To the Editor:

Younger students appear to be a cause for the long wait times for food, checking out, and overall crowdedness at the Northstar Cafe. In the September 13 edition of The Hill News, many students expressed their annoyance with the long waits and large crowds in the Cafe. The cause of the inconveniences was assumed to be first-years not knowing their way around and sophomores exploring their new-found freedom of their recent meal plan choices. However, layout of the cafe and class end times may be contributing to the lunch rush.

Rather than attributing the large crowds to bigger and bigger incoming class sizes, and younger students figuring out SLU’s campus, the lack of space in the café could also be a factor in the cafe congestion. In the Northstar Cafe, there is not much room to stand around and wait for food so many people will order then go find a table to sit and wait, but there never seems to be enough tables for everyone. The cafe is full of shelves for snacks and tables for ordering. There are designated walkways, but they are narrow and easily blocked. A new refrigerator was placed in the middle of one of the walkways, making maneuvering around the cafe even harder. Clearing out more space or adjusting the layout could help combat the crowdedness.

Another solution could be adjusting class times. Many classes get out at 12 p.m., which is prime lunch hour. The café is often the most crowded at this time. If some classes started 10 minutes earlier or later it might help the workers at Northstar Cafe by slowing the rush and allowing them to get students their food quicker. If one class got out at 11:50 a.m., these students could head over to the cafe, order, and get their food and leave. Then a class ending at 12p.m. would allow another, smaller group of students to go to the cafe, order and leave. Staggering class start and end times could allow for quicker food delivery, shorter checkout lines and fewer people in the cafe. This would allow the cafe workers to fulfill students’ orders quicker because the students would arrive at varying times and in smaller groups. 

While the younger students may not be helping the long wait times, other factors, like class end times and the overall layout of the cafe could also be causing this problem.

Sincerely,

Dylan Watkiss