For careful listeners, the best soundtrack on campus is the rotation of Vampire Weekend, Radiohead and other indie darlings at Cafe 212. Bwog cultural correspondent Merrell Hambleton sits down with the man behind the mix.

I find Café 212 manager Robert Bell working to hang up two small bulletin boards. "I'm actually doing something with the music," he says. "The music" he's referring to is precisely the reason for our meeting—Bell, tall with longish brown hair, dark framed glasses, and a neatly trimmed chinstrap, has earned a reputation in his year at Columbia for playing some non-traditional Muzak. In fact, its not Muzak at all, it's actually, well, good. If you're haunted by memories of 212's old soundtrack, you'll likely be pleased to hear the likes of Radiohead, Cat Power or the of-late-ubiquitous Vampire Weekend while you wait in the sandwich line.

In light of yesterday's startling revelation about the $1.59 price tag on a Hershey's bar, Bwog decided to do a little comparative shopping.

The same Hershey bar can be purchased for just 75 cents at the kiosk on 116th and Broadway. In fact, while candy prices at 212 skyrocket upwards of $2 for Reese's candy hearts, prices are stable at the kiosk, where all candy is just 75 cents. Gum also retails for $1.25 at the kiosk and $1.49 at 212.

On the ethnic food front, a California Roll at 212 is $5.99 and a Spicy Shrimp Roll will set you back an unbelievable $6.79. The same rolls at m2m go for $3.50 and $4.50, respectively. 212's bubble teas are also roughly the same prices as Swish's.

Orange juice proves the most egregiously over-priced 212 item. A 15 fl. oz. bottle of OJ is $2.25, while at Morton Williams it's just $1.59. In fact, a 64 fl. oz. bottle of Tropicana OJ at MoWi is only $3.99—that's 6.2 cents an ounce. At 212 you're paying 15 cents/an ounce.

UPDATE 1:39 PM: Brownies, (the Avery basement cafe), has reportedly raised most of their sandwich prices by a dollar, a tipster reports.

This sign was spotted atop the muffin display case in Cafe 212.

Coming soon: a crumpled piece of notebook paper tacked up next to the sandwich menu, reading, "Do u like me? Check box yes or no. Luv, Turkey."

Bwog heard through the grapevine that some of the employees at 212 have asked familiar faces for a most unusual favor: to write Dining Services an e-mail requesting that the Chef's-Hat-Required policy be nixed.

We think this a worthy cause, and if you do too, shoot the Dining mandarins an e-mail at eats@columbia.edu. It'll take just a second and will do wonders for your karma.