When it comes to what’s for dinner — and breakfast and lunch, too — students at Kansas State University’s residence halls are being served the best.

That’s according to the National Association of College and University Food Services, which has presented K-State’s housing and dining services with its Gold Award in the category of residence hall dining — single stand-alone concept/outlet for large schools.

The award is part of the association’s 37th annual Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards.

“The competition is a place for schools to compete and showcase the best of what they offer to their students,” said Mark Edwards, director of Derby Dining Center.

‘Everything we do for students’

“The single stand-alone category was the most important to K-State, as it represents everything we do for students: every menu and menu item we offer, every special meal event, every degree of choice we offer students. In this category, schools are competing to determine overall depth and breadth of services and menus provided in their dining program.”

Competition is offered in three groupings: small schools, medium schools and large schools. Schools are put into a group based on their enrollment and food service revenues.

What makes the win even more impressive for K-State, Edwards said, is that the university was originally entered in the competition for medium schools but was reclassified as a large school.

Large school category

“K-State was competing against schools double or triple its size; some of these schools have more students who live in their campus housing than our total student enrollment,” he said.

Finishing second in the single stand-alone concept/outlet category was Iowa State University, with Harvard University coming in third.

For the category, schools are judged on special portfolios that must include sample menus, examples of recipes used, how nutritional awareness was promoted to diners, and more. To earn a Gold Award, a school had to earn at least 90 percent of available points for that category.

“K-State’s portfolio was a visual feast for the judges,” Edwards said, crediting Terry Gleue and Mariel Edwards of housing and dining services with its creation and design.

The 26-page layout not only included menus, but appetizing photos — taken by K-State students — of menu items and materials like table tents and posters used to promote special meals.

Edwards also credits the collaboration and synergy of K-State housing and dining staff in earning the Gold Award. Core menus are prepared by Mary Molt, assistant director of K-State dining services. The menus are then critiqued and evaluated at weekly meetings of the staff of K-State’s three dining centers and adjusted to reflect changes.

Serving more than 6,000 meals a day

K-State serves around 6,300 total meals a day between its three dining centers: Derby, Kramer and Van Zile.

Edwards thinks K-State’s degree of choice in its menus swayed the judges.

“Our menus feature everyday items, things like hamburgers and salads that we serve every day; classic items that help bring a sense of home to our diners; and cyclical items, such as seasonal foods,” Edwards said. “But we also offer monotony breakers like special-theme dinners each week that transform our three dining centers into other places, like tropical getaways. These meals can range from fun foods to authentic world cuisine experiences to everything in between.”

Menus also are developed with vegetarians in mind and to meet tastes of the many international students who live in K-State’s residence halls.

K-State will now compete against Richmond University for the grand prize in the single stand-alone concept-outlet category. Richmond won in the medium school group; there was no Gold Award winner in the small school group. The winner will be announced at the national conference of the National Association of College and University Food Services, July 7-10, in San Jose, Calif.

In addition to the Gold Award, K-State also earned an honorable mention in the residence hall dining-theme dinner category. The award was for a special dinner that had a sustainability theme, featuring food items coming from not more than 150 miles around Manhattan.

The mission of the National Association of College and University Food Services is to promote the highest quality of food service on school, college and university campuses by providing members with educational and training opportunities, technical assistance, scholarships, industry information and research. The association has more than 600 institutional members and more than 425 industry members.

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• Christina Farmer, freshman in hotel and restaurant management, Blue Key Outstanding Student Scholarship;
• Erin White, sophomore in family studies and human services, Blue Key Study Abroad Scholarship; and
• Reyna Lay, freshman in apparel and textiles, Bernard Franklin Emerging Leader Award.

Each year, Blue Key awards more than $20,000 in scholarships to recognize outstanding service and leadership by students at K-State. Students had to apply for the scholarships and Blue Key members selected the recipients.

They were chosen for their academic achievements, professional growth and development and service to others. Each has demonstrated strong leadership abilities and professional potential.

Kati Michelle Chinery, dietetics

Chinery is completing her clinical internship in dietetics at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. She was a management intern at Van Zile Dining Center and co-chair of Eating Disorders Awareness Week at K-State. She was a peer educator for Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices (SNAC) and received that group’s Dare to Shine award. The honoree was a community mentor for preschool children in Platte County, Mo. She is from Stilwell.

Deanna Renee Coughlin, family studies and human services

Coughlin has volunteered with SHAPE (Sexual Health Awareness Peer Educators), K-State Health Decisions and Ph Upsilon Omicron. She also has worked with local community and school groups. She was in the university honors program and belongs to several honor societies.  With the International Services Teams, she worked with children in Nyeri, Kenya, and was student coordinator for the program. She is from Hayes.

