ACROSS THE CAMPUS:
Dobbins or Bruno's: Do we
really have a choice?
by Shannon Weber
news editor
Okay so your organization is thinking about
having a party for its anniversary, but the orga
nization would like to make it a pizza party with
pizza from Papa John's. With the new campus
wide policy you can, provided that the caterer
adheres to the qualifications set by the Univer
sity (i.e. has the proper insurance, does not serve
products in competition with Pepsi, etc.). Now
wait a minute, Housing and Food still has exclu
sive rights to the lodging facilities, conference
facilities, Dobbins and Bruno's. Meaning if your
hall council wanted to have a football party in
your dorm, the caterer must be approved by
}lousing and Food Services. So how do you
know if your caterer has been approved by the
University? As of right now, the University
doesn't have an approved catering list. So your
organization cannot run out and get a cake from
the Cake Carriage to have a Bruno's for a meet
the-organization party just yet. However, the for
mat in which to approve caterers and other res
taurants is in place.
"This new policy will provide students with
more choices for catering," said Ed Mulfinger,
manager of Housing and Food Services. "Din
ners at the Logan House and other such events
sponsored by Student Activities will still use
Housing and Food Services for catering."
The Council of Commonwealth Student Gov
ernments, which is in affiliation with the Stu
dent Government Association, helped push for
adapting this new policy. The CCSG meets once
a month to work on University-wide issues such
as this.
Now, the question is why do we only have
Bruno's and Dobbins to choose from when our
stomachs growl? Okay let's start with having a
fast food restaurant on campus like Taco Bell.
First of all there is the issue of following the
policy set by the University. It states that the
sale of food and/or beverages by other than au
thorized University departments such as Hous
ing and Food Services, Penn State Hospitality
Services, University Creamery, or by a commer
cial food service company contracting for food
and beverage services, is prohibited. That an
swers that.
"Aside from the policy issues there's a basic
economic issue. Behrend is still too small a
market to attract vendors to campus. Most food
industry businesses aren't interested in what is
essentially a 10-month business (August-May)
with a peak population of 4,000. There are also
legal issues with regard to 'territories' that fran
chises have. For instance, if we were to try and
establish a Taco Bell on campus, the Taco Bell
franchise in Wesleyville would have to autho
rize it. Since we are part of their territory, that
would likely mean buying the rights ( they are
very unlikely to give us the rights).' said Ken
Miller, acting Dean of Student Affairs. The fran
chise fee, operating costs, etc. would make the
deal cost-prohibitive, assuming we could even
get the rights."
So if no restaurants on campus, how about
across the street on Station Road'? According to
Mulfinger, the area across from the campus was
not able to be developed because there were no
water and sewer lines running up Station Road
up until recently. Now that this has changed,
companies may look at the property again.
Another possibility according to Mulfinger is
having a franchise located near Knowledge Park
and the new sports complex.
"I am aware of two potential restaurants who
are interested in developing the land immediately
across from the main entrance to the College,"
said Miller.
With the new construction of the Bayfront
Highway that will start in the Spring of 2001,
Mulfinger said that it will open up the potential
of having restaurants across from the campus.
The land immediately across from the main
entrance to the College still has the possibility
of being developed for restaurants according to
John Ream, Director of Operations.
It looks like it is going to he a while before all
of the this takes place.
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