After an attempted robbery at Banco Popular on 111th and Broadway this afternoon, much of the block as been blocked off. We’ll update you as we get more information.

Though Postcrypt opens its first show of the semester this weekend, the coffeehouse continues to struggle to stay up and running in the face an endless stream of administrative hurdles.

After meeting with Columbia administrators on Tuesday, Postcrypt members inform us that they will not be serving alcohol this or next weekend, since they failed to meet the Liquor Authority’s shorter and stricter application deadline. While dry, the coffeehouse will not be required to staff an alcohol proctor, though it will still be required to staff a security guard, following a decision made by the Chaplain to have a security guard at all evening events in St. Paul’s Chapel – an additional cost which would drain both Postcrypt and Security Fund resources. Once Postcrypt does start serving alcohol again, they will need to have two proctors – one to give wristbands and monitor the bar and another to watch the rest of the tiny area. Read more…

Warm yourselves on your way to class! Campus Media Watch is serving free hot chocolate and coffee on College Walk.

Though it may have looked like a blizzard this morning, Manhattan expects more rain than snow. (The Weather Channel)

It’s cold on Wall Street too. Angry brokers and traders rally for their rights. (Gothamist)

Our second favorite alum takes stock of a hard year and tries to stay positive. (NY Times)

Ke$ha could have been in your class. (People)

Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger pass away. (CNN, NY Times)

Bundled up in winter clothes, burglars struggle to be taken seriously.

Our endowment dwindles down to $5.7 billion. (Crain’s New York)

Come and support over a hundred of your peers as they raise money and awareness for pediatric AIDS by dancing for 28 hours straight! Kick off the marathon at noon on Saturday January 30th with Celebrity Ambassador Nigel Barker representing the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Tickets are now on sale at TIC (http://www.cuarts.com/calendar/tickets). All proceeds will go to the foundation. For more info e-mail cudmsteering@columbia.edu!

The Gadfly (Philosophy Magazine): Accepting Submissions

Write Us A Play.
LateNite Theatre, New & Original Student Theatre.
To submit, visit our website (www.latenitetheatre.com) or send submissions to submissions@latenitetheatre.com. Plays must be no more than 30 pages in length.

Turn your frown upside down on Wednesdays with free food and beverages the last Wednesday of every month!

The World Traveler Internship (http://www.worldtravelerinternship.com) is back for 2010 and applications are now open. Two Interns will travel the world for three months taking photographs, videos, blogging, and tweeting to share their experience with their followers. This is the fourth year of the Internship and we’ve got mtvU on board this year and the UK division of STA Travel is sending two additional Interns who will follow a separate itinerary. I think this amazing opportunity would be of interest to students at Columbia University.

Plus, the 2008 World Traveler Intern is a student at Columbia University and is available for interviews to help make the story relevant to your readers.

The Highlights

- Two Interns traveling the world for three months on STA’s dime

- Destinations include Australia, Turkey and Peru

- mtvU has joined STA as a partner for the 2010 World Traveler Internship

- In addition to the two U.S. Interns, the UK division of STA Travel is sending two Interns as well during the same time period, but on a separate itinerary

- Applications are open now and close on March 2

- Just submit a two-to-three-minute video as a response to our original on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/worldtravelerinterns) and then send us the link by registering at worldtravelerinternship.com

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at (972) 538-8843. The full press release is pasted below.

WANTED: World Traveler Interns to Explore the World on STA Travel’s Dime

STA Travel – a global travel specialist with more than 30 years experience sending students, teachers and young professionals around the world – today announced the opening of applications for the 2010 World Traveler Internship: a three-month, 8-country-plus, out-of-the-office Internship for two lucky young people with every expense covered by STA Travel.

The World Traveler Internship is open to any young person in the U.S. under the age of 26 who wants the opportunity of a lifetime to travel around the world for three months blogging, shooting photos and videos, and tweeting about their adventures from June through August 2010.

To apply, just visit worldtravelerinternship.com to fill out a short application and submit a link to your two-to-three-minute YouTube video response telling the panel of STA Travel Experts and World Traveler Internship partner judges, including a representative from mtvU, why you should be one of the two World Traveler Interns from the U.S.

All applications must be completed and submitted by March 2, 2010, with the World Traveler Interns being announced on April 13, 2010.

Itinerary

The World Traveler Internship program is known for putting together some of the most exotic and exciting itineraries ever seen and this year is no different.

The World Traveler Interns start their journey in Peru, volunteering at the STA-supported voluntourism project providing after-school tutoring and warm meals to orphaned children in Cuzco, near iconic Machu Picchu. Follow that with a trip through Brazil and Argentina, and a couple weeks in Australia, including a stop in Tasmania, and the Interns are off to a flying start.

The Interns start July in Japan hitting Tokyo and Kyoto before making their way to Thailand for some island hopping and Turkey, where they will visit Istanbul and the site of the Trojan War.

