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Real People With Real Issues have a Conversation about Sex and Consent

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Destani Jameson

On Thursday October 10, the Hood College Health Center and the Coordinator of Diversity inclusion cosponsored an uncensored series conversation about sex and consent. The Coblentz game den was the perfect atmosphere for the drop in conversation for “real people with real issues to have a real conversation.”
Although staff members of the Hood College community sponsored this event, it was a conversation for students and led by students. Travis Eichelberger, Assistant Director of Student Engagement and Diversity Initiatives Coordinator, and Dede Trapp, Staff Nurse from the Health Center, facilitated the conversation.
Free pizza, drinks, candy, condoms and sex education gathered about 15 students. The Coblentz game den was set up in a cozy comfortable setting with couches set up in a circle. The group was instructed to write a topic that connected to sex or consent and place it in the bowl. This is how topics were picked for the discussion.
When asked to define sex, Dede said, “generally speaking, the word sex means either a differentiation of gender or an act between two different people. But sex really means a variety of things.” When asked to define consent she said, “Consent is an informed understanding of a situation whereby the person agrees to whatever type of action either written or verbal. The importance of consent is that both individuals have a clear understanding of what that is, the individual’s responsibility and how to communicate effectively with other people.”
Marnica Johnson, Senior at Hood College
“I wanted to talk about tabloid pornography and how it affects a person’s sex life. Some people see porn as the playbook of what you are supposed to do. Even though some may not be comfortable with what is going on in the “playbook.” You run into a problem when one person says oh that looks like fun and they may want to try it, and that partner has no idea where they got this idea from.”
The conversation began with the evolution of porn. How it went from corny scenes set-ups and sex with condoms to the unrealistic graphic hard-core porn of today. Porn used to be fantasy and unrealistic, now porn is more realistic and much directed by what is going on in society.
Could porn possibly make a partner feel insecure? One of the participants said yes, it makes you feel like you have to compete with the screen. The facilitators mentioned how the accessibility of porn today is different because a person can access porn 24 hours a day.
“In my role at the college, I am an advocate for any student of difference. While I am going to work very hard to support all students, I have to look out for cultural differences, whether international students or racial ethnic students. They have a different concept of consent and making sure that they are prepared for the environment here. There is lots of additional baggage when you are already an underrepresented person and you are dealing with a situation like non-consented sex and what society says about you and your people and fighting against those stereotypes,” said Travis.
The next topic of discussion was losing your virginity. The group discussed stigmas of losing your virginity surrounding gender double standards. The environment, community and religious beliefs influence an individual’s decision to lose his or her virginity. The group tackled defining the loss of an individual’s virginity. Some interesting terms extracted from the conversation was oral virgin, and anal virgin. However, the group concluded that the loss of virginity is defined as penis and vagina contact for heterosexual couples.
The value of the virginity increases with age, and the act of having sex is more significant during and post college years. During the pre-college years typically a female who loses their virginity is seen as promiscuous more likely to catch an STD and higher rates of pregnancy. The benefit of a female who loses her virginity pre college avoids the awkward sensation during her college years and is prepared for the emotional attachments that come with sex.
When asked if alcohol is a factor in a scenario do you believe sex is able to be consented?
Jordyn Curtis, freshman at Hood College replied, “No, because no one is in their right state of mind, so you would not know if they were actually okay with it or know their intentions. Drunken heart sober mind, you still never know if that person was fully okay with doing it. “
The facilitators provided a lot of free condoms and sex education pamphlets. They asked students to take them. The facilitators also encouraged students to speak up if any situation arises with an act of non-consented sex. Overall, this uncensored series was a success, looking forward to the next one in November talking about Racial Injustice.

Animals Give Emotional Support To Hood Students

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bj

(BJ Daisey, photos by Trovato)

Ashley Trovato

An Emotional Support Animal is, according to the writers at anxiety.org, and The National Animal Registry, “an animal that, by its very presence, mitigates the emotional or psychological symptoms associated with a handler’s condition or disorder.”

