Hungry for Information

THERE IS SUCH ATHING AS A FREE lunch—not to mention breakfast, dinner and snacks—for those who monitor the "Free Food" bulletin on Dartmouth's Blitzmail network.

Paul Vickery '03, P.J. Nguyen '03 and Jesse Jacobson 'O4 developed the bulletin to help bridge the gap between hungry students and organizations looking to boost attendance at events.The three food fanatics scrutinize posters around campus and keep close tabs on other electronic bulletins, looking for any mention of free grub. "Not only do you get good food, but there's good conversation about topics ranging from environmental activism to public policy," says Vickery of the service.

There's enough free food on campus that a frugal student might not visit the dining hall for days on end. O ne week last winter there were 14 events where students could dine. A typical week might include a Pan-Asian community dinner in Collis Common Ground, a catered lunch and discussion about affirmative action hosted by the Women in Science Project, or an evening discussion on the ethics of war led by professor Ron M. Green with snacks from EBA's. Even students who might be delaying their term paper research for no good reason could get into the act by attending a talk on avoiding procrastination held in the Tindle Lounge—with pizza and cake provided.

Students keep coming back for seconds: The number of people monitoring the bulletin jumped from 28 last September to nearly a thousand by winter term. And for at least some of them, the food isn't always the main draw. "My favorite event was when the ambassador from Uzbekistan to the United States and Canada came to talk to us over breakfast," says Jacobson. It was so good that he's forgotten what was served. "'I want to say bagels and such, but the truth is I don't recall."