Sometimes you're just got to say to the data, "Let's science it!"

Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean science isn’t happening at Columbia!

Scientists at Columbia are growing heart and bone tissue. An NPR reporter went to the lab, interviewed researchers, and made a really cool and informative video about it that includes footage of heart tissue beating like a real heart. Perhaps most amazing is the fact that the beat tempo can be controlled by altering the frequency of electrical pulses going to the muscle. It’s a little geeky, but really fun to watch. After the video was published, NPR meta-interviewed the reporter about the video.

Some Columbia researchers are working on something which may lead to The Pill—for men! They gave mice a drug which interefered with Vitamin A receptors, causing them to cease producing sperm. After being taken off the drug, the mice resumed mating and were able to reproduce. Giggity.

Lamont-Doherty was the major contributor to Google’s efforts to map an area of the ocean floor larger than North America by offering up its Global Multi-Resolution Topography database.

Complaining that much really does hurt you. According to a new study, a “positive outlook” on life can reduce chance of heart attack up to 22%. And this study was done by Columbian researchers on Canadians, so their threshold for a “negative outlook” probably has nothing on us.

Ian Lipkin is a Columbia scientist who supports “de-discovery,” which is the practice of rigorously repeating studies. Apparently this isn’t done because, hey, just repeating the work of others doesn’t get you on the front cover of Nature. So that’s no feather in Frontiers’ cap—just because studies can be repeated does not mean they are.

In happy news, Kartik Chandran, associate professor of EEE at SEAS (or CE?), won some Gates Foundation money to turn “fecal sludge” into fuel. That’s right folks: it actually says “fecal sludge” on columbia.edu. Today is a day for celebration.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

John Coatsworth

President Bollinger just sent out an email announcing that John Henry Coatsworth, current Dean of SIPA and owner of the name to end all names, will assume the duties of University Provost starting July 1. With the recent loss of Claude Steele to Stanford, Coatsworth will serve as Interim Provost until PrezBo and “a small advisory group” formally appoint a new Provost. During his time, Coatsworth (with his long list of publications on Wikipedia) will simultaneously serve as Dean of SIPA and University Provost.

And so we wonder: will he be able to satisfy two institutions at the same time?

Full email after the jump

A milestone for civil rights: gay marriage is now legal in New York! You can now claim to attend school in a “progressive” state.

Last Friday night around 10 pm, news started leaking out: two Republican state Senators had just announced they would support the gay marriage bill in the NY State Senate. A few minutes after this announcement, the bill was brought to the floor of the Senate, where it was approved 33-29, ending a long behind-the-scenes political process. Almost immediately, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who turned passage of a gay marriage bill into a personal crusade, signed the bill into law.

A touching tale: during a recess, Senator Huntley, a Democrat who had just come out in support in the bill, hugged Daniel O’Donnell, an openly gay Assemblyman who sponsored the legislation. According to the New York Times front page story, O’Donnell teared up and announced, holding his partner’s hand, “we’re going to invite you to our wedding.”

Celebrations erupted throughout the city—especially outside Stonewall, where the gay rights movement started almost 42 years ago—and the Empire State Building lit up with rainbow lights. Proposals ensued! And the final passage of the bill came conveniently right before New York City Pride Weekend.

New York is the largest state to allow gay marriage, and over 10% of Americans can now legally marry whomever they want. More states are likely to follow, as a recent poll shows that a majority of Americans support gay marriage. This is sure to put pressure on President Obama, who came to the city on Thursday and told a crowd of gay-rights supporters that he supported equality for all, but he still failed to endorse wholeheartedly same-sex marriage. (“In civil rights terms, it is 1965,” writes Remnick in the New Yorker, “but Obama is still acting like F.D.R. And that is no credit to a worthy and ambitious presidency). Even so, Obama has arguably been more sympathetic to gay rights than any other American president. But is history still the best “yardstick”?

Update, 6/29 6:30 pm: One commenter points out that some states have already passed constitutional amendments prohibiting gays from marrying. Slate has an excellent piece on how the voters of 2004 are preventing the voters of 2011 from allowing marriage equality. We’re in the midst of a demographic and cultural transition!

