By Allyssa Schoonover
Reporter
Students may soon be able to get brain food after hours at the Bill Daniel Student Center during finals.
Aramark and Houston sophomore Christine Tran, a student senator, wanted to provide students with a place to get a late-night snack while studying for finals.
Tran looked for a way to provide this opportunity. After she spoke with staff at Aramark, a plan was created to extend the hours of Einstein’s Bros Bagels at the SUB during the week of finals. There will be a trial period for the extended hours this semester.
Jerry Weatherman, retail food service director for Aramark, said Einstein’s was selected because students will be able to get coffee, lattes, smoothies, sandwiches or snacks.
“We looked at different ideas,” Weatherman said. “Just by nature and a cost standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense to have everything open. We settled on Einstein’s because it provides the greatest amount of service needs.”
Einstein’s usually closes at 6 p.m., but Tran said it will likely close at 11 p.m. during finals.
“Basically it’s going to be during the dead days May 5 through May 8,” Tran said.
Aramark plans to extend Einstein’s hours for those few days. It is not a permanent change.
Student Senate will vote on the bill Thursday.
“There is a lot of consensus within Student Government about this,” Tran said. “Some people still think the SUB isn’t a good place to study, but a lot of people think with food being open it will be better.”
She also said the Moody Library Starbucks doesn’t make a lot of profit late at night. However, it’s possible that Aramark staff would consider extending hours during other special times, such as midterms.
“When we looked at the revenue it’s more costly to keep it open during later hours,” Tran said.
Both Weatherman and Tran said they think having Einstein’s open later fulfills a need for students. They won’t have to walk to the library or Exxon gas station to get food, or bring their own snacks. They said it’s a convenience that will likely be appreciated during such a high stress time.
Weatherman said they might continue to do this in the future, if it’s successful during finals this semester.
“It depends how business does,” Weatherman said. “It’s our role and our job to manage those costs as well as possible, and we have a good plan in place.”
