Most of us do not expect a great deal of the cafe: drinks and a good range of light (non-poisonous) refreshments in pleasant surroundings. Coffee shops all over the city manage this without the university's guaranteed clientele.

The other thing we expect is access to this refreshment at odd hours of the day and night, and on weekends.

Since the provision of these services by conventional means is beyond the financial and/or organisational ability of the Union Management Committee is there any chance of establishing something comparable to The Fishery (adjacent to Fisher Library, University of Sydney)?

The Fishery is crammed with an impressive array of vending machines which supply drinks, plus hot and cold snacks. The prices are reasonable and it keeps the same hours as the library. One person is employed full-time to top up the machines, sell magazines and papers from a rack, and provide small change.

One immediate improvement in the cafe could be a machine to dispense those cofee sachets. The coffee is not worth queuing up for.