Long lines stretched out of Atwater dining hall this week as lots of students brought their laptops to lunch. 

Long lines formed outside dining halls this week due to a new dining services policy that calls for everyone to discard laptops, shoes, and liquid items greater than 3 ounces prior to entering.

Dining Services coordinator Deborah Bickerstaff said that the new policy was devised over the summer as part of Dining Services’ multi-year plan to make the dining hall entry process run more smoothly.

“Making people take all of this stuff out of their backpacks before they get into the dining halls will just make everything easier,” Bickerstaff said. “After the success of the swipe system last year, we thought this was the natural next best step.” 

Despite the efficacy of the new policy, students are expressing frustration with the new regulations.

“It’s outrageous,” said Peter Newlight ‘20, a member of the men’s lacrosse team. “I stood in line for an hour outside of Proc in my socks on Monday and they totally ran out of chicken parm.” 

Although Bickerstaff was exhausted by the number of similar complaints she has been receiving, she recognizes that it just might take students time to warm up to the new system. 

“Look, they always get uppity when we change things. You should have been there when we took away the nice cheese in Proc, or when we made all the dining halls serve the same food,” said Bickerstaff. “But the good news? The whole bunch of them are sheeple. They’ll get used to it in two weeks. Just wait and see.”