Jackie Roberts' article on the arrival of Starbucks to the downtown area distressed me. Ms. Roberts presented the coffee superchain's presence as nothing short of fantastic. Her article neglected any viewpoints that contradict that, "an upscale café like Starbucks will provide a different assortment of coffees, lattés, and cappuccinos" that are nothing short of overwhelmingly welcome.

I, for one, find Starbucks coffee to be of mediocre quality and recognize its arrival in town as a further erosion of the community by large corporate interests. State College and Penn State are not slowly but surely caving into the big business interests of corporate America. More locally-owned shops are pushed out of business by larger corporate stores such as American Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Eddie Bauer, Barnes & Noble (which owns the Penn State Bookstore), Chili's, Panera, McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Subway, Hooters, Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Starbucks. The local economy continues to be decentralized as we pour our dollars into the pockets of big money interests located outside of our area.

We should be focusing our attention and money on the preservation of those businesses that give State College its genuine identity. Starbucks should not have another base of operations here as people who want coffee, tea, espresso drinks, or desserts should be buying at The Cheese Shoppe, Webster's Bookstore and Cafe, Saint's, or The Daily Grind.

Think smart with your wallet and provide the local residents with a better future instead of furthering economic practices that subordinate us to a smaller and smaller ultra-wealthy population.