At Hood College, students are allowed to have a hermit crab or goldfish. They are also permitted other animals, but have to go through the CAAR Center first.

Megan Poole, a senior at Hood College, recounts her experience in obtaining permission to bring a service animal on campus. “It was awful.” Megan said, “The process should not have been as hard as it was.”

Poole is diagnosed with PTSD, severe clinical depression/anxiety, and ADHD. She was permitted to have an animal last year, which was a guinea pig named Angel, and it took over a month to obtain permission. Since she stopped seeing a psychiatrist, residence life and CAAR took that privilege away.

“Psychiatrists are expensive and hard to keep seeing,” Poole said, “I had to stop seeing mine which resulted in me loosing permission for my piggy.”

“Not having Angel around after I come back from work or class makes me feel worried because I am alone and have nothing to help me with my stress,” Poole said. “Having her [Angel] last year made stress easier to handle because when I was upset, I would want to cry so I would cuddle her for hours and feel better.”

Poole explains how having something around has helped in her life. “I still have Angel at home and she has literally been the difference between life and death for me,” Poole said. “Without her at school with me, I feel lost.”

A student who graduated Hood College, Chelsea Laurens, agrees with Poole. “I have three Yorkies, and they 100 percent help me,” Laurens said, “When I was at school and couldn’t have a dog for a couple years I felt like ‘I was missing something’,” she continued by describing how having “something love you unconditionally, no matter what, is a feeling that is indescribable.”

(Alec Van Bronkhorsrt)

(Alec Van Bronkhorsrt)

A therapist not affiliated to the school, but helps with college-aged students, has provided approval for some of her clients to have an ESA. “I am always looking to find new ways to help my patients with mental health diagnosis,” Whitney Thompson, LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor), of The Counseling Renaissance in Sykesville, Md, said. “Medication can be helpful, but a pet who shows unconditional love can help to decrease symptoms. Sometimes, clients need something more than just learning coping skills.” Thompson brings her dog, Bodhi, to work. He is a certified therapy pet.

Anthony Belnomi, a Hood alum, said that animals are there to listen. He believes animals act on a level farther than cuddling, “As humans we crave company and companionship. Sometimes connections are stronger without words. With animals, there are no words, just sounds,” Belnomi continues, “Animals calm my mind and restores my faith in the world because animals are genuine in both intent and action.”

A junior, Bj Daisey said, “If I had a dog jump into my arms, especially after a long day, I would embrace it and say ‘of course we can cuddle.’” Daisey said having a dog around would be like having his “own personal study buddy who can listen to me.”

A freshman this year, Alec Van Bronkhorst said, “I miss my dog more than I miss my parents.” He did say that having a pet here to take care of would add unnecessary stress because it is just one more thing to take care of.  Although Bronkhorst added, that when he is playing with the Meyran hall pet, Franklin the dog, his stress levels do lower and he becomes happier.

Poole and Daisey believe that having the privilege, within reason, to have an animal other than a hermit crab or goldfish would be beneficial. “They should have allergy-free dorms for students who have certain pet allergies so that students who would benefit from pets could bring theirs to school with them,’ Poole said.

 

(Chelsea Laurens)

(Chelsea Laurens)

Every year at finals in the second semester, the campus activities board and counseling center creates an event called “Stress Busters” and brings in a group called Wags for Hope to utilize the power of spending time with animals for mental health. The counselors know how much power having an animal to love has and they want to accommodate those who would benefit. Wags for Hope brings dogs and cats for a few hours so the students can spend time with them and hopefully feel a bit better. Some find stress relief in drinking or other recreational activities, but one way that seems to help is animal interaction.

