No more caf trays at Samford

A symbol of our Samford experience has died: Samford has removed all the caf trays. Ostensibly, this is to prevent people from taking as much food and to reduce electrical and water usage. Other colleges around the country are doing this too - see articles in Time and the Samford Crimson. But I think that there are better ways to accomplish these goals than inconveniencing everyone who uses the caf.

Matt, Keith, and I have all spent long, wet hours washing dishes at Young Life camps, where we used a dishwasher probably similar to the one used at Samford. Here's how it works: At the beginning of a shift, you turn the machine on, and it fills with water and heats it. Then you put all the dishes on racks and push them through the machine. The machine tops itself off with water as it evaporates or leaves on dishes. At the end of the shift, you drain the machine.

So, each additional dish uses a minuscule amount of water and small amount of electricity. I can't imagine 2,000 caf trays adds up to much compared to all the other dishes.

Furthermore, it's stupid to make the caf significantly more inconvenient for everyone in order to save small amounts of water and electricity, when other methods could be more effective. Maybe the caf could collect clean trays when people are finished with them - most trays stay clean the whole time anyway.

As for saving food, this could be better accomplished by charging people for what they take. Of course, the shock of how much that grease-filled, barely-edible lasagna costs would probably keep people away from the caf all together. Maybe then the caf would have to actually improve food quality to keep people coming.

I never understood the caf. In Young Life kitchens we made delicious, filling meals for an average meal cost of $1.75. And the food looked good. In the caf a barely edible dinner costs $8. I don't get it.