all of the food court stands and are marked with a leaf symbol on the menu.

The vegetarian wrap and the tomato basil flatbread sandwich are two options that taste great and have a lot less calories than their counterparts, which are loaded with breaded meat, bacon or fatty cheese.

There are also many of healthier side options, like the baby carrots at the Wrap Up which can be substituted for chips. Finally, avoid the fountain sodas or ultra-tempting f’Real milkshakes and grab some skim milk or water to wash down the meal.

- Emily Heller

Emily Heller can be reached at emily.heller@temple.edu.

Slideshow: J&H gets facelift

The Louis J. Esposito Dining Court fully opened Tuesday after closing May 14 for reconstruction and renovation. Read the full story here.

J&H cafeteria gets modernized

Click here for a photo slideshow of the new construction.

After cramming what managers called “six months of work” into 18 weeks, the newly renovated Johnson & Hardwick cafeteria is ready for business.

The Louis J. Esposito dining court will operate full service beginning this afternoon, general manager David Tolbert said.

Food stations are placed throughout the larger, new space. A permanent vegetarian and vegan display is the first station diners see upon entering, and it will be equipped with a daily vegetarian cooking display.
As the semester gets underway, Tolbert said new menu options under the Balanced Way program will begin to help students get healthy if they so choose. The program is being driven by a group of professors from Drexel University and Sodexo.

“There’s way more that we can offer than we could before,” Tolbert said, emphasizing that students had previously expressed a desire for healthier fare through comment cards.

Old favorites such as the deli station, fast food station and salad bar have been revamped but will still be offering student favorites. In order to meet the most recent Philadelphia health codes, the deli and fast food stations will no longer be self-service.

Sandwiches will be made to order and hot dogs and hamburgers will be preassembled for students. Tolbert said the salad bar will now be double-sided so lines won’t be as long.

“We really tried to address all of the line issues we had before,” he said, “Everywhere we had a backup, we changed the lineup.”

To deal with flow issues, three beverage stations are spaced throughout the dining area.
The popular “sizzling salad” station has been expanded and is a permanent fixture to the dinner menu. The wrap station has also been expanded to include two extra sandwich choices and an extra salad option.

Returning students will hardly recognize the space, which has greatly increased its seating capacity from 454 to 708 seats. A building expansion of 20 feet increased seating capabilities. The dining area has booths and tables that can accommodate groups of varying sizes.

“We lost that old grade-school seating where all of the tables were lined up and the same size,” Tolbert said.

Hoping to throw away as little as possible, management gathered the old tables that were in the best condition and sent them to the Ambler Campus and the Diamond Club in Mitten Hall. Tables and chairs were also donated to local churches.

“We tried not to throw anything away that people could use,” Tolbert said.
The Valaida S. Walker Food Court in the Student Center acted as a pseudo-J&H during the summer months.

“It was an awkward setup because we were doing resident dining in a place that wasn’t built for it,” Tolbert said.

The last upgrade to the J&H cafeteria occurred while school was in session in 1993. Over more than eight months, construction crews worked to complete renovations.

“We were setting up tables in the back as people were coming in the front,” Tolbert said. “[The current project] is an amazing feat to get done in 18 weeks.”

New laminate flooring and carpet complete the modern look of J&H. Instead of one main walkway in the dining area, the laminate flooring is shaped into paths leading to all seating areas. All paths lead to the tray return, which now has sound barriers so the noise of clanging dishes no longer resonates throughout the dining hall.

“It’s like following the Yellow Brick Road in and out of the dining room,” Tolbert said.

LeAnne Matlach and Chris Stover can be reached at news@temple-news.com.

Campus dining both cheap and convenient

Leaving home and packing up for an unknown place on what may be one of your first independent ventures is stressful enough. Having to register for classes and financial aid, maintaining a well-balanced diet is one of the more pleasurable experiences for freshmen. At Temple, it’s pretty simple for students to choose from a variety of meal options available at different locations on campus—and they are all within a college budget.

Temple’s traditional meal plan is ideal for freshmen and ranges from the Standard five meals per week to the “Super Value” meals, which includes fourth meal—a meal offered Sunday through Friday from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Fourth meal is convenient after night classes. Though it offers the unhealthiest foods, items such as mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fried wings and cheese steaks are not offered during any other meal times. Also included in this nightly buffet are a salad bar, cereal and do-it-yourself waffles.

