Behrend Beacon
March 2, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
Rebuilding process at the Gazebo at Dobbins necessary
The west end of the building has been determined a loss, and it is not yet known whether the east end is salvageable.
JEFF KRAMER
copy editor
The rebuilding process of
Dobbins Dining Hall is one that
will take a considerable amount
Dobbins employees to report to work at scheduled times
RACHELLE THOMPSON
news editor
When Dobbins Dining Hall
went into flames on Monday
night students weren't only
concerned about where they
were going to have their usual
Sunday morning brunch, but
also what about their jobs.
Dobbins is considered one of
bigger areas for on campus stu-
Scheduled events at Dobbins will be relocated
SHANNON EHRIN
c ulture editor
The recent fire at Dobbins
has sparked questions about
whether any events scheduled
in McGarvey Commons are still
set to take place.
With spring break arriving
next week, not many events
were planned to begin with.
Any that were planned may
need to be cancelled or have
been relocated for the time
being. Right now, though, the
main priority is the students.
“Catered events, special
events, will be looked at. Needs
of students will be taken care of
first. Randy and Liz Kerns will
make the decision on whether
those events have to be can-
Hundreds of extra students pour into a busy Bruno's Cafe
ALEC ITALIANO
spoils editor
Chairs were quickly filling up
at Bruno’s today as day one of
post-Dobbins life rages on.
Life after Dobbins is turning
into a logistical nightmare for
Housing and Food Service
managers as they struggled to
set up an interim cafeteria in
McGarvey Commons.
Mike Lindner, the manager of
Bruno’s, had his hands full
today trying to coordinate the
chaos in his cafe.
“They are still finding answers
and our bosses are still in meet
ings figuring everything out.
We are doing the best we can to
deal with the situation cur
rently and will not have an
swers [to food service
questions] until a later time,”
said Lindner working franti
cally behind a cluttered desk in
his office.
Dobbins employees were
quickly thrown into the Bruno s
rotation, going through their
own individual prep work in
the Bruno’s kitchen to prepare
for the day’s meals.
Elbows were definitely rub
bing as the pandemonium con
tinued throughout the day
down in Reed.
“We are accommodating
of time and will involve a num
ber of steps.
“The first thing that has to
happen is that law enforcement
has to determine a cause, or at
least rule out an intentional
dent employment and many
students came to reality.
"1 was worried that I would be
jobless," said sophomore Dob
bins employee Jess Palmer.
Another student employee,
sophomore Nina Welsh said," It
was disappointing to think I
could possibly be out of a job,
but I figured Penn State would
have some kind of plan and
something for us to do."
celled. In the short term, there
aren’t a lot of events coming up
that would have created big
problems. If necessary, special
events would be cancelled to
ensure students get fed,” said
Bill Gonda, Director of Market
ing Communication here at
Behrend.
Ken Miller, Director of Stu
dent Affairs, said, "much of the
catering is handled out of
Bruno’s
At this point we really don’t
know what the kitchen status is
going to be. It depends on the
event.
“Nobody’s canceling any
thing. It would be premature to
cancel catered events. We just
don’t know that yet.”
Behrend’s Concert Band and
most of Dobbins employees
and letting them just do their
own prep work,” said Bruno’s
worker Justin Wheeler, a soph
omore marketing major.
“It may be a while, but we
will ge f things running
smoothly eventually,” Wheeler
said.
While anxiously working re
stocking supplies behind the
counter at Bruno’s soup bar,
junior accounting major Sarah
Smith did not mind working
alongside the added help from
Dobbins.
“All the Dobbin’s employees
are down here and are helping
to keep things running
smoothly,” Smith said.
Employees at Bruno’s looked
to have things under control for
most of the day as lines were
kept low and students kept sat
isfied.
“I do not think it will even be
chaotic because we have good
management here,” said Geri
Gallagher, an adult Bruno’s
worker.
“Even if we need to get new
equipment or something to
keep things running smoothly,
the employees are working well
together, and by tomorrow,
[management] will have things
running as good as they can,”
Gallagher said.
cause," said Director of Student
Affairs Ken Miller.
The current investigation is
in the hands of law enforce
ment; however once their in
vestigation is through, the
Even though the signature
Gazebo is no longer available
for dining it has been temporar
ily relocated to McGarvey Com
mons in the Reed Union
Building. Dining hours are to
stay the same and somewhat of
the buffet menu is available.
Student employees were sent
an email from student sched
uler, sophomore Cassy
Schmitz, early this morning on
Jazz Ensemble were scheduled
to give a free performance on
Thursday in McGarvey Com
mons, but with McGarvey
being occupied at the moment,
this concert has been relocated
to Edinboro’s Cole Auditorium.
The concert is still free and
will still start at 7:30 p.m. on
Thursday.
Edinboro’s Jazz Band and
Concert Band will join both of
Behrend’s bands.
Dr. Gary Viebranz, Director
of Instrumental Ensembles,
says that he was “extended an
invitation by the music depart
ment at Edinboro.”
While he considered having
the concert at another location
on campus, this was “a good
opportunity.”
