Solve South Campus Snack Drawbacks With North Campus Alternative
By Cory Forsyth
Opinions Writer

Snack at Pomona is an institution. Just as going for coffee with someone is almost never about the coffee, going to Snack has always been more than simply a snack. It is about the people, about taking a break from one’s work to relax and chat with friends. Due to Frary’s renovation this year, Snack had to be moved. With the advent of Frank Snack, there’s a felt absence on North Campus during the school-week evenings.

There really ought to be a North Campus Snack. While there are other upperclassmen-gathering options during the week (such as the Boot or the Junior/Senior Socials), the feel of these events just isn’t the same. One can pop in to snack for a quick bite on the way to or from the library, or take the time to really unwind after a night of work. Snack is simply a more inclusive activity for the weekday nights.

There’s at least one valid reason that I can think of that Snack shouldn’t be moved to North Campus: the Greenhouse doesn’t have the capacity. But the only reason Frank is able to (barely) cater to the crowds that throng about it during snack is that a) most of the upperclassmen are too lazy to actually make the walk down south, so there are fewer people than there might be, and b) the extreme crowding deters more people from trying to get into snack during the peak times. Frary’s success as the snack place in recent years is due partly to its capaciousness, but also to the fact that there’s the large open plaza around Frary Fountain for people to spill out into. The Greenhouse holds the same advantage over Frank: If there’s no room inside, there’s still ample seating on the concrete steps and on the benches outside.

The wide-eyed freshmen are also willing to hike across campus for Snack; upperclassmen are not. So there’s even less of an incentive for upperclassmen to occasionally trek down to Frank for Snack when they know they probably won’t be able to see many of their friends. Thus, Snack is reduced to a purely utilitarian, food-gathering venture. If Snack were held in the Greenhouse there would be more commingling of the upper- and lowerclassmen, and Snack would again take a central role in the north campus chill-out scene.

The Greenhouse does, however, lack something very important that Frank has: A kitchen in which to prepare hot food. Short of cooking food in Frank and sending it north (impractical) or building some makeshift kitchen in the Greenhouse (very impractical), there’s no good solution to this problem. However, if Snack is about the people as much as it is about the food, as I claimed before, the lack of hot food might not be that much of a problem.

Or, what the hell, why not just leave Snack at Frank, but open the Greenhouse at nights as well? It’s already stocked with plenty of fruit, dry cereal, milk and sandwich ingredients. To open it up would require a minimal effort on the administration’s part, and then we’d have the best of both worlds. Those North Campus students who were especially hungry could go down to Frank, and those that were more interested in hanging out have the option of a no-frills Snack right next door. The freshman still get food nearby, and they also have the option of coming north for a change of scenery and the chance to make some new friends.

I’ll end this with a call to action. Evan Sirc (esirc@pomona.edu) is the Residence Halls and Food Commissioner. If you’re interested in getting Snack on North Campus, let him know your suggestions and concerns.