I AM CORN POP SIMMONS

Following up on a "trend" breathlessly reported by The New York Times back in December, the Monterey (Calif.) County Herald reports today on the "love affair between college kids and their cereal." (And here we thought the kids today only likes to drink and have sex.)

The Monterey story hits most of the same notes, citing the same "anecdotal evidence" The Times first unveiled, and, of course, mentioning Cereality. Perhaps the most amusing/disturbing anecdote in the article involves this young lady:

The campus stocks both sugary and healthy options, "but the majority goes for the sugar," Kaupie said.

Like Tiffany Ghiorso, who usually alternates between bowls of Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Krispies.

"I always have chocolate because I feel like I need sugar in the morning before a long day of school," said Ghiorso, a junior majoring in social work.

For a while, the campus was out of Cocoa Krispies so she kept bugging Kaupie about stocking up. He called her one day and told her to come to the dining hall -- with an empty backpack.

When she arrived, he gave her a jumbo-sized box of her favorite cereal, "so I did not complain" any more, she said.