Brian Dennis, biology sophomore, said he is known as the guy who cooks the omelets to many IUS students. In fact, Dennis has been working the morning shift in the Food Court all semester, but this is merely a break from his other “batty” job. During summer breaks, Dennis trades his cooking utensils in for tracking devices and nets. His work no longer centers on the needs of students, but on the needs of wild bats. And just as Bruce Wayne’s work as an entrepreneur is merely a side job from being Batman, Dennis’ omelet work is a side job from being his own form of “Batman.”

[Chef 1] Aaron Wilder, sous chef for Dining and Conference Services, helps prepare a sandwich for a customer in the Food Court. Wilder is an IUS alumnus and applied for the position three times over a three-year period before being selected for the position. IU Southeast hired a new chef at the beginning of the year, Aaron Wilder, sous chef for Dining and Conference Services. Wilder graduated from the School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in business management at IU Southeast in 2006. “I learned more from being on the job than in [culinary] school,” Wilder said. “I felt [it] was a waste of money.”

IU Southeast collected submissions for a new name for the Food Court. Students, faculty and staff were eligible to submit entries until March 9. All of the submissions were submitted via e-mail in order for Dining Services to have the date and time postmarked. More than 60 names wore submitted. Julie Ingram, director of Conference and Catering, gave some insight as to why the Food Court decided to change its name.

I recently had a troubling experience in the Food Court at IU Southeast. A few weeks ago, I ventured in on my lunch break to get a bite to eat. I weighed my options and decided on a hamburger. As I was watching the young man prepare my hamburger, I could not help but notice how he used the same pair of gloves to pull out the raw hamburger patty and put it on the grill that he used to touch my hamburger bun, to-go box, lettuce and tomato.

James Carter, executive chef for the Food Court, has worked his way into the food business after hard economic times hit the country. Before becoming a chef, Carter worked as a welder for ship yards across the country. He said he traveled quite a bit but wanted to return home to find a more stable job.

During the summer break, renovations to the Food Court took place to open up space and improve customer flow. Although renovations to the Food Court occurred in 2007, lack of funding for sufficient expansion and increased enrollment caused long lines during the lunch hour. Dana Wavle, vice chancellor of Administrative Affairs, said the goal of the renovations was to reconfigure and expand the layout to help with customer flow.

During the summer break, renovations to the Food Court were supposed to begin. However, because of a delay, those plans have been moved to summer 2011. Dana Wavle, vice chancellor for Administrative Affairs and Finances, said the delay was due to checking the accuracy of the design plans. Although the firm Robert Rippe & Associates completed the design in April, the project still needs to be approved by the Architect’s Office in Bloomington.