Not content to go quietly, the Class of 2011 had an unofficial post-graduation rager last night. The party started as a flash mob on IAB 15, but Public Safety soon stopped by for old time’s sake. During their attempt to kick students out of IAB, tipsters tell us it was a pretty rowdy time:

• A few girls got on top of tables, took off their shirts, and started downing 40s and bottles of wine
• People started singing the national anthem, interwoven with chants of “USA! USA!”
• “Roar, Lion, Roar” was not unexpectedly sung countless times

But alas, Public Safety and NYPD eventually got everyone out of the building, and the party subsequently bounced to the EC Courtyard, then Low Plaza, after which people just gave up trying to control the mass. A few graduates dramatically tweeted their last hurrah; highlights are below (yes, all the #swag ones came from the same person):

• Final battle of the War on Fun: Columbia seniors vs. NYPD in front of Alma Mater. #epic
• Columbia seniors just won the war on fun with a flashmob on the 15th floor of SIPA. #seniorswin #2011 http://t.co/0DiE95Y
• 15th floor of sipa #swag
• So many bros #swag
• #swag
• Actually this party is pretty cool #swag
• Low plaza is pretty chill #swag

Photo tipped by Jason Donenfeld

If you haven’t already heard, uniformed policemen raided Campo and the Heights on Friday, and 1020 and Mel’s the following night. According to a sophomore, the cops entered 1020 at 12:30am and approached a group of students sitting at one of the front booths. “Can I see your fake IDs? Let us see your fake IDs,” the policemen allegedly demanded.

“The weird part,” the anonymous tipster continues, “was I didn’t even really see anyone from school. It looked like mostly grad students and older folks, maybe a handful of seniors. I left immediately, taking my drink with me.” A Mel’s drinker, who stuck around for the police raid, witnessed the cops lead a few students away. According to another tipster, at least three undergrads at 1020 received court summonses.

In their article, “Students surprised to see police checking IDs at popular bars,” (pithy, guys!) Spec talked to the Heights manager. He comments that though the cops’ arrival was “random,” the police have stopped by for surprise visits about 4 times a year. Bwog posted about a 1020 sting two short years ago. Correlation doesn’t imply causation, but perhaps last week’s intercepted package influenced the timing.

Ok, so what does this all mean? Can you still count on the kindness of bouncers/your cleavage? Will this make the EC, Heights or Campo decision less daunting? Or maybe you should just reconsider your ID-Ology—The Blue and White’s 2010 Orientation issue produced a series of bar trading cards, featuring all the local joints where your questionable plastic is typically (!) accepted without question. They’re a great way to waste 20 minutes of your life and test your local drinking lore.

Last night a tipster reported a lot of police officers milling around outside Mel’s during last night. Apparently there’s such a thing as too Eurotrashed? The following Facebook message was sent to attendees of the party:

Hey guys,
I just wanted to explain to everyone what happened last night. Mel’s neighbors called in a noise complaint pretty early on. It was a combination of the music inside (which we will do a better job of controlling next week) and the fun going on in the line outside (which was awesome). We’re coming back next week with a $2 show featuring Simon Hertzog followed by 2 DJs. Sorry again about last night, we’re gonna work to do our best to never let that happen again.

Love,
Frat DJs

As Advertised at CrackDel

Friends, today is a sad day. From this day onward, beer distributors will no longer deliver our beloved Four Loko into New York. Though retailers (read: CrackDel) will still be able to sell Four Loko (provided they can prove that it was ordered before the 10th), there shall soon be a day when nights of “going Loko” are just a fond memory…not that you’d remember (or even want to remember) your night, anyway. The Four Loko era has marked us all, mostly in the form of incredibly embarrassing inebriation. Bwog foresees the rise of the Four Loko speakeasy—coming to an EC suite near you!

Farewell, dear Loko. It’s been real.

Found in the African Studies Reading Room on Butler 6. Looks like the War on Fun is still alive and well…

Save it for the Stacks, kids.

On this last crisp autumn Monday, a CC class was proceeding lazily in a Carman classroom situated directly across from Frat Row. Somebody else was presumably having a less than studious morning, because unexpectedly and suddenly the room reeked of weed.

As students snickered, rolled eyes and envied the bold toker, the instructor quick on his feet said: “I’m sorry, excuse me, but someone is smoking some major weed right now… We’re going to try and not get stoned back here.”

Then to a student in AEPi, “If that’s your frat house, maybe you want to have a word with them or something…”

Rejoice that intrepid men and women fight the War on Fun every day of the week, including midterms!