August offers a bit more freedom for the Interns. After a week in Egypt with the pyramids, the Interns will help plan their own itinerary with a Eurail Global Pass and two weeks to explore Western Europe before heading home to the U.S.

Application Process

To apply, potential World Traveler Interns must fill out a short application at worldtravelerinternship.com with a link to their two-to-three-minute YouTube video response detailing why they should be a World Traveler Intern.

Applications close on March 2, 2010, for deliberation by the panel of travel experts, who will then select and notify the top 50 applicants. Those top 50 applicants will then be required to submit a full application, including a formal resume, references and past experience. It is a job after all.

The top 50 are trimmed to the 20 best applicants who must complete a phone interview with one member of the panel of travel experts before they can advanced to the final round of judging. The 10 finalists will be required to submit a second video that will determine the two World Traveler Interns and the two runners-up, who will also receive trip prizes. The Interns and runners-up will be announced on April 13.

mtvU

For 2010, STA Travel is partnering with mtvU, the largest and most comprehensive multi-platform channel for college students, to spread the word about the World Traveler Internship.

The 2010 World Traveler Internship will be featured on mtvU broadcast and online programming and content from the World TravelerIntern’s journey will be featured on the mtvU network later in 2010.

UK World Traveller Internship

For the first time in the four-year World Traveler Internship program, not only will two young people from the U.S. be embarking on the journey of a lifetime this summer, two representatives from the United Kingdom will be taking the plunge as well.

Applications for the two UK World Traveller Internship spots will be accepted at http://www.worldtravellerintern.co.uk/, with the application deadline of March 23 and the two UK Interns being announced on April 27.

About STA Travel

STA Travel is a global travel specialist with 30 years experience helping students, teachers and young professionals travel the world. We offer a unique range of products with exclusive discounts on airfare, accommodations, tours, rail passes and more. Globally we are present in 90 countries with 400 retail locations, sending over 6 million travelers away each year.

The men of Delta Sig are hosting Columbia University Dance Marathon’s Annual Date Auction. The proceeds of this great event benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation directly. Bwog wishes you happy bidding!

The event will be held in Roone Auditorium from 8 to 11.

The Undergraduate Mathematics Society hosts their first talk of the semester this evening. Alex Blumenthal will be speaking about the applications of ergodic theory to additive number theory, plus some cool stuff about primes. Bwog also notes that there will be FREE FOOD from 7 in 508 Math before the talk at 7:30.

Full event details after the jump.

Read more…

Bwog’s chief Lecture-Hopper and free speech enthusiast Mark Hay reports from last night’s panel discussion moderated by David Remnick, (editor of the New Yorker), with Bernard–Henri Levy (philosopher and author), and Peter Awn (Professor of Islamic Religion and Comparative Religion, Director of the Middle East Institute, Columbia), Kent Greenawalt (Professor of Law, Columbia), Philippe Schmidt (President of the International Network against Cyber Hate and LICRA Vice President).

Freedom of speech is a concept beholden to every democratic movement, a concept with a primary place in American history. It is a concept so well defended and so cherished by Americans especially that, GS Dean Peter Awn argues, “to be an American is to be offended.” Indeed, Bernard–Henri Levy goes so far as to say that without this keystone right, all of the freedoms that characterize our lives would fall. Thus we must call in five experts for a panel discussion to mediate our conflicted feelings and repressed censorial urges.

Why is censorship still prevalent? Levy’s answer: words can be weapons, and we fear their potency. We have silently agreed that in cases like the Rwandan genocide, where Levy argues the absence of key words could have prevented the loss of thousands of lives, censorship is certainly in order. But in our Hippocratic quest to do no harm, we have begun to censor too much, to undermine the foundations of liberty by legislating against blasphemy and insult. Levy claims, by doing so, we are in fact fighting for fascism.

The report continues after the jump. Read more…

Bwog is pleased to take its first PubCrawl, courtesy of Publius, Columbia’s new undergraduate journal of politics. The journal will be released biannually, so we’ll try to pace ourselves.

Gay rights in Spain

Can America be powerful and peaceful?

Unconventional warfare

Bush v. North Korea and Gore

Accidental Guerilla Syndrome

During Bwog’s Wednesday morning constitutional, we were delighted to note that at least one-half of Taqueria is open and ready for business. The new-ish dining room is open, the fridge fully stocked with Modelos and Jarritos, and take-out orders are made in the back. The nice lady who handed us our chicken taco informed us that construction on Taqueria’s oldschool half should be done in 3-4 weeks. We saw a few men working and a lot of sawdust. Maybe this time, they’ll have a sink! Taqueria has had a disconcerting few months, and the management certainly isnt going to let customers wonder about where Taqueria actually is. Exhibits A, B and C are below.

Plumbing and Aquatics Correspondent Joy Jorgensen sends along this picture from the EC courtyard. There’s a big leak in front of one of the townhouses that is flooding the courtyard. If you’re braving the waters, update us in the comments. Stay dry, party people.