How do you put the biggest economic meltdown in eighty years into historical perspective? Bwog Money Madame Anna Kelner went to Havemeyer tonight to find out.

Today’s economy is rapidly turning into the stuff of Shakespeare.  Headline after headline spells disaster, AIG is handing out multimillion-dollar bonuses, the federal government is bailing out household names like GM and Chrysler, and President Sarkozy is threatening to boycott the G20 summit. 

Such drama tends to blind, not illuminate, and on Tuesday night, the Columbia Undergraduate History Council sponsored a panel discussion aimed at demystifying the confusion.  At the dialogue between New School historian Robin Blackburn and Columbia professors Eric Foner, Alan Brinkley, and Carl Wennerlind, participants analyzed the crisis’ historical antecedents and offered suggestions for the future. Read more…

CBS News’ latest Medical Correspondent comes with a working knowledge of Homer and the difficulties of swimming 75 yards. Jennifer Ashton, CC ’91 and College of Physicians and Surgeons ’00, will move to The Early Show this year after a three-year gig consulting for Fox News. She already has her own successful private gynecology practice in Englewood, New Jersey, so any of the forty-five billion Columbia students from the Garden State can easily scope her out.

Underclassmen in the throes of indecision will note that Ashton was an art history major before going medical. CBS News president Sean McManus cites her ability to “clearly communicate” as a prime asset, though in the wrong light that may smack of “can translate for the plebes.”

The Early Show is on from 7:00 am to 9:00 am Monday through Saturday. You might as well stay up that extra hour on Friday and catch some of it.

The CCE offers a lot of services, as anyone who receives its incessant weekly e-mails knows. It will pretend to interview you for a job and try to make you crack. It will describe the career options for your major and try to make you cry. It will even give you tips on resume scents if you ask nicely. But its most important task is to find you a job. And employment, as you may or may not be aware, is kind of thin on the ground right now.

The CCE wants you to know it’s trying really, really hard. It wants you to know so badly, in fact, that it e-mailed your parents (they who pay the bills) telling them so. This morning, a message landed in parental inboxes across the country describing its response to the recession, the “Hire Columbians” initiative, in which the CCE promotes connections between student/graduate employees and alumni/affiliate employers.

It might have been easier to write, “It’s the economy, stupid,” and leave it at that, but then we wouldn’t know about “Columbia Champions,” who are constant and fearless, and will rescue you from ROUS’s if you’re wearing light blue.

The point is, the CCE is keeping up the fight. On one hand, it’s nice that you’re getting off the hook for not filling out a dozen job applications over spring break. On the other, anything that prompts a mental comparison between the CCE and the Little Engine That Could is a little worrying. Click for the full e-mail. Read more…

Admissions decisions are online now! It feels like the Terrible Twelves barely had time to learn how to pronounce ‘Schermerhorn’ before being shunted aside by the newer model, but such is the circle of life. It moves us all.

As the Spec reported, regular-decision acceptances were sent off yesterday with pomp, circumstance, and “a middle-aged man wrapped in a light blue flag.” Welcome, Class of 2013. Oh, the nickname you’re going to get, once we think of one.

Columbia issued polite invitations to some 2,496 high school seniors to make Alma Mater their new boss come September. The overall acceptance rate was 9.82, with a CC acceptance rate of 8.92 (up from last year) and a SEAS rate of 14.42 (down). This year yields, yet again, the lowest admissions rate ever.

Congratulations, and we’ll see you at Days On Campus, looking for that elusive owl.

This afternoon, Teachers College students received an email from the offices of President Susan Furman and Provost Tom James announcing that “earlier today, several faculty members received envelopes containing hate mail.”

“We have alerted the Hate Crimes Unit of the New York City Police Department,” the email continues, “which is still investigating the October 2007 hate crime incidents.We anticipate that the New York City Police Department will be at Teachers College to investigate this matter.  We encourage all members of the community to cooperate fully.” Full email after the jump. Read more…

It’s the last day of March, and for once the weather is behaving correctly – going out like a lamb after the groundhog’s prescribed six extra weeks of winter, being awesome, etc. Super Studies Stalker Julia Mix Barrington sends us photographic evidence of the true sign of a Columbia spring: Core classes, outside the classroom. Lit Hum should be around Cervantes right about now, and CC, something like Nietzsche. Hardly beach fare, but then our syllabi have never been as accommodating as the weather.