Image via Wikimedia

In the highly likely event that you did not consult your 2010 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report this evening, Bwog has picked out a few highlights for you. Instances of burglary have gone way down in the past few years; the McBain arsonist sets fires no more. Forcible sex offenses almost tripled from last year, though, more than half taking place in res halls. The War on Fun rages on; disciplines for alcohol and drugs have increased every year. But hey, as the old adage goes, can’t stop, won’t stop.

Though Postcrypt opens its first show of the semester this weekend, the coffeehouse continues to struggle to stay up and running in the face an endless stream of administrative hurdles.

After meeting with Columbia administrators on Tuesday, Postcrypt members inform us that they will not be serving alcohol this or next weekend, since they failed to meet the Liquor Authority’s shorter and stricter application deadline. While dry, the coffeehouse will not be required to staff an alcohol proctor, though it will still be required to staff a security guard, following a decision made by the Chaplain to have a security guard at all evening events in St. Paul’s Chapel – an additional cost which would drain both Postcrypt and Security Fund resources. Once Postcrypt does start serving alcohol again, they will need to have two proctors – one to give wristbands and monitor the bar and another to watch the rest of the tiny area. Read more…

Since its founding in 1964 by then-assistant chaplain Rev. John Cannon, Postcrypt Coffeehouse has remained “among a handful of really well run college venues of its kind.” Popular within the folk community both for the ridiculously cool space in St. Paul’s basement, and the dedicated crowds, the coffeehouse has hosted well-known artists such as Jeff Buckley, Lisa Loeb, and Ani DiFranco, and is one of the more enduring fixtures on the campus arts scene. But for the second time in just under a decade, the coffeehouse faces significant pressure from Columbia administrators, pressure that Postcrypt operators believe will end their operations.

The fun began last month, when, on our post about Postcrypt Art Gallery (a separate operation), a anonymous commenter wrote that the “coffeehouse sells tons of alcohol to minors and they don’t seem to have any problems.” Postcrypt members say that they have an alcohol proctor on hand, as well as strict carding procedures, but that one anonymous comment did not stop the Chaplain’s Office, Public Safety, and the Office of Student Government Advising from scheduling an “emergency meeting” with Postcrypt representatives in early December. Seriously, people, careful with those comments. Read more…

As academics and poseurs alike raise their lighters in revolt against the impending smoking ban, Students for Sensible Drug Policy have drafted an open letter to the Tobacco Workgroup protesting its methodology. The ban proposed by Michael McNeil and the Workgroup would outlaw smoking within Columbia’s property, even extending its reach to the surrounding sidewalks.

Although the Workgroup conducted a survey last spring and held a townhall meeting last week to hear student voices, our smoking scribes prove that Frontiers of Science has some use: they claim that the sample size was too small to indicate true sentiment.

 Full letter after the jump.

Read more…

The prolonging of Frontiers, student honor boards, and serving alcohol to freshmen – it’s all in this week’s CCSC report:

In typical Yang-era fashion, the meeting opened with a series of brief announcements. VP for Finance Nuriel Moghavem told the council that student groups wishing to use the Black Box Theater have to put various fire safety measures into place (hiring fire marshals, etc.), typically costing around $2000. This new fee has originated “from God knows where,” according to Moghavem, but the student councils are hoping to end it.

Other brief announcements included Yang saying that the new student group spaces almost ready to open in Broadway and Schapiro are “larger than expected,” and that there will be a student survey to help determine the best use of the spaces, and Academic Affairs rep Gilad Bendheim’s project to allow pass/fail grades in introductory language courses, which Bendheim expressed optimism about. At this point, your correspondent excitedly looked up the Course Directory, only to learn that “Quenya” was shockingly not on offer.

The low point of the meeting came when 2010 President Cliff Massey reported from the Committee on the Core Curriculum. As this year marks the end of Frontiers of Science’s five-year trial run, the course is under “strong review.” But the Committee on Science Education has requested that the unholy terror of Frontiers be extended for another four years, “to collect more data.” Despite this reasoning sounding most similar to “let’s keep bombing Vietnam to collect more data,” Massey reported (to CCSC’s noticeable disappointment) that the Core Committee is “99% likely” to approve the request. Read more…

Earlier this afternoon, the coordinators over at NSOP finally released their schedule book, a hefty pamphlet full of some orientation activities and some more advertising. The breakdown, day-by-day:

• Monday: Convocation, OL meetings, Class Act/College Night, blah, blah, etc.
• Tuesday: This year’s Lit Hum first class teacher? Gareth Williams. SEAS, on the other hand, gets the hodgepodge of “Perspectives in Science.” Score one for CC. The night’s activity for CC and SEAS is “Night Out with Your Floor,” while Barnard has the second of three “Community Nights” for floormate bonding.
  
