Shine: The Hotspot For Hot Food

graphic by alexa kroin

If you’re living on campus, you’ve undoubtedly eaten your fair share of meals at the new and improved Schine Student Center. While it may close waaay too early, the food options definitely beat the dining hall’s latest. While SU has certainly done a good job of getting students excited about it, watching the hoards of kids flock to Core in the middle of a pandemic makes us slightly nauseous. Is Schine just a hotspot for hot food, or is it the next superspreader?    

With Dunkin' and CoreLife being only a meal swipe away, it’s obvious that Schine has become the ultimate hangout on campus. But with an overwhelming swarm of students waiting in 45-minute lines AND looser COVID guidelines, should we be worried?  ‘Cuz let’s be real--hungry college students don’t care about keeping 6 feet apart in line. And while that one lady from Schine staff tries to spread us out, sometimes there’s just nothing stopping the dude behind you from breathing down your neck. 

In our opinion, Kimmel really should have stuck around to eliminate the Panda Express red zone and provide more options for students to disperse...also, we really miss those waffle fries. Aside from bringing Kimmel back (can you tell we’re emo?), Schine should’ve implemented better hours. College students eat later because we’re stuck in classes all day, so having a majority of the dining options close at 6 pm is totally unrealistic. And, uh, why does Panda Express close at 4 pm?? What meal happens at 3:00? Linner??

Schine has been open for a few weeks now, plenty of time for the university to identify problems and mishaps they didn’t originally prepare for - yet NOTHING has changed. It’s really not that complex of an issue, a toddler could fix this with a crayon and a stepstool: Expand. The. Hours. Whether this means hiring more employees with their $1.5 billion dollar budget or spending a few more bucks on electricity to keep the building running, we think the university can manage.

Don’t get us wrong--we’re so happy to have some of our favorite restaurants on campus. I mean, the Dunkin’ even has oat milk (helllllo LGBTQ community)! Let’s just hope Schine figures out a way to stay open for longer to avoid long lines and large crowds--5 pm may be happy hour, but Schine’s closing time just makes us SAD. :(