Editor’s note: This article discusses details of sexual assault.

The Southern District Court of New York has granted Columbia’s motion to dismiss Amelia Roskin-Frazee’s complaint that Columbia “created a culture of sexual hostility on campus and acted with deliberate indifference in responding to [her] report of sexual assaults and request for certain accommodations as a result of the assaults.”

According to the court document from the docket of the Southern District Court of New York (attached below), Amelia Roskin-Frazee was sexually assaulted in her dormitory room once in October 2015, and once in December 2015. She filed a lawsuit against Columbia in March 2017 alleging Title IX violations by the university.

In response to her complaint, Columbia claimed that “[Roskin-Frazee’s] own recitation of the events establishes that the University responded appropriately when she reported them and is not liable under Title IX” and motioned to dismiss her suit. The full account is available here.

On February 21, 2018, this motion for dismissal was granted by United States District Judge George B. Daniels. The basis for this was that the university’s responses to Roskin-Frazee’s requests (housing and academic accommodations) were not “clearly unreasonable.” The court document states that Roskin-Frazee’s “own allegations demonstrate that every time [she] requested either an academic or housing accommodation, [Columbia] responded to her request promptly.”

In regards to her first request (for a room change), the judge noted that Columbia did not know about her first assault at the time of the request (October 2015), and that had it known, it may have provided her with less “onerous” circumstances for housing accommodations.  As for her second request in September 2016 (that locks be installed on her suite door), the court document states that “once [Columbia] had actual knowledge of [her] rapes and began investigating them in September 2016, it responded to [her] Second Request promptly, without the imposition of any additional ‘onerous’ conditions.”

In addition, it is explained that when Roskin-Frazee requested academic accommodations through Disability Services in October 2015, she was contacted eight days later about the process through which she could receive accommodations. Roskin-Frazee alleged that she chose not to further pursue “such [a] lengthy process” and had to seek accommodations on her own. The court argues that because she does not identify “an academic accommodation she sought that she did not receive” anywhere in the complaint, it cannot be concluded that Columbia “acted in a clearly unreasonable manner.”

Furthermore, the court acknowledged that “the requirements presented to [Roskin-Frazee] for receiving academic accommodations may have been difficult for an individual in [her] situation to navigate,” but said that Columbia “was responding at a time when it had no knowledge of [her] initial rape.” Thus, “there is no plausible basis for concluding that Defendant responded to Plaintiffs requests for academic accommodations with deliberate indifference.”

Finally, according to the document, when Roskin-Frazee made a request in December 2016 (a few months after the university began the rape investigation) for housing accommodations for the 2017-2018 school year, it was granted in four days.

The main argument made by the court for granting the motion to dismiss her complaint is that Roskin-Frazee failed to “sufficiently allege that after acquiring actual knowledge of her assaults, Columbia responded in a clearly unreasonable manner.”

When The Blue and White Magazine asked Roskin-Frazee “for a statement on the lawsuit and whether she would be appealing the decision,” she gave no comment.

Court Document

Don’t know why but this feels fitting.

Though Bwog Staff had a wonderful weekend and did lots of things, this young Bwogger here has an important test to study for tomorrow. In lieu of this, this Field Notes will be shorter than usual, but oh so good. Sit back, relax, and enjoy these stories. UPDATE: this is much longer than I was expecting, so relish in these extra stories carefully curated just for you. If you want to join in on this fun, email us your stories to tips@bwog.com and we will include it! 

Bwog and Love:

• Briefly made out with a guy, then looked at him again, left the party and went home.
• Flirted with a guy who complimented my nails, eyebrows, and skin, and I thought that was great because I spend a lot of time and effort on them.
• Had a guy tell me he likes me because I yell at him lol.
• Had to drag my best friend out of the rain after they made out with someone and had an existential crisis.
• Went on a date that turned into light cuddling and watching the Paddington movie; 10/10 would recommend.
• Went to the same party as a boy I have a crush on but didn’t really talk to him :(
• Met brother’s girlfriend only for my parents to uncomfortably rant at me about their relationship with my brother/his girlfriend.

More stories can be found here.

Hargitay was rocking some kickass boots.

The Athena Film Festival may have officially wrapped up, but we’re here for one more review! Bwogger Victoria Arancio had the opportunity to sit for this powerful documentary. 