• Wednesday: Under1Roof sessions begin. The evening is occupied by Community Forum, where first-years will “experience the campus community you now share.” Both events’ lessons will be equally forgotten by Friday. And meal plans start working.
  
• Thursday pre-dinner: The centerpiece of the day is “Health LIVE,” which includes “a hilarious look into the lives of Columbia and Barnard first-years trying to hang out, hook up, and fit in,” followed by small group discussions of “what consent is and how we give and get it.” Hilarious, indeed.
  
• Thursday night: Both big events of the week are shoved together into one night. First up are three hours at the Central Park Zoo to “unleash your inner animal at a dance party with your classmates.” Then CC and SEAS get a nightcap: a “Michael Jackson-themed after party, where we’ll help you cram for registration.” After all, deciding which electives to take is so much easier with visions of pedophiles dancing in your head.
• Friday: The class councils hold info sessions (insert ego joke here), and, if you have to stay on campus, there’s an Open Mic Night.
  
• Saturday: Lots of walking tours. First-years, take one that’s far away from campus – it’ll be your longest city trip for the next four years.
• Sunday: More walking tours, and student group meet and greets, plus the Performance Showcase.
  
• Monday, September 8th: Even more walking tours, and JJ’s hosts a party at the end of the night.
  

So, there you have NSOP 2009: no Blaze, no stand-up comedy, and no concert on the Steps. War on Fun, how we hate thee.

A mild Sunday night meeting started off with some great news: the Bacchanal College Days T-shirts had been universally praised and were in high demand.  In true Columbia form, however, the only leftovers are extra-large.  And speaking of Bacchanal, the Campus Life Committee had originally wanted to have a pre-concert festival was originally planned for Saturday, but were told that it “needed to be silent.”  George Krebs offered no further explanation other than that they had actually been considering a mime show.

The majority of the meeting was spent on familiar topics: meal plans and substance policies.  After last week’s hullaballoo, the upper class meal plan is no longer part of the Ferris Booth proposal.  Those optional meal plans have already been adjusted by increasing the number of meals in most plans and adding “free meals” to each plan. In order to save the struggling venue, however, both sides are still pushing for John Jay-style swipe access.  Breakfast would be priced from $6-7, lunch from $8-9, and dinner from $10-11.  It would be a continuous swipe system (much like the system John Jay will transition to by 2010) and no, the food won’t go down in quality, though portions may be reduced. Curses! Read more…

The War on Fun is bringin’ you down. You have two options: drink 40′s somewhere else, or promise yourself that, without a doubt, you will never give a penny to this god awful place as long as you live. Senior Fund and its awkward propaganda be damned!

Well, unless you’re too cool for mimicking Obama’s every move, you might want to reconsider that plan. It turns out that despite a few attempts to distance himself from Columbia during the campaign, the President donated $1,000 to the university this year.

If you are an Obama follower to the core and can’t see yourself scraping up $1,000 a year to give to PrezBo, never fear. When you compare the $1,000 donation to some of the other numbers in the Obamas’ tax returns, like their $2.66 million dollars in adjusted gross income, you realize Obama only donated about $40 dollars in real people money. In fact, Bwog’s special Lingering Resentment Calculator tells us that if Obama were making $100,000, by proportion his donation would have been $37.59. Ok, maybe that’s still a little more than Bwog has budgeted for PrezBo too.

Much of last night’s CCSC meeting split two ways was concerned with the CCSC Town Hall and College Days, with George Krebs and Robyn Burgess reminding the council members to come out. Actual news was little in evidence, with one exception:

VP for Policy Adil Ahmed, CC 2010 President AJ Pasuca, and CC 2010 VP Sue Yang reported on their Wednesday meeting with Dean Cristen Scully-Kromm, in which they discussed noise policies and other parts of the War on Fun. Yang told the council, “In terms of the noise policy, I feel we agreed there needs to be a more informal system for minor noise warnings to small groups.” Currently, some RAs have logs differentiating for these, but there is no formal system for this approach: each complaint must be registered with ResLife. 

Pascua noted that “”Dean Kromm expressed a strong willingness to move forward in the near future with CCSC. She’d prefer to work over the summer, rather than working hastily now.” However, he also cautioned the council: “although Adil, Sue and I felt that we’d like a resolution as soon as possible, we felt some intransigence on the other side.” Ahmed also expressed concern about the actual influence CCSC would have: apparently, Kromm told them that ResLife is already working on a new policy, but when the CCSC representatives asked to see it, Kromm refused, saying that the policy was “unconfirmed” and asked CCSC instead to submit their own ideas separately in writing. Hey, at least she’s consistently secretive. Read more…