Cheapness, Law Schools, Perks / Fringe Benefits

NYU Law: How Much Do Your Paper Cups Cost?

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The competition between NYU Law and Columbia Law is always fierce — even when it is a race to the penny-pinching bottom. Two weeks ago, we told you that Columbia is now charging students for plastic forks (though chopsticks remain free).
Not to be outdone, a disgruntled NYU Law tipster reports:

So I’m in my last year at NYU Law and just had a fairly shocking experience…. I went to the lounge to get a cup for water from the water fountain. I grabbed a cup and walked away, and the cashier yelled at me. I thought she thought I was stealing a cup of coffee, so I told her I just wanted water. She said “that’s 25 cents.” I said “no, I just want water.” She said “I know,that’ll be 25 cents. We have to pay for those cups.” The worst part? It was a cup from Starbucks with the “we proudly serve Starbucks coffee” logo on the side.

Indignation from our tipster, plus a clarification about Columbia cutlery, after the jump.

I’m really pretty surprised, to say the least. I pay $40K a year to go here. I can’t have a paper cup? Do they really pay for the cups? Are they paying 25 cents a cup? Or are they making a 2400% profit on a 2 cent cup? I can’t even have a paper cup from Starbucks that turns me into a walking advertisement? Surely the presence of my branded water in a lecture hall full of 120 (potentially) high-earning consumers is worth more than the 25 cents they are charging.

Meanwhile, here’s some good news from NYU’s neighbor to the north. After we published our report on Columbia’s plastic fork policy, tipsters informed us that forks are still free with the purchase of a meal. It’s only people who want a fork for their own nefarious purposes that are getting charged.
I can’t imagine what the NYU corollary would be. You can get one paper cup for free if there are two girls involved? You have to pay for cups, but straws are still free?
P.S. Dear Fordham, Cardozo, Brooklyn, and other NYC area law schools. Please do not take the shenanigans at Columbia and NYU as either a challenge or an indication of what the most prestigious schools are doing to keep their place in the U.S. News rankings. Charging students $0.20 per napkin or something is not worth the hassle and could lead to swine flu. HTH.
Earlier: Columbia Law School Now Charges For Plastic Forks

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