McDonald's is coming to campus. The administration expects students to be excited thinking that they just can't wait to stuff their faces with one of the most unhealthy food available. Nevermind that the Tavern already sells hamburgers or that there is a McDonald's nearby on Wisconsin Avenue. Somehow the administration felt that the one thing this campus needed more than anything else was a McDonald's. Can you blame us for being unhappy?
This was the chance to offer AU students a healthy option for food. However, McDonald's is not exactly the healthiest food nor is it original.
Apparently one of the most important surveys to help the administration was sent to several years of incoming freshmen. It did not seem relevant to the administration that these incoming students really did not know the area and would have no way of knowing that there is a McDonald's nearby or even what kind of food is already offered in the campus. Even if one does look at these surveys, they do not seem very conclusive. The latest survey was answered by roughly 300 freshmen, which is less than one-fourth of the freshman class. Of these 300 freshmen only 13 percent answered that they wanted McDonald's. This means that only approximately 39 freshmen answered McDonald's as their No.1 choice; the math is not that complicated.
The administration though claims that there was more than one survey conducted even though very few people have any memory of them and the statistics of these surveys are not available. In surveys one also has to consider that the way a question is phrased often determines the answer. Students were never asked in an at-large survey what they wanted to see replace Armand's. The questions were always hypothetical and asked questions such as "which fast food restaurant do you eat at more often?" The answer to that was probably McDonald's seeing as though there is one nearby and on nearly every street corner of the D.C. metropolitan area. If students were asked more directly what they would like to see fill up the space in the tunnel the answers would have probably been very different.
Of course this should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the way the AU administration works and even before the year started one can easily see that they are back to their old ways. In short: they did it again. The administration made a business decision and they are trying to convince students that it is what they should want. Unfortunately, this time it is not going to work. Students are unhappy and there is nothing that can be done about it for the next 10 years.
It is disappointing that this year's freshmen had to find out about the ways of the AU administration so early in the year. Oh well, it was going to happen eventually anyway.