Leslie Erin Graves, nutrition and exercise sciences

Graves will graduate with degrees in human nutrition, kinesiology and dietetics  – and a 4. grade point average. She has worked as a personal trainer and nutrition consultant at Peters Recreation complex on campus. Volunteer work includes Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices. She has received the Ruth Hoeflin Home Economics Scholarship, and others, and is a member of several honor societies. She is from Tescott.

Rachael Ann Heck, family and consumer sciences

Heck has participated in an ESL Study Abroad program in Chihuahua, Mexico, and was an Extension summer intern in Douglas County. She has served as a student ambassador and was co-captain of Big Cats for three years. She was president of the Family and Consumer Sciences Interest group. Her honors project was called “A-Mazing-ing Lost Recipe Recovery Project” which she designed and tested during as a student teacher. She is a member of several honor societies and the recipient of scholarships that include the Kansas Board of Regents. She is from Linn.

Stuart Joseph Heckman, personal financial planning

Heckman learned Mandarin Chinese and participated in a study trip to the Asian country last summer. An undergraduate research project resulted in a paper presentation at the Association of Financial Counseling and Planning Educators annual conference. He has served as a career specialist at the Academic and Career Information Center on campus and worked for four years as an associate wealth manager with Prism Financial Group in Overland Park. He is from Shawnee.

Kristen Kaye Henriksen, interior design

Henricksen is a leader of the campus Emerging Green Builders student group and is an accredited Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) professional. She has served as ATID ambassador and was a regional finalist in design competition this semester. A member of several honor societies, she is from Courtland.

Laurie Dawn Hildebrand, athletic training

Hildebrand, from St. John, made first team academic honors at the Kansas Athletic Training Society for two years. She has served on several boards and honor societies. Last summer she traveled to South Africa on a medical mission trip. Volunteer works includes home health care for AIDS and TB patients, children’s clinics, Habitat for Humanity and highway clean-up projects. She will attend physical therapy school at KU starting this summer.

Kelcie Lanae Hubach, nutritional sciences

Hubach received the Virginia Peine Excellence in Aging grant and has worked on research projects involving sport beverages, high protein diets, snack projects and grain products. She co-authored an article published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. A certified Nurses Aide and has been involved in a wide range of campus activities, she is from Holton.

Catherine Jean Metzgar, dietetics

Metzgar was a nutrition intern at the Hershey Company in Pennsylvania. On campus she was president of the Human Ecology Ambassadors and works as a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant for recreational services. She is a member of Mortar Board and other honor societies. During a trip to Italy she studied at the Apicius Cooking School. She is from Mound City, Missouri.

James Kale Monk, family studies and human services

Monk studied conflict resolution in Ireland and marriage and family therapy education in China. A member of Mortar Board and other honor organizations, he is student founder and program coordinator for the K-State Volunteer Center of Manhattan.  In addition he was a student interviewer in the search for a new K-State president. He worked with AmeriCorps and the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Team in 2005. Monk is from Bennington.

Chelsey Mueller, family studies and human services

Mueller worked with the Lutheran Church’s world mission in Kyrgyzstan last summer and is working on a project to send supplies to orphanages there. For her efforts on campus, she has received awards in rowing, community service, leadership and scholarship. She has also volunteered with Flint Hills Bread Basket, Court Appointed Special Advocates and home rebuilding post Hurricane Katrina. She is from Lindsborg.

Mary Elizabeth Ohmes, communication sciences and disorders

Ohmes has served as a clinician for Speech and Hearing and a pre-educator for special needs children in public schools. She is a member of honor societies Phi Upsilon Omicron and Kappa Omicron Nu and vice president of the Kansas State Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She is from Shawnee.

Anna Maria Perry, public health nutrition

Perry, president of the Pre-Physician Assistant club, has worked with Homecare and Hospice in Manhattan and Right at Home in Wichita. She is a certified nurse aid and has worked with children at the campus child development center. She is an honor-roll student who has received a number of scholarships. From Garden Plains, she has been accepted into the physician assistant program at Wichita State.

Danielle Mischelle Rodriguez, hotel and restaurant management

Rodriguez has served as president of the Hospitality Management Society and worked with the Human Ecology council, the international hospitality honor society and the Professional Convention Management Association. She interned with Armark at Denali Park Resorts in Alaska and has accepted a management position with Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. She is from Shawnee.

Alexandria Suzanne Teagarden, apparel marketing

Teagarten is the student speaker at 2010 commencement ceremonies for the College of Human Ecology. The senior has served as president of the Human Ecology Council, delegate to the Leadership Honors Bootcamp in Washington, D.C., and student ambassador in the Department of Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design. Her honors project included work on a history of the college. She is a KSU Foundation and Board of Regents Scholar and member of Kappa Omicron Nu, the national human ecology honorary. In July, Allie Teagarden will join the university as an admissions representative in Dallas, Tex. She is from Tecumseh.

