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 n the College of Professional Studies, there is a cafeteria run by credit. Anyone who
is a dietetics major must take Home Economics 448. Quantity Food Productions, which requires them to work in the
cafeteria for 8 hours a week. The course is offered for 3 credits and has a lecture in addition to the lab. Each
week, one of the students must be manager of the cafeteria. She plans the menu, assigns work for other girls and
takes responsibility for anything that might happen. The other girls in the class must prepare the menu and serve
at the counter and do the dishes as part of their classwork for the week. When asked what they are paid for their
work, Anne Callahan, teacher of the lab course, said "They don't get paid because they're taking it for credit. You
don't get paid to go to class. However, twice a week, they get 20 minutes of their work time off to eat lunch. It's
free to them, but the employees on work-study must pay for theirs." Six students are taking this course for credit
this semester. Ten girls work in the cafeteria on work-study. Callahan stated that this was an off-semester. They
have "less fee labor this semester" than usual. Normally there are 10 girls in the class. Rating the class at $1.65
an hour, the home economics department receives $79.20 a week in free labor. Subtract from that $2.20 a week for
the price of two free meals per person and add by 16 weeks and you get $180 per girl. This semester the 6 girls
are doing $1,080.00 worth of free labor. Looking into the matter a little further, one can site specific instances
in which a non-profit operation is not adhered to. Soda sells for 24 cents a can. This is supposed to be the price
set by Saga and in effect all over campus. The machines sell the same product for 15 cents and neither has the cost
of labor to worry about. So how do you explain the difference? A salad that is half the size of the one's sold in
the grid, sells for the same price. Apparently size of the product isn't figured into the price. Not even water is
free in the cafeteria. There is a charge of 10 cents for the use of their glasses. A sign is displayed so there is
no mistake as to what you are getting charged for. When asked about these things, Callahan said, "We could give the
food away. The purpose of the course is not to run a business for profit. But we don't want to hurt Saga's business
by underselling them. Saga gives us a price list of the foods in their cafeteria and we use that. If we have
something they don't serve, we try to come up with a price that is fair to Saga. As for the profits, we have a
self-sustaining account. We try to come out even in the end. We're not out to make money. It's a thinking course
besides working." Callahan went on to say that the course needs to be extended to include night dinners and
catering. "It's only fair that kids get a chance to try their wings. If not in college, then where?" Before the
COPS building was built, the course had always been taught out of a book. Now the students receive experience
under guidance. According to Callahan, it's good for them to have a few small disasters because they learn how to
handle them before they go out into a paid position where they could get fired for making mistakes. The students
don't deal in large quantities because the dining room isn't big enough. The equipment in the kitchen is large
enough to serve Debot center, but there isn't space for such large food output. When asked about the difference
between serving capacity and seating capacity, we were informed that Dr. Jones, chairman of the home economics
department, purchased the equipment for the kitchen, the planners designed the dining room. "They had to think of
what was necessary and the money involved." There is an advantage in being a lab student rather than a paid worker.
If there are two jobs to do, chances are you would get the better of the two, the other falling to a work study
student. Another advantage is if there is any extra work to be done, you would get first chance to volunteer to do
it.
*The Pointer, September 1972, pg.3.
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