A coffee a day keeps the student awake

By Amy Bernstein

With the rigorous schedule of studying for tests and working on projects, most college students do not get a lot of sleep. They stay up late finishing assignments and are forced to get up early the next morning for classes. Most are too tired to function in the morning and rely on a cup of coffee to wake them up for the day.

"I have to have coffee every morning before my 8 a.m. class," freshman Mariah Adcox said. "If I don't, I get really bad headaches and it won't go away until I digest my first cup."

Sophomore Jessica Dickey agrees. She has been a regular coffee drinker since her sophomore year of high school.

"If I haven't had coffee, then I'm in no state to do anything productive," she said.

According to Bon Apétit retail manager Bob Grays, about 200 pounds of coffee are ordered per week from Barefoot Coffee, a local coffee supplier company. Barefoot Coffee supplies Bon Apétit with a very high quality and expensive organic coffee, said Grays.

"We pride ourselves in top quality products," Grays said. "That is why we choose organic coffee from Barefoot."

With students frequenting the four coffee vendor locations on campus, coffee sales are extremely high. On average, Mission Bakery and Cafe, alone, sells 692 cups of coffee per week.

In addition to standard coffee, 594 lattes and 297 mochas are sold per week.

"I have three cups a day," Adcox said. "It was my New Year's resolution to drink less and I've been pretty good about it. I used to have a canteen which I would fill up every time I passed Benson, but now I stop at three cups."

While coffee may be addicting, its side effects do not prove as dangerous as many believe.

According to Oprah.com, having up to three cups of coffee a day can actually have beneficial effects to your health. Coffee is also the leading source of daily antioxidant consumption in the average American's diet.

However, extreme caffeine intake can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, although coffee has proven to be safe when drank in moderation.

Dickey, who unsuccessfully tried to switch to tea, admits to having at least two cups of coffee per day, and at times, as many as four or five cups before noon.

"(Coffee) wakes me up and puts me to bed," she said. "It's a magical, magical thing."

Adcox agrees.

"Coffee is like the elixir of life."

Kaveri Gyanendra contributed to this story. Contact Amy Bernstein at abernstein@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.