Unrelated photo but happy belated birthday to our EIC Betsy!

Every so often, one weekend will be so wild and eventful that every Bwog Staffer is teeming with stories and highlights of their weekend. Lucky for you, this was one of them. Whether it was due to the open frat parties because of rushing or just the desire to rebel two weeks into the semester, here is the synopsis of Bwog’s weekend adventures.

Bwog in the City:

• Was driving with my grandfather in the country and he hit a deer and subsequently had to carry it out of the street with his bare hands while wearing a suit. I’m still having Bambi themed nightmares.
• Went to the sauna for the first time.
• Spent my Saturday night (6:30pm to 3:30am) at the Brooklyn Public Library for the night of philosophy.
• Went to Times Square at midnight to meet my roommate so we could watch “The Shape of the Water.” Realized there were no theaters showing it then and we ended up walking around downtown until 3 AM.
• Traveled to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
• Saw Phantom Thread and sat in the theater for 10 minutes after it ended, contemplating my life.
• Also saw Phantom Thread (again) and also spent a solid ten minutes sitting in the theater after the credits stopped rolling trying to make sense of love/life/all that jazz.
• Went to an event at which Chuck Shumer was speaking to take notes for my internship but fell asleep three-quarters of the way through his speech.
• Went to a bizarre little club in the basement of a Chinatown hotel.

Bwog and Food:

• Babysat in a super crazy bougie penthouse on the UWS and stole a bunch of their San Pellegrino.
• Got brunch with my childhood best friend after not having seen her for years!!!
• Discovered that my friend’s mini-fridge literally contains nothing but bottles upon bottles of Coca-cola mixed with whiskey.
• Ate an entire box of Eggo waffles in the span of 40 hours.

Read more wild stories here.

This dog probably just walked from John Jay to NoCo carrying the entire Lit Hum syllabus.

It’s hard to stay in shape when it feels like the only exercise you have time for is lifting your food to your mouth. But worry not: Bwog is here with some suggestions that will help you get in shape without even noticing! (Ok, you’ll notice, but you won’t really have a choice.)

1. Take classes on Hamilton 7 on purpose. While everyone else is bitching about how hard the trek up the stairs is, you’ll know it’s helping tone your legs and butt.
2. Live in 110. Or Carlton Arms. Or Goldsmith. All these dorms are far enough from important campus things that you’ll have to walk way more than if you lived right next to campus.
3. Study in the library farthest from your dorm. Like the above suggestion, this forces you to walk more than you otherwise would.
4. Make sure to take classes with lots of reading to make your backpack nice and heavy. If you have heavy textbooks, just keep those on you at all times. Now all the extra walking you’re doing will be even better for your cardio health.
5. Downgrade your computer. Light-as-air MacBooks and Surfaces aren’t going to make you sweat, but a dinosaur computer from five years ago sure will.
6. Type really fast. Sure, it only works out your fingers, but every calorie counts.
7. Use the treadmill desk in the Teachers College library. Yes, they exist. Just be careful you don’t get sweat on your reading.
8. Shop at Garden of Eden instead of Morton Williams or Westside. It’s good for your health and the 10% student discount means it’s good for your wallet too.
9. Buy your liquor at La Salle instead of International. There’s no better workout than walking up the hill to 120th with a handle of vodka in each hand. Plus when you’re done you get to celebrate with vodka.

Photo via flickr

Me trying to reach a pen that’s fallen off my desk.

Too busy being drunk and then too busy nursing your hangover to keep up with Columbia’s sports teams? Sports Editor Abby Rubel has you covered.

Track and Field: The Columbia track teams performed poorly overall in the Columbia Challenge, with the men’s team placing 13th in a field of 16 and the women placing 14th in a field of 17. But there were some outstanding individual performances. On the women’s team, Sydney Petersen came in second in the 500 meter run, just two tenths of a second behind the first place finisher. Columbia also did well in the 1000 meter run, with Katie Wasserman placing third (2:55.11) and Sarah MacDonald coming in fifth (2:55.79). For the men, Josiah Langstaff finished first in the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:23.53 and Daniel Igbokwe set a school record in the triple jump of 15.53 feet, good enough for a second place finish.

Men’s Swimming and Diving: The Lions eked out a 151-149 win over Navy, with the meet coming down to the final event—the 400 meter freestyle relay. Columbia’s team of Kevin Frifeldt, Mark Gullik, Michal Zyla, and Albert Gwo beat Navy’s team by only a tenth of a second with their time of 3:00.51. Still good enough for a victory!

Men’s Squash: The team continued to dominate, winning seven out of nine games against George Washington, but remains number two behind undefeated Trinity. McClain Awalt, Seif Attia, and Adham Madi all had rough days, going to five games each, but Attia and Madi both managed to come out on top.

Men’s Basketball: lost 82-81 at Cornell
Women’s Basketball: won 72-54 at Cornell
Women’s Squash: lost 8-1 against Stanford but won 8-1 against George Washington in New Haven
Men’s Tennis: won 4-1 against Ole Miss and 4-1 over Texas Tech in Charlottesville
Women’s Tennis: won 7-0 against Rhode Island, but lost 5-2 at Syracuse
Women’s Swimming and Diving: won 175-115 at Seton Hall
Wrestling: won 22-17 against Bucknell but lost 21-19 against Lock Haven

Photo via gocolumbialions.com

It looks so good! Make some for yourself!