Vegan Friendly Options at Hood College

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food2

(Hood College Dining Hall, photos by Woodward Becerra)

Paul Woodward Becerra

In the wake of Meatless Mondays, a growing vegan movement, and a public investment in health and environmental consciousness, the number of people adopting a vegan diet has grown dramatically in the last decade.
Now, over 16 million people in the U.S. identify as vegan or vegetarian and countless others strive to reduce their meat consumption, placing a mounting pressure on our institutions of higher education to consistently serve quality plant-based foods.
How does Hood College stack up in providing vegan options? The popular “PETA College Report Card”, a system of rating colleges based on their vegan menu offerings, hasn’t been completed for the small school.
For any campus, having multiple food outlets makes the task of assigning ratings difficult — Hood’s campus has the Dining Hall, Grilleworks, and Peet’s Coffee, all offering different menus, and with them, varying levels of food-friendliness.

food3
Hood’s Coblentz Dining Hall has a staff and menu managed by Aramark, the Philadelphia food-service company that handles feeding everyone from Wal-Mart’s employees to people at the ball game. Just this year, they’ve introduced over 500 new vegan options to colleges and, amazingly, managed to breach the often meat-centric world of sports with vegetarian and vegan baseball concessions.
Highlights of the Dining Hall are a Silk soymilk dispenser, an always-available vegan entrée (usually with two vegan side dishes), and a dedicated mini-fridge with vegan condiments like parmesan, butter, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. Along with a good selection of fresh fruits and vegetables at the salad bar, anyone eating vegan can get a healthy meal when they want to.
At the entrance of the Dining Hall, an Aramark-supplied placard sits, hidden behind waffle irons. It reads “Our Commitments,” listing the ethos of the company. A graphic of peas peeks out from the top, set next to the text “We provide a vegetarian friendly environment with a variety of vegetarian or vegan choices.”

(Hood College Dining

For Jen Clark, the head of Dining Services at Hood College, finding the demographic is hard. “One thing we like to know is the amount of people that we’re catering to . . . I don’t know how many vegans are on Hood’s campus.” However, this doesn’t stop her from doing her best.

“I am trying to make sure that for every meal, we have options,” she stated proudly, noting that some of the larger clients for Aramark’s dining services have their own vegan facilities.
Since she came into service as the director Hood’s Dining Services, Jen has implemented landmark changes. She’s instituted Aramark policies such as Meatless Mondays, and desserts free of animal products. Even better, she’s putting in the legwork to create her own programs to make sure students are represented.

food4

Starting this year, Jen started “Dine with the Director”, a monthly meeting where students can provide criticism and feedback about on-campus food to Jen, which she uses to make changes in their interest. This came when she learned about the overwhelming number students who shared their feelings about on-food campus on social media: she wanted to close the open feedback loop that didn’t include the party that counted most. The program is having some trouble getting traction, but she’s not deterred.
All in all, the dining experience is steadily improving for vegans on campus at Hood College. Even when addressing the many areas that need improvement, Jen gave a smile and said “I’m working on it.”

