Campus Talk: Season 2 - Episode 7

Synopsis

David opens the episode with campus announcements before introducing two guests involved in essential parts of student life at East Stroudsburg University: dining services and the campus newspaper.

The first guest is James Lawson, director of Aladdin Food Services at Danbury Commons. Lawson explains how Aladdin was selected through a competitive bidding process governed by detailed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requirements. The contract specifies the grades of meat and produce that may be purchased, the number of entrées offered, and even the daily contents of the salad bar.

Lawson addresses familiar complaints and myths about college food, emphasizing that ESU’s ingredients must meet the same standards used throughout Pennsylvania’s state university system. Although mistakes in preparation can occur, he rejects claims that the dining hall purchases inferior products. He also argues that the variety required under the contract gives students several choices at every meal.

The conversation turns to planned menu changes, including the introduction of a vegetarian entrée during weekday lunches. Lawson discusses possible dishes such as couscous with fruit and vegetable lasagna and explains that the program could expand to dinners and weekends if students respond positively.

Lawson also describes Aladdin’s catering services for campus receptions, residence-hall refreshment nights, university events, and activities at Stony Acres. He explains how dining services works with a committee composed of residence-hall representatives, administrators, and food-service staff. Students are encouraged to report specific concerns through their representatives or directly to a dining-hall manager so problems can be investigated immediately.

The interview concludes with a discussion of themed dinners, possible alternative meal plans, requests for juice at additional meals, and ideas borrowed from other universities. Lawson describes food-court-style serving areas and self-service stir-fry stations he observed at West Chester University while considering which improvements might eventually work at ESU.

David’s second guest is Damien Fanelli, editor-in-chief of the student-run Stroud Courier, who jokingly refers to himself as “Pope Damian I.” Finelli explains that students can join the newspaper simply by attending its weekly meetings and volunteering as writers or photographers.

Fanelli describes the newspaper’s staff structure, which includes editors, approximately twenty writers, and two designated photographers. Editors review submissions, copyedit articles, plan each issue, and help manage the production process. Because student participation was initially limited, the paper often published nearly every article it received, although a growing staff eventually allowed the editors to become more selective.

The interview provides a detailed look at how the newspaper was produced before modern desktop publishing. Articles were entered into a single computer, transmitted to the Pocono Record, measured and formatted, and then physically arranged during layout and paste-up sessions. The completed pages were photographed and converted into the final printed newspaper.

Fanelli candidly discusses the staff’s difficult start, admitting that the inexperienced editorial team had to learn the production process gradually. As a result, only nine issues were published during a fourteen-week semester. Despite the inconsistent schedule, he takes pride in making the paper less formal and more entertaining through humorous editions, including Halloween and April Fool’s issues.