Super Piano Brothers take ECAASU

ECAASU 2013 came to Columbia and had its opening ceremony on Friday night, various workshops and forums on Saturday afternoon, and a kickin’ after-party last night. Sarah Thompson*, appreciator of all things Asian, braved the stares to check out the opening ceremonies.

ECAASU, the East Coast Asian Association Student Union, is kind of a big deal, or so everyone was saying. The few things that I think are big deals are typically frozen and come from 7/11 or Dairy Queen, but in the chance that ECAASU 2013 might have ice cream, I signed up to attend its opening ceremony in Roone Arledge.

The place was packed for the 36th annual event. I’m talking 1,200 people from schools as close as Stony Brook University and as far away as the University of Florida. Everyone seemed really excited, taking selfies and screaming when they saw their friends from other schools. I felt a little out of place, but breathed a sigh of relief when the lights went down.

During introductions, organizers said that Asian Americans are the fastest-growing demographic in the US, and that one of the goals of the conference was to “empower [Asian Americans] as agents of change in [their] communities.”

Super Piano Brothers and activism.

The Dark Night holds many mysteries, not least among them the delibility of chalk.

The following sentence is true.
The following sentence is true.
The following sentence is true.
The first sentence in this list is false.

Did the chalk last through the night?

You may have missed your chance to get a balloon animal, but take heart, there’s still plenty of fun to be had around campus. Occupy CU is holding a protest outside of the Law School, calling on Michael Sovern, former CU prez and current chair of Sotheby’s, to end the worker lockout. The crowd was heard chanting “End the lockout!” and applauding a heartfelt speech “We are not just dirty hippies!…Not that there’s anything wrong with being dirty hippies!” as a gaggle of amused NYPD officers and passersby looked on.

Update: The protest is now over, but Bwog’s most active Activism correspondent was there. Look out for his account of the affair later this evening.

In addition, the Israeli Cultural Society is hosting an Israeli goods fair on Low Plaza until 5 pm, so stop by if you want to do some between-class shopping and support the Israeli economy.

En plein air, just like student groups!

CCSC holds weekly meetings. Brian Wagner attended one of them last night. This is what he saw.

• The meeting opened with a discussion of a new committee. Bureaucracy!  The special committee would tackle co-sponsorship requests. At present, groups requesting co-sponsorships from the different student councils schlep to four different meetings to present their case. If a new committee were created, it would allow for a more efficient process carried out by a single body. Some groups have purportedly been gaming the current system by telling individual student councils that they requested less from the other councils than they actually had in an effort to convince the duped councils to give more (Bwog calls shenanigans!). However, some feared a loss of control by each of the individual councils, and a potential influx of co-sponsorship requests. Plus, the CCSC Constitution would have to be amended to allow for the change (Hopefully quills would be involved). One council member wanted to know if this “would be like how Columbia went to the Common App?” In the end, the council took no further action and is waiting to see how the other councils feel before moving on.
• The council only discussed one resolution last night. The resolution would make student group events scheduled outdoors known to the public ahead of time. Following last semester’s Israeli border simulation on Low Plaza, opposed groups were upset that they had not known of the demonstration until it was already happening and were then unable to organize a sort of counter-protest. Events scheduled indoors are visible online in advance, but the same doesn’t apply to events scheduled to be held outside. The council discussed making it easier to reserve outdoor spaces online, reducing the headache imposed on student groups. As Learned summarized in a fit of tongue-tripping, “This makes them visible, it doesn’t makes them book.” The council passed the resolution without making any changes.
• A speaker from the Global China Connection gave a brief presentation; the group is looking to introduce the Chinese students who will be coming to America in February to collegiate student leaders. They thought it would be cool for the students to meet CCSC and see how we do stuff here, and CCSC thought so too.
• Finally, the council took on the Course Evaluation Overhaul plan. The idea is to make the Courseworks evaluations that we all suffer through when we should be studying for finals visible to the public. If you’re a well-informed Columbia citizen, you’ll remember that the council passed a resolution on this last semester. The council will now gauge the interest of individual departments in the change. More progress should be made on this soon, that is as long as no non-tenured professors go postal on the innocent little CCSCers who visit them.