The least expensive meal plan offered is the “Block 20” option, which includes 20 meals per semester. This plan is good for commuter students and those who no longer live on campus. It costs $192 each semester. Hungrier students might opt for the “Super Value Carte Blanche Meal Plan,” which has unlimited dining availability and fourth meal for $1,509 each semester.

The two most popular and most frequented dining areas for students with meal plans are the Valaida S. Walker Food Court, located in the Student Center and the Louis J. Esposito Dining Court in the Johnson & Hardwick residence hall. The Esposito Dining Court, better known as J&H, is the largest restaurant on campus with 13 different food and beverage stations, some of which change daily. J&H is an all-you-can-eat buffet—a great place to go with friends between classes and on weekends.

The Student Center’s food court offers foods made to-order, while providing students with new and exciting choices. The most recent additions to the court are Einstein Bros. Bagels and Dos Manos
Mexican. The court features Nuaji Sushi Bar, Mrs. Crepes, Philly Connection and various other eateries
to satisfy any student’s cravings.

During peak breakfast, lunch and dinner hours students should give themselves extra time due to high volumes of diners at J&H and the food court. Jacob Francis, a junior broadcast, telecommunications and mass media major, prefers to eat at the food court, where he uses the standard five meal plan.

Francis, who is not a breakfast person, said he usually eats lunch on campus due to his schedule as a commuter student. “I’d probably choose the trucks a few times a week, but mostly I’d try to eat at home,” he said.

Although the Esposito and Walker Food Courts are the largest on campus, the Lucky Cup Café is the perfect place to pick up a cappuccino and a muffin while on the go. Located in the Beasley School of Law, Ritter Hall Annex, Anderson and Annenberg halls, Lucky Cup accepts all of the university meal plans.

Fresh Bytes, located on the lower level of the Tuttleman Learning Center, is another meal plan-friendly facility on campus. This healthy eatery offers an array of sandwiches, salads, soups and fruits. Its location makes it convenient for students limited on time before class.

When students need a day away from the university’s dining options, Main Campus is filled with restaurants, pizza shops and food trucks that cater to everyone and accept cash and Temple’s campus currency, Diamond Dollars.

Nikki Volpicelli can be reached at nicole.volpicelli@temple.edu

Summer sessions to begin next week

Students enrolled in summer courses will get a brief break and then head straight back to the classroom from May to July.

The first summer session begins only five days after the last date of final exams for the Spring 2008 semester.

Students enrolled in both sessions will have 16 class-free days from May through September, excluding weekends.
Summer classes come with a condensed course length and a smaller student-to-teacher ratio that may or may not be appealing to professors and students.

Intellectual heritage professor Susan Bertolino has been teaching summer classes at Temple for four years.
The atmosphere in the classroom differs from those during a fall or spring semester, Bertolino said.

“I get to do things with them that I can’t do with four classes during the year. Last semester, I brought bagels and cream cheese to the final,” Bertolino said. “Since we have a smaller class size, it is far easier to bond with the students and have some great discussions.”

While some students will try to take multiple classes in each session, Bertolino cautioned against it.

“I understand the desire to finish, but three summer school classes alone is such a burden. It’s hard to maintain a good GPA,” she said.

Students making the commitment to surrender part or nearly all of their summer to continue their education are doing so for various reasons.

Sophomore accounting major Eric Wojiechowski is taking three classes over the summer to earn credits and catch up with his graduating class.

“All my credits didn’t transfer when I first came here so I need to take these classes,” he said.

Sophomore accounting major George Vivacqua is taking one economics class during the first summer session.

“Well, I failed it the first time,” he said. “After July 1, I’m getting out of here, going to the beach, whatever. I need to make the most out of the rest of my summer,” Vivacqua said.

The campus itself will be undergoing changes throughout the summer months.

The Louis J. Esposito Dining Court will be closed to students so it can be renovated, leaving the Student Center as the only on-campus dining hall option, as reported by The Temple News [“J&H cafeteria to get summer renovations,” Chris Stover,May 13, 2008].

“Construction will begin on May 15 and last until at least the end of August,” manager Jim Palmer said.

“The Student Center will also be hosting all conferences usually held at the Johnson & Hardwick cafeteria,” retail director Rebecca Koerbel said.

While some students are already celebrating the end of this school year, others are preparing to head back to the classroom next week.

“A few students get a bit tempted by the shore on the weekend, so that can hurt their output of homework and reading,” Bertolino said. “I don’t care if they read Freud at Cape May, as long as they do it.”

Greg Adomaitis can be reached at greg.adomaitis@temple.edu.