For those who do not have the blessing of senior privileges, there are only three ways to get lunch on the Brebeuf campus: buying from the cafeteria, bringing it from home, or asking a senior to bring back food for you.

However, there is another source of snack food and drinks: the vending machines. While they dispense popular food items, the prices these vending machines give are often outrageous and random.

Each individual vending has it’s own pertained sale. The Snapple drink machine charges all of it’s drinks at exactly $2.00. The drink machine farthest to the right prices it at $1.75. The drink machine that is to the left of the farthest right varies in it’s pricing, being at either $1.75 or $2.00. The machines do not charge based on their drinks, but rather give a general tag for all of the drinks, making us spend unnecessary money on lower quality goods.

All drinks are unique in their own way, but putting Snapple and chocolate milk at $2.00 in the same vending machine crosses the line. Look at the two: one is a sugary sweet tea drink, which is contained in a glass bottle and has a cap that makes a pop sound when opened. Snapple’s quality and glass container make it higher in price than most other drinks. The other is chocolate milk, which is a product of cows, and given chocolate flavor. It is put into a plastic container, and asks that you shake it before opening for satisfaction.

The two drinks offer two completely different experiences, and deserve different mark-ups. I am fine with Snapple staying at $2.00, but chocolate milk deserves better. It’s not as popular, and is consumed in the morning more often. Chocolate milk should be sold around $1.50 or $1.75, since most chocolate milk is sold for around $1.60.

The same goes for the snack machines. The small packets of gum and cereal bars at the bottom of the leftmost snack machine cost $2.00. The larger bags of chips at the top cost $1.75. In a regular convenience store, the gum is sold around $1.00, while the chips would be priced around $2.00. The high price completely discourages buying gum. That gum, sitting alone down there, deserves a better chance at life.

Vending machines, while they’re giant hunks of plastic and metal, offer students at Brebeuf a quick escape from classes and homework by giving them tasty snacks. That experience should not have to be ruined by subpar sales tactics; instead it should be improved with proper prices