For some students, the traditional eating schedule of three meals a day is not sufficient, yet between studies and out-of-class hobbies, it is not always easy to get a meal at whatever odd hour hunger strikes. New dining hours may satisfy late-night cravings.

J. Clarke’s Grille in the Metz dining hall has extended operating hours from 9 p.m. until midnight.

According to general manager Bruce Deeble, the increased hours come at the request of Student Government, whose members enjoyed last’s years extended dining hours and wanted to see them again.

“I know that they like their french fries and burgers and cheesesteaks and you know, they can’t get those things at chick-fil-a because that’s just not what they offer there, so it was really the students who contributed to the change.”

Deeble said that because these extra hours apply to the grille alone, students will have to pay with either credit, debit, or cash and not with their meal swipes.

“I think this will benefit students because it offers more hours for them to come and grab something to eat if their other activities don’t let them eat at regular times,” said Deeble.

“The students really seemed to like having that extra availability in the past, so I think they’ll enjoy them again this year as something more permanent.”

Senior Micaela Rhone praised the new hours and said the schedule will be beneficial to all students.

“I think that the extended hours are a really good idea because it gives students another option of where to eat after cafeteria hours,” she said.

“I think that it will help them, overall, because if you don’t have time to get dinner before maybe a night class or something, you’ll now have the time.”

At the same time, however, she wondered about the unintended consequences of late night nibbling.

She pointed out that because the grille is open so late, students could start eating at 10 p.m. every night, which she thought would not be a good habit to take up.

Other than that, she gave the change positive feedback.

“They did it for a period last year before the chick-fil-a opened,” she said, “and I think that a lot of people did take advantage of it. It was beneficial to them, so hopefully it will be this time, too.”

Freshmen Mollie Langan  had nothing but positive things to say about the change.

“I think it’s a good idea to have at least part of the cafeteria open,” she said. “I know that, especially if you’re in the health science major and you have more night classes and the regular cafeteria hours are only until eight and you have a class that ends at nine, you get back and you’re out of luck for dinner.”

But now, she said,students are in luck.

“So, I think it’s a good idea to have at least that part of the cafeteria open for people who miss regular hours because of their academic investments.”

Langan said she misses lunch hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of  classes.

“So it’s nice that they’re making food available for people who have classes that cause them to miss dinner. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable, but you need to eat and mac and cheese in your dorm only lasts so long.”

Deeble hopes that the new hours will prove popular with students and faculty

“There was such positive feedback when we did it before,” he said. “So, I’m hoping that by having these longer hours again, they will enjoy it and take advantage of it like they did before.”