Over on Low Plaza, and for the last half hour or so, a crowd has gathered, sending out rainbow rays and good-time tunes into the night. Weighed down with glow-rings, the masses cover the steps and jam to “Chicken Fried,” the “Cupid Shuffle,” and “Jai-Ho” remixes.

The event is CUgLow. A tight core of dedicated dancers drift awkwardly among a dispersed crowd of freshmen and OLs. In the background a projector displays basketball stills, pictures of campus, and Bacchanal shots. Bereft of alcohol, first-years are getting drunk on Columbia.

One senior passerby, asked whether the event was sad or nice, pronounced it, “Sad.” Another bemoaned the pain Mother Gaia has suffered for all the glow-rings littering the Plaza. Still more sat together pouring drinks in highball glasses, musing, “We just like observing the freshmen.”

So do we.

Update, 11:20pm: A tipster spotted a gaggle of freshpeople with glow-rings all the way in midtown—bless their brave souls.