18 Comments
Or so claim some senior bio majors evacuated from the building a few minutes ago. They say that their professor told them to get out as soon as they smelled smoke coming from one of the upper floors–other students stood around in puzzlement, and few of the evacuated seemed to be enjoying the all-too-brief break from their academic pressures. “I’d rather be working,” an Earth Science professor told us. “Fresh air is highly overrated.”
The Bio majors, who were interrupted mid-lab, agree. “Cells are dying,” one of them said gravely. A panicky grad student echoed her concerns: “I need to get back. What the fuck?” she exclaimed–thankfully for her overworked, engineering ilk, the building was reopened just a few minutes ago, although nobody could else could give a solid explanation as to why it was evacuated in the first place. We’ll have more details as soon as they emerge.
Update: The building services guy at the 119th St. entrance tells Bwog that Mudd was evacuated due to a lab fire on the 3rd floor. The fire didn’t spread, but the man said that the university doesn’t take any chances as far as chemical conflagrations are concerned. Most reassuring!
Meanwhile, a cop car ran aground on a parked SUV at 119th and Amsterdam, and as of a half-hour ago police were routing traffic through Morningside Drive. The two incidents aren’t linked…we don’t think.
-ARR
Loading …
18 Comments
@But (again n again) I’ve already explained this. Saying “between 118th and 120th” is confusing, because a distance of two NYC blocks is very big. Saying “around 119th” fulfills the purpose of showing that you are not sure about the details, but it does not confuse the reader.
You sound like a candid person. I think I’d like you if I knew you.
@DHI I agree in spirit but the distance between two NYC blocks, north to south, is very short compared to other cities. It’s twenty blocks to a mile.
@DHI Or if not “very short” definitely not a long way.
@reason okay, the accident happened LITERALLY as a car was turning left onto 119th. I don’t think it can be more “around” 119th than that.
@YOOOO What’s up with all the nypd piggies standing in pairs on every street corner on broadway from 116 to at least 110? it makes me nervous, cause those backwards motherfuckers is dangeroussss.
@yooo You’re an asshole. The NYPD aren’t “piggies” or “backwards motherfucker”, they are awesome, brave men and women who put their lives on the line to keep your overprivileged ass safe. Better respect. If they’re making you nervous, it’s probably because you have something to hide.
@yes cause the cops only ever harass guilty people. and also everything that’s illegal is totally wrong.
@sipa why did sipa’s fire alarm go off too?
@it was right outside the garage, so 119/amsterdam.
@I remember back when we lit our protocols on fire in Schermerhorn…
@and yet... another car accident. this time on amsterdam, between 120th and 118th.
@fdhj amsterdam between 120th and 118th? What’s the benefit in giving a 2 block range, unless the accident actually stretched two blocks in which case, wow man, wow
@the benefit is that when there’s uncertainty, it’s better to be less precise and correct rather than make up a precise figure that has a chance of being wrong.
@But if the description calls for precision, doing otherwise would be as good as providing no information in the first place.
@sure but it’s clear in this example that spatial precision is ancillary to the main point. the main point is clearly “there was another car accident next to columbia” the fact that is was on amsterdam adds some supporting additional information, the two block spread allows one to sufficiently visualize the area, confirm the claim that it was near campus and find additional information if interested. (ie: where exactly it occurred)
additional precision may provide a better picture, but doesn’t necessarily add much to this message.
@But (again) given how much can happen within the span of a few footsteps in New York City, citing a range of two blocks only confuses the reader. To give the reader any visualization of what had happened, you could have merely said that the accident took place “around 119th ST,” even if it had in fact occurred on 118th or 120th. Committing a tiny mistake in detail is not of importance here, since even you say that the point is to confirm that it was near campus and to give the reader a good visualization of the accident’s vicinity to campus.
It seems to me that you are petty and maybe obsessive-compulsive in not allowing yourself any possibility of making a tiny error in reporting.
@hahaha obsessive compulsive: certainly, especially when it comes to procrastination at exam time.
petty: wow.. that’s quite rude.
in any event, i defy you to explain to me what the difference is between “around 119th st” and “between 118th and 120th” and why the former is acceptable, yet the latter is somehow indicative of petty and obsessive compulsive thinking…
@It's all cuz SEAS is SSSSSMOKIN!