Anne Marie Wasson, apparel design

Wasson has been a product development intern with GTM in Manhattan and will join the company’s staff after graduation. She has been a leader in Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and is recipient of the KSO Leadership and Activities Scholarship. Wasson is from Selden.

She was an Alpha Kappa Alpha National Scholar, Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a member of Mortar Board National Senior College Honor Society. She also is active with K-State’s Black Student Union and Multicultural Student Honor Society.

“My leadership experiences gave me the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone in order to challenge myself to reach higher limits,” DeLaney said.

She plans to go to nursing school and specialize in either pediatric nursing or psychiatric nursing.

The awards, first given in 1999, recognize the significant contributions the seniors made to student life at K-State. Directors and staff members in the division of student life nominated candidates.

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The team’s win came at the annual international conference of the Interior Design Educators Council in Atlanta.

The concept of the learning commons is a relatively new approach to creating libraries that meet the evolving needs of students in today’s digital age. “The project took place over two weeks. The first week was spent in researching current best practices in the design of university libraries,” Peggy Honey, associate professor, said. She and Carolyn Thompson, adjunct faculty in interior design, were faculty advisers on the project.

The students were then given an empty 3800 square foot  floor plan and only one week to design a flexible learning environment. Student designs were also required to address the issues of accessibility, sustainability, and all applicable building codes.

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Pei Liu, a graduate student in the Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics, has received $1,750 from the Peine Excellence for Aging Initiative for her proposal, “Perceived availability of and attitudes toward healthy food choices in assisted-living facilities.”

Stull wins award for research abstract

Valerie Stull has been named abstract winner for “Breastfeeding behaviors and attitude and in Maai Mahiu, Kenya” and will be recognized at the annual conference of the Society for Nutrition Education in July. Only five students nationwide were abstract winners.

Three dietetics students honored

The campus chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture, has recognized several students for excellence in research, teaching and academics. Those receiving Junior Honor Awards are Anna Binder, dietetics; Jessica Bocquin, dietetics; and Cassandra Cook, dietetics.

Silver Key taps five

Five freshmen have been selected as  2010-2011 Silver Key members. They are:

• Courtney Schmitz, family studies and human services;
• Andrea Sisk, interior design;
• Madeline Sapyta, interior design;
• Christina Farmer, hotel and restaurant management; and
• Courtney Frantz, family studies and human service.

The sophomore leadership honorary initiates must have at least a 3.0 grade point average.

Hwang article accepted

An article by Jinsoo Hwang and co-authors Seongseop Kim (Sejong University) and Dallen Timothy (Arizona State University) has been accepted for publication in the journal Tourism Management. The article is “Understanding Japanese Tourists’ Shopping Preferences using the Decision Tree Analysis Method.” Hwang is a graduate students in HMD.

Two earn Next Big Thing award

Matt VanSchenkhof and Virginia Webb placed second in the graduate student division of KSU “The Next Big Thing” entrepreneurship contest. They presented a plan to meet the foodservice needs of the Greek system on campus. Both are graduate students in the Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics.

Leson receives dissertation award

Sue Leson, who finished her PhD in HMD in December 2009, has been awarded the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Ohio Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for her dissertation, “Restaurant-Style Dining in Skilled Nursing Facilities: Resident and Employee Satisfaction.” She is a faculty member in dietetics at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio.

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The race starts at 9 a.m. in Bosco Plaza on the K-State campus. Cost is $10 or $25 for a team of three runners.

FAAST stands for Fair trade Awareness, Africa’s Sustainability, Together. One of the coordinators is Courtney Held, a senior in dietetics and public health nutrition.

“Together we can make a difference. Simple acts, such as purchasing fair trade food and gift items can make dramatic changes in the lives of people across the globe,” she said.

Instead of selling T-shirts for this race, participants have the option of purchasing a fair trade canvas bag made by women in Kenya and Malawi. To make the bags, women are paid a fair wage with which they pay school fees for their children and buy food.

Runners may register in the Union from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 14-16, online on the FAAST Fun Run 5K web site or at 8 a.m. on race day.

More than 130 runners raised $2,000 last year, according to Held.

Hannah Garcia with auction item Wii

Hotel and restaurant management students will have the 14th annual Travel and Dining Auction at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, in the K-State Alumni Center Ballroom.