I have watched many different documentary films before, each attempting to evoke some emotion deep down inside of me, pushing me to anger or action. After viewing I Am Evidence, I felt emotions that were both complicated and deeply rooted in my unconscious understanding of society. As a woman, I think often about my odds: there’s a 33% chance that I will experience sexual assault. If I happen to beat these odds, one in every three of my friends will experience the pain that I saw unfold on screen. It hurt to see women—primarily women of color—at odds with a complicated and unfair criminal justice system. The women selected to tell their story, like countless others, were just a small fraction of a calculated decision made by police to leave thousands of rape kits forgotten, left to collect dust in storage rooms across the country. In light of the #MeToo Movement, being silenced is no longer an option: we must change the way that our law enforcement handles sexual assault, because it’s time.

Time’s Up

What an intense look of concentration.

America’s win in curling not exciting enough for you? Maybe this weekend’s Columbia games will do it for you!

Men’s Swimming and Diving: Columbia finished the Ivy League Championships strong, coming in fourth with 1,107.5 points—523 points behind first-place Harvard and a mere 75 points ahead of Penn. First-year Jonathan Suckow won all the diving titles for the Lions, giving Columbia its third sweep in three years. Senior Michal Zyla broke his own school record in the 200 backstroke preliminaries, finishing the race in 1:43.17, then came in fourth in the race. Overall, a highly respectable weekend for the Lions to finish out their regular season.

Softball/Baseball: Softball struggled this weekend at the FAU “Strike-Out-Cancer” Tournament, dropping all of their games. First came a 6-2 loss against Texas State. First-year Maria Pagane hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning of her Columbia debut, but Columbia failed to score any more runs against Texas’ tough defense. Later on Friday, the Lions lost to Florida Atlantic 8-6, although they came back from a seven-point deficit in the top of the second. Saturday featured a 4-0 loss to Tulsa and a close 5-4 loss to Illinois-Chicago. A 10-3 blow-out loss against Texas State finished softball’s weekend. Baseball also had a disappointing weekend. The Lions lost all four of their games against University of Nevada, Las Vegas. They started out with an 8-3 loss on Friday, and things only got worse. Saturday featured two double-digit losses—13-7 in the morning and 11-0 in the afternoon. The Light Blue finished their dismal weekend on Sunday with a 13-3 loss. However, it’s worth keeping in mind for both softball and baseball that their pre-season schedules are often much tougher than their Ivy competition.

Men’s Squash: Men’s squash finished in third place this weekend, the team’s highest-ever finish. Columbia defeated University of Rochester 6-3 to advance to the Nationals semi-finals, but lost 6-3 against Harvard. Senior Osama Khalifa, sophomore Robin Mann, and first-year Velavan Senthilkumar all defeated their opponents, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Crimson. The Lions faced St. Lawrence today in a battle for third place and beat them 7-2, forcing St. Lawrence to claim fourth place.

Men’s Basketball: won 89-82 against Brown, lost 83-73 against Yale
Women’s Basketball: won 90-74 at Brown, lost 66-59 at Yale
Women’s Track and Field: placed fourth at Ivy League Heptagonal Championships
Men’s Track and Field: placed eighth at Ivy League Heptagonal Championships
Lacrosse: Lost 13-12 against Lehigh

Photo via gocolumbialions.com

So crisp, so fresh!

Hey, Bwoggers. Mother Nature’s last week’s attempt at spring had Cooking With Bwog craving something light and fresh like these Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce. They’re easy, adaptable and can be made completely to taste.

INGREDIENTS:

Spring Rolls
Rice paper wraps
Fresh veggies, chopped into matchsticks *
Spicy peanut sauce

For our veggies, Bwog used crisp romaine lettuce, colorful carrots, peeled cucumbers, shredded cabbage, sliced red bell peppers, and fresh scallions. Feel free to use anything you like.

