Courtesy Starbucks

A view of the Starbucks store at Brewery Blocks in Portland, Oregon, one of the 46 locations where you can sip the $7 Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee.

Fancy a $7 cup of Starbucks? 

In this day of skyrocketing gas, grain and food prices, only a select few do.

But that's the price for a special rare brew Starbucks is serving up in just a few locations.

If you want to sip this black elixir, you'll have to ask for "Costa Rica Finca Palmilera," and fork over $40 for a half-pound. Also, you'll need to live in Seattle or Portland.

Only 48 stores in the country have the beans, and 46 of them are in one of these two cities.

It's not just any Starbucks there that have them, either. Only locations boasting the $11,000 "Clover" coffee machine are worthy to brew the beans. The coffee doesn't have to be made in the Clover, though. It's also available as a pour-over.

Starbucks said Wednesday there's a very good reason for the premium price on this "exotic" blend from a rare "Geisha varietal" line, which comes from an ancient line of plants that traces its lineage back to Ethiopia.

They didn't make very much of it. 

It's simple supply and demand, created for demanding coffee fans in two of the nation's most coffee-centric cities. 

The coffee "only grows at extremely high altitudes, and because of the tree’s low yield allows for more of the soil's nutrients to reach each cherry, intensifying the coffee's vibrant flavors," said the Starbucks spokesperson. "A trained nose and palate might pick up delicate floral aromas, flavors of white peach and pineapple, and a juicy herbal complexity in this coffee."

 In addition, all the beans came from just 3 hectares out of a single 90 hectare estate, yielding a tiny amount, a mere 3,800 pounds.

Starbucks basic tall Blonde coffee, produced in bulk, sells for $1.50 a cup.

"Costa Rica Finca Palmilera" is part of the Starbucks "Reserve" line of coffees, previously known as their "Black Apron" line, where the company hunts down rare and flavorful beans in origin countries and makes them available at just a few stores for a brief period of time. 

"The Starbucks Reserve line of coffees allows us to offer our customers the opportunity to try rare, unique, exquisite coffees that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience," said Starbucks. That is, as long as they are ready to pay a higher price.

For instance, the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, when available, goes for $4.50 for a tall brewed cup. Other brews in the Reserve line go for $2.95-$6.00 for a tall cup.

That said, even for a Reserve cup, "It is the highest price we've ever had," a Starbucks spokesperson told TODAY. "It raises the bar."

It's official. Twinkies are toast, at least as far as being a Hostess product is concerned.

Hostess Brands Inc on Wednesday won permission from a U.S. bankruptcy judge to begin shutting down, and expressed optimism it will find new homes for many of its iconic brands, which include Twinkies, Drake's cakes and Wonder Bread.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., authorized current management, led by restructuring specialist Gregory Rayburn, to immediately begin efforts to wind down the 82-year-old company, a process expected to take one year.

"It appears clear to me that the debtors have taken the right course in seeking to implement the wind-down plan as promptly as possible," Drain said near the end of a four-hour hearing.

The judge authorized Hostess to begin the liquidation process one day after his last-ditch mediation effort between the Irving, Texas-based company and its striking bakers' union broke down.

Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn testified at a bankruptcy hearing Wednesday that he will have to terminate 15,000 employees immediately. Most of the remaining 3,200 workers are expected to be let go within four months. 

"This is a tragedy, and we're well aware of it," Heather Lennox, a lawyer for Hostess, told the judge. "We are trying to be as sensitive as we can possibly be under the circumstances to the human cost of this." 

The union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, has complained it should not be forced into new wage and benefit cuts, on top of earlier give-backs, while top executives rewarded themselves with higher pay, and that it was "well aware" of the potential consequences of that stance.

The union said in a court filing that its sole objective was to leave Hostess with "a real, rather than an illusory or theoretical, likelihood of establishing a stable business with secure jobs."

Union president Frank Hurt was not immediately available for comment. 

"This is truly a sad day for thousands of families affected by the closing of this company," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall in a statement. "I want to assure our members that despite this outcome, they do not stand alone and their union will continue to work on their behalf to help them find new employment."

About 6,700 Hostess workers are members of Teamsters.

Related story: Twinkies are king of the Nile, despite US woes

After the company's announcement last week that it would need to liquidate after claiming that a strike by workers crippled its business, consumers cleared store shelves of Hostess products, especially Twinkies, out of fear they would never taste the spongy, yellow cakes again.

