Good morning Columbia! As homework begins to pile up and you realize the semester is actually, really, 100% starting, know that Bwog is here for you when you can’t waste your entire day reading the news on Twitter.

Happening in the World: The Chinese city of Huanggang (population 6 million) will shut down transportation in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has caused the deaths of 17 people so far. It joins the city of Wuhan (population 11 million), which has already shut down public transportation systems. There have been over 600 confirmed cases (BBC).

Happening in the US: As President Trump’s impeachment trial gets underway, it has proceeded along largely partisan lines. Republicans have begun to heat up their rhetoric, despite testimony by several witnesses indicating a quid pro quo between the White House and Ukraine while Democrats have rejected the proposal for a witness exchange that would allow both former National Security Advisor, John Bolton to testify in favor of also putting Hunter Biden on the stand (Washington Post).

Happening in NYC: Book Culture Owner Chris Doeblin has announced that the Columbus Ave. branch of the store will not be reopened. The store was seized by city marshals in early January after the location’s landlord “lost faith” that the company would be able to pay back the $100,000 in back rent. Other stakeholders in the store say they remain dedicated to keeping an independent bookstore in the location (Gothamist).

Happening on Campus: Love documentaries? Interested in the current state of education in America? Enjoy eating free pizza? If you answered yes to any of those questions, tonight’s screen of the 2020 duPont-Columbia Award-winning documentary, Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary is for you. The film explores larger issues of race and poverty by following teachers and students at a Minneapolis elementary school. It’ll be screening tonight in Pulitzer Hall from 6:30-9:30 pm.

Short Story Recommendation: Laura Chow Reeve’s “1,000 Year-Old Ghosts” is a beautiful tale of immigration, memory, and inheritance that fully made me cry when I first heard it on LeVar Burton’s podcast.

the room where it (doesn’t really) happen via Wikimedia