The only result that would come from allowing students to buy beer with their meal cards was a great profit for the university and a lot of hungry students.
All this being said, however, I walked into Shorty's for the first time and I realized that it was more than just a bar. The alcohol aspect of it is hardly noticeable mixed in among the cake and soda and coffee. The bright fresh atmosphere that greets you when you walk in is hard to dislike. I realized that we have needed a place like this here on campus, and I realized only after we had gotten it.
The improvement of this Shorty's over the previous one is remarkable. The dark shadowy atmosphere of the last Shorty's was more like that of a morgue than that of a game room or a place to relax and be social. This new entrance invites the passerby instead of being a room people hardly noticed and just walked by. We didn't really have a social gathering place here at the university. We didn't have a place where one could relax and just have a drink or a snack.
The Pit is a cafeteria where people can eat and talk, but the atmosphere is too plastic to stay there for long. The Benson food court has too much of a hurried atmosphere for it to be conducive to relaxation. The eating area there doubles as a thoroughfare. Neither of the pre-existing places were focused toward anything but eating. We had few places, besides the meditation room in Benson, to gather our thoughts and kick back. The new Shorty's gives us something that this campus lacked.
The prices may be a little steep but I think that you're paying for quality. I like the wooden bar. I like the pool table enclave. I like the big screen television. I like the wide, broad, cushioned bar stools. Actually the bar stools may be my favorite feature. Those things are comfortable.
To me the place is classy. Last night I went by and saw that Shorty's was packed, on a weeknight. The school should be congratulated for getting this one right. At night Shorty's gives students an alternative to heading off campus to get a drink. During the day it gives us a place to step away from our work and unwind with a cup of coffee.
I encourage everyone to go look at it if you haven't already. Maybe you have trouble going there often with the prices as expensive as they are, (almost $2 for a cup of hot chocolate), but it's not real money, it's meal card money.