Emotional Support Animals

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Ashley Trovato

An Emotional Support Animal is, according to the writers at anxiety.org, and The National Animal Registry, “an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is an animal that, by its very presence, mitigates the emotional or psychological symptoms associated with a handler’s condition or disorder.”
In a college environment, students are always trying to find a way to relieve stress, anxiety, and frustration. Some find it in drinking or other recreational activities, but one way that seems to help is animal interaction.
At Hood College, students are allowed to have Hermit Crab or Goldfish. They are also permitted other animals, but have to go through the CAAR Center first.
Megan Poole, a senior at Hood College, recounts her experience in obtaining permission to bring a service animal on campus. “It was awful.” Megan said, “The process should not have been as hard as it was.”
Poole is diagnosed with; PTSD, severe clinical depression/anxiety, and ADHD. She was permitted to have an animal last year, which was a guinea pig named angel, and it took over a month to obtain permission. Since she stopped seeing a psychiatrist, they took that privilege away.
“Psychiatrists are expensive and hard to keep seeing,” Poole said, “I had to stop seeing mine which resulted in me loosing permission for my piggy.”
“Not having Angel around after I come home from work or class makes me feel worried because I am alone and have nothing to help me with my stress,” Poole said. “Having her last year made stress easier to handle because when I was upset, I would want to cry so I would cuddle her for hours and feel better.”
“I still have Angel at home and she has literally been the difference between life and death for me,” Poole said. “Without her at school with me, I feel lost.”
A student who graduated Hood College, Chelsea Laurens, agrees with Poole. “I have three yorkies, and they 100 percent help me,” Laurens said, “When I was at school and couldn’t have a dog for a couple years I felt like ‘I was missing something’,” she continued by describing how having “something love you unconditionally, no matter what, is a feeling that is indescribable.”
A therapist not affiliated to the school, but helps with college aged students, has provided approval for some of her clients to have an ESA. “I am always looking to find new ways to help my patients with mental health diagnosis,” Whitney Thompson, LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor), of The Counseling Renaissance, said. “Medication can be helpful, but a pet who shows unconditional love can help to decrease symptoms. Sometimes, clients need something more than just learning coping skills.” Thompson brings her dog, Bodhi, to work. He is a certified therapy pet.
Anthony Belnomi, a Hood Alum, said that animals are there to listen. He believes animals act on a level farther than cuddling, “As humans we crave company and companionship. Sometimes connections are stronger without words. With animals, there are no words, just sounds,” Belnomi continues, “Animals calm my mind and restores my faith in the world because animals are genuine in both intent and action.”
A junior, Bj Daise said, “If I had a dog jump into my arms, especially after a long day, I would embrace it and say ‘of course we can cuddle!’” Daise said having a dog around would be like having his “own personal study buddy who can listen to me.”
A freshman this year, Alec Van said, “I miss my dog more than I miss my parents.” He did say that having a pet here to take care of would add unnecessary stress because it is just one more thing to take care of. Bronkhorst added, though, that when he is playing with the Meyran hall pet, Franklin the dog, his stress levels do lower and he becomes happier.
Poole and Daise believe that having the privilege, within reason, to have an animal other than a Hermit Crab or Goldfish would be beneficial. “They should have allergy free dorms for students who have certain pet allergies so that students who would benefit from pets could bring theirs to school with them,’ Poole said.
Every year at finals in the second semester, the campus activities board and counseling center creates an event called “Stress Busters” and brings in a group called Wags for Hope to utilize the power of spending time with animals for mental health. This group brings dogs and cats for a few hours so the students can spend time with them and hopefully feel a bit better.

The Safe Haven Of Safe Harvest

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Each year, Hood College hosts Safe Harvest, an annual autumnal celebration that occurs around Halloween, providing local children in Fredrick, MD, with a safe haven to trick or treat.
Hosted by Hood’s Mortar Board Society, Safe Harvest “provides children ages 12 and under the opportunity to enjoy a safe and fun-filled evening of games, arts and crafts, and trick or treating on Hood’s campus,” according to its public relations chairwoman Sienna Bronson.
The Mortar Board Society organizes the event, but the whole Hood College community comes together to make it happen. Students are encouraged to buy candy for the event to either donate or hand out to kids when they walk around the college’s five dorms.
While many students come out and show their support, not all Hoodlums are enthusiastic about this event. In fact, many students are confused as to why Safe Harvest exists.
Micaela McCarthy, Hood College Junior, says she would rather have her kids go house-to-house trick or treating than go to a college campus, if she had kids. Though she sees the point of Safe Harvest, she has never heard of trick or treating being dangerous at all.
“I have never had any bad experiences with trick or treating, and I have never heard of people poisoning kids candy,” she says, until she came to Frederick.
However, in many cities like Frederick, trick or treating is illegal. There are many places with age restrictions, but in Frederick trick or treating is banned.
RA Alex Connor, Hood College Junior, explains that “without Safe Harvest, the local children of Frederick would have no where to trick or treat,” because going door to door asking for candy is illegal in Frederick.
“There has always been that fear of razor blades, poison, or anything strange showing up in kids Halloween candy, but the strangest thing I’ve ever gotten is an apple,” says Connor. “But really how many times has there actually been incidents of little kids dying because of a faceless stranger giving them poisoned candy?”
There have been little to no accounts of children’s candy being poisoned or tampered with. In all of history there have only been a few kids dying from their Halloween candy, but not from random strangers, just relatives they know.
Timothy Marc O’Bryan died on Halloween in 1974, because his father laced a Pixie Stix with cyanide. In 1970, five-year-old Kevin Toston died of a heroin overdose because of his Uncle.

