Sunday, November 8, 2009

No Coffee for You!: Ridding the Campus of Its Coffee Stands

By Shane Le Master

Many people say that the innumerable coffee shops and coffee stands scattered around Georgia Tech’s campus are a very nice touch and that their presence makes getting coffee very convenient. However, many young adults are using coffee now as a means of neglecting sleep. Instead of being responsible and practicing good time management to get to bed a decent hour, many students are pulling “all-nighters” and then drinking coffee to keep themselves awake. Students, as being growing young adults and as individuals who extensively use their minds, need to be sure that they are getting adequate sleep every night. In order to better facilitate these healthy habits, Georgia Tech needs to remove all the coffee enterprises on campus. This way, more students will find it more inconvenient to supplement little sleep with caffeine. Instead, they will develop more prudent and sustainable sleep patterns.

College statistics show a strong correlation between coffee consumption and poor sleep among students. According to a study by Texas A&M University, 93% of students do not get enough sleep. A report in the Villanova University newspaper shows that on average, 90% of young people consume coffee on a regular basis. It is doubtless that there is a strong relation between students who do not sleep adequately and students who regularly consume coffee. The school needs to identify this correlation and make the necessary changes in order to promote the well-being of its students. A removal of all the coffee shops and coffee stands on campus would make students less likely to use caffeine as a fall back when they imprudently fail to make time for adequate sleep. The final result would be a more responsible, more rested, and more productive student body. On Facebook, hopefully we will be able to see an end to the “I love coffee” and the “Pulling an all-nighter again” status updates and instead be able to see more things like “I love sleep” and “Looks like I’m going to get my 8 hours again.” While such an occurrence seems impossible now, it can surely happen if the school takes the necessary steps to tone down the presence of coffee on campus..

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