The caf - Then and Now

The meal plan. It's probably the most complained about thing on this campus besides parking. But students that have been here since 2002 and 2003 aren't complaining about the new services the Center Marketplace offers. They are complaining about why they didn't have these current services when they were freshman.

The sandwich bar. In 2002, we had a small sandwich bar - very small. This year's sandwich bar is a completely separate kiosk filled with hot and cold sandwiches, subs and wraps.

The center grill. There was no center grill in 2002. Yes, that means no omelets in the morning, no taco bar for lunch and no stir-fry for dinner. We had pizza, chicken patties and burgers for lunch and dinner just like the freshman of today do. We also had soda, but it was located where the salad bar is. Yes, that means we had no salad bar.

We had the delicious ice cream and the Belgium waffles as well. The chocolate chip cookies, though, are a lot softer now than they were in 2002.

The caf closed at 7 p.m. on weekdays back in 2002. Now it closes at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We had no televisions. But, we could eat outside just like students today can. But current plans call for a renovation of the outside area to allow for more food to be cooked outside and an overhang to eat under. Just in the cafeteria alone there has been a lot of growth. Now, the cafeteria isn't only bigger and better, the food isn't as much as a laxative as it was five years ago.