Some students in a Butler study room, have gone mad, putting their hope of safety in a wooden/paper wall. Spoiler alert: Athenian glory is only temporary.

As per tradition, join Bwog as we cram study diligently for our last finals and take an odyssey through the depths of Butler, on a dark night of the soul… It’s good to see you’re all so focused and well-fueled.

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Claiming seats in Butler is less of a science, and more of an art. There are techniques that work for some locations, but fail in others. This evening, Senior Butler Analyst Alex Jones spotted the stakeout below and uses it to illustrate one of the many finer points of Butler camping: item usage.

The books are messy, too messy...

There are many schools of thought on this issue. Some believe that the minimum that must be left is a laptop, while others affirm that any stranded items must be respected as legitimate. This author seeks to mitigate both arguments, and find a solid ground between the two.

Examining the photograph above, we find that the colonist has left behind a few personal items of clothing. This is a good start, but does not lead one to believe that she/he has any reason for occupation that requires a seat in Butler. Items must demonstrate a unique effort to study or be studious.

The above books, at first glance, suggest such an effort; however upon further examination one finds that they are merely plucked off of the surrounding shelves. Poor form, indeed! Any two-year-old can misallocate books in a library—camping requires determined pseudo-studying!

Library space is provided to students so that they may study in relative harmony within close proximity to academic resources. Unfortunately, there is high demand for spaces of limited supply, and thus consideration must be given to the allocation of said spaces. While there are good reasons that students may need to retreat from their study spots, the moral liberality of space allocation can, and has been, abused by campers who fraudulently feign their claim to a spot for an extended period of time. The world is a rough and dangerous place, and the strong and smart will prosper.

Bwog wouldn't be surprised.

Bwog has seen Butler camping and even orated on its behalf. But if you’re in CC or SEAS, today you received an email from your senators which may threaten that sacred masochistic rite.

Amidst standard student government “we want to hear what you want” business-as-usual, Bwog found this bit:

Libraries and Technology – Contact: Kenny Durell
We are working with CUIT to set the groundwork for a program employing student programmers for University projects. We are also a part of conversations regarding a switch to Gmail or another outsourced email provider, pending legal and privacy concerns. We hope to find a solution that works for everyone. In the Libraries Committee, we are working to extend hours on the upper floors of Butler and perhaps implement a peer-enforced anti-camping program.

“Peer-enforced” measures against camping? Could this be politico-jargon for “We can’t do anything about this so we’ll put it on you students” perhaps? Bwog isn’t sure, but warns you–stay vigilant!

Image via Wikimedia

A semester goes, and a semester comes, but the odd behavior of Butlerites during exams remains forever.

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Just trying to make everyone jealous of your nook, are you?

Camping out has begun! Notice the toothbrush and toothpaste.

Driven to madness, someone took a bite out of this Butler 6 toilet seat!

Name the tag quote!

Photos by David Hu, Eliza Shapiro and Alexandra Angelo

Forty-eight straight hours in Butler is an unusual path to martyrdom.

It’s autumn in Morningside Heights, and we’re evidently more hungry than genuinely wistful.

Yoga has always been a scene, but now it’s official.

DJ Earworm talks business; he’s actually quite articulate.

Midwesterners are quaint.

Photo via Bwog!

In case you couldn’t tell from the joyful cries of sexiled 2013s, the good news from Butler keeps rolling in.

Bwog’s star student Liz Naiden reports (with glee) that the Reference Room and the Catalogue Room, as well as “all the other reading rooms on the third floor,” are now open forever and always. 

That’s right–all twenty four hours of the day (or, sidereally, all 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds of the day).  Grab your laptop and your French press and head on over: the water’s free and the doors never close.

Documenter of All Things Butler Alexandra Muhler sends in this photo, taken in 603.  It’s like the Pagemaster, but this is real life.

Bwog’s received the following photos of students who’ve “camped out in the boardrooms on the 5th floor of Lerner for days on end.” These people, who apparently moonlight as Red Bull company employees, believe that their misery rivals that of their Butler-bound peers.

If you think your study space is better/worse, send us the photos to prove it and we’ll add to this post. Winner will receive our condolences. 

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Bwog took a stroll around Butler this fine Sunday evening, for such is our time-honored tradition. What we saw is a haunting portrait of the terrible side-effects of caffeine and what must be at least half of Starbucks’ yearly revenue. We also observed the masses try to escape their madness: literally, below, and figuratively, at Facebook.com. See more portraiture after the jump — if you dare.

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Take a break from studying and hurry out of your hard-fought Butler cubicles!  Relay For Life committee members are giving away s’mores, hot drinks, and snacks in a study break from 12-2 on the Lerner Ramps.  They will also have some fantastic t-shirts on sale, with slogans such as “Great Boobs Are Worth Fighting For” and “I Put Out…Cigarettes” with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

Welcome back to Bwog’s latest feature, “In Defense Of…” Here, a writer defends something that most students consider useless, inferior, or downright loathsome. In doing so, Bwog hopes to bring you a new perspective, and give the subject the appreciation it deserves…or not. This time it’s Blue and White Managing Editor Katie Reedy defending camp-outs in Butler.

This fall, the library staff announced they would be closing the 24-hour rooms in Butler for one hour each early morning, during which time they will dislodge the human barnacles who have spent their night drooling over tomes and problem sets, as well as any stray non-approved beverage containers and other such flotsam.

Friends, they have declared a crusade against camping. After denying us access to bars and dorm parties, Columbia has robbed us of our alternative nocturnal pastime. What do they expect us to do between four and five a.m.? Surely not… sleep? Read more…

We are on the eve of midterms and many students are preparing sleeping bags, dry foods and canteens of Redbull for their first Butler camp out of the year.  But alas, in his email to the Senior class, Mark Johnson has informed us that The Powers That Be have decreed that every room in our beloved library shall be evacuated daily for cleaning and removal of camping gear.  The full notice is after the jump. Read more…