There could be a silver lining in this Twinkie tale. Hostess bankers testified to a "flood" of inquiries into buying Hostess brand names from other food makers, from stores and supermarkets, including Wal-Mart, and from investment interests.

According to testimony by a Hostess Brands adviser, many of the interested buyers have asked if they could keep some of the workers employed in the factories.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Rayburn said he was disappointed that the mediation failed and that he plans to move "extremely fast" to sell Hostess' assets. Asked which bidders may fare best, he said: "The one that pays the most."

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was included in this report.

You do your job, you get paid. Life is good, right?

Unless you're a monkey -- and you see your buddy is getting a better reward than you for doing the exact same task. 

Frans de Waal, a primatologist and Emory University professor, conducted an experiment on Capuchin monkeys about 10 years ago, which he dubbed the “Fairness Study.” During the study, two monkeys were each asked to perform a task for a reward. If you’re a monkey, a chunk of cucumber is an acceptable reward, but you know you’re really keeping up with the Joneses when you get rewarded with grapes.

In the viral video, uploaded to YouTube in May, the first time a monkey completes the required task (which involved handing a lab worker a small rock), he is paid with a small chunk of cucumber. But then the monkey discovers his buddy is rewarded with a grape -- valuable currency in the monkey world -- for doing the exact same job. Well, that wasn’t going to fly. What was going to fly were chunks of cucumber as the first monkey, now green with envy, pounds the table in protest and rattles the walls of his cage.

"So, this is basically the Wall Street protest that you see here," says de Waal, referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

De Waal as his colleague, Sarah Brosnan, published their findings in the journal Nature in 2003. The video from May has gone viral, with more than 1.2 million views. 

Joy Jernigan contributed to this report. Dana Macario is a Seattle-area writer who, like the Capuchin monkeys, has been known to have a case of the wants now and then.

Courtesy Melissa Rush

Melissa Rush, 24, far right, with her family outside an Old Navy on Black Friday in 2010 at 2 am.

You think you're going to get a deal this Black Friday? You'll have to get through the diehards first.

“Are you kidding?” Amanda Willis, 21, shouted into her phone, after secretly making it ring. “Yankee Candle is giving away those big candles for free for the next 10 minutes?!” Most of the hour-long line in front of her fled the J.Crew store at Jersey Shore Premium Outlets to dash over to the candle store. Willis checked out in 15 minutes. “I'm on a schedule,” the college senior and frugal fashion blogger told TODAY with a laugh mixed with both guilt and glee, recalling last year's ruse.

Related: 10 things not to buy on Black Friday

After waiting for 30 minutes for parking on Black Friday, a guy cut off Tyger Danger, 24, and stole her spot. “I threatened to key his car,” said the Orlando, Fla., public relations executive who flies home annually to shop Black Friday with her family. Since she was girl, her mother has bought her a new Christmas dress each year. “I find the day very stressful,” Danger told TODAY. “As I’ve grown older, I find myself staying away from large crowds, but my mother loves it. She loves the hustle and bustle. She loves the decorations, the energy and excitement."

Black Friday isn't what it used to be. There are cops now, organized lines, and claim tickets passed out for the door busters. They're necessary elements after a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death in 2008 by uncontrolled crowds. Retailers have gotten better at crafting and marketing stingier deals, too. The day doesn't even start on Friday anymore, with many stores this year opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Much of the action and excitement is moving online as well. IBISWorld forecasts that 2012 Black Friday spending will be $12.2 billion, an increase of only .1 percent over last year. Meanwhile, Cyber Monday spending will jump 21.4 percent to $1.5 billion. For these true believers, however, Black Friday is as much for the savings as the thrill of snagging them.

Donning snow pants, a sweatshirt, coat, gloves and hat, Chace Cannon, 26, waited from 11:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. one year in front of a Salt Lake City, Utah, Target store. The temperature: 6 degrees. The prize: a-40 inch Westinghouse HDTV, half off, for $299. Once inside, he and friends loaded their carts up with eight TVs, the investment adviser told TODAY. Latecomers tried to pry the boxes out of their carts, so the gang retreated to a corner and circled the shopping carts until friends and family arrived.

