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

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

Bwog coffee-reviewer Downing Bray takes you off campus for a caffeine jolt.

If the idea of setting foot into Butler sends you chills worse than the sub-zero wind chill temperatures of late, and your idea of getting off campus to study entails venturing beyond a 10-block radius from Columbia, you might just want to think about Think, a lively little coffee shop in the Village. True, it's in the heart of NYU territory and practically overrun by its students, but it is, in my experience of NYC coffee-shop exploration, one of the best. It prides itself on being environmentally-friendly, serving only Fair Trade, organic and shade grown coffee and tea and local milk, and encourages environmental awareness to its customers (hence the name 'think').

In addition to serving coffee that makes you and your taste buds feel good, Think has atmosphere. At the entrance are several bar stools and tables looking out onto the street while in the spacious interior there are ample tables, comfy couches and armchairs, outlets to plug in your computers, and lamps for your lighting needs. It's a popular place so you might encounter trouble getting a seat, and if you can't handle conversation this is certainly not the place for you; plus the music is on the louder side. But if you like a lively yet under-control atmosphere, this place is ideal, and it's open everyday until midnight.

Hey Girlfriends! Barnard correspondent Juli Weiner here. You could be drinking Macintosh's Java City coffee and you might not even realize it! Take Bwog's quiz and find out! Yay!

I. Does it taste like lukewarm Splenda^TM?

II. Does it look better than you thought it would look sitting next to your Art History textbook?

III. Do you look forward to displaying it on top of said textbook in such a way that when you lift the cup and put it down you will draw attention to the fact that you take Art History?

IV. Did it provide just the perfect complement to your broccoli, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomato low-carb, no-sodium "pizza"?

V. Does it remind you of your old babysitter, Nicole, who never played games with you and who later stopped watching you when she went to Bryn Mawr and interned at the Philadelphia Inquirer?

VI. Does the chalky aftertaste linger in your mouth through Intro to Psych and later through Feminism and Post-Modernism?

VII. Did it come from the same general vicinity of Blue Java but in a slightly different cup, (though both cups say Columbia University on them!!!), and do you take it to the same classes as people take their Blue Java cups, but it's slightly different from a Blue Java coffee and so you feel the need to loudly rally against the constructionist overtones in your Women and Culture class?

VIII. Did you just wipe some off your H&M messenger bag with a copy of the Bulletin?

Our, um, highest congratulations to the art history department, who have installed a coffee machine in a lounge in Schermerhorn. They've circulated the news like it's the birth of the Messiah. Or something.

And they're going to charge!?

Read the gospel email after the jump.