Hippies: They know what's up. Hot off the heels of yesterday's holiday, during which certain sectors of the campus experienced an oddly intense, insistent hunger, Ben and Jerry's brings you Free Cone Day. It's the duo's annual way of showering you with affection and gratitude, and it's from noon to 8:00 tonight. The nearest store is 104th and Broadway, and yes, it's participating. Get a cone, pretend it's ten degrees warmer out, and daydream of May 16th.

Cross over to Amsterdam and 105th for today's other deal: 50-cent iced coffees at Dunkin' Donuts. 10% of the profits go to Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit organization that builds and modifies handicapped-accessible homes for veterans. There's a video on the Dunkin' Donuts website about their partnership.

Good luck venturing beyond Columbia's stately gates in the quest for a sugar and/or caffeine rush.

SEAS' student governing body presents yet another opportunity to savor Dunkin' in all its glory today from 12-2 PM. This is your last opportunity to chill out with the totally laid back candidates in the ESC elections, which are currently underway.

Find the coffee, donuts, and hopefuls in Mudd Lobby. And vote here, before the polls close at 6pm tonight.

Image via CabinetMagazine.com

Campus Crusade for Christ, along with its buddies the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the Remnant (no, not replicant) Christian Fellowship, and the oft-maligned Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, is hosting the ReCharge "Cofeehouse" tonight from 8-10. Head over to 114th and Broadway to sip some free coffee and see Kayte Grace (of Gossip Girl fame) do her singer-songwriter thing. Don't forget, also, to consider accepting God's love while you're there.

This morning CSIS - Columbia Students for International Service - brings their humanitarian mission to you in the form of free bagels and coffee. If you're into cross-cultural learning and exchange, being a responsible citizen of the world and bettering all of humanity (or if you could just use a free bagel with schmear,) head to the fifth floor of Lerner for this free brunch-cum-info session. Representatives from major international service organizations will lead the panel, so don't miss out! Although the event runs all morning, bagels and freebies are wont to run out!

Our chapter of the American Medical Student Association will be holding a premed study break this evening.

Free hot chocolate and free (presumably hot) coffee will be found tonight at 9:00 PM in the West Ramp Lounge in Lerner.

Bwog also presumes that you can get in by off-handedly mentioning that you're considering premed, even as you declare your double major in statistics and linguistics.

Right now now now outside the 116th Gates is a cute little truck giving away Pom's new iced coffee product, which seems like their answer to the Frappuccino, and asking for feedback. It's a frenzy!

And in approximately three hours--from 5 to 6pm--try some Hungarian wines at the almost-brand-new Vino Fino, just a few blocks north on Amsterdam. We presume they'll be carding, but maybe not, and regardless it's a classy way to start the evening for those of age.

Dozens of students are in the Piano Lounge RIGHT NOW enjoying sweet, sweet rice pudding from Rice to Riches and specialty Latin American and Caribbean coffees, all to the soulful Afro-Latino jams of Bryan Vargas y Ya Esta. The band comments to the crowd: "You should all be happy you're here; there are so many kids in their dorm rooms right now playing Guitar Hero."All courtesy of Latino Heritage Month.

Put down that fake guitar! Pudding's running low!

There's a "Welcome Back SEAS"-themed ice cream social/study break happening now in Lerner's ramp lounge. There are various flavors of ice cream, plus the sprinkles and chocolate sauce you were hoping for.

And then outside this thing there is a table with Starbucks coffee, in addition to milk and sugar. It's not free -- the coffee-providing group is asking for donations for a health clinic in Haiti -- but it's for a good cause!

It's a phenomenon almost as annoying as having to re-enter your SSOL password when you leave it alone for more than 3 minutes: rising prices at campus eateries.

So far, Bwog tipsters and staff have seen price hikes at many campus eateries. Offenders include Ferris Booth, which, in addition to replacing the popular stir fry station with a taco bar, has raised prices at several of their other stations.

At $7, Ferris and 212 sushi, for example, will now set you back more than many supermarkets in the area (M2M sells it for about $4). Cafe 212 has also raised its prices on sandwiches, and they've also stopped selling sunflower seeds, which Bwog considers a travesty.

Finally, Butler's Blue Java has, as our tipster put it, "coffee now priced at Starbucks levels, pastries even higher." If you've heard of other places, on-campus or off-campus, raising (or lowering!) their prices, let us know at bwgossip@columbia.edu or in the comments.

Ever wonder what life would be like if you went to NYU? Take a trip to NYU's favorite coffee spot for a cup of joe and your daily dose of meta!

Grade inflation isn't the only reason to wish you went to NYU. Just a few blocks south of Washington Square Park, Think Coffee serves up some of the city's best coffee to NYU students and downtown denizens alike. Although Oren is a classic campus spot and Hungarian perfects the bohemian coffee house aesthetic, neither of these places are appropriate for studying.

Living up to its all too apropos name, Think Coffee on the other hand is an ideal place to study. The space is well lit and equipped with plenty of power outlets. Indeed, you'll find many Macbook users here, enjoying Think Coffee's free Wi-Fi service. With three separate seating areas and plenty of plush couches, it's easy for students to spread out their books and make themselves at home. Like any well-equipped home, Think Coffee has a collection of board games, including Scrabble. And there's even a book nook where patrons can borrow and swap books.

Despite the accommodating digs, Think Coffee is free of the common coffee shop blights. The couches remarkably are free of coffee stains and coffee stench and even the archetypal stained and stinky coffee shop bum.

This Judd Apatow guy is really going places.

Frank McCourt and David Sedaris are better writers than Miley Cyrus.

Indie rocker identifies with Wes Anderson, likes The Life Aquatic.

"Green" is an adjective with a variety of meanings and uses in our language!

The Eye encourages you to buy certified organic and fair trade coffee

A tipster informs Bwog that a Colombia (with an "o") cultural group will be giving away free coffee on the ramp in Lerner at 9:30 PM tonight. Bwog suggests you leave a few minutes beforehand to avoid the huddled masses crawling out of Butler.

For the next two and a half hours, all Starbucks locations in the eastern U.S. will be closed. According to The New York Times, Starbucks needs the time to teach their employees new ways to use the coffee machines. Because, you know, there's more than one. As to why this process will take a couple hours, Starbucks has remained cryptically and smugly quiet.

Meanwhile, the under-caffeinated sit patiently and wait during what is soon to be known to Blue Java employees as "the best day ever."

Thanks to an email from a Bwog tipster, it seems that recent shenanigans at John Jay's Blue Java Express are coming to an ignominious end. It appears that the wool has been pulled over one too many Columbian's eyes, as this tipster put an end to recent Blue Java trickery...

Bwog Editors,

I thought those caffeine-charged, cost-conscious Columbians like myself might want to know: Housing and Dining has been overcharging students for several weeks now on coffee purchased at the John Jay Blue Java Express.

I recently noticed that their large-size cups were actually medium-size, but I still was being debited the large-size price. Despite adamant denials from Blue Java employees that my smaller cups were anything other than full-sized, 20-ounce tankards of coffee, I took my case to H&D administrators.

Yesterday I finally received notice that my suspicions were correct: I have been paying more for less. Fortunately, H&D has pledged to fix the problem, and I did indeed see 20-oz. cups for sale -- as advertised -- at the John Jay Blue Java Express this morning.

- Jon Hill
CC '11

See the tipster's swashbuckling and heroic save of large coffee cups after the jump!

Blue Java in Butler just increased its cup size without increasing its prices.

That's what she said.

-Thanks to Ellen Kessel for the tip