Finals are conducive to all sorts of dance parties

Bwog received this Auto-Tuned gem by Ben Kaplan, CC ’14. “The Finalz Song” deals with the trials of Butler, the Bible, and fighting for survival. A sample lyric:

Just better get the flashcards out

your calculators and all them granola bars out

and do not think I’m going home until the starz out

we about to do this shit until we pass out…

“Mc wilf” (if that is your real name…) left his “Butler Library Rap“ video in the comments. Making Jay-Z proud, he abandons autotune.

save me i hate this can barely stay awaked
i think im goin crazy cause i feel like gettin naked
this page is outrageous, tell me i can make it
alma mater daughter tell me why hast thou forsaked
me, i’m gonna get a C, silly me, i shoulda dropped this class down in kent 203
but now i know i’m here gotta stay gotta fight
still i fuckin hate butler in the middle of the night

Speaking of Columbia-related lyrics, Lisa Cammett, BC ’78, has composed a rap in protest against the the University’s disposal of books. “Columbia University simply throws away thousands of tons of usable office furniture, computers, and computer parts, office supplies, recyclable journals, and most tragically of all, books, many of which are not at all outdated and are in excellent condition—every year,” she explains. The song is part of her personal campaign to save Columbia’s used books.

Driven to Rap

I never did hear of a white woman rapper

But in truth, I could not be much unhappier

Caucasian… and living there in the “Hood”

How clear my Alma Mater isn’t doing what she should

As a child they told me: “Never throw away a book”

I want the world to know what that bad school took

They took away the chance to read 10,000 author’s works

Dumped treasure in the trash like a bunch of jerks!

(more…)

The College Democrats are on Low Steps now for the first event of their Students Advancing Marriage Equality (SAME) campaign. Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, State Assemblyman for District 69 (aka Rosie O’Donnell’s brother), will be speaking at the event at noon!

“Tonight,” declared one of the Take Back the Night organizers before the march, “we reclaim the streets!” And for the 21st time, anti-sexual violence marchers (about 200 this year) took to the streets around campus with a mix of chants and whistles, adding a dose of public emotion to their campaign against sexual violence.

Unlike last year’s version, there was little groundbreaking about the march. For the second year in a row, though, men were allowed to march from the beginning, although a woman-only “safe space” zone at the head of the march remained in effect (when TBTN organizers decided to go equal gender last year, Columbia’s Sexual Violence and Prevention people objected, saying that some survivors preferred marching without men and so the safe zone was created). Men remained about 10-15% of the whole group.

As the group turned off of Broadway onto 116th, the chanting began in earnest: “What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want it? Now!” and “University silence perpetuates the violence” were two particularly common ones, though sometimes the back and front of the march had two rhythms going. But the most ear-splitting effect was when the group used its whistles as a whole – the high pitches bouncing off building facades split this writer’s ear drums quite effectively. (more…)

- Photo by JCD

Jonesing for a good Gaza protest? About 20 members of the Columbia Palestine Forum are out on Low Steps for several hours today, calling for divestment from Israel and other non-contentious ideas. Those looking for more background can check out the LectureHop of last night’s teach-in.

If nothing else, they’d appreciate the audience – when Bwog stopped by, listener numbers were rather low (and included at least several Hillel board members, who probably were not there in support). 

- JCD

-Photo from Ariel Moger

For the final installment of this week’s Veritas Forum,whose symbol looks bizarrely similar to the Mac Wireless sign, the group hosted a screening of Justin Dillon‘s film Call and Response and brought Matisyahu, the greatest Jewish reggae singer of all time, for a performance that can only be described as “kick-ass.”

Call and Response, an anti-slavery documentary/concert film, mixed its message about eradicating modern slavery with great performances, including one from Talib Kweli. Dillon spoke for a few minutes after the screening, urging the audience to join in his cause.

The night really heated up, though,  when Matisyahu took the stage. The concept of a Hasidic reggae star may seem strange, but the man is no one-hit wonder, especially with his beat-boxing. For his roughly hour-long set, Matis brought down the house, improvising almost his entire performance. During his dazzling beat-boxing, he would flick his finger through the air, conducting his otherworldly beats for himself. His set was interrupted when a microphone shorted out, but he won over the audience despite the technical glitch, and they ended the night on their feet, bowled over by the performance.

- DJB

Madonna Constantine sues TC, drama proves to be as eternal as Columbus’ legacy…oh wait…

Farewell, evil Columbus Day! Hello, Indigenous Peoples Day!

New Yorkers pay a lot of money for food; seem “more than willing to enjoy a bit of gastronomic luxury.”

The economy, Columbia’s endowment are “mildly disheartening”: Spec-er has “vague impression” that  “theoretically things could go very wrong.”