Louise Sattler, 53, admits to being strategically nice to others. After that people are much more willing to help you, the Los Angeles educational entrepreneur told TODAY, like holding your place if you need to go to the bathroom or letting your kid jump in the line with you. Her family, fluent in sign language, uses it to coordinate with each other inside loud stores. It's faster than texting.

If she can't find what she's looking for, she'll look them up on the Internet afterward or during Cyber Monday. “A lot of the same deals are online,” said Sattler, a bit ruefully.

Tips: How to not bust your budget over the holidays

However, clicking buttons at home doesn't have the same visceral thrill of snatching a prize in the shopping scrum.

There's this “adrenaline high of getting all these great sales,” Melissa Rush, 24, told TODAY. She went to her first Black Friday on a lark a few years ago. Then she found a pair of ballet-slipper style Crocs for $24. After that, the Seminole, Fla., 2nd grade teacher was “hooked.”

This year, her family is limiting everyone to bringing one dish for Thanksgiving. It'll give them more time for shopping.

Rush's goal is to buy a present for each of her 30 different family members. Using a spreadsheet on her phone synced with her computer, delegating tasks in-store to her shopping crew of 10 friends and family, and using a combination of coupons, price matching, and manufacturer's rebates, she aims to spend no more than $300 total, about $10 per person. She says it's key to compare the circulars from the week before with the Black Friday announcements to make sure the deals with the big red circles around them are actual savings. She also checks prices and reviews on Amazon.com before putting an item on the hit list.

Rush does what anyone else can do. She's just very dedicated about how she does it. Research ahead of time. Know what you want. Stick to your plan. Execute. Oh, and always make sure one person in your group gets into the checkout line right away when you enter the store while the others hunt for the goodies.

“At first people thought I was crazy,” when they heard how early she was getting up and how hardcore she took the whole process, she said. “Then they saw the receipt.”

When the economic crisis hit in late 2008, to stay in budget, Rush's large family had to change the holiday gift-giving tradition to White Elephant or Secret Santa parties, which make a game out of giving a limited number of presents. Now that she does Black Friday, she and her posse come home with SUV-loads full of presents, and everyone gets one. “Our smiles are as big as Christmas,” she said.

More money news:

• Video: 4 reasons not to pay off debt with 401(K)
• Video: Make it last: Getting the most out of your groceries
• Video: How to avoid financial infidelity
• Sign up for our TODAY newsletter

Follow TODAY Money on Twitter and Facebook

It’s still a few days until Thanksgiving, but already many readers are  thinking about holiday shopping – or where they don’t plan to be shopping.

Two Life Inc. posts this week looked at the backlash retailers are facing over their holiday plans.

Macy’s became the target of an online petition urging the retailer to drop Donald Trump from a holiday advertisement.

Trump, of course, has gained notoriety recently for his conservative politics, particularly in challenging whether President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is real and asking the president to reveal his college transcripts.

More than half of the nearly 160,00 people who took our poll were in favor of dumping Trump.

Some readers argued that the ad was an example of freedom of speech – to which many readers responded that they also had the freedom to say what they thought as well.

“Trump is free to say what he wants. Macy’s is free to say what they want. Former Macy's customers are free to cut up their cards and do business elsewhere. Everyone enjoying freedom all around,” one reader wrote.

Target, meanwhile, was the subject of another petition over the retailer’s plans to open up for holiday shopping at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Wal-Mart, Kmart and other retailers also are planning to start Black Friday on Thursday, in an effort to get an early start on the all-important holiday shopping season. The petition came from employees who don't want to have to work on Turkey Day.

Many of our readers seemed like they would rather get up at the crack of dawn on Friday than head out to the stores right after Thanksgiving dinner. About 70 percent of the readers who took our poll said they would like retailers to open at 7 a.m. on Friday.

Some readers said they felt bad for workers who had to go in on the holiday.

“Folks working retail get so few holidays off, don't start taking away what is one of the most important days off with family,” one reader wrote.

But others argued that businesses should be able to open whenever they want, and that in this economy workers shouldn't necessarily complain if they have to work the holiday.

“I'd be grateful just to have a job,” one wrote.

Toy Hall of Fame

Star Wars action figures hit the market in 1978 after the big blockbuster movie came out in 1977.

The latest toy legends to ascend into the vaunted Toy Hall of Fame are... duhn duhn duhn.... Star Wars action figures and dominoes!

