Bwog » mistakes

Because the Bookstore Knows Your Life

Conor — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:00:41 +0000

At our beloved Bookstore, you can buy strange and ostentatious shit. Why? Because Roar Lion!

But apparently their selection isn’t only limited to Columbia apparel. You can also purchase the inconsistently capitalized “Columbia Lions adidas TShirt.” But it’s not ‘Columbia Lions’ at all! It’s actually a Central Connecticut State University tee. Go figure, their colors are also blue and white, although not our blue.

The wrong CU!

Mistakes Are Made On 168th Street

Eliza — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:13:35 +0000

Oh haaaay

The New York Times is reporting that federal investigators uncovered the existence of some crazy shit at a prestigious Columbia brain-scanning lab: Scientists regularly injected patients with a commonly used low-level radioactive substance that might have had traces of dangerous chemicals. Then some staffers tried to cover it up by forging documents. Um!

An internal investigation released on July 6 concluded that no one appears to have been harmed—many of the studies focused on imaging the brains of schizophrenics and other people with serious mood disorders—but the research at the lab, the Kreitchman PET Center on 168th street, is on hiatus, and some heads have already rolled. David I. Hirsh, Columbia’s executive vice president for research who, according to a letter from PrezBo posted in the comments, resigned on July 9 and will step down when a successor is named, told the Times, ”we are fundamentally reorganizing the lab’s management and operations in response to what the F.D.A. told us.”

More from the article (which, as of now, is the top story on the Times home page):

The F.D.A.’s latest investigation, which took place from Jan. 5 to Jan. 21, listed six categories of violations. It found that since 2007, “at least 10 batches” of drugs had been “released and injected into human subjects” with impurities that exceeded the level the lab had agreed to set. At least four injections “had impurity masses that more than doubled the maximum limit implemented.”

The report highlighted an equation that the lab routinely used, resulting in injections that exceeded the limit for acceptable impurities. The lab did not adequately check “the identity, strength and purity of each active ingredient prior to release” for injection into patients, the report said.

The first building to go up in Manhattanville will be the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, which will be used for brain research. Budum-ching!

In the words of our tipster: you stay classy, Columbia.

Eek! GS Valedictorian Made Someone Else’s Joke

Eliza — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:50:33 +0000

Everyone had a good time at GS Class Day. There was a brass band, there was a Korean pop star, and there was a Valedictorian named Brian Corman who made a speech. This was not an unusual thing for a Valedictorian to do, but Mr. Corman did something out of the ordinary: he stole a joke, just about word for word, from comedian Patton Oswalt. Corman inserted it into his speech as if that very anecdote had happened to him. Whoops!

Bwog really wishes we could relay the joke to you, but as soon as we signed on YouTube to find the video of GS Commencement, we found that the video had become private. We hear from the lucky few who got a look at the video before it was taken down that the joke centered around a scene in a Physics for Poets class, in which a GS student challenged a question on the exam, showing that GS students always think they’re right because they are always right. Watch Oswalt’s original version of the joke here.

A scan of Oswalt’s Facebook page reveals he is none-too-pleased. “Jesus fucking CHRIST,” he writes in response to a link showing Corman’s bit, “Again?” Oswalt is now figuring out how to get the snippet of video with Corman’s joke back so he can send it to the “several big media outlets” that are asking him for it. You read it here first, folks!

A final piece of advice for our readers: if you’re going to steal comedy bits, don’t steal from living comedians who use the Internet a lot. Steal from Milton Berle, he never tweets! A few pieces of evidence below, we’ll update you as events unfold.

Update, 1:30: And Columbia has put the video back up on YouTube! Scroll to 33:56 for Corman’s speech, and indulge in the barrage of comments. Columbia has added a meaty disclaimer to the video:
It has come to our attention that a portion of our Valedictorians address at this years Columbia University School of General Studies Class Day was taken from a comedy routine by Patton Oswalt. Until today we were unaware of this conflict, and as an institution of higher learning that upholds the highest standards of respect for the works of others, we are deeply distressed that this has occurred. Columbia University and the School of General Studies do not condone the use of someone elses work without proper attribution. Mr. Corman has issued an apology to Patton Oswalt. — School of General Studies, May 25, 2010

Update, 4 PM: Dean of GS and Bwog Hero Peter Awn has issued the following statement about the debacle:

It has come to our attention that a portion of our Valedictorian’s remarks at this year’s School of General Studies Class Day was taken from a comedy routine by Patton Oswalt. As an institution of higher learning that places a core value on respect for the works of others, we were surprised and disappointed to have learned of this matter today. Columbia University and the School of General Studies do not condone or permit the use of someone else’s work without proper citation. The student speaker has appropriately issued an apology to his classmates and to Mr. Oswalt for failing to provide such attribution.

If you’re in GS, send along that apology right quick using our tip form.

Corman has also apologized directly to Oswalt, which the comedian related in a blog post on his website that he titled “Sloppy and Desperate.” Still, Oswalt writes that Corman “owned it all.”

