In the latest show of dissent against Yale Dining’s new dish sorting system, the Saybrook dining hall returned to the previous tray stacking method Saturday.
Yale Dining initially asked students to sorttheir dirty dishes into different bins at the beginning of this semester to reduce clutter and eliminate the need for trays, Director of Residential College Dining Regenia Phillips told the News in early October. But Paul Hudak, master of Saybrook College, said the sorting system increased traffic and inefficiency while prompting complaints from students.
Several other college dining halls, such as Jonathan Edwards and Silliman, are also not using the sorting system.
“I think that the system might work well in some colleges, but it was just not working in Saybrook,” Hudak said, adding that the dining hall will still utilize environmentally friendly practices such as composting food and encouraging students to dine without trays.
The sorting system had become a major problem for diners, he said, because of the increased time it took to scrape food into the trash and then move to the sorting bins. This traffic in the clearing area caused students to drop more food onto the floor, which resulted in more work for staff.
But five students and two dining hall workers interviewed in Saybrook had mixed reactions about the move back to the tray stacking system. Juanita Lewis, a dining hall staff member in Saybrook, said that she has not noticed a reduction in traffic since Saturday’s change, and she said the tray stacking system makes the jobs of dishwashers more difficult.
“I think it’s a bad idea because it’s more work for the dish room people to do as far as separating,” she said. “With the old system, they could get the clean silverware and plates up here on time to replenish the stock.”
Dining hall staff member Calvin Willoughby added that the tray stacking system presents particular challenges on busy days.
Chelsey Dunham ’14 said she was happy to return to the traystacking method because it facilities an easier and quicker cleanup process, and Elizabeth Quander ’15 said before the policy was reversed, she often saw students dropping food, plates and silverware.
But Lynne Chapman ’14 said she did not mind scraping her plate if it would reduce the work of the dining hall staff.
“If it takes me a minute to do something that would take someone else much longer, I don’t mind,” she said.
Students can provide feedback to Yale Dining on the Yale Dining website or on comment cards in the dining halls.