By Natalie Luu

AJOINT EFFORT interns and the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

gives rise to creative, cost effective change for the dining hall on campus.

To save energy costs, food service management interns and the Board of Operations at UN-Reno have agreed on June 28 that starting in the fall, the Argenta Dining Hall will no longer have the trays or dishes currently used, according to UN-Reno intern Kate Ryder, who attends the University of New Mexico during the academic school year. “Going tray-less will be a huge step for this university and save a tremendous amount of money,” Ryder said.

Instead of the plastic trays and traditional round ceramic plates, food service management will have students use uniquely shaped trays made of melamine, a light and durable material. “The melamine bowls and plates will be safer and are practically unbreakable,” Ryder said. “All those elements could make for a

better dining experience.” Food service

management arranges to have the bowls and plates designed in such a way to make them stack on top of one another, making up for the loss of trays, according to Ryder. “Trays are really useful and to solve the problem of having no trays, the new bowls have to be stackable,” she said.

The biggest plus about coming out of the transition from traditional tableware to ergonomic crockery is amount of water UNR will save, according to Ryder. “Out of all the improvements, changing the way the campus dining hall washes dishes will probably make the most impact, especially with Nevada’s

dry weather,” she said. Students are excited

their school is trying to reduce its carbon footprint. “I prefer it the new way,” UNR freshman Elise Stevens said. UNR Freshman Malia Hall is impressed by the new designs of the dishes. “The old trays are hard to balance but the new ones aren’t awkward at all.”

By Natalie Luu

A MAIN WATER LINE busted beneath a parking lot on the UN-Reno

campus this week.Plumbers attempted the

fix the pipes beneath the Silver 4 Parking Lot near the Virginia Street Gymnasium on the morning of June 29. Although the main leak was beside the parking lot, plumbers Jose Madera and Greg Torvinen found the loose valves under the Silver 4 near the gym with metal detectors.

Fixing the leak could have been less intruding if contractors considered not building parking lots over valves, according to

Torvinen. “It’s a bigger process because it’s a matter of finding the valve and digging up the asphalt in the parking lot,” Torvinen said. “The contractors don’t make it easy.” Using a backhoe, Madera and Torvinen tore up section of

the parking lot to place clamps on the valves.

Though not extremely rare, leaks occur about twice a year on campus, a c c o r d i n g

to Torvinen. “It’s not that uncommon, but the process could be easier.”

Plumbers unearth parking lot to fix leaky water valves

June 30, 2010RENOvation Conference Front Page Design

SportS

CampuS Spotlight

The

RENOva

tor • Cafeteria plans

to use new, eco-friendly tableware next fall at UNR

TThe contractors don’t make it easy.”

“GreG Torvinen,

plumber

Plumber Greg Torvinen chisels at the Silver 4 Parking Lot on June 29.

ryan yu

• Knowledge Center turns UNR tech-savvy

• Reporters uncover food destinations and options on the campus.

Wolf Pack Soccer Camp takes off

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PHoTo iLLuSTraTion By JereMy GaineS anD ryan yu