Graduate students say they have taken over the coffee shops in large part because they need them more. While undergraduates can convene in a range of settings, graduate students' social options are more limited.

"Unless you go bar-hopping a lot, or to clubs, cafes are a good way to socialize," says third-year linguistics student Erich Groat.

Second-year Law School student Wendy S. Minich says she goes to coffee shops "all the time" to escape her school's unpleasant atmosphere.

"I think undergrads are more into making friends and socializing in the dorms, but our place is crap," agrees second-year law student Leslie S. Santos.

But the deluge of graduate students has crowded out the more alternative, street-scene crowd in his cafe, Fernandez says.

"There were a lot more street people who'd come here and sit for eight hours and never pay for their coffee," Fernandez says. "It was a lot more interesting. People used to come here to be entertained."

And while some teaching fellows still hold office hours in the Square's cafes, Groat says his students prefer a place that is "quieter--much more quiet."

A few undergraduates, willing to swallow the changes in coffee shop flavor, still cling to the cafe cult.

Dulcy Anderson '92 and Jennifer M. Gibbs '92 say they've grown up in Harvard Square cafes.

And members of specific "crowds" say they regularly haunt their favorite coffee purveyors. In Adams House, according to legend, everyone goes to Pamplona.

And no matter what happens, some undergraduates will keep coming to coffee shops, drinking and thinking. It's just part of the routine for Cornelius Howland '95, who finds special reasons to seek late-night coffee.

"Wednesday is `existentialist night' at Au Bon Pain," Howland explains.