“School is out for summer!” At least, that is what it would seem like to Alice Cooper. On the other hand, the school doors have not closed yet for Eastern students who have chosen to continue their studies during the summer session. To these students, summer campus life, in general, is less dead and lacks vibrancy, especially in the dining halls around campus, the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and restaurants around town.

Employees of the dining halls and the union look forward to the shortage of students in the summer time because of the tranquility on campus.

Jessica Amuntsen, a junior and resident assistant in Lawson Hall, praises the days of summer because there are less students she has to deal with.

” I enjoy [summer]. It is quiet. There are less people.”

Students also look forward to summer because it reminds them of home and the sense of small town life.

” [The restaurants] are empty. I like it because I am from a small town and I don’t have to deal with the large crowds,” said Kimberly Ochs, a senior early childhood education major.

Although the students may enjoy the peacefulness and serenity that summer brings, area restaurants cringe at the leering summer months. For most restaurants and businesses in Charleston, Eastern students make up an enormous percentage of their sales.

According to Amir Prellberg, an employee of Positively 4th Street Records, students pull approximately 500 percent in sales during the fall and spring sessions.

Other restaurants, like Pizza Hut, take advantage of the summer months by becoming more involved in the community.

” [During the summer] our company is involved with Cobbs County Fair and there is more networking with other area business. We also have more door hanging because there is better weather,” said Robert Long of Pizza Hut.

Long also mentioned that there are more townspeople who do business during the lunch hours because there are less student crowds.

Indeed, summer brings a sense of peace and fun in the sun for students and restaurants.

However, as quick as the summer months come, the quicker it will go. The crowds and noise will return as mid-August approaches.

The businesses of Charleston who advertise to students will leap for joy, but the students and faculty who enjoy summer will long for its return in the next year.

So, they enjoy the peaceful days of summer while they can.

A worker buses tables at Michael Domani’s on a slow Monday evening.

(more…)