Page 10 - FP Chronicle 13th Issue

DU’s Cafeterias
Somiya Yasir Said/CAAS
There is no doubt that cafeterias
are a necessity in any university.
Students use them as rest stations
between lectures to feed up with
energy and relax. The quality and
the menu list should be of good
standers. In Dhofar university,
there are some cafeterias, but there
are three main problems with them:
they are crowded, have a slightly
expensive menu and they don’t sell
healthy food.
9 FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019
To begin with, the classrooms building is
located in the middle of the university, and
it is the most essential gathering centre
for students. Dhofar university has two
cafeterias there; one for the male students
and another one for the female students.
Each has a tiny space and a few tables which
are not enough to accommodate all the
students; this makes them very crowded.
This leads to two issues. First, students
who can’t find any table to sit will merely
take their order and head directly to some
empty classes to eat their meals in. The
smell of the food spread all over the rooms,
and sometimes students fill the rooms
with clutter. The class won’t be a suitable
studying place when a lecture starts later.
Second, when there are so many students
ordering at the same time, the people who
are taking orders and preparing the meals
at the same time become overwhelmed.
Sometimes It takes an hour for the order
to be ready, the results is that students
arrive late for their lectures or if they
are starving, miss them altogether. Many
times I had to order my meal unheated to
save the time.
Moreover, some of the menu meals are
kind of expensive. Some students may
not be able to afford them. Unfortunately,
here in our DU’s culture students feel shy
to bring their own prepared meals from
home, so many students are suffering to
maintain certain standards.
Furthermore, the most significant issue
is that if you seek to have a portion of
healthy food, you will find nothing. All
you can see is fast food saturated with fat
or sugar. In the long run, this may cause
health issues and obesity among students.
To sum up, I would like to suggest some
solutions for the three main problems
FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019
that I have early reported. First, a spacious
lounge or two should exist in the primary
classroom building for the students to
rest and eat if the cafeteria is crowded.
Moreover, DU should control the prices of
the meals, and this could be possible if they
reduce the cafeteria’s monthly rent, for
example. It is wise to say that part of the
solution is in the hands of the students as
well. They should raise their voice and ask
for healthy meals. They can as well break
some social boundaries and start bringing
their lunches from home. Finally, I would
like to say that the higher the quality of the
cafeteria the higher the performance and
the more energetic the students would be.
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