Between numerous university dining halls across the country, there is one common denominator: a soft-serve machine. I know Loyola prides itself on uniqueness, but in this instance I think we should follow the herd for once.
You’ll notice that the Orleans Room is lacking this seemingly universal delicacy. Instead, Sodexo invests in tubs of vanilla and chocolate ice cream that come with dirty scoopers, always swimming in murky brown water. It’s obvious that improper sanitization is a huge drawback when it comes to the ice cream situation in the OR – who knows how long that water sits for? What if people use their unwashed hands to pry ice cream off of the scooper because its consistency isn’t tactile enough? The gross water residue can drip into the ice cream tubs, releasing god knows what kinds of bacteria.
If we switched to soft-serve, the process would be contactless and thus way cleaner. No icky brown water, no student germ interference.
Efficiency is another thing. It’s a pain in the ass to wait for people to scoop ice cream when you’ve been dreaming of a sweet treat all day. I’ve been on both sides of this situation–I’ll admit that I get crazy anxiety when someone’s behind me, causing me to forget my motor functions & internally freak out. Soft-serve would eliminate both of these problems.
Soft-serve is also fun and whimsical. It’s an experience. You can adjust your toppings, choose swirl, and get creative–like dipping french fries in it. It’d vastly improve OR traffic as well. I’d be willing to bet all of my dining dollars that people’d use meal swipes just to get soft-serve. I can attest that I’d do the same.
Undergraduate life can be stressful, it’s a stark contrast to childhood and forces you to make an effort to develop important life skills. Sometimes all we need is a sweet treat at the end of the day to brighten our spirits. It breaks my heart when I finish exams and want ice cream in the OR, only to discover that the containers are totally empty. Soft-serve is a way smaller serving size, on the other hand.
It’s also cost effective: Sodexo probably spends more money filling up the ice cream freezer and fixing the freezer when the handles break. Long term, if Sodexo invested in a soft-serve machine, its durability would justify the cost. Loyola spends thousands of dollars making random renovations that aren’t even necessary (i.e., Danna Center skinny doorhandles), so what’s the harm if a small sum of that money went towards revolutionizing the OR dining experience?
Loyola ought to give the people what they want: better ice cream.
