By Hailey Heinz

When Michelle Drown, a middler pharmacy major, eats at the Stetson West dining hall, she said she usually prefers to sit in the old seating area, away from the latest addition and its nine plasma screen televisions.

“Usually, when you go to the dining hall you want to socialize,” she said. “I think it’s really distracting. If you have nine different stations on, it all kind of becomes just noise.”

After major renovations last summer, the Stetson West dining hall reopened in the fall with expanded seating, revamped decor, the addition of the Xhibition Kitchen and an expanded Outtakes.

After one semester in the new facility, some students said they enjoy the changes, while others said the money could have been better spent.

“They spent way too much money, that’s for damn sure,” said Chase Cunitz, a sophomore business human resources major. “We’re college students; we don’t need all the razzle-dazzle. As long as the food tastes good, I’m all set.”

Other students also said they feel the renovations were excessive, particularly the plasma screen televisions.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Lisa Donnelly, a sophomore music industry major. “I think our tuition money could be much better spent … I don’t care about watching TV while I eat, I care about housing and lots of other things.”

The televisions cost $5,000 each, said Larry Mucciolo, senior vice president for administration and finance. The cost of the televisions was factored into the original $5.2 million budget for the remodeling.

“That was factored in because it adds more to the whole experience … for example, when the Red Sox were in the World Series they broadcast the games there, so it was a great place for students to go and watch,” said Northeastern Media Relations Specialist Brylee Maxfield. “It’s there for students to be able to enjoy something on these big, spectacular screens without having to go off campus.”

Some students agree the televisions enhance their dining experience, but said the sound could be improved.

Laura Sweet, a middler human resources and marketing major, said she thinks the televisions were a good idea, but because only one station has audio, it’s hard to understand what’s happening on the screens.

Other students said different aspects of the dining hall could have been improved, such as expanding the variety of food or the size of the food stations, specifically the stir fry, which often has a winding line at dinner time.

Maureen Timmons, director of dining services, said many possibilities were considered, but the renovations were limited by the building structure.

“When you renovate, it’s not like you have empty space,” Timmons said.

In order to expand the stir fry area, Timmons said outer building walls would have had to be moved. “That would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars,” she said. “We want kids to be able to have custom-made food … but that does take longer. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is.”

The specifics of the renovation were planned by a committee representing Dining Services, the construction team and student interests. Elliot Inz, vice president for finance of the Resident Student Association (RSA), was a student representative on the committee. He said he feels the renovations were successful, and have improved the quality of student life.

As the dining facilities continue to improve, some students said they feel the school is using them as an incentive, for better or worse.

“I think it’s a useless way of showing off that isn’t so much for our benefit as for undergraduate recruitment,” said freshman mechanical engineering major Alex Denniston.

Other students, however, said they think appealing to incoming freshmen is just good business.

Ryan Godfrey, a senior computer engineering major, will only have the benefit of one year in the new facilities. He said he thinks the money that went toward the addition could have been better spent elsewhere, but it does give the dining hall a “modern look.”

“I don’t think it really needed to be super high-class, but we have it, so enjoy it,” Godfrey said.