For a long time, I had heard rumors that Boston University was trying to get rid of the Taco Bell beneath Warren Towers. After all, during the past few years, the Burger King across from Warren Towers, the Burger King in the GSU and the McDonald’s at West Campus had all been removed for one reason or another. It seemed pretty obvious that BU was attempting to make the dining options on its section of Commonwealth Avenue more health-conscious.

But Sunday’s closing of Taco Bell was a momentous day for BU — the official eradication of all fast-food chain restaurants from its “strip.” Some — and I’m assuming Dining Services management will fall in this category — will see the day as a positive step for the whole university as the greasy, unhealthy feel of fast food is no longer a part of the campus. I am not one of those people.

For one, the argument that the removal of fast food restaurants makes the campus healthier because students aren’t tempted to eat there is terribly flawed. This campus is full of students aged 18 and up who were sent to college for a top-notch education. To imply that these same gifted academic minds can’t control their impulse to go to McDonald’s every time they see a couple of golden arches is an insult to BU students’ intelligence and willpower. I would say most college students realize that a steady diet of Big Macs and Cheesy Gordita Crunches is not in their body’s best interest.

That being said, this perspective is coming from someone who tries his best not to eat fast-food at all, for these same reasons — the stuff is greasy, filled with fat and calories and has essentially no nutritional value. At the same time, however, I can see the two very real positives of fast food — the service is fast and the food is cheap. Think of the countless number of students with a 30 minute break between classes around lunchtime. With the lines at the GSU, there is no way students could get there, eat and get to their next class in time. It’s just impossible.

Enter Taco Bell, the solution to that problem. Any student with classes at anywhere near East Campus could manage to get to the Taco Bell, grab a cheap lunch and get back to class in a 30-minute span. From now on, they can fill up on Starbucks’s $2.10 maple oat scones. Not everyone wants scones for lunch.

Which brings me to my next point — who is making the decisions at BU who thinks another Starbucks is a good idea to fill the vacant area under Warren? That makes a grand total of five Starbucks in the one-mile stretch from 874 Commonwealth Ave. to the Barnes’Noble Bookstore at 660 Beacon St. Is that really what we need? Add in the fact that the new Starbucks franchise will probably put Ferretti’s out of business — who would buy coffee there if a Starbucks were only feet away? — and the decision seems even more suspect.

In Friday’s Free Press article (“Baristas to Replace Burritos at Warren,” March 28, p. 1), some quotes made it seem the focus group led by Dining Services Marketing Director Michelle Vitagliano had the same gripes I do. “A couple of the guys weren’t too excited about having yet another Starbucks on campus,” ones student was quoted saying.

According to the article, Vitagliano also told the members of the focus group their answers would have no effect on the Taco Bell-Starbucks decision. My question is, why have a focus group if nothing they say has any effect on your decision? What is the point?

Here is what I think of the decision to transform Taco Bell into Starbucks. Just like all other decisions made by BU, this one is all about the money. According to the article, Dining Services Marketing Director Michelle Vitagliano made it a point to tell her focus group that the new Starbucks will accept Convenience Points. Great news for BU. After all, it’s much easier to spend money somewhere if instead of spending dollars, you’re using imaginary points your parents get billed for. Did Taco Bell accept points? Nope. How about the old McDonald’s in West Campus? No sir. The old Burger King across from Warren? I can’t say for sure, but I doubt it.

Do I think that is a big reason why these places were evicted from campus? Yes I do. Would BU ever admit to that? Absolutely not. The new Starbucks is just another place for BU students to swipe their BU IDs, drain their points and rack up the charges for mom and dad. Heck, you might as well make it two Venti-skinny-triple-caramel macchiatos.