Walk into any eating establishment on campus, and chances are you'll be treated to more than just a snack; you might just get an earful. Quite a few campus restaurants allow their employees to pick the music their diners listen to. It might seem like mere background noise, but there's more thought going into the choices made than you might think.

"I had a mix on the other day," said West Wing employee Zachary Ludescher (junior-film and video). "There was a little Bouncing Souls, some Talking Heads, The Clash, The Cure, you know. I think it moved into a little indie rock from there: Modest Mouse, Dismemberment Plan. You know, the big names."

Ludescher, like many student employees on campus, has free reign for the musical selection at his job. He said he realizes not everybody shares the same taste as him, and tries to choose things accordingly.

"I try to pick stuff people would enjoy if they hadn't heard it before," he said.

Meliza Fernandez (sophomore-broadcast journalism) works at the Moxie Coffee Bar in the West Halls Commons. She, too, is in charge of the music that plays to her patrons when she's working, and like Ludescher, tends to favor a CD of her own making while on the job. "I usually play a mix," Fernandez said. "They'll have everything: Spanish music, hip-hop, slower songs, you know, R&B. I like to play a lot of upbeat stuff."

Carlyne Sainphor (senior-biobehavioral health) works at Findlay Commons' Big Onion restaurant. "If it's the older employees picking the music, we usually just put on the '80s station," she said. "Over dinner, we usually try to play the hottest hits for the customers. ... It's really eclectic."

Sainphor said she tends to choose music not everybody is used to hearing. "Since a lot of us are older, we love that stuff," she said of the '80s music she favors. "You get sick of hearing the same songs over and over."

As both employees, students and patrons of restaurants such as Big Onion and West Wing, Sainphor and others recognize the need to play music that will be appropriate for everyone. She said she and her coworkers try to pick music that everyone will enjoy, or at least be able to ignore. "Not everybody likes '80s music and classic rock, you know," Sainphor said. "We try to find a happy medium."