So much for health-conciousness | The Triangle

So much for health-conciousness

If you thought the opening of Seasons last year was a step toward a healthier and more sustainable campus, think again. With the announcement of Shake Shack being built in the upcoming Chestnut Square development, it is revealed that Seasons was only an attempt to appease the minority who demanded it, not an attempt to reshape the priorities of the campus as a whole. Shake Shack is known for burgers and milkshakes, as would be assumed. This fits well with the already despicable variety of food options on campus (e.g., Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A) as if we as students are being stuffed like turkeys without regard to what we are being stuffed with. The University does nothing to stifle the sick, youthful culture we have created. In fact, it supports the culture. As a result, we remain silent and dependent — a perfect strategy to prevent unsoaked minds from realizing the obvious scam that is being pulled. Such a realization would lead to unrest, panic and rebellion.

As explained in the initial article announcing this new establishment in The Triangle a couple weeks ago, there is already a Shake Shack about one mile away. If people want to gorge themselves on the decadent delicacies contained therein, they should have no issue going there. Its addition into what I supposed to have been intended as an academic building will only serve to cheapen the entire structure, making it look like a food court at a shopping mall rather than a university building. By providing something for instant and convenient consumption, it eliminated the need for deliberation and willpower, like someone who has all their daily necessities within arm’s reach of the couch.

While student organizations like the Sierra Club and the newly created Animal Welfare Society strive to bring awareness to students about topics that can be destructive to our society and ourselves, the University, with the coldness of a machine, simply seems to push all of that aside to make way for its popular yet unjustified initiatives.

What is the real motive behind this? Is it to keep students happily ignorant or simply to compete with the University of Penn, which has Bobby’s Burger Palace and other similar food chains nearby? One major difference between this shopping center and the one at Penn is that ours is located at the central hub of campus, neighboring the Creese Student Center, within a building that will also house classrooms and offices. Meanwhile, Penn’s shopping center borders its campus but could never be confused as being owned and operated by the University of Pennsylvania, whose academic buildings are all easily identified as such.

I have always thought of a college campus as a place that should breed learning, not a place where all of one’s urges, however degrading, can be satiated. I’m sure this eatery will be embraced and enjoyed when it is complete, but that will not lessen the truth of its disgrace.

Maybe the psychology behind my disgust is not understood by my readers, but as someone who makes very deliberate lifestyle choices, I do not make rash statements unjustifiably. If there are any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to bring them to my attention. However, if you do not have anything new to add, please refrain from contacting me. I have left space in my argument for debate and will gladly consider any rational points, and perhaps even change my mind, but I’d rather not have to deal with unfounded or uncreative criticism.

Nick Sukiennik is a sophomore chemical engineering major at Drexel University. He can be contacted at [email protected].