It’s November, which means it’s time to harvest the crops and begin the time of festive feasting. Columbia, in recognition of this, is doing its part to help you grow out that “winter coat” around your midsection.

Milk not pictured

Few luxuries in life can compete with the delectable combination of milk and cookie, so head over to the Diana from 12 to 2 pm and pick up some free cookies and milk and make your very own milk moustache at this McAC Community and Skip Stop-hosted study break.

Cookies for commuters and non-commuters alike via Wikimedia Commons

Do it for the children.

McAC is offering free food on the second floor of the Diana center until 2 pm as part of their Fun with Folders program. Help put together activity folders for kids at a local YMCA After-School Program; that’s right, you can satisfy your hunger and make a difference in the community simultaneously. No word on the exact contents of the feast, but McAC’s pretty dependable for a satisfying nosh.

Not everyone likes to share their lunch.

Barnard’s Center for Research on Women is holding its 40th anniversary celebration. Head over to the lower level of Diana (in front of the Event Oval) or Althschul Lobby to pick up free lunch boxes. We hear they have roast beef, chicken, and vegetarian options!

Wikimedia“>

You get to choose your fruit flavoring!

Get caffeinated. They’re handing out free Tazo ice tea and coffee to promote the new Starbucks in Liz’s place. We hear they’ll now offer all types of multi-syllabic espresso beverages, including frappuccinos.

Chilled beverage via Wikimedia

First First Lady

Come to First Ladies: More Than Just Cookies, hosted by Women’s History Month tonight at 6 PM in the second floor Diana cafe. Professor Rosalind Rosenberg will speak about the public perception of First Ladies followed by discussion. They promise (with caps locked excitement) “TONS OF COOKIES.”

An anonymous tipster sent us the following gem yesterday—we added the sunglasses to protect his identity, and augment chill. All those flooding the libraries in anticipation of upcoming midterms, take note:

Around 4 this afternoon a diligent student studying in the Diana cafeteria on the second floor excavated himself from behind his laptop, lay down on the carpet, crossed his legs and remained immobile for the next hour. This is how you do it, people.

The master at work.

What excellent comportment, Bwog smells a building!

Two men entering the Diana:

Man 1: Is this named after Princess Diana?

Man 2: I hope so.

Image via Wikimedia

Careful how you draft those plans

All sorts of plans grace the headlines today:

President Obama is to lay down his blueprint for economic recovery tonight. (NYTimes)

Blueprint appreciated: Barnard’s Diana Center is the recipient of the American Institute of Architects 2011 Honor Awards for Architecture.

Someone who knows the blueprints of NYC: Columbia University’s Professor Kenneth T. Jackson (of midnight bike ride fame), Professor in History and the Social Sciences who also really loves spaghetti. (NY Mag)

A lesson in planning–a blueprint gone wrong: How not to peddle information from Disney. (NY Post)

Image via Wikimedia

Bwog’s Special Correspondent Zoe Camp reports from last night’s SGA meeting.

Tonight’s special guest was Lisa Gamsu, Barnard’s Vice President for Administration and Capital Planning! And so ensued a lengthy conversation on all things Facilities:

• During the construction of the Diana, the Lewis Parlor was used as a common space. With the Diana completed, the doors of Lewis remain closed. The administration is currently debating future uses of the room. One possibility – greeted with enthusiasm by the meeting’s attendees – is a reading room, complete with long tables and nice furnishings around the perimeter in a fashion akin to the reading rooms of the NYPL. But if this happens, it seems unlikely that it would be used for luncheons, parties, etc.

Read more…

“When Columbia builds, the city cringes.” (New York)

Why New York is a city of superheroes. (City Room)

Legos will solve all the city’s problems. (NY Post)

We will not be scammed! (NYDaily)

Big changes are happening where 120th Street meets Broadway. With one new building opened and another not long from completion, the northwest part of campus is in the middle of a full-blown façade-lift. The Blue & White examines these changes in the latest issue, now available campus-wide.

This February saw the presentation of Morningside’s newest daughter. The long-awaited Diana student center finally emerged in ceremony after ceremony; after opening her doors and shedding her fences in late January, amidst a shower of berets they finally cut her ribbon to great applause. She may be Barnard’s pride and joy of the moment, but architecturally she is one of two black sheep to join the neighborhood this year. The other odd-man-out stands across Broadway—called the Northwest Corner Building for now, this younger creature of indeterminate gender may feel even more out of place as it struggles to live up to the standard set by its older brothers, the aristocratic and ornate McKim, Mead, and White-esque science buildings of north campus.

Read more…

There was no ribbon-cutting and you won’t get any berets, but the Diana Center Café officially opens today, and people are trying their best not to accidentally make double entendres. The new cafeteria features a macaroni and cheese bar, a handful of different paninis, and a salad bar. It’s open from 11:30 to 3; students use either Barnard meal points or Dining Dollars.

Bwog welcomes The Diana to Morningside Heights. Her ribbon has been cut, and students are gathering outside, excited to officially enter.

Diana T. Vagelos had this to say about the naming of the building during her opening speech:

Thanks to Sarah Camiscoli for the video coverage

Bwog is as stoked as anyone else for tomorrow’s opening of the Diana, not least of all for the deluge of tremendous Overheards to come. This marks the beginning of what will surely be a prosperous endeavor (this is totally what Setting Out for the West felt like, guys).

Overheard in the Diana elevator:

Old guy: “This is an awesome building. Not like that monstrosity across the street…Looks like an explosion on a military base…And they call that architecture.”

…

Lecturing about the apocalypse, Prof. Elizabeth Castelli quotes Gilles Deleuze on the New Jerusalem:

Prof. Castelli: “‘…an architectural terror.’ Sounds a little Diana-like.”