CPU has released ticketing information for the Columbia-hosted Presidential Debate that will include Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney and Chuck Baldwin.  There will be 275 of the 400 seats reserved for CUID holders and you can get them either here or at the Lerner Lobby.  The debate is this Sunday, 8 p.m. in 417 IAB.  Full email from CPU is after the jump.

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After the extravaganza that was the Obamacain ServiceNation Forum, other presidential candidates apparently could not help but get in on the action. According to McClatchy, three third-party candidates will be debating at Columbia this Sunday. Ralph Nader (independent), Cynthia McKinney (Green), and Chuck Baldwin (Constitution) will all participate in a debate moderated by Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio.

Libertarians will be disappointed to learn that nominee Bob Barr will not be participating. According to McClatchy, “Barr said he has a scheduling conflict, but debate organizers say he wanted to appear only with Nader.”

The debate will be carried on C-SPAN and www.thirdpartyticket.org.

UPDATE (7:55 PM): The debate is being sponsored by CPU, and will take place in 417IAB at 8 p.m. As for tickets, CPU Communications Director Lauren Salz tells Bwog that CPU is “making every effort to reserve as many seats as possible for CUID holders. Registration details will be announced as soon as possible, probably sometime tomorrow.”

The Good Ship Spectator seems to have updated every section but News. So, with that in mind, let’s read and arts and sports and the like:

Pisticci is a partisan restaurant!

So, about Obama’s stance on ROTC…

Oh, right, ServiceNation.

 Men’s tennis is lookin’ good

And a preview of everyone’s favorite football team, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers! Roar, Lion, Roar.

A Robyn Schneider for a new generation.

Philip Roth makes it big, in Hollywood!

Woody Allen makes things beautiful and slightly off-putting, in Barcelona!

Standing up to middle school and high school bullies: what you need to know.

That time you sat uncomfortably on the Steps yesterday: relive the magic!

That time you watched the Summit and were vaguely bored: relive the magic!

Waterfalls are magic.

Photo by Anthony Yim

Today, we received many outstanding photographs of various things like David Gergen and cops on the roof of Butler and Joe Biden befriending a small child on a bicycle. Here is a collection of the day’s special moments. Plus a bonus PhotoShop Contest after the jump!

Photo by Jon Hill

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As we wait for Barack Obama to walk across College Walk and hop into a white SUV at the sundial – UPDATE 10:10 PM: Security says they’re “having trouble with the dorms” and this walk is canceled — we’ve received a Shocking Report that an estimated 75 seats located on the lower level of Roone were completely empty.

A Roone insider reports that ServiceNation brochures and a copy of Time were placed on these seats, indicating that they were, at least in theory, designated for audience members. 

The main event is here! Check back at other liveblogs dedicated to the opening act and pre-gaming on the Steps.

8:01 PM: The screen is back. And Judy Woodruff is here. 

8:03 PM: Oh, here is Rick Stengel. Is it just our TV or is his face bright yellow?

8:04 PM: It’s McCain! Hello, McCain!

8:05 PM: He just pointed in the audience, maybe at Meghan!

8:04 PM: It’s time to talk about 9/11. Are we forgetting about it? How will McCain make us remember, because clearly this is his responsibility.

8:05 PM: He replies that serving our country is what this forum is all about.

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We’ll start a second liveblog dedicated to the Summit itself, which is about to start. Join us! Or reminisce about all the fun times we had on the lawn, with our earlier liveblog.

7:04 PM: Everyone took their seats off the stage. Ushers are ushering people to chairs. If Bwog sees one empty chair…

7:06 PM: Ooh, we’re starting, we’re starting! Thank you to our sponsors, Target and Time magazine, and others!

7:07 PM: It’s Joseph Ienuso, who just asked one million people to turn off their cell phones.

7:08 PM: Bwog operative spots a sniper on the roof of Butler. Awesome.

7:09 PM: It’s someone from Target and someone from AARP talking about ServiceNation. Hm, it seems most of the sodas that were here earlier are gone.

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Check in as we bring you updates and photographs from the Steps, Lerner, and the Press Room.

5:24 PM: Sarah Besnoff, George Krebs, and Peter Valerias are talking to us about the community service fair that’s still happening but no one is going to forfeit their spots on the steps. 

5:27 PM: Someone is speaking very quickly and softly now, there is literally no way to tell who it is. It’s quite windy out. 

5:32 PM: The mic keeps going out but Bwog heard the phrases “commuity lunch” and “not to be too corny, but to quote Martin Luther King…”

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World-renowned Service-enthusiast Usher just walked up the Lerner ramps, right in front of your Bwog editor! He was wearing a scarf and sunglasses and was surrounded by many others wearing sunglasses. He was hurried into the piano lounge, but apparently that was the wrong place to go and he was taken to a second mysterious location.

Oh, and then these guys walked up to Bwog and asked who that was we just took a picture of. We replied it was none other than Usher. “Ha! I told you so!” one of them shouted. “You owe me $5.”

More horrible paparazzi shots after the jump.

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The lottery winning ticket-holders have began to line up at the entrance of Roone. Ha! They have to line-up inside already and the rest of us get to hang around and enjoy this lovely, overcast day. Who’s the lucky one now?

Meanwhile, Bwog actually heard a pantsuit-wearing lady say “I just spoke to the White House this morning…” 

Bwog doesn’t know whether this New York Times story about engineers earning credit for service projects in Harlem was originally supposed to run yesterday, but, regardless, we doff our collective (and imaginary) caps to the Grey Lady for its sense of timing.

In short, the engineering school allows students to earn class credit while doing public service at the same time. While this is currently the only project on such a large scale numbers-wise, the Times reports that “at Columbia, other academic departments are now considering integrating service into the curriculum, and community projects have become a key part of the university’s sales pitch to prospective students.”

Other highlights include an appearance by Jack McGourty, a one-sentence mention of today’s “service fair,” and the man behind ServiceNation declaring that “the millennial generation is the greatest serving generation since the greatest generation.” Bwog is happy to score one for optimism.

Our new friends at this J-School blog have spotted a TV schedule for tonight’s forum on one of the trailers on Broadway. Industrious aspiring journalists that they are, they have summarized the preliminary order of events. What you need to know:

• The candidates will not speak until 8 p.m. (McCain) and 9 p.m. (Obama) respectively. Each has about an hour for their speeches.
  
• The preceding hour will be mostly taken up by introductions of various kinds, including New York Governor David Patterson (who apparently plans to introduce a new service initiative) and Tobey Maguire (best known for playing fictional Columbia student Peter Parker).
  
• PrezBo’s intro will be at 7:30.  

To see the rest of the schedule (including a photo of the actual minute-by-minute sheet), head on over to that J-School blog.

Obama wasn’t a huge fan of Columbia!

Columbia wasn’t a huge fan of McCain! 

The neighbors are apathetic!

Athletes aren’t dumb!

Volunteering is great! 

Really! 

Students think so too!

Bwog snuck into Roone to see all the exciting preparations for tomorrow’s Service Spectacular. There are about 20 people inside working on installing cameras, television screens, and mysterious black sercrecy curtains shrouding the Broadway entrance to Lerner. There are also a few important looking people on stage discussing logistics of the chairs and American flag paneling. More fairly passable cameraphone photos after the jump.

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