NYU Law: How Much Do Your Paper Cups Cost?
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.
(89) Comments
Comments
FIRST IN THE BUTT
(IN THE BUTT LOL)
fyoisty
no one cares.
This is why SMU will own NYU in the future.
Do not be surprised when bathroom stalls around NYU Law are fitted with coin operated toilet paper sheet dispensers. A quarter will buy you one sheet of single ply paper. Eat lightly kids; otherwise, your defecation may cost over a dollar.
"just had a fairly shocking experience that . . . I went to the lounge to get a cup for water from the water fountain."
NICE EDITING ELIE
PLEASE REMOVE "THAT" FROM THE ABOVE EXCERPT.
OMG
At Cardozo they charge you for putting pepperoni on the kosher pizza. I'm not making this up.
this is the stupidest non-story I've ever seen. this student is an idiot.
In other news, in a rush to make it to Torts on time, one NYU student left his lights on today. If you have more any other info regarding this, please send your tip to an ATL editor immediately.
UPDATE: The student's car was a Honda Civic.
I hope they abandoned the use of plastic spoons, which anyone in the Army in the '70s learned could be used a trigger for a booby trap.
columbia - has anyone at your school left the lights on??? don't let this go unanswered!
Abovethelaw blows; this shit awful site is going to hell in a handbasket
Actually, lots of places will use the cups to track sales and make sure the cashier isn't either (a) giving out free coffee or (b) pocketing the cash when someone buys a cup. So it makes sense that they would charge for the cups or be told to charge for the cups.
There was a movie theater in Florida where the staff figured this out. So they started taking popcorn buckets and cups out of the trash and reusing them. Then, they would pocket the cash for each resold bucket.
Just teaching law students the art of ripping off clients for every little B.S. activity. Is it really any different that charging 10-20 times the actual cost of making copies?
They do this all the time. Proudly serving Starbucks isn't a free proposition.
Hey 9 -- what flyover city do you live in? The idea of an NYU student driving to class is laughable to anyone without a piece straw in their mouth.
what place DOESN'T charge for cups? wtf is wrong with these people?
the only free cups are the tiny kids cups they give to fill up water at fast food restaurants.
At my high school cafeteria, a cup full of ice was $.05, as was a cup full of ice and half full of sprite.
Paper cup? Get a water bottle you lazy paper waster.
Drink out of the fountain like the rest of your classmates, loser.
our law school charges for water cups as part of a comprehensive effort to encourage using reusable coffee cups and water bottles. it's not necessarily primarily intended to cut costs.
what is next? Are they going to start charging for the gloryhole services in the 3rd story mens restroom?
16:
Touche. If you weren't such an asshole, we could be friends.
- 9
I would think of it more as a carbon pricing policy
1 = Elie Weasel's new schtick
GULC: $0.10 for a plastic cup for water. It's been this way for years.
The tragic part is that free water bottles are plentiful at NYU; a LEXIS logo isn't much lamer than a Starbucks one.
I INSTITUTE CHANGE WE CAN ALL BELIEVE IN.
-6
Suck my ass, Mystal, you fat race bating walrus!
I . . . declare . . . BANKRUPTCYYYYYYYYY!
Incidentally, JE could endow a fund to purchase paper cups for all future CLS students with what he earned from five seconds of work at his father's preeminent peer law firm.
How about law firms that charge operator assisted day rates for all telephone calls, and charge for every copy, fax, and full retain for all notebooks and other supplies. Word processing charges, bill prep charges, and you name it and they charge for it. Charging for cups is child's play compared to what law firms charge for. Hell, firms charge for the porn the attorneys watch in their hotel rooms, the booze they drink and the women they fuck.
NYU: showing Duke the real meaning of "overrated."
Every good BigLaw associate knows how to bill 30 hours for each day of the week. It's easy. The client sets the rate and the attorneys keep the time.
Duke sucks shit. Yes, they suck shit. They are shit, which means they suck themselves off.
even less than boring news, this is old news. NYU law charged 25 cents for cups 4 years ago.
At CLS, "forks are still free with the purchase of a meal."
Yes, but to be fair, I hear that cups are still free at NYU with the purchase of a drink inside of them.
You low-lifes complain about the most inane rubbish. I, on the other hand, light my cigars with $50 bills. It adds more flavor than the $20. Jake Emeritus is suspended from work today because of an "incident" that involved him, his father's groin, and some dentures yesterday.
even less than boring news, this is old news. NYU law charged 25 cents for cups 4 years ago.
Elie:
2 Walruses, 1 Cup.
Our student lounge is completely subsidized by the school and too big to fail.
Indiana 2L
YO - Those Starbucks brand cups always cost money! I couldn't get them for free in undergrad, and I can't get them for free at law school either. It's not that shocking...
I guess it's a slow news day (and a whiner of a law student). I'm fairly certain that the cafe is run by an independent company, or at the very least some NYU-wide food service. It's not NYU Law that is pinching pennies (at least not these particular pennies).
NYU Alum
30 = post of the day
Elie:
Congrats on the reference to you in your friend's blog!! I like your autobio and photo!
http://erikyoung.blogspot.com/2009/02/this-is-why-you-go-to-school.html
Seriously? What a whiny person this submitter is. Seriously?
For the record, the cafe is not even run by NYU. It's a company that NYU contracts with. Big f'ing deal.
Please post the name of the submitter so they can be blacklisted from the legal profession for being so over-the-top and ridiculous.
These sound like a couple of crappy universities. Do they serve really small slices of rye bread with their sliced meats?
