Food should always be free, like it is for him.

Hungry Columbians, your dinner prayers are answered: the Civic Engagement Networking Night event tonight from 7 to 9 pm in the Diana Center promises free food. No word yet on the specifics but one source claims said food will be “delicious.” The suggested attire for the event is business casual, so plan accordingly. Here’s the specific event info.

And before you head to the Diana, stop by the Satow room at 6 pm for a Dia de la Bandera event which will also (!) have free food.

Nibbling via Wikimedia

“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)

DSpar preaches about the mandatory meal plan against a backdrop of free food.

If you wandered past Barnard’s new Events Oval last night, the first thing you might have noticed at the Meal Plan Forum, even before the presence of the forty or so mostly angry attendees, would have been the two tables of catered food. Ironic, yes, but it did placate the hordes of meal plan-protesters, at least for the first half hour of the event. Here’s our recap of the the long, passive aggressive battle that was the Meal Plan Forum of ‘010.

Seniors v _?

A number of seniors showed up to voice their disapproval. Given that the meal plan is not in effect until next fall, no one quite understood what the seniors were one doing there, though one senior took the floor to violently express her dissatisfaction with the controversial Barnard graduation-room change.

Hand-Raisers v Other Hand-Raisers

Instead of instructing questioning students to form a line, the event’s organizers distributed approximately three microphones, all switched to “on,” among the first shift of hand-raisers, whose own questions initiated further hand-raising and general mic-fueled chaos. This disorder persisted until a full-scale mic war had broken out on the floor, with students straining to raise their hands the highest and gain entry into the next round of question-asking.

Read more…

Barnard ladies were treated to much more than their daily Anna Quindlen dose today at the Diana’s ribbon-cutting ceremony: it rained berets! Each class was treated to a beret in their own class color. So some people got green berets, and other people got red berets, and alumni got knitted berets, because they are old! Hannah Goldstein noted that after the ribbon was cut, “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang started playing, and the crowed started nodding along in multi-colored beret-fitted splendor.

Some take-home messages from the speakers: The Big Kahuna Diana Vagelos herself called the building an “open and flexible” environment for students. I’ll say! Anna Quindlen called the Diana “beautiful and colorful, just like Barnard women.” SGA President Katie Pallilo expressed hope that “the Big Sub snakes its way through the lobby.” Bwogger Sam Schube was delighted to have an opportunity to step into the Diana Event Oval, where refreshments were served after the ceremony.

In the words of Marion Weiss, the building’s architect, the Diana’s atrium “should be a tease for people who want to know more, to come onto campus and not just into the building to find out more about Barnard.” Oh Diana!

Beret photos and more after the jump.

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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

In our latest installment of “In Defense Of…”, Nikhita Mahtani takes on the haters of The Nexus/Vagelos Center/Diana’s new color scheme.

Barnard’s new student center has been in the making for a long time now. Every semester, Barnard students wait for the incessant banging in the Quad to stop and the walkway between Altschul and Milbank to open, so they can sleep in for five more minutes every morning. Finally, the wait is over, and the inappropriately nicknamed Vag has started showing some signs of completion. But Barnard students are far from happy. 

Unlike the picturesque Alfred Lerner Hall, with its big glass windows and neutral colors, the Vag decides to be a bit more… well, unique in its approach. According to the renderings on Barnard’s website, the Vag will have dull peach/orange colored windows, and the inside will have a multitude of red and orange chairs to ‘complement’ the outside. A mixture of dull and bright reds, coupled with the bright yellow tube lights they have decided to put in, will definitely give all Barnard students the vision of entering the 70’s, complete with hip colors and groovy disco ball themed effects. Not something you want when entering a student center… or is it?

Yes, the colors might be too much and the lighting might be too strong, but the Vag has something that Lerner doesn’t – a personality. For students trying to study at the Vag, falling asleep will be just about impossible; there’s simply no way you could drift into dreamland with those bright lights and colors staring at you in the face.  Imagine how much money you’ll save on coffee and Red Bull! Read more…

Image via Simpleology.com

Paterson may have been dumped by the White House, but he’s sticking with it nonetheless (and he’s not backing Bloomberg) (NYT; NY Daily News).

Various Barnard departments are working to carve up the Vag–sorry–the Diana (Spec). 

Park(ing) Day takes over park(ing) spaces for all that’s good and green (Spec). 

NYC might boast the Best Burger Of All Time, but, according to the Guardian, New Haven, CT, is the home of the world’s tastiest pizza.  Suuuure (Gothamist).

- An eager crowd awaits the band’s entrance

If you missed Orgo Night, fret not – the show was recorded and will be available tomorrow on CUMB’s blog. Now, the Bwog review:

After entering to the usual “Roar Lion Roar,” the Columbia University Marching Band noted that, due to the recession, this year’s show would be sponsored by the Columbia University Show. “We also thank the Varsity Show,” a band member opined, “for lowering expectations for the past 35 years.” As the Hillel-distributed stress balls flew in the air over the spectators (one eventually landing in a tuba sousaphone), many were still looking for seats, but the band told them not to worry: “if you can’t hear the jokes, there’ll be plenty seats open by intermission.”

Thus began one of the best Orgo Nights in recent memory, though, in typical marching band fashion, some of the jokes skirted the edge of tastefulness. Surprisingly, the end of the election and the departure did not dampen the band’s taste for political humor- the first two segments focused on Ann Coulter (simply described as “fucking crazy” and Fox News respectively (with “Beat It” and “More Than A Feeling” mixed in), and mostly had fun at “Coultergeist’s” expense, including asking “If she thinks kindergartners are being taught fisting in kindergarten, what are they being taught in high school? Read more…

At the “coolest” part of Barnard’s Spirit Day – “Celebrity Scoops,” where administrators served free ice cream to students – President Deborah Spar announced that the Nexus will now be known as “The Diana” (yes, just “The Diana”).

The new moniker replaces the unofficial name of “The Vagelos Center,” a change that possibly maybe perhaps almost certainly came about because of the building instantly being nicknamed “The Vag.” Not only is it the first name of Diana Vagelos, whose family gave $15 million to the project, but, as President Spar noted in her announcement, “Diana is the goddess of female power and strength.” Spar did not note that Diana is also a virgin, the goddess of the hunt and chastity, and notable for her enjoyment of revenge, often taken on men.

A quick informal naming survey suggested that students in attendance approved of the name. Then again, several attendees also commented that, with that much money, the Vagelos family “can name it whatever they want.”

- JCD