While most Columbians vegetate in flyover states or work long hours in the beige halls of finance, Columbia prepares herself for the Fall 2012 and the arrival of the class of 2016. (We see you!)

Like the MTA’s, Columbia’s renovations are a patchwork of quick-fixes intended to squeeze a little more life out of really old infrastructure. Here are some pictures of campus under construction.

Admit it. You’re a little jealous of those elusive few with summer transfer housing who now get to shack up in one of the frat-houses-cum-dormitories on 114th. Check out their new digs, sans sticky floors (we hope)—the former Psi U house, pictured below.

Update: The building formerly known as Pike is available for your visual inspection in the gallery below (first 4 pictures).

Photos courtesy Evelyn Warner

We ran through the Columbia updates a few days ago, and now we’re catching up with Barnard. Matt Kingston, Associate Director for Housing Operations, reported the following ameliorations:

Welcome back ladies!

• Reid: Upgraded hallways on every floor means new paint and carpeting for all your cartwheeling needs.
• Brooks: The 4th and 5th floors boast refinished woodwork. This means all the doors and door frames were stripped of paint and refinished in their original color. The Lewis Parlor (the lounge on the 1st floor of Brooks) will reopen this year with library-style study tables and lights.
• 600: Renovated kitchens in the A and F line apartments were fitted out with new cabinets and counters. The bathrooms got new floor and wall tiles, and shower stalls.
• Plimpton: New AC and hot water supplies for the whole building.

Little home on the prairie via Wikimedia

The Columbia Housing Gods have upgraded your digs. Much thanks to the lovely Joyce Jackson for sharing this definitive list of renovations. Here’s what you can expect

• Carman: Freshies are in for a treat: a glistening new fitness room. Couch muffins can enjoy True Blood marathons on the flat screen televisions just installed in all floor lounges.
• River:  Fancy flooring in rooms, hallways, and lounges. Goodies abound with new flat screen TVs and cushioned furniture in the lounges. Pianists, sick of Schapiro, be merry! There’s a new practice room AND fitness room.
• Printing: There is no less of a chance you’ll be stuck in line behind a dance leader printing 100 flyers with spanking new print stations in River, Watt, and Nussbaum. Also, that sauna of a computer lab in Hartley is moving a few doors down.

Interlude in honor of B’s bun in the oven: (The rest of the upgrades after the jump)

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The West Way Café has transformed. The diner isn’t open yet, but it’s not clear what we should expect. The only culinary feature of note in Manchester, England, is its Curry Mile, but this Manchester’s decor doesn’t hint at any South Asian flavors… One could also entertain hopes of a budget-friendly eatery, given that Manchester, New Hampshire is the cheapest place in America. The sign’s different fonts typefaces only further frustrate speculation.

Infinite possibilities...

The summer has been anything but dull in Morningside Heights. Perhaps the biggest news of all was the closing of H&H bagels, just downriver at 80th St. H&H was frequently cited as the top rival to our clearly superior Absolute for the best bagels on the Upper West Side, if not the entire city. Perhaps as a sign of victory, Absolute has invested in a much-needed revamp. But they’re hardly the only ones stepping up their game. Please enjoy a “meanwhile, back at the ranch” moment from the badlands of Broadway.

Katheryn Thayer reports on last night’s SGA meeting.

• Coming up: Barnard Basketball Night! Saturday, February 5, 7pm at Levien Gym. Support the basketball team and breast cancer awareness! With special appearance from Bacchantae, singing the national anthem.
• EcoReps will hold their first potluck of the semester February 2 at 7 in the Diana dining room. The topic of discussion will be energy-related. The school store now has an EcoRep certified section with sustainable products.
• ResLife shared some love by bringing brownies to the meeting, perhaps to sweeten ominous news regarding the most stressful time of the year – housing. The representative mentioned some of their priorities include kitchens and bathrooms in the 600s and renovations made in Plimpton. This summer, they will try to shuffle residents so that they can renovate 600 and 620, keeping 616 open. The work in Plimpton isn’t debatable because there are problems with heat and hot water.
• Barnard and Columbia are working together on a gender-neutral housing initiative. Interesting fact: if your room is too hot, opening the window just disturbs the heating system, which will self adjust to make it hotter!

In case you haven’t dined at Ferris or needed an Add/Drop form yet, you might not have seen Lerner 4 & 5′s newest look:

That is great, fresh-faced, American school spirit you’re flying there… ΑΔΦ. Didn’t it used to be a slightly less patriotic jolly roger?  Bwog ran into ADP’s house manager on the street, who could not explain the change in flag, but suspects it may be temporary.

Photo by HEH

Bwog’s dedicated SGA Correspondent Caitlin Lynch reports from last night’s proceedings, primarily concerned with the improved housing selection process, areas of further improvement, and summer renovations.

Annie Aversa, Associate Dean of Campus and Residential Life came to discuss changes in Barnard housing.

• This year, instead of waiting on different lines for different buildings, the process was streamlined so students could go to one desk, where they were faced with a computer screen that displayed which rooms were available to them in all dorms. There was also a large screen in the middle of Lewis Parlor, which gave live coverage of which rooms were picked.
• Concerns were raised about difficulties finding suites for smaller groups of three and four. The possibility of “exclusion suites,” which Columbia has, to encourage inter-class interaction without disadvantaging upperclassmen with a lower classman’s low lottery number was discussed.
• There was a movement rename the “Guaranteed Waitlist” the less worrisome “You’ll-Find-Out-Later”, since last year, everyone on this got housing.
• Turning to the issue of summer housing, the high cost of the third interim of summer housing in August was explained as necessary due to the costs of running the residences. Those working for faculty or in Barnard programs need only pay a one-off application fee.

Complete report after the jump (more…)