The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and Dining Services Chair Patti Lee Klos are deciding whether to add Rose's to MOPS despite the fact that the Chinese restaurant may not extend its operating hours later into the night. Although slowing the process, the senators are correct to assert that Rose's remain open past 11 p.m., when most students crave local fast food.
If Rose's does not adjust its hours, the MOPS contract should be given to Golden Light, the runner-up in the Senate's Web poll. The Chinese restaurant in Davis Square has comparable quality food and advertises itself as open the latest in town.
The Senate should be applauded for its quick efforts to replace the popular Urban Gourmet, which dropped out of the program earlier this semester. Working with Dining Services, a Senate committee organized a Web poll, and promptly began negotiations with Rose's after it garnered the most votes. Now, however, those senators have understandably balked. Since meals cannot be purchased with points until 7 p.m., students would only have a four-hour window during which points can be used to order Chinese cuisine or sushi from Rose's.
The Senate should use the lull in negotiations to push Lee Klos to incorporate other restaurants into the program, rather than simply filling the Urban Gourmet vacancy. Although there was considerable interest in adding a Chinese restaurant, there was no cause to include only Chinese restaurants on the poll, leaving any alternative for the never-popular "other" category. The Boston Ave. dual-establishment Pasta Pisa/Caf?© de Crepe, for example, has shown interest in joining the program, and students should be given as many MOPS options as there are interested businesses. Furthermore, it is entirely unreasonable that Tufts information and technology staff cannot overcome the technical limitations Lee Klos has cited to justify limiting MOPS participation.
MOPS would also be enhanced if Tufts lessened the University bureaucracy involved in reimbursing the restaurants. Urban Gourmet dropped out complaining of the difficulty of working with dining services, whose payments to participating restaurants can allegedly arrive as much as two months late. This is unacceptable, and dining services should be more conscientious and prompt in working with local businesses. If, as it appeared yesterday, Lee Klos signs a contract with Golden Light, the student body will have been well served by their administrators and elected leaders. But the focus on the MOPS program should not be diverted until other pressing concerns are met.
