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I take my coffee with cream, sugar and comfort
By Joshua McCracken
What I see is a student government that was hurt financially by the dishonesty of one of their own (who has yet to be sufficiently punished in my opinion), and is now trying to strong-arm the last inexpensive coffee place on campus into raising its prices to recoup the SA�s losses.
I feel that all groups on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus should have equal access to funds, and I was extremely angered to hear that the Student Association planned to put five completely different entities together into a cheaper one.
Three made it out relatively unscathed; the 8th Note Coffeehouse and the UWM Dance Team weren�t so lucky.
It�s ridiculously easy to pass out social prescriptions on top of my little soapbox here, since no one can really shoot my arguments full of holes as I make them. But it�s my soapbox, and my feet are planted firmly. Do something.
Have you been inside of the 8th Note lately? It�s pretty cozy. To the people at the Grind, you make good coffee, but you really are the Starbucks to the 8th Note�s Rochambo. I�ll buy it from you, but I won�t be caught dead lingering.
It�s not you, it�s me. I feel too exposed in the Grind, and the few times that I have tried to study in there have met with failure. Though the noise level is considerably higher in the 8th Note, it feels more like my apartment than it does a coffee house. Well, minus the attention-needing puppy and the cat who is always hungry.
I admit: I don�t know the whole story with the 8th Note. I�ve heard three or four different stories, but money is always brought up. The SA is strapped for cash I�m sure (especially after the alleged incident with a certain former president and a $10,000 check), but it seems almost like the SA is out to shut the 8th Note down for good.
While most other coffee places on campus charge a pretty nice price for coffee, the 8th Note keeps it under $1. Honestly, coffee is bitter and most of us will only drink it with cream and sugar; its sole purpose is to wake people up in the morning or keep them going through a long night.
However, since most of us are poor and enjoy being able to sit down and relax with our coffee, the 8th Note is irreplaceable on this campus.
What I see is a student government that was hurt financially by the dishonesty of one of their own (who has yet to be sufficiently punished, in my opinion), and is now trying to strong-arm the last inexpensive coffee place on campus into raising its prices to recoup the SA�s losses.
There have been a lot of complaints about extra money from every person that I�ve spoken to, and I�m aware that money makes the world go round. But the 8th Note provides a service. It may not be on the same scale as the LGBT Center or the Women�s Resource Center, but it is a service.
College is expensive enough; most of us pay upwards of $9,000 a year just to go here. Then of course there is all of the extra stuff � it�s a lot of work. Nothing is cheap anymore (thanks Bush), but to alienate a business simply because it is refusing to play along with an economy that is fast going down the toilet is unfair.
This may not be the only reason that the SA decided to stop funding them, but it�s the only one that every person I�ve spoken to has agreed on.
I think that this entire situation is an attempt on the part of the SA to correct the mistakes of one of their own. I am paying a great deal of money for this education, and I happen to value a business that puts its customers above profit. Not only does it offer coffee, but it is a relaxed, friendly place.
In other words, it feels like home, and that is priceless.
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