We’ve all been there. The Annie’s 2 for $5 “family size” Mac and Cheese boxes are substantiating, but they can only go so far. Cooking With Bwog is here to encourage you to trade in your Aged White Cheddar for a tour of Italy via the cheese aisle at West Side Market. The classic Cacio e Pepe (i.e. salt and pepper pasta) might just be the easiest, most delicious Italian recipe of all time — and with just 4 ingredients (two of those being salt and pepper), your wallet will thank you. For the sake of balance, we made this cheesy mess with a side of lemon roasted broccoli. Alternatively, you could serve this over a bed of fresh spinach or arugula.

Cacio e Pepe, Adapted from Bon Appetit and Tales of Ambrosia

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz. pasta (spaghetti, tonnarelli, or other similar long rounded pasta works — anything that can be twirled. Angel hair tends to be a bit too thin.)
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (Grana Padano or Parmesan can be substituted in a pinch!)
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

• Bring amply salted water to a boil in a tall pot.
• Add pasta and cook until al dente.
• Meanwhile, grate Pecorino Romano cheese.
• 1-2 minutes before pasta is cooked, place a serving bowl on top of the pot until warm.
• Reserve some pasta water (about a cup),* before draining the pasta and transferring it to the heated serving bowl.
• Gradually add grated cheese and water to the pasta, tossing vigorously until you achieve a creamy consistency.
• If the sauce becomes too watery, add cheese; if it becomes too dry, add water. Ultimately, you want your Cacio e Pepe to have an alfredo-like consistency.
• Season with lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper (more salt, if you so desire) and toss.

*This step is so important! The starchy pasta water is what pulls everything together and turns our grated cheese into a sauce.

Look out for our next Cooking with Bwog post, and send pictures of your own culinary endeavors to tips@bwog.com!

Fine Italian cuisine via Wikipedia

A simplified map of 1020

We don’t know about you, but 1020 is Bwog’s favorite bar. Because we love the place so much, we go there a lot and see a lot of weird shit go down. Like fights. So we decided to do an analysis of it. 

First of all, I apologize for the poorly done drawing of 1020. Use it as a rough diagram for reference, not an exactly proportional model of how 1020 is structured. I drew it completely from memory, so please cut me some slack.

So then picture this: it’s a Friday night in Morningside Heights. A third of the Columbia student population is at 1020, a third at Mel’s, and a third at home. The group at 1020 is coming from various parties and pregames, and are sufficiently drunk. The ones who aren’t sufficiently drunk are in the process of achieving said state with Long Islands and PBRs. Because a third of the school is here, it’s very crowded. No one can really move around, but everyone is trying to get somewhere, whether that be the back table, the front table, the pool table, or the bar. There is a lot of jostling around and unwanted and unintentional (or intentional, in which case, please leave) touching.

An anthropological study after the jump

Somewhere in this photo CCSC is meeting and arguing over something that probably won’t even happen.

Another week, another CCSC meeting. This time, Bwog Staffer Nadra writes on the complexities of CCSC that make you ponder if they’re actually doing anything.

More than you’d expect, as it turns out. Last night, CCSC unveiled a draft of its Fall 2017 Semester Report, soon to make its way into your inboxes. It’s filled with the good, the okay, and the remains of abandoned projects.

Biggest Hits

Before discussion of the report officially began, President Nathan Rosin drew the room’s attention to a big victory (?): in response to CCSC’s complaint against CUCR, the administration has revised its policy with regard to security fees for large or controversial events hosted by recognized student groups. Whereas before these costs would be funded by student activity fees, a fact which formed the basis of CCSC’s complaint, they will now be borne by the University itself if a University Delegate is required. (Such delegates are present at events if there is potential for significant disruption.) While this is definitely not the outcome that BSO was seeking when it came before CCSC, Rosin termed it a meaningful victory.

As CCSC nodded in affirmation, CUCR walked past the Satow Room, still unaware of the changes afoot.

The good, the okay, and what we can expect in the future

The Grammy’s are back in NYC!

Happening in the World: Protests have been occurring across Russia after opposition candidate Alexei Navalny was arrested for protesting the results of an election that occurred on March 18th of last year. This was a result of Putin’s attempt to reclaim his title during a fourth six-year election term. Over 100 cities in Russia protested against the action of removing Navalny from being a candidate for the next election cycle. (NPR)

Happening in the US: Former US Representative Corrine Brown is reporting to prison today to complete a 5-year federal prison sentence after being convicted of fraud while serving as a Congresswoman. She will be serving her time at a minimum-level prison in Central Florida, and her arrival is expected to receive massive media attention. Brown served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. (Orlando Sentinel)

Happening in NYC: The Grammy’s were held last night at Madison Square Garden, the first time in many years since the awards show moved to Los Angeles. The big winner of the night was Bruno Mars, who won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year for “24K Magic” and “That’s What I Like” off of 24K Magic. Performances included Kesha, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and SZA. (NPR)

Happening on Campus: Cardinal Péter Erdö of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary will be delivering a speech for the 40th Annual Bampton Lectures, a series of speeches from individuals prominent in the fields of technology, medicine, art, and the sciences. Erdö will be giving a speech entitled “The Role of Religion and the Churches in a Secular State.” This event will occur from 5:30-6:30 PM in Low Memorial Library. More information regarding the event can be found here.

Overheard on Campus: “I found a girl that’s my type. Well, not my type but the type that’s into me”

Random Fact: Did you know that over 18,000 Amish people live in the state of New York? Why do so many of them live here?

Song of the Week: I will be bumping SZA’s album all week after it was snubbed from all Grammy nominations last night (RIP).

Subway sign that has a watermark on it via Shutterstock