Anyone who has ever been late for a class knows that running up the uneven Steps of Low is basically impossible, even for the athletically inclined among us (i.e., not the Bwog staff). Many Columbians and pedestrians alike have puzzled over why the Steps’ spacing is so adverse towards mobility. Bwog’s Megan McGregor reports with […]

The abandoned stone structure on 119th and Amsterdam sort of looks like a medieval castle – a very, very small one. It isn’t quite the stuff of architecture classes, but the little building stands out – you’ve probably wondered what it is or was as you passed the forgotten, weedy lot. It’s not like there’s […]

To Columbians, Election Day means more than the clatter of local politics in Wien. The coming of democracy signals the end of debauchery; Halloween and our four-or-five-day break is over. But why do we break now instead of earlier in the semester like our Columbus-Day-hating brethren? Bwog’s own David Hu looked the gift horse so […]

Welcome back to Ask Bwog, where we try to find the answers to Columbia’s persistent questions. Anyone who has graduated from Columbia in the last 60 years can tell you that to earn a B.A. degree, you must either swim 75 m (three lengths of the pool) or take the beginner’s swimming PE class. The […]

While we’re down here celebrating Columbus’s discovery of the New World and decrying the subsequent effects on indigenous people, our neighbors to the North are celebrating something a little different. No, Ithaca didn’t get a Chipotle yet… it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! Every second Monday of October since 1957, Canadians have been gathering ’round to give thanks […]

Welcome back to Ask Bwog, a feature in which we answer the many burning questions of this campus. If you have ever had the pleasure of taking the Official Columbia Campus Tour, you probably heard this story from your tour guide: when Ghostbusters was filmed at Columbia in 1984, the university set up a fund […]

Remember when you were in eighth grade and you were forced to read The Catcher in the Rye? Remember when Holden asks that taxi driver where all the ducks in Central Park go in the winter? Remember how you thought that was somehow a metaphor for imminent escape from your acne-ridden 13-year-old existence? Yeah, we […]

In 2005, the University Senate voted 53 to 10 (with 5 abstentions) against repealing the ban of ROTC on campus. At the time, the most recent student survey conducted about the issue (in 2003) showed that 65% of students were in favor of repealing the ban. Two days ago, only 49% of students who participated […]

As the NROTC results are being discussed and debated, it’s likely that the term margin of error is going to get thrown around. So, what is the margin of error? According to Jon Hill, Bwog’s Nate Silver Correspondent of Mathematical Wizardry, there is none. Here’s why: Votes counted: 2,971 Undergraduate enrollment (2007 [2008 figure was […]

A tech-savvy commenter speculated that after “clearing their cookies” (a term we’ll define for the computer illiterate in just a minute), voters can change their personal survey ID number to someone else’s, which in theory would mean that anyone would be able to vote multiple times.  Bwog’s on-call computer whiz kids Hans E Hyttinen and […]

When we analyzed Public Safety’s newly released Annual Report, a few commenters noticed the curious absence of hate crimes in the year 2007. 2007, you’ll recall, was the Year of the Hate Crime — with graffiti in SIPA, Lewisohn, and a half dozen meetings in response to the incident. So what’s with the row of […]

Welcome back to Ask Bwog, a feature in which we answer burning questions about such disparate topics as Juicy Campus (ha, remember that?), PBK, and how to become gainfully employed by celebrities. We return this week with an important question about the Lerner ramps and Your Safety. One CC senior, who is not fond of […]

In light of CCSC’s recent crusade against juicycampus.com, Bwog wanted to know if it were really possible to ban a website from the campus server. Apparently, it’s not. Resident computer expert and Bwog Web Master Zach van Schouwen explains why in the following bullet-pointed list: It’s expensive. They don’t have an existing filter in place, […]

Because we know you haven’t heard enough about Phi Beta Kappa lately, Bwog investigates how one becomes a member of the illustrious society in the first place. The bad news? There doesn’t seem to be any magic formula for becoming a member of the elite squad known as Phi Beta Kappa. According to the PBK […]

Bwog wishes all a happy end of classes and a grudging welcome to reading week! While writing a paper this weekend, one B&W editor wondered aloud whether there was any way to highlight text in Word and change the case of the selected text. As per usual, Master of Word Zach van Schouwen was standing […]