Ah, the distinct taste of a dunks iced coffee before your 8 AM. It seems to be a prerequisite for early classes, with some students opting to come 10 minutes late with their cold signature drink, explaining how the traffic was horrible today (Nathan, we know you live in Faraday.) And while the machine like service at WPI’s dunks has been studied by the ME department for optimization details, the lines are growing ever longer. The RMV like ticket queue worked well with this past year’s growing numbers, but even more students are expected to flock to the campus next year. A new solution was needed, and a partnership deal with facilities looked like a promising fix to the caffeine shortage.
The idea came during the water line mishaps last year, where campus was struck with murky brown water stemming from a city line break. “That was when the light bulb ticked on” explained Facilities Employee Manuel Leighbor.
Construction beginning last year added the needed plumbing, flowing freshly brewed coffee from partner stores in the Worcester area to the campus center. Now, the final part of the project is complete, with construction crews fitting the fountain to the coffee line over summer break. This comes at a price of course, as WPI adds 2.5% to this year’s tuition to ensure students stay caffeinated on the way to their dreaded labs. And it’ll be tailored to the students, with question #942 on the student survey revealing students favored 3 cream, 3 sugar in their brewed beverage
Not everyone is ready for the change though, with an unexpected protest circling the fountain Saturday morning. Upon closer inspection, all protesters appeared to be Crimson Key tour guides donning their familiar red tags. “What can we talk about now?” exclaimed Cynthia, a rising junior. “This makes our signature line useless,” referencing the canned joke about “The Tech’s dunks being the fastest in the east coast.” As the fountain is turned to full power, tour guides also grumbled about the fountain wind protection being removed as a talking point as well. While the efforts of the protest seem to be noticed, it is unclear as of yet what will come of it.