No hipster mustaches or fedoras were harmed in the making of this Bwog post.

Two Joe employees examine the existential questions surrounding seafood-dish viscosity, in front of the new vending machines:

”I’m just uncomfortable with calling ceviche a soup.”

Image of a seafood dish that can’t be comfortably referred to as a soup via Wikimedia.

More boring-but-sorta-important administration news: PrezBo just sent word that Carlos J. Alonso, interim dean of GSAS since last September, will take on that position full time. Full email from ‘Bo below.

Also, apparently, “Arts and Sciences always have been, and remain, central to our academic calling of pursuing answers.” So there’s that.

Dear Fellow Members of the Columbia Community:

I am very pleased to announce that Carlos J. Alonso will assume the duties of Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences on a permanent basis, a position he has filled admirably as interim dean since September of last year. In that role, Carlos has demonstrated sensitivity to a range of academic concerns and a determination to advance our institutional goals. His continuing leadership will be extremely valuable in building on Columbia’s great legacy of graduate education.

Carlos has helped lead Columbia in a variety of academic and administrative capacities since arriving here from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. As chair of the department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, he succeeded in elevating that department to the top ranks among its peers nationally.

For as long as Columbia has been recognized for its academic excellence, our reputation has been due first and foremost to the quality of our accomplished faculty. The Arts and Sciences always have been, and remain, central to our academic calling of pursuing answers to important questions and then leaving to subsequent generations the gift of new knowledge and insight. With the benefit of Carlos’s stewardship, we can be confident that these proud Columbia traditions will continue. I also must recognize and thank Nick Dirks, Executive Vice President for the Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty, for guiding us through this transition and leading the search committee for the new dean.

Please join me in congratulating Carlos Alonso and wishing him success as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

Image via columbia.edu.

Today the five students arrested in Operation Ivy League had yet another court appearance, during which each was offered plea agreements by the prosecution, which all declined. Peter Sterne reports from the courtroom.

The hearing began a few minutes past the scheduled start time, when the defendants and their attorneys walked to the front of the room, and faced the judge. It wasn’t a jury trial, but the two sides did make arguments before the Honorable Judge Sonberg, who occasionally intervened to ask questions.

As we previously reported, attorneys for Coles and Wymbs are seeking a “diversion to treatment,” arguing that their clients only sold drugs to fund their own drug addictions, rather than to make a profit. Lawyers for Klein and Perez have since followed suit. This morning, Assistant District Attorney Novak argued that, in fact, the defendants did sell drugs primarily to make money. The high-profile defense attorneys, on the other hand, contend that their clients were good kids (frequently citing the fact they got into Columbia) who got mixed up in drugs and tricked by undercover agents, before finally entering treatment and turning their lives around. Matthew Myers, Harrison David’s attorney, forcefully declared, “My client didn’t attend Columbia University to become a cocaine dealer!”

The State, citing the defendants’ lack of criminal records and non-violent personalities, recommended plea deals for all of the defendants: If Coles, Klein, Wymbs, and Perez would plead guilty to a class-D felony they would be sentenced to 5 years probation, but no jail time. David would plead guilty to a B-2 felony and get 1 year of jail time.

The defense rejected these pleas, out of concern that a felony conviction could make it almost impossible for them to get admitted to another university and eventually find good jobs. The next hearing is scheduled for July 19.

Full details of the hearing after the jump!

According to Bloomberg, the ADA offered each of the students arrested in the December drug bust plea bargains, and each of the students turned them down. David rejected an offer of one year in prison, the other four rejected offers for five years probation. The defense attorneys sought to divert their cases to treatment, rather than enter a guilty plea. The prosecutor rejected that request.

Bwog was on the scene, and will post a full summary shortly.

Update, 3:47 pm: Our full summary of the court appearance is up! Peruse it.

