Pro: Food and drinks in class

Hungry students are not happy students, especially when they are denied access to food or drinks by a professor on a power trip.

Pierce College should allow eating in the classroom.

We spend endless hours trying to learn the material in order to enhance our skills and achieve academic success. What good does that do us if we can’t focus on anything other than the ungodly sounds our stomachs make when all that’s inside is an IOU?

It’s practically necessary to skip breakfast if someone wants to make it to campus on time. The typical morning class begins at 8 a.m.

The world is not magically brought into existence with all students and teachers in the classroom ready to learn. Everybody has a morning routine. For some, that includes an exceptionally long commute or a struggle to find a parking spot.

However you get to campus, there’s still a chance that you won’t have a moment to rest, especially if your schedule is particularly hectic.

Back-to-back classes make it difficult to get a proper meal during passing periods. Those precious 10 minutes may provide a grace period if the next class is in the general area, but that luxury is nonexistent to the many people who could have a class in the Village that precedes a grueling climb up the Art Hill.

Let’s not forget the fact that some students have reasons to eat frequently. Some medical ailments require constant nourishment.

According to a study conducted by the American Diabetes Association, 29 million Americans live with the disease. Part of the lifestyle includes regularly-scheduled meals at specific periods throughout the day.

The ramifications could be deadly to those who do not abide by that necessity.

When you are hungry, it’s not just some fleeting feeling that you can ignore through sheer willpower. Hunger is relentless and triggers primal instincts that could have adverse effects. You could become irritable, unpleasant, sleepy or completely unfocused.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs definitely comes into play. No rational person could focus on a lecture concerning the various complexities of human life in a psychology class if there’s a vending machine just outside the classroom that has a Snickers bar with your name on it.