Optimist
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Features
    • Book Review
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Podcasts
    • Optimist Overtime
    • Top of the Key
  • Police Log
  • Print Edition
  • Projects
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
You are here: Home / Opinion / Columns / Bean Not Famous Among Current Students

Bean Not Famous Among Current Students

January 28, 2016 by Emily Guajardo

Students have the right to be served high-quality food.

With the amount of money paid to attend this university, students deserve quality food including its preparation, presentation and service as each one passes the through the lines.

However, that does not seem to be the case. ACU students are fed food that is un-proportional, un-complimentary and, therefore, un-appetizing for the majority of the year.

As students rush in and out of the bean, the beeping of cards swipe left to right until unfamiliar voices rise in the distance. The footsteps of heavy boots, the chatter of loud women, and children yell from across the room as they stare into the buffet style lines- its Visitation Day.

Lines build, build and build filled with anxious students and parents eager to taste the tender meats, steamed broccoli and sweet cookies baked fresh out of the oven. Smiling faces, filled stomachs and open minds receive the preconceived notion that ACU must have one of the best cafeterias in the state of Texas.

As lines remain long and at maximum capacity, current students start to wonder why food is not always necessarily served and plated with as much effort and poise everyday.

According to Anthony Williams, chief business service officer, menus are prepared months in advance in four week and one day cycles. Williams said that because menus are prepared and authorized in advance, so no coincidence or conflict of interest is shown during visitation days. Modifications are only made to staff employment when larger quantities of people are scheduled to enter the bean.

Williams confirms that modifications are not done to the menu in regard to visitation days, unless it is scheduled on a Saturday and denies the allegations.

 

However, students are voicing their opinion over the Bean food as being minimal, unappetizing and, frankly, poor.

Everett Baker, a sophomore accounting major from Atlanta, said that the Bean seems to present itself like the beginnings of a relationship.

“Initially you’re doing everything you can to impress the other person, or ‘woo’ them,” said Baker.”Eventually the person falls for the other individual and things sort of stagnate.”

False pretenses and impressions stack up against the Bean. Students like Baker are tried of the fake impressions that the Bean offers to its students and its visitors.

To help further these allegations with evidence, students are able to see the menus scheduled for specific days separated by line, food group and meal time. The next Wildcat Preview Day is scheduled on February 19. According to the Aramark website under the Home Cooking tab, visitors will be served:

  • Buffalo Meatloaf
  • Creamy Mashed Potatoes
  • Grilled Barbecue Pork Chops
  • Steamed Green Peas

Though the scheduled meal sounds appetizing and perfectly put together, the meals placed prior to that on February 15 are as follows:

  • Blackened Tilapia
  • Seasoned Roast Beef
  • Steamed Fresh Broccoli
  • White Rice

Although the individual food groups themselves do not sound unappealing, the student could see the problem in its balance of taste. In the first menu, we see the balance of food groups- a coherent meal that involves an entree and side dishes that seemingly coincide.

However, in the second menu, we see an unbalance of food groups that clash against each another. Fish and beef are not as appetizing compared to the beef and pork combo advertised just a few days later.

The visitors meal follows the idea behind the Home Cooking station- a meal that takes you back to southern hospitality and country-style food. Nonetheless, the second menu presents food that does not mix well once plated and served. It is not as “Home Cooked” as the station implies.

With special days ranging from Admitted Student Day to Sing-Song Weekend, the Bean brushes off its dusty plates and touches up for the impression of a lifetime. An impression not only for the student and parent, but rather for the most important impression of all- a signed check made out to the university.

It seems once the check is signed, the impression ends. Food returns to its foundational mediocre stages.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorials, News, Opinion

Other Opinion:

  • Not-so-friendly competition

  • Sing Song in the Expo Center presents an exciting opportunity

  • Micro-trends are a danger to Gen Z and the planet

About Emily Guajardo

Arts and Features Editor from San Antonio, TX
Hobbies: Reading heroine novels, eating chinese food and working out.

You are here: Home / Opinion / Columns / Bean Not Famous Among Current Students

Other Opinion:

  • Not-so-friendly competition

  • Sing Song in the Expo Center presents an exciting opportunity

  • Micro-trends are a danger to Gen Z and the planet

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

acuoptimistThe Optimist@acuoptimist·
4 May

"Maybe we just don’t care enough. But if we do start caring, and if we become the loudest fans in the WAC, let’s stick to supportive cheering." Read more from Guest Columnist Londyn Gray:
https://acuoptimist.com/2022/04/not-so-friendly-competition/

Reply on Twitter 1521918832738144257Retweet on Twitter 15219188327381442571Like on Twitter 15219188327381442578Twitter 1521918832738144257
acuoptimistThe Optimist@acuoptimist·
3 May

Royce Clough and Jael Morel have been named as Mr. and Miss ACU for the class of 2022, a traditional honor voted on by the student body and awarded to two members of each graduating class.

Reply on Twitter 1521607087553458178Retweet on Twitter 1521607087553458178Like on Twitter 152160708755345817819Twitter 1521607087553458178

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

2 months ago

The Optimist
"Maybe we just don’t care enough. But if we do start caring, and if we become the loudest fans in the WAC, let’s stick to supportive cheering." Read more from Guest Columnist Londyn Gray: ... See MoreSee Less

Not-so-friendly competition - Optimist

acuoptimist.com

BY: LONDYN GRAY “Number 18, you look like you don’t shower!” I chuckled and shrugged it off. “Londyn!” They had looked up the roster. “Do you even brush your teeth?” I laughed again, rol...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 months ago

The Optimist
Cullen Auditorium is expected to be handed over to the university in June 2022, alongside a name change that coupled with the renovation will create new future for the Cornerstone class, Chapel and the Department of Theatre. ... See MoreSee Less

Cullen Auditorium still set for a name change alongside renovations - Optimist

acuoptimist.com

Cullen Auditorium is expected to be handed over to the university in June 2022, alongside a name change that coupled with the renovation will create new future for the Cornerstone class, Chapel and th...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Women’s tournament run ended by first-round exit against UTRGV

The Wildcats’ Western Athletic Conference tournament run and season came to a ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 22. 2022
  • Optimist Newscast 2.16.2022
  • Optimist Newscast 2.9.2022

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • Weekly Ads
  • Classifieds

© 2022 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved

Posting....