Update, 5/26 2PM: Corman’s email to his GS ’10 classmates:

Dear Seniors,

I would like to apologize to the Senior Class for my actions on Class Day. As many of you know, I used one of Patton Oswalt’s jokes in my speech (the one about the Physics for Poets class). I sent an apology to Mr. Oswalt yesterday, and he has responded on his website. My intention was to have a funny story amidst the more serious parts of the speech to get a few laughs, and I was completely in the wrong for thinking that it was OK for me to take his story and make it my own. I am extremely sorry to the GS Senior Class for betraying their trust and embarrassing the school, and please know that I never meant to harm anyone by this.

My sincerest apologies,

Brian Corman

Midterms Weren’t the Best? Fix It!

berke — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:05:14 +0000

-Photo via Medicaltourismmag.com

Today is the last day to switch your classes to pass/fail, so if the pre-spring break midterm you just got back was not quite what you expected, switch now or take the letter grade.

Bwog’s chief grading transition expert Julia Mix Barrington alerted us that, for Barnard students, the switch to pass/fall is all done online, so save yourself a trip to the registrar and head to the joy that is eBear.

For the engineers among us who may have spent too much time watching robot death battles and too little time studying, today is the last day to drop a class for SEAS.

-DJB

Sip and Flex: A True Love Story

Juli — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:09:32 +0000

Late last night, we reported that the Hungarian Pastry Shop would soon be offering Flex.

Well, about that: It turns out that it’s actually Sip that is going to be soon accepting Flex–a fact that’s been confirmed to Bwog by Michael Novielli of Student Auxiliary and Business Services–and the Hungarian was accidentally mislabeled in our tipster’s email. We’re very sorry for the error.

Still, Sip is offering Flex! Which is arguably just as exciting as a few hours ago when you thought the Hungarian was doing so.

Groups Respond to Inflatable Penis Controversy, Plan Protest Outside Spec

James Downie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:53:29 +0000

Late-night news in “Giant Inflatable Penis-gate,” as the queer community has moved quickly to respond to the controversial editorial published in Wednesday’s Spectator. In addition to the factual errors, the editorial is also attracting controversy for alleging that Queer Awareness Month “must be sure to focus on awareness and education before revelry.” The “revelry” in question was Genderfuck, the underwear-only party held this past Saturday night.

Word of the editorial spread quickly through queer organizations on campus. About 20 students (including several leaders of the queer community) commented on the original editorial, and the Spectator uploaded Thursday’s letters to the editor before the rest of the site was updated. In addition, seven student groups have sent a letter to the Spec editorial board, calling the editorial “inaccurate, sensationalized, misinformed, and malicious” and demanding “sufficient space be given in the immediate future to concerned groups and individuals to offer editorial responses.” Finally, plans are already in place for a “kiss-in”/protest at the Spec‘s offices tomorrow at 12:15 PM.

In addition to publishing Thursday’s letters early, the Spec is considering a meeting with queer groups on campus, and a source tells Bwog that editor-in-chief Tom Faure will be penning an explanation of the editorial process in the same issue. The letter from the student groups to the Spec editorial board is posted after the jump.

UPDATE 3:26 AM: Faure’s aforementioned letter is also posted after the jump.

Dear Tom, Amanda, & Miriam,

We read with disappointment and outrage the inaccurate, sensationalized, misinformed, and malicious Spectator Editorial Board editorial in today’s newspaper.

As individuals and organizations, a thorough and diverse response is necessary to unpack and respond to the multifaceted slander that you allowed to be published in our campus newspaper.

The undersigned organizations respectfully request that sufficient space be given in the immediate future to concerned groups and individuals to offer editorial responses.

A response is appreciated as soon as possible, as this issue is urgent and of utmost importance to a significant number of individuals on this campus.

In disappointment,

Ira Stup on behalf of

Everyone Allied Against Homophobia, Lucha, The Columbia Queer Alliance, Gayava, Queer Awareness Month, Students for a Democratic Society, & The Columbia University Democrats

Spectator Editor-in-Chief Tom Faure Responds

In Wednesday’s issue we ran an editorial on Queer Awareness Month that has received a number of comments, most of which took offense at the tone and implications of the piece. Given the personal level of some of the responses, I’d like to address how the editorial came about and why we ran it. The intent behind such a piece was not to strike a tone of disrespect or remonstration but rather to offer constructive criticism. I apologize for offending organizers and members of the communities that worked hard during QuAM and continue to do so outside of the flagship month of support.

As the editorial states, we support and appreciate the hard work of various LGBTQ groups on campus. These efforts have engaged the community and drawn auspicious response – both in the size of event attendance and in the eclectic nature of the programming. These events have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years – I’ve witnessed it in my 3.5 years here. Our argument was that QuAM could still be better – what political movement on campus is perfect, after all? – and we wanted to point to the main way we think the series could grow next year. I think more advertising could be done about the diversity of the programming offered. While the editorial board does not want to generalize and objectify the LGBTQ communities on campus, we felt it would benefit next year’s QuAM to be careful about the potential perceptions about queer issues – parties for better or worse can seem more frivolous than an educational panel. Our point, a light one, is undermined by the heavy-handed language and inaccuracies of the piece, burying what could have been interesting issues to debate. Rather than offering support and constructive criticism, the tone is flippant and undercuts the organizers’ work.

