By Philip Hutchinson / Asst. News Editor
Express lunch (Jarred Jackson / Staff Photographer)
By Philip Hutchinson / Asst. News Editor
Anyone who has attended Riverside City College for more than a year can remember a time when the food trailers stood outside the Quad and Lovekin Field, stocked with all kinds of food, drinks and school supplies.
Then last year, the trailer near Lovekin was placed near the Quad, then was moved over to the small break area near the Martin Luther King Jr. Teaching/Learning Center in what used to be known as the smoking area.
This year, they’re both gone entirely, and the only place to buy food on campus is the cafeteria or the bookstore.
Cheryl Ruzak, the director of Food Services, said that the trailers were removed due to low business.
Not frequented enough by students, the trailer cost more than it was bringing in.
Also, there were problems with students loitering around the trailers, but not actually conducting business there.
A lot of students reaffirmed this fact saying that the cafeteria or the bookstore was just easier, or that they liked them better.
However, one of the few things the students did like about the trailers was the ability to run over before class started and quickly pick up a Scantron.
This seemed to be the only real advantage the trailers had over the cafeteria though.
A new project that will surpass the trailers and help students who can’t always make it to the cafeteria is in the works.
The old dispatch building above the parking structure is soon to be converted into a new cafeteria express store, with many of the commodities the cafeteria provides.
“I’m calling it more of an upgrade,” Ruzak said. “Upgrade ourselves out of the trailers into something more permanent, something that’s professional, that shows us as more of a business.”
As an added bonus, the new express will be able to take credit cards, not just cash.
The building is going to be renovated shortly, and work on installing all the necessary equipment will commence.
Ruzak is hoping to have it fully operational within a few weeks, anywhere from mid November to late December.
She is hoping for it to be up and in place before finals, so that the students who just come in and leave for their tests need not worry about the long trip and the lines in the cafeteria itself.
Ruzak is also planning on putting up another small structure in the area of the new buildings going up, so there will be enough options for anybody’s schedule.
Even though the trailers are out, done and gone, something bigger and brighter will be arriving in its place very soon.
