By Matt Holsapple
Staff Writer

New students used to home-cooked meals every day are going to have to change their habits.

Luckily, Purdue University Residences offer many different choices for student meals. From make-your-own pizza to fresh fruits and baked potato bars, there are dining options that should appeal to everyone.

University Residence's meal plans allow students to choose to eat their meals at any of the University Residence, making it possible to pick what they are in the mood for at each meal.

According to Kathy Manwaring, assistant director of food service, this is done so that the greatest number of students can be happy with their meal choices at any given meal.

"We offer a lot of variety in all of the different halls. There are diverse offerings to appeal to the whole population (of the University Residence)," Manwaring said.

Manwaring also said that the most popular choices for students are the food courts and PDQ.

The food courts, located in Meredith and Cary SE, give students many choices in one place. These choices include such options as make-your-own pizza, deli bar, make-your-own stir-fry, and pasta bar.

The food courts tend to attract a lot of students at each meal, which can result in long lines. Many students think that the food is worth the wait, but others say that it is possible to eat from the food court too often.

"I got really sick of it," said Kim Bowers, a sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts. "You can only eat pizza so often."

PDQ, which stands for Purdue Dining Quickly, allows students to get meals that are essentially to go. This option is located in Owen, Earhart and Hillenbrand. For PDQ, students can take out six items per meal. Of these items, two may be entrée items, and no more than two items may be the same thing.

The PDQ options lets students eat even if their schedules conflict with dining times. According to Manwaring, many students will get a PDQ lunch to eat on campus between classes or a PDQ breakfast to take to their rooms and eat while watching morning talk shows.

Other residence halls feature other specialties for different meals. For example, Cary SW features a Mexican bar and Wiley, McCutcheon and Harrison offer make-your-own Belgian waffles.