We made an unpopular call, but one we believe in theory holds water. We believe some students did feel that events such as Genderfuck were more publicized than the more academic programming. This may have arisen because of the very nature of the event, which does not mean we think pushing boundaries, or simply holding a party, are bad things. Rather we attempted to make the point that, perhaps inevitably, an event like this one could appear to promote an overly narrow definition of queer self-actualization and of sexuality in general – this is a point that I believe does hold true with certain queer and non-queer individuals.

A few online commenters derided such individuals, such “timid little queers.” This is unfortunate, for there are many ways, we can probably all agree, to explore sexuality. The queer community is not monolithic, and there are diverse ways to self-actualize in a number of campus communities. Rather than contribute to harmful and ignorant generalizations, which we do not support, we support confronting and deconstructing these generalizations. That doesn’t mean we think exploring sexuality and gender in the ways Genderfuck did is bad – our editorial strove to reflect the importance of QuAM while pointing out that the academic events could still benefit from more publicity. The intention behind this point in our editorial was not to demonize nor downplay the efforts of queer organizers, and I’m truly sorry that the piece has had this effect. Perhaps we were wrong to imply that such events were poorly attended – they can certainly still gain from more exposure, though.

This issue involves not only LGBTQ group organizers, but the administration, governing boards, councils, and the campus newspaper. On this last: please note that our mission as the campus paper is to offer a platform for discussion, and despite limited space I do think Spec‘s mission is to break down barriers rather than marginalize the community. We’re all students of various and complex backgrounds, and any appearance of bias toward one form of self-affiliated or ascribed identity is accidental.

That said, the dangers of language in journalism are issues we are aware of and confront everyday. We know we’re imperfect on this account, as are all media outlets (that I know of). The tone of the editorial lent too much to an air of distance from the queer organizing efforts, rather than expressing support. One problematic sentence in particular suggested that Genderfuck could discourage non-queer students from participating. The “Education, Not Jubilation” headline also accidentally slams the efforts – we did not want to patronize, nor suggest that education and jubilation are mutually exclusive. I regret that this compounds the problem of our inaccuracies.

The inaccuracies were blatant and unfortunate. The assumption made about the inflatable penis went without proper fact-checking (may have been a confusion experienced at the time stemming from the many visual ways LGBTQ groups have organized events on College Walk, such as the balloon arch over Alma), and the confusion of QuAM and CQA was lazy. We made an effort to post a correction as soon as possible online, rather than simply wait for the next day’s issue. Hopefully this begins to help mitigate opinions based on inaccuracies and false assumptions. We are also printing letters to the editor in Thursday’s issue that take issue with the editorial.

We trust our writers, the members of the editorial board – we rely on them to report and craft a daily statement representing the voice of the editorial board. Ideas for editorials are discussed in bi-weekly meetings by our board, an outline is crafted in advance and commented on, and one writer than prepares a draft. The writers are selected more or less randomly based on availability and scheduling. No editorial represents a single writer’s or member’s opinion.

To criticize a political organization is not the same as a fundamental aversion to the members of that group – a phobia is an irrational fear. We sought to provide a rational, constructive criticism, one that ultimately has sparked discussion, but unfortunately not the kind of constructive discussion intended. This is a setback and I apologize again to this effect.

The Columbia Spectator and the Case of the Misattributed Phallus

Juli — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:26:08 +0000

An amused tipster — who has thoughtfully already coined the phrase “Giant Inflatable Penis-Gate” — has just pointed Bwog in the director of Spec‘s recent correction to this morning’s staff editorial on Queer Awareness Month. The correction reads:

“Because of an editorial mistake, the original version misstated that Columbia Queer Alliance was responsible for Queer Awareness Month. While CQA and QuAM collaborate on some programs, QuAM is its own unique group. The editorial also misstated that a giant inflatable penis was part of QuAM’s opening tabling. It was in fact part of a different campus event.”

EC’s False Alarm

Juli — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:39:22 +0000

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.

QuickSpec: Mistakes and Accidents Edition

Juli — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:53:12 +0000

Cupcakes: The all-purpose graphic! Perfect for film reviews.

And articles about cupcakes.

Barnard flooded with drawings of stick figures burning bras

Also: an actual flood

GSSC VP resigns, explains “I have an off-campus apartment now [...] I can only do so many things at once.”

QuickSpec: Everybody makes mistakes?

parhizkar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:06:18 +0000

Collegeboxes screws up deliveries, not that’s it’s anything new.

U.S. News screws up Barnard’s rankings.

How much can Bill Clinton tell you about saving the world?

Spec tells PrezBo and Shapiro to be careful on this one…

This is just terrible!