By Lisa DiCarlucci

The Students Against Lackmann Associated Dining (S.A.L.A.D.), a new student group who say they are looking to improve dining on campus, made its first appearance with bright green flyers, emblazoned with its acronym S.A.L.A.D. in bold letters, plastered all over residence halls.

S.A.L.A.D. held its first meeting on Wednesday during common hour.

A visit to their Facebook group page shows S.A.L.A.D.’s ideas on how to take an active role in improving campus dining. Some of these ideas include improving the overall quality of the food, obtaining reasonable prices and ensuring appropriate food storage and preparation. Eight people attended the meeting, despite the group having over 100 members on its Facebook page.

“I’m a vegetarian, and it’s just really hard for me to eat here,” junior Anna Stienstra said at the meeting.

The group was founded by senior Mike Trovato and juniors Laura Comer and Kurt Juergens. They originally expressed their concerns when Lackmann had an open meeting for all students and they were the only three to show up, they said.

Trovato, Comer and Juergens spoke with Lackmann supervisors about their wishes to see improvements in food storage, availability, options, hours of the dining services and prices. Now they have branched out, hoping to create a larger group of concerned students.

At the first club meeting, cockroach sightings were brought up as a major issue. “Several people on the Facebook group have commented concerning cockroaches found by the bagel stands, the salad bar and the in Netherlands Café,” the officers said.

There were also concerns about the quality of specific foods. “I went to Kate and Willy’s the other day and there was a big blue spot on my burger,” Trovato said. “I took a picture and put it up on Facebook.”

“Most people say they are generally happy with the food service at Hofstra, but if you ask them individually, everyone has at least one thing they would like to see changed,” Trovato said. They are hoping to take an active role in bringing these complaints forward, and also asking Lackmann the harder questions about the dining service.

Eisa Shukran, the director of Dining Services, said it is Lackmann’s “priority” to provide superior service to the students at the University, and that they have always tried their best to address all concerns.

The name of the organization, he felt, “had a negative connotation.”

“We’re clearly not radical, ‘let’s burn down the food service’ kind of people, but the people who are going to join our group are going to be unhappy with something,” Comer said, addressing the concern over the group’s name. “For as much as we complain, I don’t think Lackmann understands that we aren’t happy with them.”

The group plans to meet with Shukran once it is fully up and running.

Throughout the meeting, the officers repeatedly mentioned that there would be an effort made to “contact health inspectors and find out exactly what the rules and regulations are.”

“We want to know what to look out for,” Comer said.

The group plans to set up a table in the student center to provide information to students about the food service. They also plan to sell “cold, bottled drinks that are also sold by Lackmann for a much cheaper price.”

“Did you know you can sell a bottle of water for $.25 and still make a profit?” Comer added.

S.A.L.A.D. also plans to write a petition that will “express general concerns about what we dislike and want to be changed,” the officers said.

The co-presidents hope students will be interested in their cause. “It’s something that applies to everyone. We all have to eat,” Trovato said.

S.A.L.A.D.’s next meeting is March 12th at 11:30 a.m. in Brower Hall Room 102.

SALAD, Students Against Lackmann Associated Dining, established a club to improve dining options. (Lisa DiCarlucci)