See day five, 9 AM

A self-procalimed “sorority princess” finds unorthodox benefits to her Sonicare. In Daily Intel’s latest installment of their Sex Diary series, “the sorority girl with breast implants,” who hails from our very own Morningside Heights, shares her salacious stories. We (along with numerous tipsters) have deduced from the quips about Health Services’ unavailability and monogamy as a “social construct” that this Carrie Bradshaw-wannabe is an authentic Columbian. Bwog has indulged our erotic appetite in the past, but this titillating tale features African E, a “non-Ivy transgression,” and masturbating while fantasizing about a completed thesis. Moral: never share toothbrushes, and cap it before you tap it.

Here’s a teaser to get you started:

3 PM: Office hours with my favorite professor. Turn around as I’m taking my coat off to give him a full look at my ass in favorite jeggings.

You might not want to read this at work…

Good vibrations via Wikimedia

Update: We at Bwog have written something of a Campo eulogy, so pour out some crappy beer in honor of our dearly departed and remember what once was:
When a new restaurant called Campo first arrived in our humble Morningside Heights, we called it the “New Pertutti” and complained its Italian food was mediocre. Soon, though, it became a Friday night staple—at least when we were freshmen. It slowly adapted to Columbia culture, accepting flex, supporting its best customers, and even opening a new restaurant on campus! In return, we wrote a song about it, made it into a trading card, and brought our parents there. But the good times didn’t last. Campo was raided by the police, lost its beloved nightlife manager Campo Mike, and has now gone to that great big college town in the sky. Arrivederci, Campo. We may have forgotten every night we spent at you, but we will never forget you.

It’s the end of an era. Six months after Campo Mike left for “different opportunities,” taking Campo’s nightlife (and all your unfortunate freshman year decisions) with him, the restaurant will transform yet again.

Ryan Skeen, “the original pop-up chef” is moving into 2888 Broadway and setting up Il Cibreo. It aspires to be a “rustic Italian trattoria.” Victim of those aspirations, Campo will shut its doors after Sunday dinner, and Il Cibreo will open on Wednesday.

Anyways, Skeen’s sorta a hot shot, or at least source of some controversy. What’s the difference in these dark days?

Bottom line, if you’re still hungering for middling Italian fare, get to Campo by Sunday. After Wednesday, maybe (y)our big dreams of fancy Italian food will be realized. Full menu after the jump!

Barnard’s first lady has just been elected to the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs, where she will serve on the Audit, Risk, Compensation and Corporate Governance and Nominating committees. As you probably know, the financial firm, chaired by powerhouse Lloyd Blankfein, has a less than pristine reputation. Last year, the SEC went after Goldman for exploiting the collapse of the housing market, and two years before, the company came under scrutiny for doling out millions in bonuses after receiving TARP funds. We hope Spar can inspire Wall Street to be a stronger, more beautiful place, sparkling with (real) diamond-encrusted thongs (NB these are no longer sold at the Barnard store, although there is a “BLING” section.)

Full press release after the jump!

Overseen in the inner-sanctum of Uris. The poster went up some time near the end of the semester. But we’re telling you now:

"Business is becoming more and more akin to intellectual sumo wrestling." - John Harvey-Jones

Citi, Tony Blair, and the Senate have all been hacked. Don’t let the women of Barnard be next! We already told you why it was important that you use encrypted WiFi, back when Columbia launched its secure network. Directions on how to log in to “Barnard Secure” are included in the e-mail to students below. Columbians on the Barnard campus can also log in using their UNIs.

Dear members of the Barnard community,

As part of our ongoing efforts to make critical technology simpler and more straightforward to use, BCIT is making changes to our wireless network. You will need to change your configuration if you are currently using any of the Barnard wireless services. We ask you to bear with this change in light of the overall benefit it will bring to the community as a whole.

As of Tuesday, June 7th, here are the changes you should be aware of:

* Current faculty, staff, and students should connect to the new, single secure wireless network, which will identify itself to your wireless device as “Barnard Secure.” You will still use your Barnard account username and password to authenticate to it. Instructions to set up a profile for this network can be found at: http://www.barnard.edu/wireless. (After you have set this up, you may remove any old profiles such as “Barnard Quad,” “Barnard Main Campus,” etc.)

* Members of the Columbia community who are on the Barnard campus may also follow these directions, but should log in with their full Columbia email address and their UNI password.

