There’s a vending machine on campus that makes coffee drinks to order. Unfortunately for students and faculty, it’s behind a keypad-locked door in the Administration Building, in a breakroom for administrators.
Most vending machines are toward that side of campus.
All of the students living in West Grove Commons and the Village at Centennial Square are being neglected. All of the students taking classes in Burk Hall, the Creative Arts Building, the Fine Arts Building, the Humanities Building, and Marcus Hall are being neglected. These are students with wallets who want to buy things but aren’t being given easy opportunities to.
Sure, there are lots of businesses around that area but you have to wait in line and interact with a human. Sometimes, that’s just not something you want to do. We need more — and better — vending machines on campus.
In general, they provide a quick, easy, and convenient choice. Those on campus are fine for now. I wouldn’t mind seeing a machine that dispenses packaged food like chips and granola bars in the Humanities Building. A vending machine that vends bottles of juice, tea and water would be nice too. However the vending machines on campus currently pale in comparison to the vending machines available in other places.
Let’s look at the Bay Area first. In Stonestown, there are two machines that make coffee drinks to order. There used to be a vending machine that made fresh baguettes. At Safeway locations, you can buy lottery tickets from machines. There’s a company with machines that sell salads and fresh fruit.
In other parts of the country, there are machines that sell socks, violin strings, lobsters, ice cream, hot dogs, caviar, over-the-counter drugs, hair extensions, pies and more. Looking elsewhere, there are vending machines that sell mashed potatoes, fries, eggs and even used underwear. It’s pretty clear that pretty much anything can be sold in a vending machine.
So why do people keep creating them?
It’s because people obviously love buying things from them.
I don’t know about you but when I go to the airport and see that there’s a CafeX vending machine, there are usually people around it recording it making a drink. There’s a sense of newness having a machine make or provide something to you that a human normally provides. It’s fun to see and hear the sounds of a machine providing whatever you ordered.
They embody novelty and speed. Meanwhile, Cafe Rosso, Taza Wraps and Smoothies, Village Market and Pizzeria, and Subway have been around for years and have lines whenever you want to order something.
When I’m in between classes and I have a few minutes, I can’t afford to spend my time suffering in line, trying to get a snack. Judging from how many students roam campus, I’m not alone. And it’s not just the students who would use them. Instructors racing between their offices and classrooms who don’t have time to step out of the buildings to buy a drink would probably appreciate having the option to use a vending machine.
Potential students visiting campus for the first time might feel more inclined to attend after seeing that there’s a machine where they can buy clothes or stuffed animals. Parents of students might feel better knowing that their kids can easily buy breakfast on the go.
People who don’t even use them would feel the benefits of the machines. Providing more competition to the seven food businesses owned by one man would force prices to stay as they are to remain competitive. The vending machines also need maintenance, providing new work.
The Sephora machine in the student center seems to have been warmly received. This shows that people want and appreciate new vending machines. And, with a $13.9 million deficit, vending machines could be an appealing investment, providing a new source of revenue through product sales and ads placed outside the machines.
So, can we get some new vending machines, please?
