Every Friday at 3pm graduate students, faculty and staff members in Department of Computer Science get together at the pit for snacks and informal chat. The pit is an open area near faculty mail boxes.
The snacks are sort of "free". Every week either a faculty member or about three students get them. Hosting the donut hour is voluntary, but it is hoped that one would plan to host it at least once in an academic year. Hosting a donut hour is estimated to cost about $60. So for students its about $20. The hosts can of course spend more at their discretion.
It is known as donut hour because initially hosts used to get only donuts. But later hosts started getting innovative and have been getting a variety of snacks. Lately many hosts have been getting their traditional food. Given the diversity of ethnic backgrounds in the department of Computer Science, Donut Hour has seen snacks ranging from the Indian Samosas to the Chinese Moon Cake.
Do you want to host it? Send email to donut@cs.sunysb.edu