Anthony Johnson, CC ’13, was arrested on Tuesday after a package he ordered containing 42 fake IDs was intercepted in Lerner. Spec reports that he went into the scheme with a group of friends, who each ordered two cards. He has been suspended from school until his court date in June, and charged with 42 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. Johnson is quoted as saying at the time of his arraignment, “I ordered the IDs online because there’s a lot of places around school where you need to be 21.”

Spec also reports that fake IDs are common among students. More on the story tomorrow!

Blue backpack with “Mountain Equipment Co-op” logo.
Last seen in John Jay Dining Hall.
Contains “Don Quixote” book but no valuables.
If found, please contact bzs2104@columbia.edu.

A 1895 Ad. Times have changed.

After extensive testing on the Canadians, The New York Times launched its dreaded paywall today! The gray lady now requires non-subscribers to fork over fifteen bucks a month for digital content. Bwog had lotsa questions, so we talked to the trusty keepers of information, Columbia librarians.

According to Journalism librarian, Chris Ergunay, NYT subscriptions—current and historical— come from a variety of vendor subscription arrangements (ProQuest, Factiva, etc.). Columbia libraries will continue to offer these resources, some with permalinks, to all Columbians and even alums (we know you’re out there). But don’t expect the NYT layout. Unforunately, Ergunay adds, there isn’t an academic library subscription for the NYT in website format available at the moment. ProQuest Historical Newspapers does have page maps of NYT but only for issues printed from 1851-2007, not for more recent years. Depending on how all this goes, the CCSC Policy Committee will reevaluate the amount of paper copies it orders.

Still, as you’ve probably heard, there are loads of loopholes to the porous paywall—some even used by NYTimes writers! Scandalous! According to the Times news release, “readers who come to the Times articles through links from search [arrivals from Google are capped though], blogs [us!] and social media like Facebook and Twitter, will be able to read those articles, even if they have reached their monthly limit.” Of course people will just set up Twitter accounts to tweet every news story everyday. Despite all the attempts to scam the system, Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. remains unfazed. He claims “mostly high-school kids and people out of work” will try to circumvent the paywall. Seems kinda optimistic…

Without getting too Core crazy here, the great paywall predicament does raise interesting moral questions. Since the Times intentionally left holes in the wall, is it really unethical to take advantage of them? Or is NYT just hoping you’ll be generous. Free linking makes you popular, but money makes you rich. A Time (yep, without the “s”) blogger offers an all-too relevant example: cheese tasting. When you’re gorging yourself on Westside cheese, where’s the line between sampling and scrounging?

Mauve reader via wikimedia.

Danny Jordaan greeting participants

Over the weekend, Columbia hosted the annual African Economic Forum. Africa enthusiast Aaron Kohn attended and provides an overview of the weekend-long event. Even-handed Bwog correspondent Katheryn Thayer attended one of the panels and writes a detailed account after the jump.

“Africa has come too far to turn back now,” remarked the CEO of the 2010 World Cup South Africa, Danny Jordaan on Saturday. The organizer of the event encouraged those who met for the 8th annual Columbia University African Economics Forum to represent Africa as the “Roaring Giant,” the theme of this year’s forum.

On Friday and Saturday, panelists and speakers demonstrated Africa’s growth and its undaunted strength in the wake of the financial collapse in 2008. World Bank economists, NYT bestsellers, TV executives and even a Nigerian Vice Presidential Candidate allayed the harsh realities of Africa as it is often portrayed with their own encouraging outlooks.

The SIPA Pan African Network, the African Business Club, and the African Law Students Association, all organizers of AEF 2011, made the case that the World Cup has not been the only encouraging event to take place in Africa. Private investment now outnumbers aid money flowing into the continent, Nollywood (Nigerian Movies) is the second largest film industry in the world (Bollywood is first and Hollywood is third), and cellular communications and natural resource industries continue to grow.

People may look at Africa and see the wars taking place, government corruption, and a troubling colonial history. Yet, as hundreds of millions of people who used to be living under $2 a day rise out of poverty, Nigeria expects to have the world’s second-largest city, and citizen-driven reform begins to affect policies across the continent, investment and growth show a positive outlook.

Binyavanga Wainaina, author and Director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Literature joked that when his colleagues call a publisher and ask, “Is it okay if I email my transcript? Postage is very expensive,” the publisher probably thinks, “Oh, there must be a drought.” It is time to stop thinking of Africa as a sleeping lion. The Giant is awake and its opportunities and talents are still slow to be recognized.

Read more…

Dearest friends,

With spring break a fading memory, we understand that you (a collective entity) will now be slinking back into your protective holes, ensconcing yourself in routines to protect against the hard onslaught that approaches in the coming weeks. But we urge you to just break free for one night, to try something new, to come to a meeting of The Blue & White!

