The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-10
University Of North Dakota
The Commons Building.

The Commons Building.
The handsome new commons build
ing at the University of North Dakota,
with its up-to-date sanitary kitchen,
having its own refrigerating plant, big
store rooms and refrigerators to enable
buying on a large scale, and great
dining room, 116 feet long, 40 feet wide
and 80 feet high, is nearing completion.
With the opening of the commons
building several innovations will be
made, among them the additional menu,
the heightened meal hour, and the
dairy lunch The best board possible
at the price will be furnished for SO,
but there will be additional dishes eacn
meal which may be ordered and for
which an extra charge will be made.
Instead of having a set meal time and
everybody being required to be there
exactly on time, the dining room will
be open for one and one-half hours
and the students can get their meals
any time within that period. On the
first floor there will be a dairy lunch
where students can bring their lunches
and buy at actual cost bowl of soup,
cup of coffee, tea. cocoa or milk to go
with it. In addition, pie, sandwiches,
doughnuts, fruit. etc, will be on sale
This building will fill a long felt
need. For several years the university
has felt the demand for larger quar-
tiers in which to furnish the board for
the members of the rapidly increasing
student body that live at the university
and more commodious store rooms to
make it possible to buy in larger quau-
titles and when the prices are right,
store until needed Some idea Of the
room required to accommodate the
young people and the quantity of food
needed to feed them can be gained
from the fact that about 1900 meals
a day are served at the commons, and
that the department last year received
for board something over 100000.
Board is furnished the students at ac-
tual cost to place it on the table,
President McVey and Miss Daisy
Treen, the superintendent Of the COM
mons, take great interest in its well
fare. They feel that unless the stu
dents receive nourishing food prepared
under hygienic conditions and served
in a tasty manner, amid congenial
surroundings, they are not fitted to dc
their best work. While the building
was being planned, President McVey
and the architect visited the best com
mons buildings in the country ano
| learned their strong and weak points
| In making the plans they were assisted
| by Miss Treen, who is graduate Of
Pratt institute, Is acquainted with sew
eral of the best commons buildings ir
the east and has the situation at the
university we'll in hand. The result
(, will be a comfortable, commodious
/ handsome building with the most up
| date equipment for preparing anc
| serving healthful, nutritious meals.
But the building and equipment are
not all. The raw materials must b'
| bought and the meals prepared anc
served. Miss Treen brings to thii
problem the best training the country
| affords and wide experience. She hat
more than made good during the twt
years she has had charge of the uni
| versity commons. She is assisted b!
Miss Bessie Eastgate, who is gradu
ate Of the domestic science department
of the North Dakota Agricultural col.
| lege While on her vacation in tn,
east this summer, Miss Treen visiteC
( the commons of the University of Chi
| cago, of Columbia university, New
] York city of Harvard and Yale uni.
versities, the Clifton Springs SAM.
tarium kitchen, the laboratory kitchen
| of Boston, and numerous lunch rooms
and dairy lunches She studied the
methods, the management, the prepar
alton service, cost of operation, anC
| problems Of each establishment anC
brought back many suggestions to i'm
! prove the university commons.
The Dormitoriss.
Mr.. Thompson, superintendent o
buildings and grounds, and Mrs: Hull
superintendent of dormitories, hav
been overseeing the overhauling an'
renovating of the university dormi
tories They have been scrubbed, kal
somined and painted from top to bot
tom, so that the students returning
will find them all spick. span an
clean. In addition they have been pro
vided with window screens. The room
in these dormitories are large, airy
we'll lighted, provided with steam hea
and electric light, and on each foo
are toilet rooms fitted with hot an
cold water and bath. The rooms ar
furnished and are rented to the stu
dents for $1.25 a week. including car
and the laundrying of bed linen an
towels.
Teachers College.
The opening of the present schoc
year will find the Teachers college i
1