Beginning this fall, upper-class students will have the option of selecting bag lunches at Loker Commons in lieu of trekking back to the Houses for their midday meal.

Students will be able to swipe their cards and select freshly-made sandwiches, fruit, beverages and dessert courtesy of their meal plans.

"It's our attempt to understand the reality of how busy students' lives are," said Harvard Dining Services (HDS) director Ted A. Mayer. "You can grab a bite to eat without spending [Board Plus or Crimson Cash]."

The lunchtime option will be available Monday through Friday during normal lunchtime hours.

The bag lunch option came at the request of the Undergraduate Council's Dining Services task force, headed by John Paul Rollert '00 and Noah Z. Seton '00.

"A group of students came to us from the U.C. and asked us if it would be possible," Mayer said. HDS then "talked to [house] masters about it," he said. "They were in agreement."

Mayer predicts that students will still prefer a sit-down lunch at the houses to the new option.

"We don't want to do anything that will take away from the vitality of the house system," he said.

Council Commencement

The announcement came at a council meeting fraught with new beginnings and sad goodbyes.

The council elected Sterling P.A. Darling '01 secretary, and John A. Burton '01 treasurer of the council for this semester.

Darling previously served as secretary of the council's Student Affairs Committee, as well as the assistant to the council secretary during the fall semester. He was nominated by fall semester Secretary Olivia Verma '00.

Darling pledged to distribute council minutes in a timely fashion and to archive current and past council minutes. He also said he plans to extend the Student Voice, the council newsletter distributed to all undergraduates.

Burton was the secretary of the council's Finance Committee last semester and served as the special assistant to former Vice President Mark A. Price '98, who nominated Burton for theposition of treasurer. Burton pledged tocommunicate with student groups to inform them ofavailable council grants.

In other business, the council voted to onceagain act as Harvard's match-maker by providingthe "Datamatch" service in time for Valentine'sDay, in collaboration with the Harvard ComputerSociety (HCS).

Council members will table in dining halls nextweek and sell students the chance to fill out asurvey about a variety of topics.