However, that isn’t to say that a stranger won’t ever poison Halloween candy and hand it out to little kids. Parents have no need to worry about poisoned candy at Safe Harvest, all the candy is checked and re-checked. Only candy that is entirely sealed can be handed out. There is always the fear of children, or anyone actually, being assaulted on Halloween. You are going up to a strangers door anyway, and that does bring some risk.
Single parent Cathy Woodward says, “It is a strange concept of having your kids go door to door asking for candy. The concept is quite strange because you do feel like you are putting your kids lives in the hands of a stranger a bit.”
Woodward, single mother of two, goes on to say that it “is a risk, not just the candy, but what if the stranger is a pedophile or a kidnapper? I do not allow my children to trick or treat, so Safe Harvest is the perfect place to take my kids.”
Woodward shares the concern of many parents. In all due respect to parents though, why would a child be any more at risk for pedophiles or kidnapping on Halloween than any other night of the year?
Pedophiles and kidnappers don’t just spring up out of the ground like the dead awakening and then retire when the night is over. According to Discovery news, kidnappers and pedophiles are more likely to be someone you know, instead of a faceless stranger. Therefore, it is unlikely that something terrible is going to happen to your child on Halloween.
That being said, Safe Harvest is the perfect place to take your kids if you’re living in the Frederick area. Trick or treating is banned from the city, and Safe Harvest provides a safe place for families to take their kids for a bit of fun.
This years Safe Harvest is held on Thursday, Oct 29, at five to eight p.m. in Whitaker Campus Center. For further information on this event contact Sienna Bronson at sab27@hood.edu.

Seussical is coming to Hood

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Photo credit: Maggie McGill

BY MAGGIE MCGILL // Hood students are rehearsing for Seussical the Musical, a Tony award winning production that will hit campus in late March.

The musical, a combination of Dr. Seuss books and stories, will be student organization Hood College Student Musical Theater’s seventh production.

“It’s a very good mix of children’s humor and adult themes,” Travis Gilbert, the director of the show, said

Students have been rehearsing since the start of the Spring semester in January to prepare for the production.  Those involved dedicate four days out of the week for vocal and dance training.

The cast is excited about performing such a quirky and powerful show that combines different styles of song and dance that match the time periods during which each Seuss book was written.

Seussical the Musical follows Horton, who finds a tiny village on a speck of dust and his neighbor Gertrude, who only wants to be noticed. It also follows Jojo, a boy living on the speck of dust, and his antics with the Cat in the Hat who encourages him to use his imagination.

Lew Dean, who plays Horton in the show, identifies with the characters as they journey through the show. He said, “The characters go through a lot of hardship but come out better for it in the end.”

The students plan to interpret the show as a biographical piece of Dr. Seuss, using a fresh, hardworking cast and crew. They hope to combine childhood nostalgia with a new art form so that members of the audience will be forced to think about the show on many different levels.

Gabe Cassutto, who plays the role of the Cat in the Hat, is making his Hood theater debut. He said, “It’s about acceptance, self-worth, the powers, of imagination, and how one person can make a difference.”

HCSMT was founded in 2010 by now-alumni Billy Lewis and Ashley Birdsell. It is a student run organization, which sets it apart from other clubs on campus. Their past shows include 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Avenue Q.

This year, Hood College Student Musical Theater is reaching out via social media to connect with students and members of the community using its Facebook page and newly founded blog. The blog can be used to track progress and keep up with performance dates.

The show’s blog, Seussically Inclined, and their information page can be found here. Seussical the Musical can be seen on campus from March 27-30.

 

For Dickmans coaching is a family affair

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Photo credit: Jamone Davis. Tom and Chad Dickman at basketball game.

