Penn State recently banned, to the chagrin of students like myself, all food and beverages except bottled water from classrooms.

I understand the food ban. Crumbs get everywhere, opening wrappers disrupts class with the noise, and the wrappers are easy to leave behind.

I also understand the need to reduce trash in the classrooms.

What I don't understand is how the ban on beverages accomplishes that. To help garner support for this ban, Penn State was giving out FREE (i.e. students don't pay for it, therefore don't care about it) water bottles.

What is preventing students from leaving those water bottles behind? What about someone bringing a travel coffee mug in?

How is that illegal?

Students are definitely less likely to leave mugs behind. How does that contribute to the trash problem? And how about the hordes of free (again, that word) newspapers one might find littering the floors of classrooms?

That's OK, but a travel coffee mug isn't?

Deb Blythe, director of facilities, resources and planning, in a direct quote from this paper said, "You don't want to sit next to a person ... spilling Coke on you, do you?"

No, but I really don't like water all over my notes either. What's the difference? Now, before someone points out the fact that water is easier to clean up, let me say that in these new, high-tech buildings with ethernet ports and electrical outlets around each desk, spilling water isn't much better than spilling coffee, is it?

Either give me my coffee, or get rid of beverages entirely.