Juice.

It’s a breakfast staple.

No one can argue the healthful benefits, with its high vitamin content and general good flavor.

Many students enjoy a nice 6 oz. glass of it with their food-service breakfast, and some might like another serving with their lunch or dinner.

However, it’s doubtful all 8,000 or so students living in the residence halls want to consume that much juice every day, and it’s even more doubtful that each of those students wants to tack an additional $20 to their room and board fees just to have that juice available at every meal for those who want to indulge.

That is exactly what an Inter-Residence Hall Association bill is proposing.

After “being continually frustrated by not having juice during the day at food service,” Towers Residence Association President Jonathon Weaver drew up the bill that would add about $20 to the fees to expand food-service beverage choices.

Broken down, that means each student would pay 5.8 cents per meal for juice.

According to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, a person should have three servings of fruit each day. One serving could include one medium apple, banana or orange, a melon wedge, a half cup of chopped fruit or berries, or three-fourths cup of fruit juice.

For the health-conscious dorm dweller, fruit is available at all meals for no additional cost, and for those who must have juice three times a day, there are two Hy-Vees and a Cub Foods conveniently located in the greater Ames area.

Paying an extra 17.4 cents per day for a few students to get their full fruit requirement in liquid form is ridiculous.

If you feel the same way, go to the IRHA meeting tonight at 7 in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union and tell your governing body they should be addressing real problems in the residence halls.Editorial Board: Carrie Tett, Greg Jerrett, Katie Goldsmith, Amie Van Overmeer, Andrea Hauser and Jocelyn Marcus