BY JAMONE DAVIS // It is one thing to play  for your father, but it’s another to get the opportunity to coach beside him.
Hood College is one of many colleges/universities to have a father and son duo coaching the same men’s basketball team. Those two men are Tom Dickman who has coached here at Hood for over 11 years and his son Chad Dickman. Now of course
one may think they are not the only father and son to ever coach on the same team. There was also Richard Pitino and Rick Pitino, but there are far more teams where the son just played for their father.

Here at Hood, Tom Dickman has ran a critical program in regards to what direction he wants to take the team. Based on Tom’s coaching, it’s obvious he’s more into a slow pace and plays to his players’ strength. He would rather slow the game down and run set plays, rather than just playing fast and unbalanced. He went from being a high school basketball coach for 29
years at Governor Thomas Jefferson, winning seven state championships to being a college basketball program college all using the same strategy. When Tom accepted the position of athletic director, a job opening became available for him to have assistant. That’s when Chad came to mind.

“I know his basketball background in recruiting and I can’t hire people exactly like me,” stated Tom
Dickman in regards to his son. He said this because he knew that Chad could bring some new ideas and talent to the program. “I trust him to do the work I do not have time to do. He’s a smart guy, well-organized, and does his research,” he added.

Tom said he feels that Chad has a lot to bring to the organization and wants to take advantage of his previous experience as an assistant head coach. Now Chad was amazed at the opportunity to work with his father. He was the associate head coach of Wheeling Jesuit University for the past nine years in West Virginia. When he heard his father had an opening for an assistant coach, he saw an opportunity to return to Frederick and wanted to challenge himself with the basketball program here at Hood.

“A pro about working with my father is that he gives me the freedom to speak my mind and put in offenses and defenses allowing the players to have suggestions on how to make the team better,” Chad said.

The Dickmans’ have some similarities in regards to identifying player’s talents, but have different mind sets on the overall game. Chad’s coaching strategy is faster paced than his fathers which is an example on how Chad is a risk taker. Chad enjoys an upbeat tempo where the players run a quick offense and take
what’s available.

Tom on the other hand has the slow-paced strategy down pact. He hates letting the other team score easy baskets. He stresses tough defense and when it comes to being on offense, he wants his player’s to run the play he gives them. Everyone knows the red face Tom makes when the team lets an easy layup or open shot happen, but Chad could live with layups. He favors a zone defense over his
father’s preference of man to man.

Coaching his first year at Hood, Chad’s main focus right now is to help the program get better every day. Chad enjoys working with his
father and stated, “I don’t think either of us would argue about more time away, but he trusts me to do my thing. He does not look over my shoulder so; we really do not see each other most of the day due to his new position as athletic director. Mainly see one another during practices and games.”

“The transition to Hood was made a lot easier because my father has been good with opening up to new input and ideas,” Chad said. They combine the best views and ideas for the best outcome for the team.

According to Cameron Cook, senior guard for men’s team, the system Chad has brought is new and improved with results of the best record since he’s been here. This system is similar to what is known as “run and gun” where players will score whether the original play falls together. He feels as though everything is paying off and they would not have the current record of 17-10 if Chad had not
input his game plan. Cook is leading the conference in three-point shots and points scored averaging almost 16 points per game. “I been leading scorer here, but it would’ve been best to play my part in the offense and help out in anyone possible,” he said when asked about his role on the team.

The team went to the semi-finals and fell short against Stevenson. Though the team did not make the tournament this year, both coaches are proud of the team’s performance and look forward to next season.

 

Students complain about lack of democracy

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Photo credit: Zari Demesme. Student looking sassy and loving it!

BY ZARI DEMESME // Hood College’s small campus has a lot of events that go on throughout the entire school year. The “D” in hood stands for democracy, but a survey says that to some stu-dents, it doesn’t “feel” like a democracy because “its feels as though we can’t get any-thing we ask for,” said a sophomore. According to some of the current seniors who would like to remain nameless at this time, they said during their freshman year there was a dance/party almost every month and that they were sad to see things like that slowly, but surely stop happening.