From a field of twelve finalists, a national selection committee picked the final two, beating out the Fisher-Price corn popper, Lite-Brite, Clue, the Magic 8 Ball, Simon, the tea set, and Twister. Each committee member was asked to pick two and then write a brief essay passionately advocating their choice.

The toys will now become part of the collection at the national Toy Hall of Fame, a real place in Rochester, N.Y., which you can visit.

Star Wars action figures hit the market in 1978 after the big blockbuster movie came out in 1977. Dominoes have been around since the 1300s in China.

Anyone can nominate a toy for entry into the hall of fame, and then a museum committee narrows that list down based on toys that are real superstars. They must have remained popular for generations, and stimulate child development.

Dominoes and Star Wars action figures certainly meet those criteria, selection committee member Jeff Gomez told TODAY.

"Dominoes are an iconic form of play," he said. "Particularly among Latinos." Gomez, the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, recalled his Puerto Rican upbringing where family friends and neighbors would gather to play the centuries-old matching game with a mix of swagger to shuffling the tiles, a little trash talk, and a lot of fun. When the set of Dominoes came out, it meant "peace in the family, a break in the chaos," he said.

FeaturePics stock

"Dominoes are an iconic form of play," said election committee member Jeff Gomez. "Particularly among Latinos."

Likewise, the fun force is strong with the Star Wars action figures. The epicness of its story was in some ways surpassed by its universe of mass-market merchandise tie-ins. Which helped because back then if you wanted to experience the tale again, you had to buy another movie ticket. Star Wars action figures "offered a level of richness that was additive to the mythology."

While for centuries children have played with dolls, which is what action figures essentially are (sorry boys), the popularity of the movie meant that when the kids played, everyone knew the story.

A lot of the early Toy Hall of Fame winners, Gomez said, showed an "archetypal innocence. But as you move up through the sixties and seventies, it starts reflecting the technological development."

"What we play with," said Gomez, "provides context to the society in which we grew up."

Hm, I wonder what it says about our society that this year's hot toys are the Furby and the Nerf N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire Blaster? 

Magic 8 Ball vs. army men: Toys vie for hall of fame

Slideshow: 'Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?'

Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures

A new book co-written by a TODAY.com producer looks at the lost toys, tastes and trends of the 1970s and 1980s. Where are you, Quisp cereal, Malibu Barbie, and Dynamite Magazine?

Launch slideshow

There's some evidence the economy is slowly improving, and yet many people in their 30s and 40s are still struggling to make up for ground they lost during the recession and recovery.

We want to hear from Generation X about how you are feeling about the economy, your career and your personal financial situation.

If you're interested in participating, send us a note and be sure to include contact information so we can get in touch.

Selected responses will be used as part of of an upcoming story.

Are you "into" Black Friday? Do you have a passion for hunting for the savings? Do you plan in advance and make sure you have the best shopping strategy? If so, we'd like to talk to you for an upcoming piece on Black Friday diehards. Please do get in touch with us. 

Don't forget to include your contact information, including which state you live, so we can contact you.

The Dell Inspiron 660 ships with the new Windows 8.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

Not too long ago, it seems, consumers buying an entry-level desktop could count on it coming with Microsoft’s Windows 7. Windows Vista was a distant memory, Mac OS X a pricey pipe dream, and Linux generally a do-it-yourself proposition. Now, price-conscious consumers looking at desktop PCs will find a few different operating systems, including Windows 8, which made its official debut on Oct. 26.

Cheapism has singled out three well-reviewed desktop computers with three distinct operating systems -- all for less than $500.

• The Dell Inspiron 660 (starting at $480) features the new Windows 8, which has earned positive feedback from many corners. This desktop has an Intel Core i3-2130 processor, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive (a terabyte equals roughly 1,000 gigabytes of storage), and a DVD-RW drive. It also offers a memory card reader and outdoes competitors with four high-speed USB 3.0 ports (plus four USB 2.0 ports). Online reviews declare this computer a solid performer from the popular Inspiron line. (Where to buy)
• The Gateway SX2370-UR10P (starting at $480) comes with the tried-and-true Windows 7 Home Premium. Experts and consumers rave about the power for the price, saying this computer can even keep up with demanding PC games. Where most budget desktops have Intel central processing units, or CPUs, this one has a processor made by AMD: a quad-core A8-3820. The specs include 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD-RW drive, and a memory card reader. (Where to buy)
• The Samsung Series 3 Chromebox (starting at $330) is built around Google’s Chrome OS. It’s an entirely different animal designed for computer users who spend most of their time on the Web. Instead of running applications installed on the hard drive, this cheap little machine utilizes Google’s online apps and services. Consequently, it requires a reliable internet connection and won’t suit users needing powerful software such as Adobe Creative Suite. Still, many consumers find the experience similar to using a conventional PC, and experts say you can can boot up this blazing fast machine and be online in about 10 seconds. (Where to buy)