We know you’re scared. It can be hard to do something new like this. But we promise we’ll be gentle when we discuss our upcoming issue with you.

So come on. What have you got to lose? We’re waiting for you. Tonight, Monday night, at 9 pm in the crypt of St. Paul’s Chapel. We like trying new things too, so maybe we’ll try you out as a writer.

And as always, there will be ample num nums.

Imploringly,
The Editors

You might not know the following figure—but you should. In Campus Characters, the Blue & White introduces you to a handful of Columbians who are up to interesting and extraordinary things and whose stories beg to be shared. If you’d like to suggest a Campus Character, send us an email at editors@theblueandwhite.org. From the current issue, Senior Editor Carolyn Ruvkun profiles Erica Weaver, CC ’12.

Illustration by Chloe Eichler

Erica Weaver, CC ’12, passionately plunges into the past. The medieval enthusiast speaks Old and Middle English, composes poetry on a typewriter, and studies ancient manuscript writing. She keeps a list of unusual and intriguing words handy: baroque, equinox, wanderer, dastardly, rutabaga, toothsome. Weaver almost always wears flouncy retro dresses. Her stockings sometimes have foxes on them.

And it isn’t an act. You could practically pluck Weaver from a sepia photograph. Though she does seem to live in another world, her friend Danica Damplo, CC ’12, clarifies her nostalgic sensibilities. “Erica prefers to focus on the world of medieval literature as if it is existing at the same time as this one,” Damplo explains. “She’s not completely in another world, but when she does delve, she lives it as if it’s existing.”

“Sometimes I romanticize the past and think I should just live in a monastery,” Weaver wistfully trails off. “But there are lots of modern conveniences,” she concedes. A self-proclaimed Southern girl, Weaver grew up in Norfolk, Virginia immersed in a culture clinging to a problematic past. She enthusiastically relays the equal sense of discovery she feels reading Faulkner and studying medieval manuscripts. “The book in the Middle Ages was such a physical artifact,” she explains, as she illustrates the painstaking process of creating and preserving a manuscript with gestures. Weaver doesn’t just recount stories—she acts them out, adopting the mannerisms of each character.

With the same infectious energy, Weaver creates goofy videos for each of her friends’ birthdays and explains the medieval punctus, a trademark of her writing. The earliest form of punctuation in manuscripts, the medieval punctus serves as an alternative to the hyphen or period by marking an “unspecified turn in the thought process” and adding “more ambiguity to the poetic line.” “But everyone in writer’s house refers to it as the Erica dot,” she jokes. Read more…

Blue Façonnable Coat.
Last seen in the coat room of Sigma Nu on Saturday, March 26, 2011.
Monetary reward will be given.
Please contact: kko2108@columbia.edu.

Don’t fret Barnard, in the storm of Columbia housing coverage, Bwog hasn’t forgotten you! We will not be liveblogging Barnard housing selection because the powers that be across the street already provide excellent and efficient resources.

Matt Kingston, Associate Director for Housing Operations, explains two of the most important online tools for Barnard students in an email:

One of the most important things for students to know, but that a lot of people don’t seem to pick up on, is that our “Available Rooms” page updates instantaneously as rooms/suites are picked. That means that students can refresh the page before their appointment time (and even as they’re waiting in line at Room Selection, since the page is “mobile-friendly” for iPhone, Blackberries, etc.).

Our goal is for students to have realistic expectations about what they’ll be able to pick when their appointment time arrives. To that end, we also introduced a feature this year that shows students exactly how many individuals or groups by size that have not selected yet. If you log in (and are registered for Room Selection), the page also tells you who many individuals / groups haven’t selected who have an appointment time before your own. This hopefully helps students to have an idea of whether there are more groups ahead of them then the number of available suites for their group size.

That page also updates instantaneously as students select at Room Selection. However, because students can change their group membership up until they actually select (i.e. join, change, or drop from a group), these numbers can also change at any point.

Barnard’s housing website has a comprehensive collection of additional information, including a breakdown of different housing options, procedures, and a calendar of important dates. Jealous much?

Manage THIS

Two graduate students stroll by Low Library:

Graduate student: “Yeah, my, like, time management skills this semester have been really poor. I feel like an undergraduate. Who, like, studies the night before? So undergraduate…”

Intricate clock via wikimedia.

Bucket List represents the unbelievable intellectual privilege and luxury we enjoy as Columbia students. We do our very best to bring to your attention important guest lecturers and special events on campus that will hopefully make you realize how lucky we are to be here. Our recommendations for this week are below and the full list is after the jump. Bwog urges you to learn something new. Note: By popular demand, Bucket List will run on Sundays starting next week.

