Summer schedule brings change to hospitality hours

Despite the usual summer cutbacks in hours, many of USC’s hospitality locations will remain open during summer vacation.

Though residential dining hotspots like Everybody’s Kitchen and Parkside cafeterias are closed until fall, a number of restaurants within the Campus Center will remain open, including Carl’s Jr. and Panda Express, among others.

“We now have LiteraTea open every day for breakfast and lunch, which is something we didn’t do last year,” said Kris Klinger, director of USC Hospitality. “We worked with the libraries … which asked us to keep Popovich Café open so we’ve extended their hours. We’ve extended things quite a bit.”

With a lower number of students on campus, keeping all the university’s eateries open isn’t practical, Klinger said, but USC Hospitality is open to any suggestion.

“We’ll expand things in July when there are more people on campus, including opening Moreton Fig for lunch,” Klinger said. “We’re open to any feedback. We worked with Popovich and then with the library with LiteraTea. … Anyone else, we’re very open.”

Even so, some hospitality workers feel the sting of the cutbacks they’re now facing.

“It’s too short,” said Yolanda Segura, who works at Panda Express in the campus center. “We’re only scheduled five hours [per day during summer] when we’re normally scheduled seven and a half. I don’t have another job and it means less money.”

Segura added the university provides her with insurance, so she doesn’t feel neglected.

“I used to take the summers off, but I can’t afford it anymore,” Segura said. “Since last year, I have to work. Every summer is about the same, though. It has to be less [hours] because there are less [people].”

Klinger assured, however, that any person working with USC Hospitality would be guaranteed a job at the start of next year.

“Anyone that has a job with us, that was employed with us and had hours with us during the year,” Klinger said, “is still employed with us and will be employed with us during the school year at the start of the fall.”

For now, some workers have moved to other USC departments, such as Housing, other companies, like Universal Studios, or are simply taking the summer off, according to Klinger.

Students on campus during the summer think the Hospitality venues that are open now are good enough.

“It’s enough for me, I mostly go to [California Pizza Kitchen] and Carl’s Jr.,” said Tzu-Hsiang Chang, a graduate student studying material science. “I’ve spent other summers here and this is a welcome change.”

Vera Raina, a junior majoring in screenwriting, thinks the opening of the campus center has been relatively convenient.

“As an upperclassman, I don’t really go to the [cafeterias] anymore, so it’s good that there’s an on-campus place I can go to when I want to eat.”

Café 84 is closed during the summer, but all of the restaurants within the campus center will remain open except for Lemonade and Wahoo’s Fish Tacos.