More spring, after the jump. Read more…

Welcome back to the Housing 2009 (Your Best Mistake Ever!) LiveBwog! We’ll be keeping you updated on the developments of your housing dreams and nightmares throughout the day, now with our handy-dandy How-Screwed-Are-You? Housing Chart. 

5:08 PM: Housing has put a new count online, though this count does not break down by line/floor. Two notable numbers: only 15 Exclusion suites and 5 Woodbridge doubles left.

3:50: That’s it then – the all-senior groups have had their turns. Those who weren’t satisfied get to drop into General Selection (times posted on the 9th). Up tomorrow: mixed point groups and the lucky sophomores – 27.5/1249 through 20/1192. A number of the early groups are EC Exclusion suites, and they’ll be hoping the last 18 don’t go too quickly.

3:26:  The last of the groups are selecting, and today’s suffering is winding down.  

3:20:  Housing’s updated the whiteboard, and we’ve updated the How-Screwed-Are-You? table.  (Answer: quite.  “Royally effed in the ass.”)

3:01:  Billy Joel soothes with “River of Dreams,” and the mood seems to be picking up a little.  The crowd waiting in line is also thinning out a little bit.  Also, it’s so hot that the Reese’s cups have gone melty in their glass jar; the soda’s looking very sparse.

2:53:  An eerie silence.  Housing tells us that 36 groups in total are present.

2:48:  Housing tells Bwog that the many of the groups now selecting are groups of two who seem to prefer Woodbridge and Watt.

2:39:  Bwog population estimation experts tell us that there are “about 40 seniors in the room.”  More precise data to follow.  In other news, the fridge is getting dangerously low on soda.

Old updates after the jump.  Read more…

How depressing and/or controversial do you like the news attached to your free food to be? Today, you have two choices:

At 6:30 in Lerner West Ramp Lounge, the Northern Korean Alliance demystifies North Korea for you with the aid of a free smorgasbord from Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread. Miss Mamie herself is rumored to be opining on the state of North Korea.

Otherwise, there will be pizza and drinks in Earl Hall Auditorium at 7:00, to accompany a talk by economics Professor Brendan O’Flaherty, who is also the Campaign Director of Picture the Homeless. If you arrive clutching a bag full of spoonbread, they might not let you in, so it’s best to stuff it all in your mouth before you get to the door.

The university must convince us that freshmen are not the harbingers of all evil. So far, they haven’t bothered.

Your trip to South Beach was fab and everything, but this March DSpar went to China.

If you ignore all the programs centered around living and learning, the LLC really isn’t so bad.

Columbia takes its oft-scrutinized pitching down to face the Army. No one mention ROTC.

The only thing that could possibly make the unemployment news in Harlem less grim is to have it delivered by a man named James Brown.

The SGB has just released the results of tonight’s Town Hall meeting, during which the members of the SGB Executive Board were chosen. Two new groups were also approved: the Saving Mothers Research Team and the Responsible Endowments Coalition. Awaaz did not gain recognition from the SGB. And now, the winners:

Chair: Devora Aharon, CC ’10 (Hillel)

Vice Chair: Lisa Weber, CC ’11 (Scientists and Engineers for a Better Society)

Treasurer: Eugenio Suarez, CC ’11 (UC-CANF)

Secretary: Beezly Kiernan, CC ’11 (Rotaract)

Representatives: 

Kanak Gupta, GS (HSO)

Sana Khalid, CC ’11 (MSA, Ahimsa)

Jonah Liben, GS/JTS ’11(Hillel)

Rithu Ramachandran, CC ’12 (HSO, SEBS)

Elissa Verrilli, Barnard ’11 (SEEJ)

Owais Rasool, SEAS ’11 (MSA)

Becky Davies, CC ’10 (CU Food Sustainability Project)

Congratulations, newly christened SGB execs!