Read more…

There are some New York substitutes that just can't match the real thing

Crazy news, good peoples: Claude M. Steele—University Provost and person whose name you’ve seen on emails so often you feel like you know him—has resigned. Stanford, former home to Steele for nearly two decades, offered him the position of Dean of the School of Education. Steele had only just arrived at Columbia from Stanford in 2009. We understand, education is important too! You have received or will receive statements from Steele and PrezBo. They’re below.

Update: Stanford has posted their own announcement. You might be interested to know that before he came to Columbia, Steele previously held a named appointment as Professor in the Social Sciences, was director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and director of Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, during his years at Stanford. Claude, we hardly knew you!

First, Steele:

Dear Columbia Colleagues,

It is with a mix of emotions, the first of which is a genuine sadness, that I write to let you know that I have accepted a position as Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University, beginning in the fall of this year. Given my excitement about Columbia’s future and my deep engagement working with Lee and so many of you in planning for it, this was far from an easy decision – perhaps the most difficult of my career. Dorothy and I pulled up stakes and came east after 18 years at Stanford fully expecting Morningside Heights to be our personal and professional home for many years to come and we had no thoughts of leaving anytime soon. I love the job I have. It is a fascinating, challenging and constantly stimulating experience to be the Provost of a great research university, especially one that is thriving on so many important fronts and that is so well led by Lee, an extraordinary team of deans, as well as by its faculty. And we love being in New York.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. The decision to accept the Stanford offer came down to a difficult-to-pass-up opportunity to play a role in the field of education at this critical time in our nation’s history. I have spent my career trying to understand processes that drive educational achievement, and how to reduce the group inequalities in school achievement that so plague our society. In my new role I will have a chance to develop the implications of that work for policy and practice in schools and school systems – as well as to influence how educators themselves are educated. It is an important time to be rejoining that vital mission. Nothing less than this rare opportunity to do so at such a strong school of education could have lured me away from my current position at Columbia.

So, while I did not and would not have sought any other academic leadership post at this stage in my career, the chance to have an impact on this critical public issue, as well as the promise of a little more time for scholarship and writing, proved too attractive to turn down – a decision that was further bolstered by its bringing our family back together in the same time zone.

We will always be thankful for the way we have been welcomed at Columbia, we leave with considerable regret but also confidence that this personal change for us will in no way slow the extraordinary forward momentum that this university has established. I will forever be a friend to Columbia and a colleague in the missions we will continue to share.

With the warmest of wishes,

Claude M. Steele

PrezBo’s blistering reply after the jump. Read more…

A friendly reminder that you can register for fall classes for a week from today through June 24! Ideally, in mid-June not everyone is sitting at their computer desperately trying to get into Music Hum, so pounce on that place now. Are we having fun yet?

Earthshaking news, people: “SEAS” will no longer be called “SEAS.” Instead, as of Fall 2011, it will be “CE” for “Columbia Engineering.” Yes, gone are the days of probing your new NSOP buddy with the pleasingly assonant phrase, “CC or SEAS?”

The Student Affairs Orientation page reads:

The first newsletter to Columbia College (CC) and Columbia Engineering (CE) First Years is now available.

That newsletter reads:

Dear parents and families of the Columbia College and Columbia Engineering Class of 2015,

On behalf of the Division of Student Affairs, it is an honor to welcome you and your family into our Columbia family. I invite you to join us at our June Summer Advising events and I look forward to meeting you during Family Orientation and Family Weekend in the fall. If I can be of any assistance to you, do not hesitate contact me.

Regards,

Matthew Patashnick

Director of Parent and Family Programs

According to one Bwogger, Peña-Mora spoke at an ESC meeting about the superiority of “CE” over “SEAS” because of its inclusion of “Columbia” and its two letter acronym to match the other undergraduate schools. Perhaps that’s why CE changed its name to PAX?

So, basically, the administration did it without your approval and without transparency. SEAS-kids, or should we say “CE students,” we’re sorry. We’re probably going to continue to call it SEAS, and judging by the lack of widespread official notice of the change, so will everyone else.