Plastic silverware and cups replaced the usual flatware in Convo last week when the dining hall’s dishwasher broke down.

For many students, a glass of milk just hasn’t tasted the same lately due to an increasing number of water spots and food particles, but the General Manager of Dining Services Fred Geib is working to correct the problem.

Convo’s dishwasher is about 25 years old and broke down once last year, Geib said. With the equipment on its last leg, Geib decided it was best to purchase a new dishwasher.

When the dishwasher took a turn for the worse Jan. 25, Geib ordered three skids of paper and plastic products in preparation for potential long-term effects.

“We put up signs, but we had a few complaints through our new ‘text and tell’ system about plastic silverware breaking,” Geib said. “Once we got the dishwasher working [sometime before noon], we had to rerun everything.”

Many students often overlook how many pieces of silverware and glasses they use each day because the cleaning is done for them.

“There is so much volume; we do about 3,000 meals a day here in the dining hall,” Geib said. “And that’s not even including catering events. That adds up to a lot of dishes, though it doesn’t seem like it since everything is spread out throughout the dining hall.”

The new piece of equipment is set to be installed sometime after graduation in May and will be in full swing for summer orientations, catering events and facility usage.

Along with the new dishwasher, the dining hall is experiencing other new changes as well. With the new “text and tell” system that has now been implemented, the dining hall is able to address issues, such as the dirty glassware, and correct them quickly.

The system itself replaced the paper comments and gives the dining hall the opportunity to reach students and communicate with them more quickly.

“If something serious happens, then we can text that student and address the issue immediately,” Geib said.

Now that the current dishwasher has been fixed, the idea of getting more than you bargained for when choosing your glass will no longer be a threat.