This (insane) article from the Washington Post suggests that law students are going into massive debt and reluctantly turning down the low paying public interest jobs they really want not because of the tuition, room & board, text book costs, bar exam prep monopolies, and three years of deferred income, but rather because of the expensive lattes and espressos some students buy. Really.
Now, I am a big believer in what my mom told me ("if you're going to drink coffee, drink it black"), and my students can confirm that I urge them to live beneath their means as much as possible, but shouldn't we focus on the real costs? And at what point will we take a hard look at opening a second, less expensive route to practicing law?