RE: 36,
This IS a new story. NYU hasn't raised their prices on paper cups in 4 years! This is shocking it means that the price of a paper cup has gone down, if you adjust for inflation. NYU Law: concerned about the student's change.
Shocking!!!
This melodramatic whiner should be smacked around with a metal travel mug.
as an nyu student, i'm ashamed someone bothered to send this in. honestly, just carry one of the number of free water bottles you've inevitably picked up from a law firm or lexis (I think between my roommate and I, we've collected about 7) and use that. if you don't have one, i'll give you one of mine.
NYU's lounge is run by an independent company. I think it's Aramark or Culinart.
Just last week, I politely asked for a cup (note that the 'tipster' just grabbed one) and the cashier kindly gave me one.
between my roommate and me, not my roommate and I. sorry grammar trolls, i wasn't really paying attention.
-50.
I'm at NYU myself and have experienced the exact opposite: I go buy a sandwich at subway, or a burrito and come back to the lounge and ask the cafeteria workers for a plate (on which to eat my off-site purchased lunch) and they always nicely give me one (or even two) for free, with no complaints.
The Mystical Walrus
Cardozo used to charge me 20cents for hot water, even if you brought your own cup and your own tea bag...
-alum
CLS is no longer charging for plastic utensils.
right on, 50, 51 & 53. I, too, am an NYU student and the tipster should be weeded out and publicly flogged.
the staff at the cafe charge for those cups because the coffee urns are not in their sight so they can't tell if someone is using a cup for coffee or water. i completely understand them not wanting to trust you.
At WashU they charge 27 cents per cup.
-T19 insecure (but projecting an air of confidence befitting a bygone era with plentiful jobs and free water cups)
We also pay for cups at Georgetown. Cry me a river.
CUps have been costing since the 80's. Where's this entitled douche from? And law firms charge for both sending and receiving faxes. I always wanted to hire a major snot-nosed law firm and tell them not to accept faxes or make copies since I didn't want to be charged, that they could simply wait for the mail or print it out 10x on the laserprinter, and see what they say?
Generally, the cup is the most expensive component of the beverage at these cafes, especially when you're talking about fountain soda or drip coffee. Why should the cafe give anyone free cups? Talk about an entitled douche.
At Wash U, not only do they charge you for cups (as #58 has said), but you can not buy a bottle of water on campus, a little unfair I'd say
I go to NYU. It's terrible. The kids at cardozo and fordham are probably getting a better education due to lack of "prominent" professors at their schools. I can't believe how aloof and self-righteous these geezers are. And half the time they are wrong b/c no one questions someone who went to yale. but they should.
Hey, tipster/douche/crybaby: buy a fucking water bottle.
tipster sounds like a douche. possibly a lady douche, but i think probably just a garden variety douche.
also, 30 wins the thread.
also, who cares?
Erm...don't we 1Ls have a different promotional (WL, Lexis, BarBri, etc.) water-bottle for each day of the week?
CLS 2L here. I get free plastic ware without any kind of food/drink purchase, but they do still want us to pay for cups.
Now, who wants to bow down to me?
63: Cardozo or Fordham student
I think NYU stopped charging for condoms in 2003, then stopped issuing them because they found out the guys were nutless.
I think NYU stopped charging for condoms in 2003, then stopped issuing them because they found out the guys were nutless.
"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."
come on, Elie. at Columbia forks are free with purchase of a meal. at NYU cups are free with purchase of a drink. it isn't that hard to imagine.
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this student felt overly entitled, or any information on whether establishments have been charging for cups for any period of time now? I think we need to expand this dialogue.
stanford now charges $.25/plate.
Yeah, this is really not a big deal. I think alot of schools do this as a way of incentivizing students to bring their own REUSABLE cups or bottles.
dude:
#1: you no longer have to pay anything for the plastic forks at Columbia. (I guess thanks?)
#2: even the SDNY--the world's premiere fed district court for you prestige people out there--charges for plastic cups.
#3: what passes for news around here?
#4: my cat's name is mittens.
This is nothing new. Washington University in St. Louis instituted a similar policy nearly a year ago, requiring students to pay for a plastic cup to get water. They did it under the banner of 'environmental concern.'
Then again, they've also stopped updating several of our treatises in the library b/c the paper updating is too costly, and we have the stuff available online from West/Lexis.
Cups, Treatises...I'm sure there's more cost-cutting measures we haven't heard about or are yet to come.
Most NYU grads are very happy with their experience there.
Free cups, spoons and even forks -- its the real reason people choose Yale!
Berkeley Law charges 50 cents for a cup with hot water in it.
I went to NYU Law three years ago and they always charged for paper cups.
Why don't the NYU students just barricade themselves in the cafeteria to protest???
In other news, Billy likes to drink soda and Ms Lippy's car is green.
just a thought, isn't it good to discourage use of environmentally-damaging disposable goods?
No, screw the environment, this is LAW SCHOOL!
I am confused..so does New York Law School charge for cups. That's the same as NYU, right?
Since cups are "free," maybe the law student should walk out of Walgreens with a package of them and see how that flies. Why would a non-customer think that they can just help themselves to a cup? Do they walk into the Dean's office and just take a pen?
at brooklyn law school, the cashier tried to charge me for sugar packets- 5 cents each. WTH
at brooklyn law school, the cashier tried to charge me for sugar packets- 5 cents each. WTH
who cares about cups? i want them to fix the prinTTTers in the law library. is that too much to ask?
-NYU 1L