Yale needs to learn how to put on a better show. Last month, representatives of Locals 34 and 35 prepared a special meal for students and staff intended to demonstrate that high quality food is possible with current supplies and staff. Their message, calling the changes that Yale is considering for its dining halls unnecessary, resonated well with the lucky diners. Some who attended even described the culinary offerings as impressive.
Some students are scared.
Few at Yale have ever tasted rethermalized food. Yale officials distributed in the dining halls, a weak salvo when compared to a culinary feast. Until recently, few people at Yale knew that the system has been used successfully in Syracuse University since 1994 to student satisfaction. While the unions wine and dine students, the administration sits by, neglecting to offer a much needed support for its alternatives. And legitimate qualms about rethermalization have become fertile ground in which the unions sow seeds of suspicion and discontent.