So, why consider Windows 7 given the newer and more novel alternatives? Reviews suggest that Windows 8 users face a formidable learning curve -- the new version doesn’t even have a Start menu -- and getting used to it may not be worth your time on a desktop that doesn’t take advantage of the touch-screen interface. Microsoft has said it will continue to support Windows 7 until 2020. If you buy a compatible Windows 7 machine, including the Gateway model mentioned above, before Jan. 31, you have until the end of February to change your mind and upgrade to Windows 8 for only $14.99.

Operating systems aside, the best budget desktops come with at least 4GB of RAM and integrate 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity. Computers at this price point typically have integrated graphics rather than more powerful video cards fit for 3D gaming. Often the price doesn’t include a monitor, and the Samsung Chromebox also lacks a keyboard and mouse. Where most desktops have large hard drives, the Chromebox has a 16GB solid state drive, or SSD, which accounts for much of the computer’s speed. With most everything taking place in the cloud, the Chromebox can get away with less local storage.

More from Cheapism:
Cheap desktop computers
Nettop computers
Sealy Posturepedic reviews
Snow blower reviews

Larry Downing / Reuters

President Barack Obama meets with workers at the National Red Cross headquarters in Washington this week. The Red Cross is one of the nation's leading disaster-relief organizations.

Watch out: Scammers trying to cash in on Superstorm Sandy are on their way. The destruction caused by the storm gives the bad guys a major opportunity to steal your money or personal information.

Symantec, the security software firm, reports the first wave of Sandy-related spam has been sent. The messages have subject lines such as: “Help Sandy Victims and get $1000 for Best Buy!,” and “Deposit Processing Open Today (Frankenstorm doesn’t stop us).”

These phishing expeditions are designed to snag your credit card, debit card or bank account numbers.

Based on previous disasters, Symantec predicts a rash of cyber-attacks that start with links to fake news stories, photos and videos. These will be distributed via Facebook posts and tweets, Internet searchers, text messages and email.

Resist the urge to click on these unknown links or you could download some nasty malware onto your computer or smart phone.

Charity scams 
This is an emotional time for people all across the country. You want to help, and con artists hope to take advantage of that. They make phone calls and pretend to be a bona fide charitable organization. They set up websites that look like reputable charities. It’s very easy to do.

The online security firm Avast! reminds us that back in 2005, after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast, there were at least 15 bogus websites designed to look like the American Red Cross site. Donors who took the bait gave their personal information, such as credit card numbers and PayPal passwords, to the online crooks.

“Charity scams are among the most despicable scams out there,” said John Breyault, director of fraud.org, the National Consumers League’s Fraud Center. “Not only are consumers victimized when they give money to the scammers, but the people who need help to rebuild their lives don’t get that money.”

Related: 7 tips to avoid post-disaster insurance and repair scams

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has warned residents of his state to be cautious if they receive calls to make a donation to the storm relief effort.

“Unfortunately, there are some who might use our generous nature to take the donations for themselves, not for those in need,” he said. 

A charitable request might be a scam, DeWine advises, when the caller:

• uses high pressure tactics to solicit an immediate donation.
• is hesitant or unable to answer questions.
• asks for the check to be made payable to a person instead of a charity.
• offers to pick up your check immediately, rather than waiting for you to mail it off.
• promises a prize in exchange for a donation.

Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, urges donors to take their time and do their homework before responding to any solicitation.

“You want to know what they do, what relief activities your contribution is going to fund,” he said. “You can’t assume based on the name alone what activities your generosity is going to support.”

To help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, Weiner suggests choosing an organization with some skill and experience in disaster relief activities, such as the American Red Cross.