The event will include both silent and live auctions. Emcee for the evening will be Casey Walker, senior. Vern Gannon, Topeka, will lead the live auction. Hors d’oeuvres, prepared and served by K-State hospitality students, and wine and beer, sponsored by the Tallgrass Brewing Company and King Estate Oregon Wines, will be provided throughout the evening.

Supports student activities

The Travel and Dining Auction is a fundraiser to help students in the hospitality management program earn financial support for traveling to regional and national food and lodging conferences, as well as educational scholarships.

Including in the auction this year will be an electronic Wii gaming system, high definition 32-inch Samsung television, various bottles of wine, a plethora of food and dining gift certificates, rounds of golf, hotel stays and more.

Kristen Case with Frank Martin autograph

Free parking is available in the West Stadium parking lot or in the K-State parking garage for $1.50 per hour. Shuttle service will be available to take guests to and from the west parking lot.

$20 tickets: parking, food, wine, fun

Bethany Beach with Coach purse to be auctioned

Reservations are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Reservations can be made online at the Kansas State University Foundation web site or by calling Karla Wisdom at 785-532-7513. More information on the auction also is available on the K-State Travel & Dining Auction web site.

“The Travel and Dining Auction is a valuable learning experience and is vital to the success and the scholarship section of the hotel and restaurant management program,” said Shannon Rowe, senior in hotel and restaurant management, Wichita, who is serving her second year as auction co-chair and is a third-year auction team member.

“Last year we raised more than $30,000, and our goal for this year is $40,000,” she said. “We are hoping the generous contributions from alumni, parents and friends of the program will help us reach this goal.”

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They will learn about the Alaska native culture, the Alaskan outdoors, and community nutrition/health. The dietetics interns will also fly to remote Eskimo villages to provide community health education. Other opportunities the students will experience include: diabetes/prevention, outpatient counseling, long-term care, maternal child health, community nutrition displays, and clinical work.

They will serve as mentors to high school age assistants who will work with her during the summer to learn more about nutrition and health.

Peck is a senior in dietetics and nutrition exercise; Thissen is a senior in dietetics and public health nutrition.

They are two of only 8 students nationwide selected.

Kelly Thompson, now a doctoral student in human ecology, was one of  five panelists from Sensory Analysis Center who went to Italy to eat ice cream for 10 days. “It was torture,” she said. “We tried to find bad gelato for the study, but it wasn’t easy.”

She examined the differences between gelato from Italy and gelato available in the United States and compared them with U.S. ice cream.

“Mostly we thought the research could be useful for ice cream manufacturers here in the United States,” Thompson said. “If they could see the differences, maybe they could market their products a little more toward gelato.”

She worked with an adviser, Delores Chambers, associate professor of human nutrition. Because Thompson and the panelists were able to describe the flavors in such detail, she and Chambers think that the findings may also help manufacturers seeking intense, authentic flavors for other types of foods.

“If you can make the flavors of a product true to what you’re calling it, that can make a huge difference,” she said.

Thompson said she found that the main difference between Italian gelato and U.S. ice cream was the intensity and authenticity of the gelato’s flavor, whether in common varieties or more unusual ones like bitter orange or chocolate with crushed pepper.

“Our ice creams have a lot more dairy and sweet attributes, and some have artificial flavorings,” she said. “With the gelato, the flavor it was called is the flavor you got. When you took a bite of the lemon gelato, you actually felt like you were eating a lemon because you had the bitter and the sweet.”

She said one of the reasons the Italian gelato is so different from U.S. ice cream is that lifestyles in the two countries dictate purchasing styles. Whereas people in the United States are more likely to buy ice cream in bulk for their home freezers, Italians generally walk to a gelato shop after dinner to buy individual servings. This means that they can get gelato made fresh every day and are willing to pay a higher price for better ingredients.

“Their machines produce a lot less overrun, which is the air they whip into the ice cream, and so it’s more dense,” she said. “It has more flavor, it’s at a higher temperature, and the great thing about it is that it has fewer calories and less fat than American ice cream because they use fewer dairy products.”

To conduct the comparisons, Thompson would shuttle gelato samples from nearby shops in Florence to the sensory analysts waiting back at the hotel. The panelists then rated the flavors for different attributes. Thompson originally planned for the panelists to conduct the studies in the shops.

“The first place we went they looked at us like ‘What are those crazy Americans doing?’ because we had to bring along our ballots with all of the characteristics on it and crackers and water for the tasting,’” Thompson said.

Thompson said she’s been asked to talk about her research project with K-State undergraduate students to show them the types of research they can do as K-State graduate students.

Now she’s working on her doctorate with Betsy Barrett, associate professor of hospitality management.

“I get all of the interesting projects. Now I’m looking at wine consumption in the millennial generation,” Thompson said.

Her work appeared in the Journal of Sensory Studies.