Recommended:

• “What Does ‘Imperialism’ Mean in an Age of Global Finance?” 501 Schermerhorn, Monday 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm, David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at CUNY, Prominent Marxist, Sitaram Yechury, Prabhat Patnaik, Parliamentary Group Leader for the Communist Party of India, Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Duncan Foley, Leo Model Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research in New York
• “A Conversation with Cokie and Steven V. Roberts” 3^rdFloor Lecture Hall, Journalism Building, Tuesday 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm, With Obery Hendricks
  
• “Braintrust: A Public Conversation about Morality and the Brain” 309 Havemayer Hall, Wednesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Patricia Churchland, Professor of Philosophy at UCSD, Roger Bingham, Professor of Psychology at UCSD, and Jesse Prinz, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at CUNY
• “The Art of Flirting” 614 Schermerhorn, Thursday 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm, Jane Bogart, Author of Sexploration
• “Ideas Matter: Ayn Rand’s Message to Today’s World” Lerner Hall (Follow the Signs), Thursday 9:00 pm – 9:30 pm, Yaron Brook, President of the Ayn Rand Institute

Read more…

It’s common knowledge that hips don’t lie, but this past Saturday CU Bellydance showed that hips can also charm, seduce, and, dare we say, HIPnotize with a showcase of bellydancing styles.

Photography by James Atkinson

Learned Foote now drives this to meetings.

CCSC sayeth; Brian Wagner jotteth down and reporteth.

• As the 70+ candidates for next years student council gathered in the meeting, Learned announced that this marks a 50% increase in candidates running for CCSC. Columbia students may not be having sex, but hey, at least they’re becoming politically active.
• The Council agrees—the mail center lines are too damn long. It resolved to extend Mail Service hours during the first five weeks of school (NSOP and the first four weeks of classes) to 9 pm on weekdays and normal business hours on Saturdays. Additionally, the Council recommended installing a security camera in the hallway with live internet feed, so that students can check the line length at any time (or Prezbo/Big Brother can keep tabs on what your family is sending you.) The Council also suggested that Mail Services send students email notifications that their snail-mailbox is full (rather than continue their current policy of placing a paper slip in obviously neglected mailbox) and forward Netflix DVDs to regular mailboxes instead of the package center. Read more…

Romance. Cross-posting.

In this edition of Bwoglines, Bwog goes on a date with the New York Times.

First, we hold hands on the ferry. Times whispers in our ear, “Starting soon, the ferries will be a great way to traverse Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, moving along a seven-stop route and coming as frequently as every 20 minutes during peak hours.” (NYTimes)

Gazing out at the water, Times tells us about Columbia Professor Delbanco’s review of “America Aflame,” a book that questions the inevitability of the Civil War. Bwog smiles and shivers. (NYTimes)

Times then asks us if we heard that non-hispanic whites are now, for the first time, a minority in New York City. Bwog compliments Times’s interactive graph, at which Times blushes. (NYTimes)

Times offers its jacket. Bwog asks Times if it ever looks up at the stars and thinks about… life…. The two settle down for one of the free stargazing sessions hosted by the Columbia Astronomy department. (NYTimes)

Bwog takes Times by the hand and looks it in the eyes, “I want to take you somewhere special… spicy special.” The Times promises to allude to Columbia’s treasured turkey treat in an ode to collegiate delicacies. (NYTimes)

We hope NYTimes selects Bwog using iWould, a new hook-up facilitating app designed by a team of Columbia B-Schoolers in which you select potential hook-ups and receive a notification when that special someone(s) selects you back. (Village Voice)

For those looking for free love from the Times, remember that the paywall goes up today. Readers may view 20 articles per month before being asked to pay. However, readers who come to Times articles through links from search, blogs and social media like Facebook and Twitter will be able to read those articles, even if they have reached their monthly reading limit. For some search engines, users will have a daily limit of free links to Times articles. Bwog spoke to the Columbia Librarians and CCSC and will provide a more comprehensive explanation on how the paywall affects you later today.

Swingers via wikimedia.

Lost somewhere near the entrance of John Jay Dining Hall.
$5 reward!
If found, please email smy2110@columbia.edu.

Just after the conclusion of the Japan benefit concert at Miller, a horde of fire trucks pulled up outside Dodge, in response to a real fire. After hearing from the FDNY that the source was a copier, a student developing photos in the darkroom in Dodge confirmed that a laser printer was the origin of the fire. He heard someone scream “fire!” and shortly after, everyone evacuated the building. The firefighters seemed to have cleared the scene pretty quickly, and were already exiting the building by the time Bwog arrived there.

Update (11:30): Bwog confirmed the story with the student who was working with the laser cutter in Dodge, and left it unattended. The student was very upset and asked to be kept anonymous. Firefighters still on the scene said it was a big fire.

They actually used the hydrant!

More photos after the jump