 "Photo: Hanne Zak")
Forty mugs, 41 plates, 53 cups and 112 pieces of silverware.
A random sample of rooms in Madonna Hall and the Dussault Apartments revealed an extensive amount of COG contraband.
Stealing from the COG is common among students. However, many students do not realize the extent to which it happens or the effects it may have on their future dining experiences.
Resident Dining Manager Dan Harris works to keep the number of stolen items to a minimum but continues to see the number rise.
"It's frightening," Harris said. "If I put out 100 mugs at the beginning of the week, by the end there will be 40."
The amount of silverware stolen is also of concern. Students complain about never having enough forks, but this is a direct result of cutlery theft.
"I end up ordering 20 dozen forks twice a month," Harris said.
For Harris and the rest of the COG staff, it's frustrating.
"It's out and out theft," Harris said. "You don't walk out of a restaurant with their mug in your hand."
Students disagree.
"Students don't view it as a restaurant," sophomore Lucas Pearl said. "They see it as just a place they have to go to eat every day, so they are not going to take it as seriously."
According to Harris, the goal of the COG is to make students feel at home, not like they are at a restaurant, but when this is achieved, students may become overly comfortable.
"Familiarity takes place and students begin to feel as if it is their own personal dining place," Harris said.
The amount of money spent on replacing dishes and silverware takes away from other aspects of the COG.
"It means one less specialty night like Global Chef or pasta feeds. Each of these events cost money which we don't have if it is constantly being used to buy china," Harris said.
Food theft is also a problem. Although the COG policy states no food leaves the dining hall, students often take food with them as they leave.
"We understand people are eating on the go, and we are not going to stop student walking out eating a banana, but we are going to stop the student stuffing fruit into their backpack," Harris said.
When students are caught, the consequences are minimal, but they could start to see an increase.
"It often depends on how the student responds when I catch them," Harris said. "If they are apologetic, I will remind them of our policy, but if the student acts out, I feel as if I should teach them a lesson."
But all students could eventually feel the cost of stealing. The COG could be forced to make students leave their backpacks outside while they dine.
"We do not want it to get to that point, but sadly I see it happening eventually," Harris said. "Nobody wants to leave their $600 laptop in a cubby hole but sadly it has become a possibility."
Students would be upset if a ban on backpacks was put into effect.
"It would cause chaos," Pearl said. "It is a good theory but would take too much time to plan a place for hundreds of students to put their backpacks and make it secure enough so students would still come to the COG with their backpacks."
This option is not yet on the table, but if stealing continues, Harris says it may happen sooner than later.
Harris encourages students to return COG dishes and silverware and promises there are no consequences for returned COG-ware, only eventual consequences for those who keep stealing.
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