The Gray Lady‘s Freakonomics blog included a post this morning about our very own beloved Sarah Dooley. The poster, Ian Ayres predicted: “she is going to make it big. I’m not sure how, but remember you heard it here first.”

False. We actually started praising Dooley’s hilarious YouTube series, AndSarah, about a year ago. Dooley made it to the Freakonomics blog because of her brief mention of the book Freakonomics in her newest episode, now available on YouTube, in which she winks at the camera and dubs it “summer reading”. Making jokes about books is what Columbians were put on this earth to do. Thank you, Sarah.

The first good off-campus Flex news in a while: Wondee Siam V, the Thai restaurant right across the street from that other Thai restaurant on 108th and Amsterdam, is currently accepting Flex. This Flex development came “a few weeks earlier than planned” according to Michael Novelli, and is sure to delight all those who prefer chicken pad thai to a pile of soggy Ferris fries for lunch. 

‘Twas a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed over Low and thunder rumbled outside as the members of CCSC took their seats in the Satow Room on Sunday night for another rousing debriefing of the zany world of Columbia politics.

The meeting began with a discussion about a possible kickball “event” between CCSC and ESC. After finally suppressing our excitement about such an event, Bwog struggled to focus on attention on a brief discussion on a report on grade inflation. Academic Affairs rep Karen Woodin discussed her meeting with Dean Yatrakis and shared that the report is intended to garner student responses and opinions on grade inflation.

Print quotas were up next, and the council discussed the need for increased print quotas for English, history and poli sci majors. CCSC President George Krebs simply hoped to “squeeze as many pages as we can out of them.” The council then moved on to a discussion of how to best mark Dean Austin Quigley’s accomplishments throughout his 14 years as CC Dean now that he is stepping down. Options ranged from an event that would include members of all four classes (and plenty of coffee and lemon squares to feed them) to a less formal soccer match, reflecting Quigley’s love for the sport. Krebs noted that much of Quigley’s most important work goes on behind the scenes, and that many Columbians are not aware of Quigley’s ability to raise “a hell of a lot of money for this university.” Read more…

We return with more up-to-the minute liveblogging of the first day of suite selection from John Jay Lounge. Hold your breath and keep refreshing!

Board as of 4:24 PM 

4:58 PM: EC Exclusion-47, Watt One bedroom doubles-11, Watt studio doubles-51, Woodbridge; A-2, B-6, C-0, D-7, E-5, F-6, G-6, H-0, I-6, J-5, K-0, L-7. Ruggles has 2 five person suites and 3 four person suites, but they come with two RAs (i.e. only groups of 3 and 2 can pick into them, respectively). That’s all folks. 

4:46 PM: 47 EC Exclusion suites are all that’s left.

4:41 PM: Housing employees are cleaning up the refuse of soda cans and candy wrappers. Final count for the day coming soon.

4:32 PM: There is now one EC townhouse with a double left. No EC townhouses left. 

4:26 PM: Now no cokes left. Dejected students keep opening the fridge and walking away even more dejected. Yeah, it’s been a long day.

4:11 PM: 2-3 A’s, 1 C and no K’s in Woodbridge…and three Cokes left in the fridge.

4:01 PM: One guy sums up the feelings of many still waiting to be called: “we’re fucked.” 1 EC townhouse left.

3:51 PM: Only one 4-person Claremont suite left, though Bwog just talked to a four-person group that’s dropping into senior regroup, so there’s still a sliver of hope. 

3:45 PM: Still 6 six-person EC suites, as long as you don’t mind 1 double.

3:30 PM: They’ve run out of diet soda! Nooooooooo… Read more…

A hungry Bwog tipster just informed us that Ferris is doling out free french fries at their relatively new burger station. Bwog investigated the french fry situation and noted that, although the portion was generous, the fries did not deliver. Our dejected tipster described them as both “vaguely moist” and, perhaps even worse, “limp”. Our greatest free food hopes, dashed.