Main dining areas on Ball State University have been closed since last week, with Tally in the L.A. Pittenger Student Canter remaining as the only open food court.
But this is not new in the summer. Assistant Director of Operations Elizabeth Poore said dining locations are usually closed over the summer until the beginning of orientation in June. After that, only a couple more dining locations open.
Last year the Atrium was open instead of the Tally, which was still under construction. The Tally remained closed until the start of fall 2009. The decision to maintain the Tally open this year was based on the idea that people would still want to see Starbucks open, and that Taco Bell draws more people, Poore said.
However, although students are more drawn to Starbucks and Taco Bell, some prefer to have a closer dining area. Students that live on campus have to walk from the LaFollette Complex — the only residence halls open to students living on-campus in the summer — to the Tally every day to eat, which could be time consuming, sophomore nursing major Ana Huaracha said.
Sophomore music education major Alyson Mullinax said she also found having a location far from LaFollette was inconvenient.
"I think it's stupid," she said. "We live in LaFollette and we have to walk here every day. If you have a class early you either have to skip breakfast or get up at least 45 minutes earlier."
LaFollette and the Student Center are on different ends of Ball State's main stretch of campus and are separated by about 0.75 miles.
Muliinax said having more than one location open would be better.
"They should have at least the ‘gas station' store at LaFollette open, that way we could at least buy some snacks," she said.
Food selection was another concern for Matt Ryan, an Indiana Academy senior. Ryan said sometimes food at the Tally is not the healthiest options.
"[The Tally is] close to us, but there aren't many healthy options," he said. "There are some, but those usually run out faster, like the salads and sandwiches. The other day they ran out of fruit."
Ryan said he would also prefer having more than one dining areas open.
"It would just be nice to have two options, like the Atrium," he said. "Woodworth is also nice, and it would be nice if it were open as well."
This year in addition to the Tally, Woodworth Commons and the Atrium will be the only food areas open after orientation.
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