After being closed for renovations all summer, Stevenson Tower Dining opened Tuesday, Sept. 7 with many new amenities for students.

Sarah Smith, a freshman nursing major, said the newly renovated Stevenson Dining Hall is more inviting.

She said the mustard colored paint on the walls provided a warmer feeling.

The seating area has been expanded and now includes booth seating, which makes some students think it gives the dining hall a restaurant-type feel.

“I like the booths; they remind me of Steak ‘n Shake,” Marquez Woods, a senior pre-med major, said

The remodeled dining area was created with service spots that supply different types of food.

Instead of students waiting in one long line, the service spots were created to eliminate them and help things run more smoothly.

Kyle Terry, a senior kinesiology and sports studies major, thinks otherwise.

“It’s a little cramped once a lot of people get in there,” he said

Terry said he does agree that the space looks a lot better but he thought the space could have been utilized in a more efficient way.

However, Terry said sometimes he chooses to dine at Thomas Hall because he feels there are a lot more restrictions at Stevenson Hall.

Students, as well as employees, have varying opinions about the amount of space.

Mark Wegener, a dining employee and senior history with teacher’s certification major, said he thinks the space arrangement will work out fine.

“Once people get a hold on it I think it would be one of the best dining halls on campus,” he said with a fist pump and “Go Panthers!”

Trisha Wabomnor, a freshman nursing major, said she could come to Stevenson and get good food without having to use her dining dollars.

Another topic of varying opinions is the strict rules on the amount of food people are allowed to have.

Besides the Union, where students have to use dining dollars, Stevenson is the only dining hall that limits the amount of food students can take.

The rest of the dining halls give students a chance to eat as much as they please.

Wegner has worked at other dining halls such as Carman and Taylor where anyone can eat as much as they would like.

Wegner said he noticed when people are allowed to eat all they want, they end up getting way too much food and a lot of it winds up going into the trash.

Wegner said he believed the restrictions make Stevenson Tower Dining more complex and distinguish them from all the other dining halls on campus.

“The limit on food cuts down on food waste,” Wegner said.

Woods said he does not care much about the restrictions on food because he loves the food at Stevenson Tower Dining.

“Stevenson is my No. 1 choice,” Woods said.

Desiree Morris can be reached at 581-7942 or dnmorriss2@eiu.edu.

Technology graduate student Ramya Malireddy combines ingredients for a breakfast burrito Monday in the newly redesigned Stevenson Dinning Hall. (Danny Damiani

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