With pictures snapping, campus safety patrolling and students and professors promenading en masse, this afternoon’s convocation began with all the fanfare of a red carpet affair.  After brief introductions given by Dean Kevin Shollenberger and Dehui Kong, CC ’11 and NSOP Coordinator in Chief,  faculty celebs took the podium to address students and parents of […]

At some point on the first day of Orientation, a sudden realization hits many a first-year: there are a lot of new people here (and one or two of them are hot!). Winning the friend lottery from this mass of people requires mastery of multiple tactics: Talk to random strangers.  Within a few short weeks, […]

2013, you’ve just arrived on campus, and we know it’s rough out there. Orientation is awkward. You don’t know these people. You have to play Two Truths and A Lie and decide what color M&M you would be. “Wait, blue?! ZOMG, me too!” So while you desperately try to settle in, consider what your comrades […]

As commenters pointed out in the previous post, another August has seen Koronet’s up its jumbo slice price by $0.25. Judging from last year’s chart, it appears Koronet’s is continuing the $0.25/year trend through these economic times. Then again, as one commenter put it last year, “i’m usually so drunk when i eat koronets that […]

Earlier this afternoon, the coordinators over at NSOP finally released their schedule book, a hefty pamphlet full of some orientation activities and some more advertising. The breakdown, day-by-day: Monday: Convocation, OL meetings, Class Act/College Night, blah, blah, etc. Tuesday: This year’s Lit Hum first class teacher? Gareth Williams. SEAS, on the other hand, gets the […]

Since opening last year, the J-School cafe area hasn’t exactly been overwhelmed, as students have been waiting for a more formal establishment to open and/or thought the room was entirely computer-generated. Starting Monday, though, look for students to at least give the space a second chance, as the owners of Campo will be opening a […]

Penn may have bested Columbia yet again in the U.S. News rankings, but one of their longtime teachers and administrators has been tempted to Morningside.  President Bollinger announced today that Kristine Billmyer, Penn’s Executive Director of the College of Liberal and Professional Studies and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, will be […]

Three years after adopting flat screens, JJ’s Place has gotten another technological upgrade. Student Services confirms to Bwog that JJ’s Place has now added wireless internet access, along with “some structural renovations.” No doubt it’ll be handy for first-years taking a break from half-finished homework to Google useful JJ’s information, like “how much fried food […]

Fresh-faced 2013ers smile for the camera after arriving for COOP. – Photo by Char Smullyan

The announcement Monday that swine flu could hospitalize up to 1.8 million Americans has sparked a new flurry of news hysteria over the virus. Even before the announcement, universities were busy preparing for the virus in the fall. Now it’s Columbia’s turn: in an email to students from Student Life Dean Kevin Shollenberger, GS Interim […]

In these economic times, we all want to add that extra line to the CV. President Bollinger’s version of this appears to be upping his profile slightly at the New York Federal Reserve, where today he was named as deputy chair of its board of directors. Bollinger has been a member of the New York […]

Benjamin Franklin once famously said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes (a rather fatalistic saying for someone who got so much tail). In the world of college rankings, one might add, “And Harvard will always be first, and Penn will always be inexplicably overrated.” Yes, it’s this year’s edition of […]

The Columbia Lions football team has made the national media as extras for a GQ magazine feature on ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews. Andrews is mostly known for being “that girl” on the sidelines during ESPN college football and basketball coverage. The photoshoot is attracting extra attention because Andrews was filmed by a peephole perv […]

In case you missed the Saturday Times, or don’t read those ancient things your parents call “newspapers,” receiving an extensive profile was none other than the new director of Miller Theater, Melissa Smey.  Well, at least there’s an article partly about Ms. Smey, because much of the profile focuses on the legacy of the previous […]

Do you have what it takes to be an NSOP coordinator? Only if you can follow rules and procedures, as posted in the SGO.    Several questions:  “Be nice to gatekeepers” – who are these gatekeepers, and what magical land are they guarding? “No skirts that Deans would not approve” – how does NSOP test […]