And yet more benjamins go up in smoke. Earlier this afternoon, Columbia confirmed a Bloomberg News report that it had “uncovered” a $3 million loss in its law school endowment tied to Bernie Madoff. Madoff is currently out on bail for what many are calling the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The $3 million is […]

Suggesting that frozen-yogurt customers are perhaps less than loyal, Tasti D-Lite experienced a 75% decline in sales in the first semester before abruptly departing campus this past Friday. Was it off-campus flex? The introduction of (more popular) Pinkberry? The economy? We’ll probably never know. As for what would go in its place, Columbia Dining Services […]

Last night, Bwog reported on the shocking disappearance of the Tasti D-Lite kiosk from Lerner. It turns out that the departure was as sudden as our photo suggested. According to Michael Novielli of Student Auxiliary and Business Services: “Dining Services was notified on Friday, January 16 that Tasti-D-Lite would be permanently closing its location on […]

“Let me begin with the caveats: I like men,” writes Barnard’s president in today’s Washington Post, “But as the financial debacle unfolds, I can’t help noticing that all the perpetrators of the greatest economic mess in eight decades are, well, men.” Oh yes, you may have heard many other explanations for the Wall Street crisis: […]

Here’s the trouble with the holidays: indulging in too many homemade, holiday treats – latkes, gelt, pecan pie, eggnog and the like – often results in no longer looking so svelte in the lovely argyle sweater Santa or the Hanukkah Armadillo brought for you.  And you know, eating healthy isn’t so bad.  What with Pink […]

With less than a month to go in the semester, we at Bwog are among the many converging on Butler. If you’ve forgotten to sneak food and drink in, though (a course we recommend do not endorse), your only source of caffeinated comfort is Blue Java. Strangely, though, the Butler Blue Java prices are even […]

As we reported last month, the economy may be in the tank, but PrezBo’s doing all right for himself: for the 2007-08 year, he’s earning $1.4 million in total compensation. Now, to remind us all just how high a sum that is, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Bollinger was the third-highest paid university […]

Classes are tough, the economy is bad, life is hard. But drinking is always good. Unfortunately in recent times, we’ve have seen our drinking habits suffer due to Columbia’s war on fun and the economy’s war on our wallets.   When a bar tab on any given night out easily runs upwards of $25, the simple […]

For now, anyway. Bwog just tried to get cash out of the Lerner Citibank ATMs, only to learn that they are out of commission until 2:00 p.m. while being replaced. Which explains the large shrouded robot things near the entrance.  – Photo by Anish Bramhandkar  UPDATE, 12:20 p.m.: Debit machines in Morton Williams aren’t working […]

Bwog received an email early this morning from “ted” at CampusGrotto.com. We had never heard of CampusGrotto.com because honestly, have you? Still! They have heard of your Columbia, which they rank 39th in their list of the one hundred most expensive colleges. CG estimates your tuition to be $37,470, which is about five grand less […]

Media mogul John Kluge (who you may remember gave CC a ridiculous amount of money) has announced that he will subsidize yet another of Columbia’s fine institutions–the Journalism School.  A paltry $20 million of his 400 mil gift to the university will go to finishing the J-school’s $100 million Second Century campaign.  The money also […]

The B-schoolers aren’t the only ones effected by the recent economic downturn.  It turns out undergrads are too! Instead of offering advice on how to save money, this week Bwog on a Budget returns with a special money-making feature.  The long and the short of it is simple: Bwog is broke.  Given our economic state, […]

Bloomberg has an article today highlighting the salaries of some of the city’s biggest names in arts and culture. One name on the list is your president Lee C. Bollinger, who takes home a “$1.42 million package, which included $911,284 in base pay and $500,610 in benefits.” This puts PrezBo’s salary a little under that […]

An easy way to save money is avoiding stuff that costs money. But since pretty much everything costs money, the key to balancing a normal lifestyle and your budget involves avoiding unnecessary expenses.  Haircuts can fall into the unnecessary expenses category for a while, but not forever.  And although you may only get a haircut […]

Bwog on a Budget, your wallet-friendly guide to living in the city returns this week, with a fall shopping guide for discount points of destination in and around the city. Discount Department Stores Don’t let the promises of Dolce and Gabana and Manolos fool you.  Invariably, you will search through piles of strewn polyester before […]