The 2001-02 Northwestern Student Handbook states that meal plans are “available to accommodate the dining needs of both resident and non-resident students.”

But for some students residing on South Campus, having only Sargent Hall, 1835 Hinman and Foster-Walker Complex dining halls open on weekends is not so accommodating.

Despite pleas from students living on South Campus, dining hall schedules have not changed from last year, when Allison’s dining hall was shut down on the weekends.

“It’s just really inconvenient for those that live in the dorm with a dining hall downstairs to go somewhere else,” said Weinberg sophomore Jodie-Ann Pennant, an Allison resident. “It’s not fair.”

Dana Levit, assistant director of food services, said complaints about dining services greatly outnumber all other complaints every year. The dining services staff tries its best to accommodate everyone, but in the end, some people are always left dissatisfied, Levit said.

“It is all about economics,” she said. “The demand for more than three dining halls is not present.”

Labor, energy and time would be dumped into the “excess trash bin,” along with the uneaten food if more dining halls were opened.

“It would be ideal to have all the dining halls open, but it would waste a lot of food and a lot of manpower having them all open,” said Courtney Brunsfeld, Associated Student Government vice president for student services and member of the ASG dining advisory committee.

She realizes having all dining halls open on weekends is not an option, but she agrees with students that the current schedule is unfair.

“ASG will look at alternative ways to operate the dining halls,” Brunsfeld said.

One possibility is opening 1835 Hinman on Saturdays and Allison on Sundays, Brunsfeld said. Another option is to open all the dining halls on weekends to see how many students go to each.

But Levit said those studies have been done already.

“We studied number of users in each dining hall over the weekends, and the results show that the dorms we picked have greater benefits to a greater amount of people,” Levit said.

Following renovations, 1835 Hinman has features that are preferable to Allison, Levit said.

Weinberg junior Willy Bailey made headlines last year when he staged an eight-day hunger strike to protest the closing of Allison’s dining hall on the weekends.

Silverware in hand, he sat in front of empty plates refusing to eat until Allison’s weekend hours were restored.

Food service representatives convinced Bailey to stop when they apologized for communication problems.

Allison is still closed on weekends, but Bailey doesn’t plan to strike again this year.