It is time for Clark to get a legitimate coffee shop on campus.  With the recent closing of the coffee cart in Hanna Hall (HHL), the door is open for a legitimate full-service café.
 
    This coffee shop should be more than a stand and it should sell more than brewed coffee.  It should have the full range of espresso drinks coupled with the option of hot and cold brewed coffee. 

    This café should come with four walls to protect its customers from the masses.  Comfortable seating would be nice with a cool atmosphere to relax or study in.
 
    HHL was always too crowded for the coffee cart.  The line stretched down the hall.  After purchasing a coffee, finding a seat became an obstacle.  While searching, coffee drinkers were competing with students, rollers of the 20-sided dice and those just trying to find the next party.

    Another amenity we need that the cart never had is the ability to use plastic to purchase the caffeinated elixirs.  Currently, students without cash must drive a few miles to buy their coffee. 

    We do have a few options on campus.  Joan Stout Hall has brewed coffee, but it is a little pricey.  The ASCC has free brewed coffee that is better than nothing.  We also have the freedom to purchase pre-made refrigerated coffee drinks from the bookstore.
 
    Even with these options, Clark has room for a full service, independently owned coffee shop here on campus.  Clark students drink coffee.  We like good coffee. 

    Coffee and coffee shops are the calling card of the Northwest.  With the excessive number of barista jobs in our local communities, Clark could probably run their own café.  They could even offer a program similar to the one currently running our cafeteria.
 
    There are also local coffee shops that are looking to expand.  River Maiden, which operates across from Macloughlin Middle School, had another cafe in the farmers market before the building closed.  They are looking to expand right now.  They serve top quality caffeinated beverages that can be purchased with plastic or cash.  

    A survey should be conducted to locate the perfect spot for a café on campus. 

    One spot that would work is where registration is located right now.  After registration moves into the reopened Gaiser Hall, they will leave a suitable empty space. It would have plenty of room for seating and it would be adjacent to the art gallery.  Art and coffee always seem to form a symbiotic relationship.  Another good spot might be next to the bookstore.  Bookstores and coffee also go hand in hand.  HHL could be a candidate.  It wouldn’t have the separate seating, but it is centrally located and naturally draws a crowd.
 
    It is a mystery why Clark doesn’t already have such a place.  The time is now for a hip café on campus.