By Ileana Paules-Bronet
The announcement came in the form of a Facebook post: “Burgess is turning into a Starbucks!” And with that update, my whole life changed. Perhaps I'm being dramatic, but Starbucks does seem like an odd choice.
I understand that Skidmore has its share of yoga pants and Nike Free-wearing biddies, but we are much more of a hipster school, on which those sitting outside on the green, drinking his or her kombucha, will agree with me.
So why do we need a Starbucks? And why is everyone so happy about it? I am no coffee connoisseur, but I really do not think that the Green Mountain coffee was that bad. I get that it is not roasted to the peak of perfection and whatnot, but I am not entirely sure Starbucks coffee is much better.
The cost of Starbucks coffee does not make any sense for a college student’s budget. A small coffee (or should I call it a Tall now?) used to cost $1.50 at Burgess Café. Now, they cost $1.77, which may not seem like a huge change, but it adds up; five of these new coffees and you could buy a whole sixth Green Mountain coffee.
Furthermore, the quality of the experience is questionable at best. The fact is that the student workers are not professionals and have little to no experience preparing the array of listed beverages. The upshot is long lines that end with a poorly made, kind of Starbucks-quality Frappuccino. Timely service and quality coffee is now a thing of the past.
On a positive note, Burgess has a pretty new redesign! It now offers less space, one fewer door, and fewer snack items. It does have some cute seating, where you can overlook the SkidShop, everyone’s favorite view.
I know I am being really sarcastic and cynical, but I just do not know that changing Burgess to now offer Starbucks Coffee is going to have a positive impact on the Skidmore community. I know many people feel otherwise, but paying more for potentially better quality coffee might be too much of a hassle for a broke college student like me.
But who knows? The student workers will probably improve with time and experience, and maybe there will be a protest to lower prices. Either way, I will probably be overworked and exhausted by some point next week and cave in, joining the ranks of the Starbucks cronies. And as long as they still give me a coffee punch card, I think I might survive.