Students have to ‘Scrounge’ elsewhere on weekend

For more than 15 years, the Scrounge in the Perkins Student Center has been closed on the weekends and officals have no plans for adding Saturday and Sunday service, Ryan Boyer, marketing director of dining services, stated in an e-mail message.

Boyer said Dining Service is paying attention to business trends and if need be, decisions to discuss the hours of The Scrounge will be made after the semester.

"We are always evaluating business trends over the semester," Boyer said. "If an adjustment is necessary, we would make the decisions after the semester, but right now students have not been complaining about weekend options."

Currently, on-campus meal options during the weekend include the Pencader, Rodney, and Russell dining halls, Trabant University Center and Dunkin' Donuts in the Perkins Student Center, Boyer said.

Without a strong demand to keep The Scrounge open the two extra days a week, the cost may not be worth it, Boyer said.

Freshman Ryan O'Boyle said he goes to the Russell Dining Hall every day and there is a noticeably larger attendance there on the weekends.

"On the weekends, it's so much more crowded," O'Boyle said. "The lines are really long and it's much harder to sit with your group of friends because so many people are there."

On East Campus, Boyer said there is not a need for The Scrounge to open on weekends.

"Based on current student traffic patterns and the number of students that have shifted to North Campus, the demand to open on weekends just isn't there," he said.

Even with Laird Campus becoming increasingly more populated than other areas of campus, The Scrounge is still a central location and is heavily trafficked during the week, Boyer said.

Sophomore Charles Boyle, who lives on Laird Campus, said he usually eats in the dining halls on the weekends. Because Kent and The Scrounge are closed Saturdays and Sundays, the open options are over packed, he said.

"If The Scrounge was open on the weekends, it would just give students another option," Boyle said. "Dunkin' Donuts should also be open more. Half of the time I go it's closed or they're out of lots of items."

Boyle said The Scrounge is a nice place to hang out.

 "They have some events in the Scrounge during the week, like the a cappella groups and stuff," he said. "Maybe if they could be held on the weekends that would raise the incentive to keep it open Saturdays and Sundays."

Boyer said the cost to keep the dining venue open two extra days a week would vary based on the hours of operation and labor required. Since five locations are already open, the costs would have to be measured against the possibility of increases in sales at The Scrounge.

The Scrounge already staffs full-time employees, working 40 hours per week, so opening longer hours would cost the university more money to pay for the operation, Boyer said.

O'Boyle said he notices a lot of people go to Perkins to study at night after the Scrounge is closed.

"I've heard a few complaints about late-night Perkins having no snacks, but it's nothing serious, kind of like the weekends," O'Boyle said. "People make comments, but no one really complains until they can't sit down in the dining hall for Sunday morning brunch."