Students can’t be sick all the time in order to do well at school.  

Obamacain lottery extended until an hour an a half ago, so… hurry?

This article on anorexia is called “The Campus Elephant.”

Activism outside Columbia: it’s a whole other (gentrified) world out there.

There are a number of Mexican restaurants by campus. Here are their phone numbers and addresses.

At an undisclosed location, at an unnamed date and time, Nino Burjanadze, the ex-head of Georgian Parliament came and spoke at Columbia. Circumstances of the visit are likewise unknown.

It is available to you and it is free, so watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles because why not.

In which Bwog succumbs to a terrible case of false nostalgia. 

Par for the course of other Barnard Townhalls, the lasanga, coffee and white tablecloths came out in full force for tonight’s discussion about student activism at Columbia in 1968.

After a brief introduction by two SGA representatives announcing tonight’s speakers—Dean of the College Dorothy Denburg, BC ’70, and Karla Spurlock-Evans, BC ’71—the members of the Townhall were shown an 11 minute video clip. The clip was part of a larger documentary entitled Remembering ’68, and featured interviews with a number of Barnard and Columbia professors and students about the spring of said historic year. Bwog would normally, of course, be happy to share with you what interviewees said, but because the documentary-maker—in a curious move indicative of some sort of activist-y universality or sheer forgetfulness—didn’t think to provide the names of the people who were speaking as they were on camera.

(more…)

Mulling over the merits and drawbacks of a hunger strike, Bwogger Sara Vogel G-chat with a striking member of Columbia Solidarity [link to strikers' blog added 12:44 am] who wished to remain anonymous. It’s been edited a bit – IM conversations are always disjointed.

SV: Sorry to bother you! I’ve just been thinking a lot about this hunger strike. I don’t really know what to think, actually. And I thought you’re really involved, and could give me some perspective.

StudentStriker: After reading bwog…it is so important to have these conversations about it

8:18 PM SV:  To many, a hunger strike is a really symbolic action that calls to mind people like Gandhi and Guantanamo Bay prisoners. Is that something on strikers’ minds?

8:24 PM StudentStriker: So the thing is there is a “why we strike” statement [reproduced after the jump- ed.] and this statement is a collection of the strikers’ personal feelings. It is a culmination of individual statements, not to put us on the same level of prisoners who are without rights, expressions, food, or freedom. However, there is the sentiment that if all things were relative, students are in a way robots of this school.

The idea is, the core curriculum is so beautiful and so empowering, a social tool and a social weapon, so we should use it to make intelligent citizens and reform it with input from current events–such as the 5 hate crimes in less than a month. But the administration oppresses idea likes this or ethnic studies or expansion…. and they [the ideas] are literally put into a vacuum. We have had meetings with Bollinger where he outwardly doodles flowers on the demands

(more…)

Many of you may have heard the distant rumblings of this news, but Bwog has recently received enough on-the-record information to post about a series of newsworthy events that will start tomorrow morning. And so:

Remember Solidarity, the anti-racist coalition with the long list of demands? Turns out six of their members are going on a hunger strike (water and gatorade allowed), starting tomorrow at 8:00 am, to pressure the administration into action. Their reference point is the great student hunger sit-in of 1996, which resulted in the creation of the ethnic studies department–many of their demands involve further empowering ethnic studies, in a plan to clear up unfinished business.

The precedent has been set apart from 1996, however. A 9-day strike went down at Harvard last May, when students deprived themselves on behalf of school-employed laborers, and this article from the Boston Globe has a good chronology of other recent strikes, which have been a lot more common than you’d think.

The striking group plans to make their intentions public knowledge at a dinner at 6pm this evening, so they have no official statement as yet. But campus awareness has reached the tipping point, so Bwog posts–despite threats to withhold information for publishing before the public release. 

And, of course, we’ll keep you updated with other news as it develops. 

Bwog was out getting afternoon coffee when the Starbucks Barista pointed towards Broadway. “I originally thought it was a gay pride parade. But I think it’s an Asian pride parade.”

Actually, despite the rainbow flag and several Asian participants, it was neither. A group of about 15 students (and one monk) gathered in front of Starbucks holding rainbow peace flags and wearing “Free Burma” shirts. One of the flag-wavers told Bwog that they were marching to the Burmese embassy on 72nd, and tomorrow they would be meeting up with other students from different universities are walking from the Burmese mission to the United Nations building. 

- JNW