Earlier this year, Columbia's Office of Housing and dining added a hot dog vending machine on the fourth floor of Lerner Hall, replacing the Tasti Delight that moved out last year. In an eye-opening investigation that has lasted over a month though, CTV has failed to find a single student who has actually purchased a hot dog.

Our investigation found that though most students know about the machine, few have tried its hot dogs. Many had many questions and concerns about its placement on campus. One student asked, "How do they keep them fresh? How do they keep them from going bad?"

Another chimed in, "The University should try to offer something that's not revolting."

Junior, an employee of Cafe 212, noted, "You don't know how long it's been there; you don't know when they put it on, if they change it every week." When asked if the machine threatened his business, he answered, "no."

One student wondered, "Why serve meat in a machine? That's my question." She also said, "I think they should replace it with something that has a little variety."

Scott Wright, who oversees the Office of Housing and Dining, says there is not yet sufficient data to rule on whether or not the hot dog machine is a success. He explained, "There's been some interesting editorial feedback, but I'm not sure what sales are. Certainly we would look at that as something that may need to be changed; we'll see how many people agree with the 'ewwwww' comment on the blog."

Despite the seeming lack of student support for the machine, CTV has found that it is frequently out of hot dogs, begging the question: just who is eating them? The answer may well rest with this hot dog machine employee, caught refilling the machine and sampling its product. Though he refused to speak on camera, he implied that Columbia's hot dog machine is one of the most successful hot dog machines in operation.