Irin Carmon Reporting Live As An Athena Distinguished Fellow?

At the last Athena Power Talk of the semester, the Barnard’s Athena Center welcome Irin Carmon to discuss her career thus far. As one of the co-authors of The Notorious RBG and a ex-correspondent at MSNBC, specializing in gender in politics. Bwog Deputy Editor Mia Lindheimer covers the event.

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg is wearing her “dissent jabot,” Irin Carmon is taking notes. Carmon has been reporting on gender-based issues for most of her career, from riding in a van with pro-lifers to write a story about the historic vote against banning abortions after 20 weeks. Carmon was approached to partner with Shana Knizhnik to author The Notorious RBG: The Life & Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a detailed account of just how RBG became so notorious.

Just how did it happen?

Mitchell S. Jackson contemplates.

The last lecture of a series focusing on voice, Mitchell S. Jackson, someone who “nerds out” over prose and can’t have tea without honey, talked about finding an eloquent voice in creative writing. Bwogger Gloriana Lopez attended the event. 

As I entered Dodge 501, someone gave me a 19-page packet. After considering taking some wine, I wondered if I could actually get away with covering this event by just reading these pages. I would be proven wrong in the following hour.

Mitchell S. Jackson began his lecture by reading a paragraph from a handout that was provided to the audience. He talked about how the eloquence of a writer comes from their philosophies. Using the words of different authors’ opinion on voice, he gave the following advice on finding one’s voice:

What is his advice?

This room looks much orange-er in the daytime

It’s election season in all the undergraduate schools, and Barnard is no exception. The Student Government Association held a candidates forum last night, and Bwogger Ross Chapman went to review the forum. 

Barnard’s SGA is much nicer than Columbia’s CCSC. At the very least, the speakers at SGA’s Candidates’ Forum were much more polite than those at the CCSC debate. Tuesday night’s event in the McIntosh Dining Room in the Diana center were characterized more by snapping than shouting. In the last SGA event before polls opened at 11 pm, Fall 2017’s candidates gave two-minute speeches on their platforms and took questions from the audience.

Fourteen of the twenty-two positions up for election were uncontested, including three of the five positions on SGA’s executive board. Also uncontested were all of the President and Vice President positions for the class councils. Further downplaying the competitive nature of the night were about a half-dozen stand-in speeches, where abroad (or busy) candidates had their speeches read by confidantes.

Even those who ran unopposed still gave passionate speeches and took questions. Nominee for Campus Affairs Rep Mia Lindheimer, also a Deputy Editor for Bwog, advocated for “a technology overhaul” to fix the Barnard sign-in system and policies. Tamar Dayanim, Nominee for Junior Rep to the Board of Trustees, wanted transparency (a theme of the night) from the student reps who spoke to the trustees. Evie McCorkle, running for VP of finance, rattled off her impressive SGA track record and spoke of her partnership with Nominee for Sophomore President Rose Reiken to subsidize laundry costs. And one of the last speakers of the night, Nominee for VP of Campus Life Aku Acquaye, encouraged all nominees present of their success in student leadership, and expressed excitement for all of the women of color running for positions.

At the Representative level, battles were fought over the reps for Sustainable Initiatives, Inclusion and Equity, Food and Dining, Seven Sisters Relations, and Health Services. Both Food and Dining nominees called for better labeling of ingredients and more options for vegan and Halal diets. Kristen Akey demanded answers from Aramark on how local and sustainable Barnard’s ingredients are, while Sarah Bronicser advocated for better swipe sharing and meal donation while making a token appeal to food insecurity.

More SGA after the jump.

The official event photo.

It’s time for one of Columbia’s most cherished dining traditions. That’s right: it’s Surf & Turf time. Enjoy the effing beatiful green lawns, the flourishing Spring weather with an outdoor dinner! Get excited for shrimp, steak, and lobster on the lawn, followed by an ice cream bar that’s sure to be delectable.

Though the event starts at 5:00, if you want to avoid really long lines, you’ll probably want to start lining up even sooner than that. It’s sure to be a highlight of your day, so enjoy!

Image via CU Dining 

Happy 4/20!

Happening in the World: Fox News officially let commentator Bill O’Reilly go on Wednesday after O’Reilly was accused by multiple individuals of sexual assault. (Washington Post)

Happening in New York: Major Bill DeBlasio has supported a plan to cut tobacco usage by raising the price of a cigarette pack to $13 a pack.

Happening on Campus: Check out “Extreme Engineering: Space Medicine: Terrestrial Applications for Human Health, Performance, and Longevity” from 6:30 – 8:30 pm in Teachers College, Cowin Auditorium, a lecture given by Smith Johnson, M.D.

Overheard: “She’s definitely gay, she’s a vegan.”

Happy 4/20:

Columbia University 1980 from Bwog on Vimeo.

Stellar Graffiti via Flickr