The Commons food court recently added a smoothie machine manufactured by Jamba Juice, a national smoothie brand, with flavor choices strawberry and mango. A 12 ounce cup costs $3.39, a 16 ounce cup costs $3.89 and a 24 ounce cup costs $4.89.
Sara Calvo, junior mathematical finance major, is excited about this new addition and believe it is a step in the right direction for food choices on campus.
“I’ve always been a fan of Jamba Juice, so I’m pretty excited about it. Granted, it’s not as good as the real thing, but I’ll take what I can get,” Calvo said. “I wish they had the actual flavors you can get from the store, but I also think they were just trying to pick something easy that would appeal to the most people. Strawberry and mango are both pretty basic flavors, so I think a lot of people will want to try it.”
Nick Santulli, junior political science major, is underwhelmed by the option the new smoothie machine provides.
“I honestly don’t know why people are so excited about it,” Santulli said. “It would be one thing if they opened an actual Jamba Juice on campus. I’d love to see them open a new place to eat on campus, Jamba Juice or otherwise, but this is just another thing that they’ll sell in commons. It’s pretty much just like they decided to stock something new. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Jamba Juice machine. It’s more of an icee than a smoothie, but it’s still pretty good.”
Zeina Zayat says that the money used for the machine could have gone to an actual need.
“I think it was a waste of money,” said Zeina Zayat, junior and biochemistry major. “You can already get smoothies from Einstein’s, and they’re pretty good. If I’m going to get a smoothie, I’d rather go there. It’s fresh, I can watch them make it, I know they use real fruit. I just don’t see why the Jamba Juice machine is necessary. What are we getting out of it? It’s literally just a different version of something we already had.”
Further, Zayat thinks that after a little time has passed the novelty of the smoothies will wear off.
“People are only excited about it because it’s new,” Zayat said. “Do you think people are going to care next semester? They’re going to get tired of it, just like we get tired of everything else on campus eventually. It’s not that campus food is really that terrible, it’s just that we get tired of it. So, once people have had enough of it, it’s just going to be another thing that people don’t want.”
