When students have some free time on campus, they may walk around to find a nice and refreshing drink from a vending machine. The only problem with that is that there are few vending machines around the main campus of American River College, and many students believe that they can only purchase snacks and food through the ARC bookstore or Student Center.
Part of the shortage is due to recent campus changes.
Before Davies Hall shut down, there were four vending machines outside the building. Now, the vending machines are stuck behind the fencing put up around Davies Hall.
The drinks in the vending machines are also a dollar cheaper than the price they are sold for in the Student Center.
According to Margaret Lednicky, ARC’s director of administrative services, the extra money goes towards funding on campus.
“The extra money usually goes around campus funding, whether it’s towards a certain club or buildings,” Lednicky said. “We never realized the lack of vending machines with snacks and we’ll try our best to supply it. The last thing we want on campus is hungry students.”
Many students are unaware there are vending machines on campus.
“In all honesty, I didn’t know that our campus even had vending machines. The only one I knew about was the ones at Davies Hall, but nowhere else after that since the building [was] shut down,” said Nathan Colston, a film major at ARC.
Colston wasn’t the only student unaware of the existence of vending machines on campus. Maaiz Shafiq, an undecided major at ARC said he didn’t know they were on campus.
“I would usually just go to the college store for a quick snack or drink,” Shafiq said. “I would just park my car, go to the store, and grab something no matter the price.”
Lednicky says there’s a possibility of adding a vending machine in the Learning Resource Center.
“I thought the Learning Resource Center would be a great spot for a vending machine considering lots of students are there,” Lednicky said. “If any student has recommendations of where to put a vending machine they think would be a good location, they should definitely contact me.”
Around the campus, there are still a few vending machines, with a couple of machines at the North Gym. There are also vending machines at the Art and Science buildings.
For any questions regarding the vending machines on campus or to suggest a location, Lednicky can be contacted by email or by going to her office in the Campus Operations building near Davies Hall.