Although Hood does have plenty of monthly events, I have heard all around cam-pus that students want more dances or night time events on the weekends because they get bored. Maya Jacksona junior, said that dances every month seems like a lot, but it would be fun for the students and would help relive some stress. She also said that instead of just having Whitaker Wednesdays, have like Whitaker Weekends (meaning wednesday through friday). Angela Moore ,also a junior, said maybe having a suggestion box for the Campus Activities Board might help with fun ways to keep students busy on the weekends. She also said, “I appreciate the movie nights that CAB hosts on the weekends. They are fun nights where my friends and I can just have like a girls night out without leaving the campus and spending money.”

More students had suggestions for events on campus and they came to a consensus of having a suggestion box for CAB so that the students can voice their opinion for ac-tivities on the weekends. Having a lot to say and not knowing who to approach about it without getting shut down is hard. Don Miller, who is in charge of CAB, said that “hav-ing suggestion boxes never work successfully.” But he would like to hear suggestions face to face to talk about them so that the suggester can fully explain their vision. But before the most effective way to get as far as having a one on one with Don you must first send him an email in order to set up a time to meet; sometimes he’s a little hard to get a hold of if there are currently a lot of campus activities currently going on or approaching.

It may seem as though we as student don’t have any type of input when it comes to campus activities, but we do have some say when it comes to music selections and the choice of movies that are to be played friday and saturday nights. If there isn’t enough student input for a change, then nothing that is being suggested will be considered for the future events. As the saying goes: “If you didn’t get up and go vote in the election do not b*tch and moan how about how much you dislike your congressman because you could have made a difference but you didn’t”

Snack bar satisfies student cravings

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Photo credit: Emily Coleman. Grille Works in full swing during lunch hours.

BY EMILY COLEMAN //  Everyone has an opinion on food; it is as simple as that. Someone is always going to complain about the taste, the quality, and if there is service involved. Anyone who has lived on a college campus before realizes that the complaints are
usually accurate on the quality of the food.

Students at Hood are no different. Hood has two areas for meal time. Students can either go to the dining hall, the main place for meal time or they can go to the Blazer, now known as Grilleworks. There are students that think that Grilleworks is a good alternative to the dining hall and then there are students who completely disagree with that fact.

Eric Reed, a junior here at Hood College is one of the students that do not mind Grilleworks. He likes that there is a big variety of choice in beverages and recommends the chicken strips. A complaint he has about Grilleworks is the staff. “They are always busy.” Reed said other Hood College students have said the same thing over the years. Since that is the only other location
for meal time for students, it is understandable that they are always busy; however maybe there should be some solutions around that. Reed says there should be more variety with the menu. “They should change up the menu, not just one special meal a month.”  Reed also continued to say that Grilleworks is not the cheapest of places. If you have Blazer Bucks, Reed highly recommends that you go there, but if you can go out and find better and cheaper options, than you should go there instead of Grilleworks.

Like how Reed feels, other Hood students would not be against having a little more options when it comes to the menu. Not all the complaints were focused only on menu option. Some complaints were focused entirely on how the new system is for
Grille Works.

A Recent graduate of Hood College, Catherine Meushaw was always on campus, so she utilized the services of Grilleworks often. In the beginning she really liked going there, however after they changed the way they were doing things,the service there was not the best anymore. “I don’t think they should of changed everything they did when they switched,” Meushaw said. Meushaw went on
to say they had better choices for food before the change, for instance she liked the fries before they switched.

“Right after they changed, I had issues with them telling me I couldn’t have a burger the way I wanted it,” Meushaw said. “They told me I had to get it with everything on it. Which is a terrible system,” She continued. Meushaw
did say however that even with the changes, Grilleworks still a better option than the dining hall is.

I spoke with Jason Shultz, Operation manager at Hood College to see what he had to say. Shultz had a positive take on the matter.

“We try to accommodate suggestion that student have as best we can, however Grille Works is a proprietary national brand, therefore we must follow the guidelines that Grilleworks sets,” says Shultz.

Shultz did say that most of the students like the changes.

Shultz has a positive attitude for Grilleworks’ future.  Shultz says that he plans “To keep making the best tasting food possible, and create excitement with our specials on campus.”

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Thank you for reading.