*EDITOR’S NOTE* The Daily Reveille would like to clarify that 459 Commons dining hall is not open to the public, according to the EOC.
 
Broken tree limbs and power outages around campus did not stop 459 Commons dining hall from reopening this morning.The dining hall opened at 7:15 to serve students, staff and family evacuees breakfast, according to Director of LSU Dining David Heidke.”Right now, this dining hall is open to service students and essential staff and any family evacuees,” Heidke said. “There’s a limited menu, but we’re taking care of people and everyone is getting a little something to eat.”The 459 Commons, originally scheduled to open at 7 a.m., opened late but is the only on-campus dining service available to students.The dining hall was scheduled to remain open Monday, but was closed as Hurricane Gustav passed over the University.Those eating at 459 commons are given an emergency dining card upon arrival.Jason Tolliver, director of Auxiliary Services, said the emergency cards have been an effective way to keep track of those entering the facility. ”We needed a way to track students, personnel and families on campus during the storm,” he said. “Since not everyone has a Tiger Card, we came up with this system to track them, and it gives students a way to eat without getting charged to their account.”Tolliver said those with dining cards are allowed “one meal per cycle,” meaning a meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He said this system will continue until the emergency order put into effect by the Emergency Operations Center is lifted. Tolliver said the dining hall has not experienced any major problems with the card system.”We’ve got a couple of lines maybe once or twice — not more than about 15 to 20 people — and that’s been the only problem we’ve had thus far,” he said.With most of campus still without power, spreading word the dinning hall is open may be difficult.Heidke said he thinks students will find out about the opening the “old fashion way.””What I believe will happen is most students will hear about it by word of mouth,” Heidke said. “I expect that once they all finish waking up, that by the end of the day, we’ll have seen a lot more students.”Outtakes, a convenience store in 459 Commons is not open.”Our challenge at the moment is staff,” Heidke said. “What enabled me to open this morning is a tremendous turnout from student volunteers on campus. I have got about 60 or 70 percent of 459 Commons running because of students. If I open Outtakes it will most likely just likely be the stores, not Taco Bell or Pizza Hut because our menu is limited.”The 459 Commons is located between Blake and the Laville Halls behind Acadian Hall.—-Contact Jay St. Pierre at [email protected]