Students Praise Dining Halls Pulling Late Nights

It's late-late Tuesday evening and organic chemistry is starting to blend with Ec 10, which is strangely beginning to look like First Nights. You crave caffeine. You look down. Damn. Already in your pajamas. Can't be running to Au Bon Pain for coffee in this getup.

Thanks to the Lowell House Committee, Lowell residents will soon be rid of such dilemmas. According to Michael P. Abate '00, Lowell House Committee co-chair, the committee announced Tuesday at Lowell's "Harvest Fair" dinner that, beginning Nov, 16, dining hall hours will be extended to help those with the late-night munchies.

"The soda machines will be on and any coffee and milk left over from dinner will be placed out," Abate said.

Soon after House Committee elections in the spring, the new committee conducted a survey of House residents to determine the committee's agenda. Abate said the survey indicated that many students favored extended dining hall hours similar to those Lowell has typically offered during reading period. Lowell HoCo then made it a top priority for the following semester.

"People really enjoyed it and we thought it would be really nice to have some place for people to go and study in groups," Abate said.

The actual change came after the HoCo brought its idea to the new House co-Masters, Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin.

"They were very receptive to that end," Abate said. "They were the driving force behind us getting it. They knew that this was something that students wanted. We're very grateful to our Masters because they put a lot of elbow grease in getting it."

House Committee treasurer Jessica S. Wu '00 said the reason the hours will not extend past midnight is due to the potential mess cleaning staff will have to deal with after students leave. However, the committee plans to look into 24-hour access.

"Right now the drink machines are going to be on until midnight because the cleaning crew has to come in," said Wu, who is also a crimson executive. "We're hoping to make it open all night." Food is also an agenda item for the new policy.

"There won't be a toaster," Wu said. "Coffee would be out. We'll wait and see what the cost of having cereal out would be."

Lowell House joins Winthrop House, previously the only undergraduate dining hall offering late-night hours and beverage perks. But keeping the doors open and beverage machines running does not ensure success.

"Drinks [at Winthrop] are 24 hours, but they don't always have ice," said Steven M. Jeppson-Gamez '01, a Winthrop resident.

"Sometimes they leave out the leftover dessert, which is really nice. But sometimes they don't have cups and we just have to use ice cream bowls to get something to drink."

Whether Lowell will face similar problems remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Lowell residents applaud their House Committee's efforts.

"It's fantastic," Marc S. Scheff '99 said. "I think it's great."