Ashley Fries, Opinions Editor
By Ashley Fries
Change is a big deal, especially in a small university such as Kutztown. With the remodeling of the Bear’s Den including the Java City becoming a Starbucks, I wanted to know what the student body thought of this and sent out an anonymous survey. Overall, the student body is not happy with this change and wish they would cancel the conversion.
General feeling of the conversion
Most of the surveyed students said that they are not a fan of Starbucks at all. They avoid the one in the Academic Forum and go out of their way to Java City. Furthermore, the majority said they prefer the quality and staff at the Java Cities on campus. A large amount of students also feel with the new Dunkin’ Donuts and now this, that corporations are taking over Kutztown and they are extremely distressed about this.
Frequency of visits before and after the conversion
I asked students how often they went to the Java city located in the Bear’s Den compared to how often they
will go to the Starbucks that will replace it. Only three percent said they never went, 14 percent said they rarely went, 43 percent said the occasionally went and 40 percent said they went all the time.
Then in regards to how often they will go to the Starbucks, only 20 percent said they will always go, 25 percent said they will occasionally go, 16 percent said they will rarely go and 39 percent said they will never go.
With these numbers it appears that the Starbucks will not have the same amount of business as the Java City did.
Keep it or change it
I then asked if the surveyors would keep or change the Java City. Almost 65 percent said they would keep it a Java City if they could. Only 32.31 percent said they would change it to Starbucks and only three percent said they don’t know or dont care what happens to it.
It is obvious that the student body, overall, wants it to stay a Java City and would do so if they could. However, some students suggested changing the Java City on the south side of campus to a Starbucks since the north side already has one. Or at least adding one on south side.
Miscellaneous
When asked if the students had anything else to say about this conversion. The overall tone was upset and angry. They do not want this change to happen and think that it is a waste of money on the universities part. If they wanted to update the Starbucks in the AF that would be one thing, but getting rid of one coffee shop for another seems like a waste. Furthermore, students said they would prefer if a conversion must happen that the Java City in the Library became a Starbucks.
Students are also concerned about the staff that currently work at Java City. They are overall very beloved by the students and with the help wanted signs around the Student Union Building, they are worried they will lose their jobs. Some say if this happens they will not go there on principle. Students say these are the nicest workers on campus and sincerely hope that they do not get replaced. They are overall loved very much.
Overall, students feel our money is being wasted when it could be used for much better renovations.
Overall
Overall the student body thinks the school is making a giant mistake and plead that if it is not too late that they cancel it all together. Many students complain that they never have a say in what happens on campus and would much rather the school put it to a vote before changing what we have to deal with. If they would have sent out a mass email survey they would have found that this was a mistake and the student body does not want this. Then the students could actually have a say with that goes on at our campus.