Sometimes, there are things your calculator just can’t teach you.

It happens to the best of us. Maybe you were super excited (or nervous) during move-in and missed everything your RA told you. Maybe no one ever told you. Either way, everyone has a moment when they wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and realize we’re halfway through the semester and they still don’t know what the stacks are. Sometimes it’s about school, sometimes it’s about life in general, but Bwog is here to answer any and all of your questions, and we won’t judge you for not knowing it either. If we missed any of your burning questions, leave them in the comments! 

  • How do you do dining hall takeout? What is the dining coin I got when I moved in and how do I use it?: You can trade in the coin for a hard plastic takeout container at any of the dining hall desks. To get food in it, you just put stuff in like normal or hand it to the person like a plate. When you take it back to the dining hall empty, if it’s John Jay you put it on the conveyor belt and Ferris you put it in the big bin and you get the coin back! If you lose it you can pay $5 to get a new one. Otherwise, you can pay 50 cents per paper box for takeout.
  • I don’t know the names of anyone in my discussion section and it’s November: In class, you can normally just get away with saying “building off of his/her/their point” instead of actually referring to them by name. But if you’re having a conversation with someone and don’t know their name, try to be honest and say “Hey, I’m really no good with names and I only see you in this class, what’s your name again?” Pretend you need to form a study group (or actually form a study group), and get their phone numbers. They’ll have to put their names in your phone and you’ll be spared the embarrassment.
  • How do I use a Swiffer?: Take one of the wipe things, put it onto the rectangle part on the bottom (some use velcro, some have slots you push the corners of the wipe into), use the thing like a mop, then throw out the wipe.

  • In math/science classes, how can I do problems like “100,000/10,000″ without using a calculator?:  When doing division that ends in zeros, you can just cancel zeros that at the end of both numbers so “100,000/10,000” becomes 100/10 or 10/1 which is pretty easy. Sometimes, it’s nice to use a calculator to check though.
  • When can I address professors by their first names?: If a professor told you to use their first name, go for it. Otherwise, err on the side of caution and use “Professor/Doctor So-and-So.” If they don’t like that level of formality, they’ll correct you.
  • What sororities are there on campus? What are the Greek letters anyway?: The sororities on campus are Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, Sigma Delta Tau, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi, and Gamma Phi Beta. Learn your Greek alphabet here.
  • How do I get on the roof of the Diana Center?: Take the main elevator to the 6th floor and go out the doors. It’s only open for certain hours though.
  • How do I calculate a tip without a calculator?: For tip, take off the last digit of the bill and hold onto that number. Round to the nearest dollar. Then double it. That gives you the 10-20% range. From there you can kind of estimate where 15% and 18% are. (e.g. $72.65 bill, take off a digit and get to $7.26, round to $7, double it to $14. 10-20% range is $7-14, so 15% is about $10.50 and 18% is about $12.) Rounding is the key for “order of magnitude” estimations where you’re not trying to get an exact answer (thanks FroSci).
  • What are the names of the Columbia dorms?: This seems like something a lot of people struggle with. According to Columbia Housing, these are all the CU residence halls: 47 Claremont, 600 West 113th Street, Broadway Hall, Carlton Arms, Carman Hall, East Campus, FSL Brownstones, Furnald Hall, Harmony Hall, Hartley Hall, Hogan Hall, John Jay Hall, McBain Hall, Residential Brownstones, River Hall. Ruggles Hall, Schapiro Hall, SIC Residences, Wallach Hall, Watt Hall, Wien Hall, Woodbridge Hall
  • Why is Bwog called Bwog?: It stands for Blue and White Blog!

Math is hard and that’s okay via Public Domain