Whether or not extra equip
ment or hired help needs to be
added to the staff in future
dates, for the time being; the
current employees were mak
ing due with what they had,
keeping food flowing out the
door in an effort that is going to
have to continue until at least
spring break.
A lot of employees were
skeptical about coming into
work at Bruno’s for the next
few days because of the tense
working event and do not share
the same optimistic outlook as
Gallagher.
“The workers down there are
already overwhelmed, and I do
not think things will get better
for a while because no one has
anything figured out yet,”
freshman Jackie Paladino said.
“I will definitely be more
busy than normal making piz
zas for my next shift,” Paladino
said.
There is one bright side for
Bruno’s cafe however. As food
supplies were dwindling, meal
counts should be lower than
normal this week due to spring
break.
“Thursdays, typically, meal
counts begin to fall off that
night anyway, and Friday those
counts would be low,” said Ken
Miller, the Director of Student
building will be under the con
trol of the University.
“In all likelihood they will
rule out arson, and then the
building gets turned back over
to the University,” said Miller.
the procedure for the rest of the
week.
They were told they are to re
port to work at their usual
scheduled time, thanked for re
maining calm throughout the
process and encouraged that
they will get through this tough
time.
Despite their loss of the fa
miliar Gazebo some students
are looking at the bright side of
At this point, “we need to de
termine what is usable,” said
Kris Torok, Director of Student
Activities.
Until the status of what re
mains of Dobbins is known,
McGarvey Commons will be
used as a substitution at least
after students return from
spring break. Besides that, no
one is certain of the use of Mc-
Garvey Commons for the rest
of the semester.
Miller said, “food serving in
McGarvey may continue after
Spring Break. If the kitchen is
not usable or is not going to be
usable, then essentially what
we need to do is set up another
kitchen somewhere on-campus
or bring in a temporary
kitchen. ”
Affairs
“I think the last meal was Sat-
Mike Fultz / The Behrend Beacon
Chaos was created when students piled into Bruno’s, the campus' main source of food at this point.
“Penn State’s insurance car
rier conducts its own investiga
tion, looks for the reason the
fire started, how the fire
started, that type of thing,”
Miller said.
After all of the investigations
are completed, the cleanup
process will begin for the
Gazebo.
“The Gazebo area will be
raised. It is unsafe, and at some
point it will be demolished,”
said Miller.
The east side of Dobbins,
which houses the kitchen area,
will be usable again.
“We need to determine the
extent of the water and smoke
damage,” said Miller.
“That will determine whether
we can use the kitchen anytime
this semester. As soon as that
happens, the better.”
It will take some time before
foodservice directors even
know what to do with the build
ing, or if it’s even possible to
salvage the kitchen.
Bill Gonda, Director of Mar
keting Communication at
Behrend, said he would doubt
that a lot would be done to the
building over spring break.
the night to go down in history
at Penn State Behrend.
"I'm incredibly thankful to
still have my job because I need
it to pay for a lot of things, "
said freshman employee Jenn
Baird.
"I don't know how the tempo
rary cafeteria in McGarvey
Commons is going to work out,
but as long as everyone has pa
tience and cooperates, I have
No word has been said if
events scheduled for the sec
ond half of the semester in Mc-
Garvey Commons will remain
at this location.
The Lion Entertainment
Board has two events sched
uled: a Saving Jane concert on
March 19 and the Price is Right
on April 10.
Molly Thomas, senior and
president of LEB, said, “it’s re
ally not a huge concern to LEB,
considering we don’t have a
dining hall.
“We’re more concerned
about the students and the fact
that they need food. We’ll figure
out our events when the time
comes.”
McGarvey Commons was the
prime spot because of the num-
urday breakfast, which is pretty probably the only thing that’s
low. So, the timing of this is helpful,” Miller said.
News
Whether or not the kitchen
can be used is a major issue
concerning the provision of
food.
“If we can use the kitchen,
food can be prepared and then
served in a different location,”
said Miller.
“If not, we have to both pre
pare and serve food from a dif
ferent location. This creates a
different set of logistical prob
lems,” Miller said.
For the time being, McGarvey
Commons will serve as a dining
hall for Behrend students.
“At this point, we’re able to
continue to provide service for
students for the next few days
out of McGarvey Commons,”
said Ken Miller.
This week H&FS will evalu
ate what it takes to serve food
in McGarvey.
After this week, they will de
cide whether to move or remain
where they are.
“That decision will be made
as we see how well food service
out of that space does... We’re
playing this by ear, day by day,”
said Gonda.
faith it could work.”
“I was quite upset with the re
cent destruction of Dobbins.
I’m glad I still have a job, but I
wonder how organized they
will be. I think it’s going to be a
hassle and chaos for a while
until we get it under control,”
said Jeremy Omard, a fresh
man majoring in management
information systems.
ber of people it can accommo
date.
“It was the natural choice.
Until kitchen services could be
brought up to speed this is the
most obvious choice,” said
Gonda.
“This week Housing and
Food Services will evaluate
what it takes to serve food in
that location, then will decide
whether to move it.“
“That decision [to move or
remain] will be made as we see
how well food service out of
that space does. For this week,
meal service is in McGarvey.
We’re playing this by ear, day
by day,” Gonda said.