“A start-up organization, or even an established charity that decides to get involved in relief work for the first time, may have great intentions, but may not necessarily carry it out very effectively,” he cautioned.

Protect yourself: Never make a donation by clicking on a link in an email or text. Go to the site on your own. Be careful with web searches – names can be misleading – you could wind up on the wrong site.

Don’t allow yourself to be pressured into making a donation.

Don’t give your credit card information to an unknown caller. If you’re interested in the cause, ask to be sent information.

Stop, think and check them out. You can do that at sites such as: BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator.

Home repair scams
“After a spectacular storm like this, fraudsters will come out of the woodwork offering to repair damaged homes,” warned Susan Grant, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America. “They may take your money and just disappear. Or they may start the work and not finish it. Or they work may just be really shoddy quality.”

If you need repair work done and don’t have a trusted contractor, you want to find someone qualified to do the job. And in a situation like this, it won’t be easy. Try to stay calm, so you can deal with the situation rationally.

For major repairs, the Better Business Bureau recommends getting at least 3 to 4 estimates. They should be based on the same specs and materials.

Get everything in writing. The contract needs to spell out when the job starts and will be completed, a payment schedule, what materials will be used and what sort of clean-up will be done.

Remember: Never make a final payment until all the work is completed to your satisfaction.

Consumer Reports suggests:

• Try to deal with people who live and work in your community.
• Ask for copies of the contractor’s general liability and worker’s compensation insurance.
• Avoid paying more than the minimum in advance.

Protect yourself: Steer clear of anyone who shows up at your home or office, offers an instant estimate and wants a sizeable payment in cash before any work is done.

Say no to a contractor who promises a great price because he has left-over materials from a previous job. That’s a common trick used by fly-by-night operators.

Don’t let anyone pressure you into hiring them. You need time to check references, to see if they are licensed or registered (if required in your state) and to check them out with the Better Business Bureau.

Helpful resources

• Better Business Bureau: Tips on Hurricane Relief Donations 
• Charity Navigator: Tips for Giving in a Time of Crisis
• Charity Navigator: Hurricane Sandy: Charity’s Responding
• Federal Trade Commission: Avoid Charity Fraud
• Federal Trade Commission: Charity Checklist
• Federal Trade Commission: Charitable Donations: Give or Take?
• BBB Warns About “Storm Chasers” Following Hurricane 
• New York Attorney General: Guide to Property Owners as They Recover and Rebuild from Hurricane Sandy

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook or visit The ConsumerMan website.

American Association of University Women

New research shows the pay gap starts right after college graduation.

The gap between what female and male college graduates earn may start as soon as new grads collect their first paycheck.

A new analysis of government data finds that, on average, male college graduates were earning more than their female classmates just one year after graduation. The gap was persistent, although smaller, after controlling for factors such as choice of major and job.

“Women are making progress, for sure, in education and in the workplace,” said Christianne Corbett, a senior researcher with the American Association of University Women and an author of the report. “But the pay gap is real. It’s still there. That’s what’s so confounding about it.”

The AAUW took a look at what 2008 college graduates were earning one year later, in 2009. They found that on average, the female graduates who were working full time were earning 82 cents for every dollar their male peers were earning.

The average salary for women was $35,296, compared with $42,918 for men.

There are some factors that can at least partially explain that gap. Although more women are entering traditionally male-dominated fields, men are still more likely to pursue majors that can command higher paychecks, such as engineering and certain science fields, the researchers said.

Meanwhile, women remain more likely to gravitate to lower-paying fields like education and health care.

So the researchers controlled for factors such as what graduates majored in, where they went to college, what field they were working in, how many hours they worked and even their grade point averages.

They found that even after accounting for all those things, the female graduates were still earning about 7 percent less than their male peers.

“There’s good reason to believe that part of that unexplained gap is due to gender discrimination, and most of it is probably unconscious,” Corbett said.

Francine Blau, an economist at Cornell who has studied the wage gap extensively, said there are things that can be done to narrow the overall wage gap, such as getting more women to go into math and science fields that pay better.

Still, she said it’s also important to consider whether bias is to blame for the remaining 7 percent wage gap that can’t be explained by other factors. She noted that in the modern era, that doesn’t necessarily mean hiring managers are consciously deciding they should pay women less for the same work.

