Posts Tagged ‘Dining Services’

"Dine Flu" Sickens More Students, Closes Chlapaty, Izzy's

The “Dine Flu” as Writing on the Mall has decided to call it (Thanks Chuck!) has closed Izzy’s and Chlapaty Cafe.

Sweeping health and safety changes were also made to Gilman today, as silverware was replaced with pre-wrapped packages of plastic forks, knives, and spoons.  All self-serve food locations were closed, and now require a Dining Services employee to serve you food.  Soda fountains have been shut off.  All drinks must be requested from behind the counter, except for milk.  Cereal is served in sealed containers directly from the manufacturer.  They have even gone as far as wrapping all fruit in saran wrap, along with desert items.

The College’s second e-mail was sent out today to alert students to the closings, and the continued investigation by the city and county health authorities into what caused the sickness.  Affected students have been suffering from symptoms similar to stomach flu, but has only been referred to as “gastrointestinal illness” in all reports.

The e-mail, sent around Noon today, was received too late for some student to change their plans and eat before Gilman closed for brunch today.  A student, who asked not to be named, asked, “So what are the people who are crunched for time going to do now that Izzy’s and the Clap are closed.  I would stop [at the Chlapaty Cafe] for breakfast, then Izzy’s for lunch.  Both times between classes.  Not sure what I’m going to do now.”

One point that has been raised is whether students should be compensated for the loss of meals due to the illness outbreak.  Should students receive credits on their account for eating off-campus to avoid potential illness?  Let us know your thoughts by commenting after the article.

Here’s the Second Press Release from Marietta College

To the Marietta College community:

In response to a small number of additional occurrences of gastrointestinal illness on Friday, Marietta College officials have decided to indefinitely close Izzy’s and the Chlapaty Café as a precautionary measure.

Gilman Dining Hall will continue normal hours on Saturday, Jan. 16, and Sunday, Jan. 17. Brunch is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner is from 5-6:30 p.m. each day. In seeking to reduce the spread of illness, Dining Services will hand all food to students at Gilman, and eliminate any self-service stations.

In cooperation with both city and county health organizations, Marietta College is currently investigating the cause of the limited campus occurrence of gastrointestinal illness over the past two days. The College is working with Marietta Memorial Hospital and the Washington County Health Department to help pinpoint the origins of the illness.

College officials want to encourage all students to frequently wash their hands to prevent the spread of any illness transmitted from person-to-person.

If you are presenting any symptoms, please contact your Resident Director.

We will update the campus community when additional information is available.

~ Tom Perry, Director of College Relations

BREAKING: Campus E-Mailed Over "Gastrointestinal Illness" Alert

From watching Facebook yesterday and today, I’m surprised I didn’t pick up on this earlier.  But thanks to some readers and an e-mail from the college, we have a vague idea of what is going on.  I’m still trying to gather information as I can, but here’s what I have at the moment.  Stay tuned to Writing on the Mall for more.

In cooperation with both city and county health organizations, Marietta College is currently investigating the cause of yesterday’s limited campus occurrence of gastrointestinal illness.

The Office of Student Life reports that a small number of students were treated and released at Marietta Memorial Hospital last night and in following standard procedures the College contacted Dining Services and area health officials to help pinpoint the origins of the illness.

In seeking to discover the cause of the illness, Dining Services has immediately reviewed its quality assurance protocols in order to determine if the student illness may have been food borne or originated in some other fashion.

Pending the outcome of that inquiry, precautions include encouraging students to frequently wash their hands to prevent the spread of any illness transmitted from person-to-person.

If you are presenting any symptoms, please contact your Resident Director.

We will update the campus community when additional information is available.

~ Tom Perry, Director of College Relations

Student Speak Out to Let Students Get it All Out

Tired and frustrated with how things are at Marietta College?  Now’s your chance to have your voice heard and hear from the administrators themselves how your problem can be addressed.

Wednesday, November 18th at 7 PM in the McDonough Auditorium is your chance.  A panel of administrators will hear your problems and respond to them.  The heavy hitters will be there, including President Jean Scott, VP of Administration and Finance Dan Bryant, Director of Dining Services Walter Miller, Director of Career Center Hilles Hughes, Director of Residence Life Bruce Peterson, Director of Athletics Larry Hiser, Director of Physical Plant Fred Smith, Chief Information Officer Administrative Computing John Davis, Director of Student Financial Services Kevin Lamb, Provost and Dean of the College Dr. Rita Kipp, and Chief of Campus Police Dave Valkinburg.

Can’t make it?  No Problem.  Writing on the Mall will take your questions to the meeting and ask them for you!  Just leave a comment here on the blog with your question, or leave a comment on our Facebook page, or tweet at us @writeonthemall.  We’ll take all the questions we receive and report back with the answers.

The Best and Worst of Gilman

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Michael Cute is a guest writer for Writing on the Mall.  He is involved with the Media Writing Two class at Marietta College, which has been submitting articles to us.  His article is the first of many that you will see hit the site.  If you would like to see more like this, just let us know at patrick_h at writingonthemall dot net.

Its 5 o’clock on a Sunday and most of Marietta College campus shuffles into Gilman to grab some dinner.

The plates at Gilman always seem to fly off the shelves. It’s been a long tradition for students to complain about the food in the dining hall. The students may complain about the food but there rarely is an empty table available and plates always seem to disappear.

What has Gilman done right? What are the top Gilman meals according to Marietta College students? A survey was taken by Marietta College students to see what their favorite meals were.

Read more…

Seattle's Best means Coffee, not Coffee Shop

I know everybody is starting to get antsy about getting back to campus and finally getting to use the Legacy Library.  But I have some interesting news to report about the feature that most of us have been waiting to enjoy:  the cafe.

According to one of the student workers helping move books into the library (before they had to cut them all before their original last day or work), the supposed Seattle’s Best Coffee Shop is not so.  In reality, Seattle’s Best is the coffee being served, but out of the traditional coffee servers that are familiar to students from Izzy’s, Gilman, and Gilman Express.

Read more…