PEANUT SAUCE
Peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
Soy sauce
Fish Sauce, sparingly
Ginger, minced
Honey or brown sugar, sparingly
Sesame seeds (optional)
Sriracha (optional)
Water, as needed

DIRECTIONS:
First, make the peanut sauce. Many people have strong personal opinions about how their sauce should come out– consistency, spiciness, everything. Essentially, it should consist of a peanut butter base (about a ⅓ cup) with soy sauce (a couple of tablespoons), a drizzle of honey or a dash of brown sugar, a splash of fish sauce (really–approach your fish sauce addition with extreme caution!), and a small knob of ginger. Thin with warm water and stir well. Taste test along the way. Guzzle leftover sauce unabashedly.
Then, soak rice paper in a dish of water (about one minute per sheet, or until pliable and slightly sticky). Be careful not to allow soaked rice paper sheets to touch because they will stick together and rip.
Assemble veggies and wrap your spring rolls. Serve with peanut sauce and sesame seeds.

Image via Bwog Staff.

A running train, a rarity

The MTA is objectively the worst thing in the world, so we went through their awful website for planned service changes for this week so you don’t have to.

Here are the planned subway service changes for trains near Morningside Heights for this week (weekdays only). Use this as a reference as you travel this week. This information is from MTA’s website, so it may not be reliable, but at least it’s easier to read than their godforsaken website.

1: Basically, from 11 pm to 5 am during the week (Monday-Friday) this week and next week, the 1 train will run in two sections: south of 96th, and north of 137th. There will be no 1 trains between 96th and 137th, and the 1 will switch to the 3 after 96th. Free shuttles will provide alternate service. Uptown trains will skip 79th and 86th streets.

2: Downtown trains will run local until Times Square after 10 pm from Monday to Thursday until March 15th.

3: Downtown trains will run local from 96th to Times Square between 10 pm and 11:45 pm and there are no trains from 11:45 pm to 5 am during the week (Monday-Friday) this week and next week. 1 and 2 trains will make all 3 train stops between Times Square and 135th.

A: No planned service changes near MoHi this week.

B: There will be no trains after 9 pm this Monday through Thursday (February 26th-March 1st).

C: No planned service changes near MoHi this week.

Subway via Bwog Archives

Look at all of that money that you won’t have!

Back in the Satow Room, B-w-o-g-g-e-r Nadra Rahman reports on the salacious goings-on of our student government. This meeting ended 10 minutes early. 

With nothing to vote on, CCSC resorted to discussing upcoming events (Staff Appreciation Week!) and policy changes. And yet, we’re not sure if anything substantive emerged.

Security And Facilities Fund

Much ado has been made about the Security and Facilities Fund, which we contribute to via our student activity fees, and which all student groups dip into when they host events. The Columbia University College Republicans’ use of it was at the heart of CCSC’s recent complaint against them, and the brouhaha eventually led to a new policy—in which the security fees for events requiring University Delegates will be covered by the University itself. In recent weeks, an additional policy has been instituted: from now on, student groups will receive a quote of costs in advance of every event that will require security. This will allow for the enforcement of an existing policy, which held that any event incurring more than $600 in security fees must be reviewed by the VPs of Finance of the three student councils. Costs weren’t known in advance before, so this was a little hard to do. Phew, enough background?

There are lotsa new rules

Why do these rings even exist like what does it mean? How did this become the symbol of the Olympics?

Happening Around the World: The Closing Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang occurred last night (or morning for our time zone). Highlights included the promotion of peace and a change of flags from South Korea to China to signify the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (NBC)

Happening in the US: California Democrats have refused to give an endorsement to current Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein. Opponent Kevin de León, also a Democrat, was not able to receive the endorsement either, as he did not receive over 60% of delegate votes. (CNN)

Happening in the City: After an Australian tourist contracted measles and travelled to New York City, the Department of Health is issuing a warning that this person was in contact with numerous hotels and the Metropolitan Museum of Art from February 16th to the 21st. (ScienceAlert)

Happening on Campus: Interested in museums, art, and the modern Middle East? Reem Fadda, head curator for the ‘Jerusalem Lives’ exhibition at the Palestinian Museum and Palestinian artist Emily Jacir will be holding a panel to discuss the modern Palestinian identity and its relation to Jerusalem in 1501 IAB from 6:00-8:00 PM. More information can be found here.

Overseen on Campus: “Being sober on campus like this on a Friday night really makes you realize how fucked up half of Columbia is” – man in front of Butler.

Goodbye to Ice Dancing via PublicDomainPictures