Frist: Bursting at the seams?

As the year progresses and dining hall food looks all too familiar, an overwhelming number of students are relying on the Frist Campus Center to spice things up.

Though the main gallery, the beverage laboratory and the cafe have added to students' eating options on campus, rising numbers of patrons have created bigger lines for food and a crowded eating environment.

"The response to services, programs and facilities here has been tremendous," said Paul Breitman, director of the Frist Campus Center. "It has exceeded what we anticipated, certainly in as quickly as it occurred."

Projected traffic in the main dining gallery during this first one-year period was originally set at approximately 400,000 people. However, after only seven months, Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice said Frist has already reached that total.

According to Orefice, the main gallery has experienced a 26-percent increase in average daily patronage since October — from 3,100 to 3,900 customers. The combined dining facilities in Frist have experienced a 49-percent total increase in daily use — from 4,300 to 6,400 customers.

"The gallery [traffic] has exceeded what we expected, the cafe is a bit more than expected, the convenience store is what we expected and the beverage laboratory is under-utilized," Orefice said.

He also noted that the recent addition of milkshakes to the beverage lab's menu has doubled the facility's traffic.

The surge in Frist's overall popularity has led, inevitably, to crowds and long waits during late meal hours. Students facing these inconveniences have ample constructive criticism.

"Frist was designed as a place to bring students together, and in essence it does that," said James Cadogan '03. "At peak times the cooking could be a little more prepared and they could also have separate registers for points, charge or cash," he pointed out.

"Frist has a really good set-up. Their policies are the problem. I think it is their inflexibility that hurts them," said Kate Buzicky '02.

This is the consensus among many students. They largely attribute the size of the crowds around 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. to the limited window for late meals.

"They won't start late meals even a few minutes early," said Katherine Wall '04.

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"If Frist is a place where you can use your extra meals, you should be able to use them at your convenience," agreed Jonathan Thomas '04.

The allure of Frist's fare is also impacting the future of the residential dining halls. "It's helping us look at what to offer in the colleges," said Orefice.

Commenting on the possibility of changes in Frist's infrastructure, Breitman said, "At some point, we will need to consider how to address the needs that it currently does not." Such changes, however, are not on the immediate horizon, he said.