While we applaud AU for the creation of Eagle Eyes, a secret-shopper program designed to improve the customer service of the university's dining facilities, students shouldn't charge AU with a task it can't complete.
Not to be too scathing, but all of the reimbursed meals and service surveys in the world can't instill AU's student body with a sense of respect, consideration and common sense. AU's dining options do have problems, some of which include poor logistical planning, terrible hours and occasionally, unfriendly employees, but some of these shortcomings are truly student-induced. Lines at the Tavern, for example, are as much a result of students who stare idly at their french fries as they act disrespectfully toward dining employees. The same is true of the long lines and frazzled workers at the Eagle's Nest. Would secret shoppers sufficiently evaluate these underlying causes of poor customer service? Would students thus never be at fault?
To reiterate, we don't want to completely dismiss the Eagle Eyes program; improving customer service should be a university-wide priority. If anything, AU should expand the program to include the other offices that students constantly say are unfriendly. But we should not automatically assume that $15 reimbursements are going to convince even the most observant and objective students to spy on workers, especially when the real problem is often the students the workers serve.
