Students speak out about the new Benson

By Matt Rupel

Since the staff began serving food there, a buzz has been circling around campus about the new Benson dining hall.Comparisons to the previous dining hall have been made by many as students heatedly discuss whether or not the new system is an improvement over the last. Whatever their opinions may be, the renovations are here, and are now official.

Last Thursday, Santa Clara held the official grand opening for the Marketplace in Benson. The ribbon cutting marked the kick-off of the new food services offered in Benson, intended to allow for a less congested dining experience than was offered in the past.

Jane Barrantes, the assistant vice president of auxiliary services, began the evening with an opening speech to give thanks to the architects and project managers. Fabio Soto spoke next, mentioning the "more efficient" features that were offered in Benson, including the opening of the Bronco during regular dining hours, and the aesthetic of the new dining commons. Father Engh concluded the ceremony with the ribbon cutting.

Some students, however, don't think the changes to Benson are a complete success."It definitely looks a lot nicer and classier, but I hope the line situation gets fixed soon. It's not really organized, so it takes people a lot longer to get their food," said Sophomore Elizabeth Ambriz-Mendez. "A lot of my peers have pointed out that the situation where you have to pay first and then order our food takes a lot longer. Instead of waiting like five minutes for your food you have to wait like fifteen."Junior David Marshall said the problem was even worse. "It's really inefficient," Marshall said, "If we come at noon when it's really crowded it can take thirty or forty minutes for us to get our food."

One of the new features of Marketplace is the one-line system used to order and pay for food.Last year, students had to go through a line to order their food and then another line to pay for food. Now students pay and order at the same place.

Ambriz-Mendez also said that there's some confusion about the new system. "It's a little confusing when you try to order your food because you don't know which line to get into, so if maybe they cleared that up it would help. And the menus aren't as visible as they were last year, so you have to wait to get to the front of the line to see what's even available."

One problem students have noticed with the lines is their proximity to each other can cause confusion since the lines aren't labeled. Junior Vince Fong noted that the The Farmer's Pantry and Saute lines are easily confused."You end up with people in the Saute line when they want salad and people in the salad line when they want Saute," said Fong.

The major changes also allowed for the architects to open up the dining commons.Last year in Market Square, the kitchen area where students ordered food was separated from the dining hall by a wall. Now the dining aree and the different stations for food ordering flow together in one room.Students seem to agree that while the changes have led to a slowdown in service, the overall look of Benson has improved. "While they are definitely suffering from organization problems, it definitely looks nicer," said Marshall.

Additionally, the Bronco was opened up earlier in the day to provide food and help spread out traffic. The new food stations in the Bronco (Quench, 540º and Tailgater's) provide more room to eat in Benson as well as more late-night eating options.

The construction on the dining commons took place over the summer. Food service was moved out of Benson "right as the graduation ceremony ended" said Soto in order to allow construction to begin.Benson is now fully operational for food services and is running seven days a week to bring on-campus food to students.

Contact matt Rupel at mrupel@scu.edu or (408) 554-4546