Dormitory vending machines provide mid-afternoon snacks or late-night caffeine fixes with just a swipe of the DukeCard, and a number of factors may determine when and if students use them.
DukeCard records from September revealed that students on West and Central campuses bought more drinks than snacks, but East Campus residents followed the opposite pattern.
In September, 39,054 drinks and 33,264 snacks were purchased from residential vending machines on West, 859 and 698 on Central and 14,706 and 22,498 on East.
Junior Hasnain Zaidi, service and facilities chair for Campus Council, attributed the higher rate of food purchases on East Campus to the more nuclear style of its dormitories.
"Each dorm is sort of a self-contained unit whereas West Campus is more spread out," Zaidi said. "The vending machines may be closer or have the perception of being closer."
West Campus resident Michelle Rodriguez-Diaz, a senior, said the closest vending machine to her Kilgo Quadrangle dorm room is in Crowell Quadrangle.
"It's a little far away sometimes," she said, adding that she would probably buy more snacks if a machine were in closer proximity.
Freshman Jacob Wolff, however, said the convenience of the vending machine in his dorm has made purchasing food an easy-and expensive-habit.
"It's something you do when you're stressed," he said. "I'm down to zero food points."
Zaidi also hypothesized that limited dining options on East may contribute to the higher level of food purchases.
"A major cause might potentially be that there are no large-scale eating options on East besides the Marketplace," he said.
Zaidi added that he expected the lack of choices to have the greatest effect on late-night vending machine usage, but the statistics showed the purchasing rate to actually be highest during the afternoon.
The peak time for vending machine traffic was from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Across all campuses, 9,144 of of the 111,079 total September purchases were made during this hour.
Although fewer on-campus vendors are open at night, vending machine usage was less frequent during late hours.
The fourth highest rate of vending machine consumption occurred between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. and became progressively lower throughout the night.
Pat Walker, general manager of operations for Duke Stores, said late-night vending machine usage has not accelerated since Rick's Diner closed.
Rick's-the only campus eatery located in a residential area-was located in Keohane Quadrangle and was open 24 hours.
Sophomore Kevin Thompson, Craven Quadrangle representative to Campus Council, said, however, that students who spend time in the dorms late at night have expressed demand for conveniently located vending machines.
He said many Craven residents congregate in a large common room in House B during these hours, but vending machines are absent from the highly populated area.
"A lot of students are there relaxing, watching TV or doing work," he said. "For them to go to the vending machines, they have to exit the house and walk all the way around the quad."
Thompson said he is conducting a survey to produce evidence that student demand exists.
Zaidi said residents of Craven and Few have approached him about the addition of vending machines and that he is willing to support student initiative, given evidence of demand.
"Is it just one student that doesn't want to walk next door, or does the entire quad feel that way?" he said.
Campus Council President Jay Ganatra, a senior, said the desire for more vending machines is not a widespread concern.
"I don't think it's a campus-wide issue," he said.
Walker said vending services is typically responsive to requests.
"If someone calls us for a vending machine, we will normally put it in if we've got space," he said.
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