We've been hearing a lot about Business School professors opposing the government bailing out Wall Street investment banks, but according to IvyGater Robyn Schneider, they have no problem bailing out their vending machines.

They have lowered the prices of Luna Bars and Vitamin Waters so that even the poorest MBA student can afford them. The move has put Uris Hall into the upper echelons of campus automatic refreshment dispensers along with Mathematics and Schermerhorn, which feature the $1.50 Nantucket Nectar (the best price in Morningside until the Business School came along) and the cafe between Journalism and Furnald that sells $1 Wolfgang Puck hot chocolate. Bwog, however, will always have a soft spot for this little guy.

Photo by Robyn Schneider via After the Gates

UPDATE, 10/16, 11AM: The vending machines on the first floor of Mudd (the real first floor, not campus level) have joined the Defend Your Dollar program, too. This one might actually help people, as most Mudd-dwellers live off vending machine food and the occasional mac and cheese from Carleton Lounge.

...who apparently are the heroes behind this bold endeavor, which seems to have ceased publication but is still the most wonderful blog devoted to a vending machine that we have ever seen.

Columbia, meet Robby.

The vending machines in Lerner may no longer afford you the opportunity to get an Ipod with your diet Coke, but their swanky offering nevertheless continue to boggle the mind. The Bwog snapped a couple of photos of exciting additions to the snazzy ensemble: a $20.00 Metrocard (for $19.60!) and a $50 Bluetooth phone! This is the first floor of Lerner everybody. Go now. Buy, buy, buy!

What next? WHAT NEXT?

Bwog is grateful for Columbia's sizeable flock of vending machines, with their promise of large amounts of readily available, prepackaged foods, junk and otherwise. Certain oddities within the vending machine empire, however, cannot be ignored.

• The green leaf symbol, supposedly found next to so-called "healthy snack choices" in campus vending machines, suffers from highly inconsistent placement. Baked Lays, for instance, are considered to be healthy in Hartley, but not in John Jay. Arcor-Brand fruit snacks are healthy in both John Jay and Hartley, but not Wallach. And, until last year, the vending machines in Lerner lobby featured another dubious "healthy choice"—Doritos.

• Rock Star Energy Drinks, available in vending machines in Lerner and EC, cost $2.50—yet the flex-card swipers attached to them allow you a maximum credit of $1.50, making the refreshing treats essentially impossible to purchase with flex, despite the presence of CUID swipe boxes.

• Last year's infamous iPod Shuffles are no longer available for sale in the vending machines in the basement of Lerner—although you can still get your music fix with a blank CD and a $15 iTunes gift card.

• And, perhaps most shockingly: current upperclassmen will notice a disturbing trend in the size of the packages of Cheez-Its, Bwog's radioactive orange treat. In the 2004-2005 academic year, the average size of a bag of Cheez-Its from a campus vending machine was one and a half ounces. Last year, it was two ounces. This year, the bags are three full ounces. That's fully double the amount of Cheez-Its we were expected to consume three years ago. What's more, the same 3-oz. bag will cost you $1.25 in Hartley, but only $1.00 in all other campus buildings. The madness! Where does it end?