Simultaneous fire alarms in Butler, Lerner, John Jay, Hartley, and Wallach.

Tipster’s report:

Around 6:05, the fire alarm went off in Butler. I relocated to Wallach lounge to continue working, when the fire alarm went off again at 6:15. There was all this shouting in the lobby and a girl sobbing. Four security officers had pinned an individual to the ground who I couldn’t see. The fire alarm was also ringing in John Jay and Hartley.

Update 6:36: Prof. Foner spotted strolling out of Butler cool as a cat.

Update 6:46: Butler failed to burn down. Masses are attempting to squeeze through the front doors all at once. A big game of musical chairs, in many ways. To all the suckers who took everything with them from the Ref Room: that table with only a small book in front of each empty chair is now “Bwog’s Table.” Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Update 7:03: Speculative gossip about the cause in the comments below.

“Butler has already taken my soul, so it might as well take my body.”

Bwog has just received a flurry of tips reporting unsettling activities around NoCo. Public Safety declined to comment, but the situation appears to be resolved. Helicopters were spotted above the north side of campus, and NoCo was evacuated, apparently due to a fire that broke out where construction was going on.

Joe was also temporarily closed because of a flood in their store room. Bwog’s Chief Joe Rat Alex Jones spoke to the manager who believed the room was drenched because of a fire alarm. Others mentioned hearing sirens up by 120th St. Jones reports that the baristas “almost immediately put back on their fedoras and started serving.” And the elevators are not working. Panic!

Update, 8:00 pm: Here are some photos of the damaged construction site.

Bwog’s sources report a fire alarm in Butler at the ungodly hour of 9:45 AM.  The building was evacuated. On the plus side, for a brief while there were tons of empty seats.

images by MEQ

Hundreds of freshmen are stranded outside of John Jay tonight due to a fire-related incident. Multiple people Bwog talked to indicate that they saw smoke coming out of trash chutes and saw smoke in the hallways, even on the highest floors. A popular theory amongst the stranded is that someone threw something flammable or ignited down into the trash chutes.

There are firemen on the scene now, and there’s no word of when students will be allowed back in.

Update, 1:11am: They’ve been letting students back in for a while and the crowd has all but cleared. The security guard at the John Jay desk informed us that someone threw an object (he conjectured a cigarette or something of the like, as most students have) down the 7th floor chute, which fell to the 4th floor and caught on fire, causing sprinklers to go off. There is also no elevator service currently. We’ll keep you updated with any further major developments!

Update, 2:36am: A tipster that actually lives on JJ7 has informed us that students on the floor with a view of the trash chute before the fire did not see anyone dropping anything down there. While some of the 7th floor residents were studying, someone spotted smoke coming from the chute and opened its door. This caused more smoke to billow out, and this is possibly what eventually set off the fire alarm. The plot thickens!

3:30 AM fire alarm in EC, and it just started to rain. Keep on keeping on, EC!

Refugees find solace in SIPA:

A tipster informs us that this burnt cup of noodles was the cause of the early morning fire alarm in John Jay. The moral of the story? Be careful, kids. Bwog loves you and just doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you.

The Culprit

Photo by Mahima Chablani

Whilst you sit in Butler wishing for a perfect storm to disrupt your finals, take comfort in the fact that such miracles can occur.

This morning, the final exam for Physics V1202 (the second required semester of non-engineering general physics) was interrupted by a real live fire alarm in Pupin.

 Or was it?  A prankster was responsible, reports the FDNY, and security is busy examining grainy camera footage trying to find the culprit.  According to our tipster, the plaza outside Pupin turned into a “circus of cheating,” so upon reentrance, the proctors passed out a “backup midterm” to be completed in the remaining time.

Physics department chair Andrew Millis informed the students that due to the “unusual circumstances,” the final would be weighted less heavily in the final course grades.

It all goes to show that studying doesn’t pay.  Full email after the jump.

—AB

(more…)

A merry prankster appears to have set off the fire alarm in Butler, driving the huddled masses out into the pouring rain (UPDATE: students have been let back in now). Tipster Amanda Santamaria, though, stuck around long enough to record the rarest of sights: an empty Butler 403.

And yet it probably still smells to high heaven.

Earlier today Housing Services sent out an email detailing new procedures for fire drills. Apparently, “during these fire drills and any other fire alarm, all students are required by law to exit the building.” Seems straightforward enough. But, in a Dean Wormer-like attempt to put a stop to shenanigans, soon a combination force of people from Public Safety, Housing Services and Residential Programs will also be SWAT-teaming your rooms!

The valiant bureaucratic coalition may begin to implement random room inspections during all fire alarms sometime this semester, all to prevent that heinous habit of realizing that you’d rather do something else than practice your stair-descending skills. So if your habit is to stand your ground and turn on your iPod during fire alarms, you may need to reconsider, or face Dean’s Discipline.

But let’s be honest: you can always pretend you slept through said alarm. The more pressing concern for some of us might be the accidental discovery of any, er, not-law-abiding items you leave behind. That’s everything from halogen lamps to things that are against state and federal law. Find a list of other items Columbia prohibits below. (more…)

Tonight was the third fire alarm for Carman residents in that number of weeks. The 12s were ushered out of the building at around midnight tonight and were then told to go back inside while the alarm continued to ring. According to our mysterious friends at Public Safety, the alarm was set off due to “unknown reasons.”

– Photo by Sean Zimmermann

Hans Hyttinen has just sent us his dispatch from the frontline. Apparently there was confusion as to whether it was a drill or not, as the alarm stopped sounding after a few rings. At this very moment, “a mix of pleased and peeved physics students are standing around the lesser-known sundial.”

Shocking Report from Bwog tipster Hillary Busis: The fire alarm in East Campus has gone off three times in about thirteen hours.

According to Public Safety, it’s not a fire drill, just a malfunctioning alarm. And they have “people working on it.” 

Stay strong, EC.

There’s currently a fire in Dodge, and a nervous professor is running through the stairwell yelling to anyone who will listen, “This is not a drill.” Also, the area surrounding Dodge smells like smoke. Check back for more updates.

UPDATE: According to Public Safety, there wasn’t a fire, just a “smoke condition” caused by an overheated transformer.

– Photo by Cliff Massey

McCain and Obama at Columbia, a glorified activities fair.  Thank you Mr. Krebs.

First Kim’s disappears, now Morningside Books?

Local political primaries are today, did you remember (or care)?

Fire alarms are loud (or at least they should be).

Radical: a politics of love and an ethics of compassion (or maybe just crazy).

The Schapiro fire alarm has been christened.

Let the year begin!