“Discrimination doesn’t have to conscious and overt. It can be subtle and even unconscious,” Blau said. “As we’re seeking to reduce that, we should bear that in mind.”

Blau said the 7 percent gap is likely smaller than it has been in years past.

Still, she noted, there’s other evidence to suggest that the gender difference in pay will get bigger as these women get older.  It’s not clear if that’s because women choose different career paths, slow their career for family and child care responsibilities or face bias.

“I’m guessing that if we could follow these women over the years, there’s a fair probability that the gap will widen,” Blau said. “But I think they’ll still be doing better than their predecessors.”

The research comes as more women than men are going to college, and it’s becoming increasingly common for women to pursue traditionally male-dominated fields. But even when women choose the same major as men, they still may not be getting as fat of a paycheck in return, the new data suggest.

Female business majors who graduated in 2008 were making an average $38,034 one year after graduating, compared with $45,143 male business majors.

Similarly, female engineers were making an average $48,493 a year after graduation, compared with $55,142 for men.

Wages were more likely to be equal for men and women who had majored in health care, education and the humanities.

Corbett said one explanation for this difference is that women are less likely to be using the degree they earned. She said research has found that men who get an engineering degree are more likely than women to get a job that requires that degree.

Other research has shown that women with science degrees are more likely than men to then take clerical or other administrative jobs.

The researchers also found that the wage gap was much wider for men and women who attended private, nonprofit universities than for those who attended public universities.

In general, women who work full-time, year-round earned 77 cents for every dollar a man earned in 2011, according to the latest Census data released last month. That gap has been relatively stable for years.

Other government data also has shown that women tend take home less money each week even when they are doing the same job as a man. For example, the median weekly earnings of a female medical scientist was 77.6 percent of the median weekly earnings for a man in the same field, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2011.

Related:

Women face stubborn wage gap as wages fall for everyone

Amid recession, an uptick in wives ourearning their husbands

More women seeking MBAs but pay gap persists

The Linksys E1200 starts at $44.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

The boxes that house new wireless routers are littered with cryptic combinations of letters and numbers: 802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz, 10/100/1000 Mbps. Bewildered consumers risk buying more bells and whistles than they need. If you don’t spend too much time playing the latest bandwidth-hungry PC games or streaming multimedia on multiple devices, you can get a reliable router for less than $50.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable wireless routers.

• The Linksys E1200 (starting at $44) is easy to set up, according to online reviews -- a relief for networking novices. Experts declare this router fast enough for basic home use, allowing users to access the Internet on multiple devices throughout the house. (Where to buy)
• The D-Link DIR-605L Cloud (starting at $40) is a simple router that provides a stable wireless signal, reviewers say. What sets it apart is the Mydlink feature, which lets users keep tabs on their wireless networks remotely, via the web or a smartphone app. Users can see all the devices connected to a network, monitor their browsing history, and even block them if necessary. (Where to buy)
• The Rosewill RNX-N300RT (starting at $28) is a bare-bones model that seems to have a somewhat limited range, but it may be all some consumers need. Online reviews point to the practically unbeatable price and many testify to the router’s dependability. (Where to buy)

The performance of any wireless router depends on a variety of factors, and the specs on these budget models will suit some consumers better than others. All three are single-band routers that operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, a band crowded by devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other wireless routers. If you have a lot of electronics or close neighbors that could cause interference, you may want to consider a pricier dual-band router that uses the 5 GHz frequency as well.

While some low-cost routers use the 802.11g wireless standard, all those we picked use 802.11n, the latest to be ratified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE. Like other single-band routers, they have the potential to transfer data at up to 300 megabits per second. However, as a recent Wall Street Journal article explains, any router’s “real-world” performance will be much slower. Experts have clocked these at around 40 to 55 Mbps.

One way to speed things up is to plug a device directly into a router. All the models listed above have four Ethernet ports on the back that support transfer rates of 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps. Some more expensive routers have 10/100/1000 Mbps (or gigabit) ports.

Security is an issue for anyone who shops or banks online -- or just doesn’t want someone else accessing their network and slowing down the connection. The routers on this list support WPA2, which offers better protection than the older WPA and WEP security protocols. They all have firewalls, as well, to block hackers from accessing your computer.

More from Cheapism:

• Cheap wireless routers
• Space heater reviews
• Cheap kids' shoes
• Best cheap laptops