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 […]

Anonymous passerby wants to know why there’s a tent filled with blankets in front of Barnard’s Lehman library. This morning, Bwog inquired about the painted, comforter-filled tent. Three girls manning the table behind the tent explained that the tent was symbolic of a call for discourse about academic issues concerning Barnard to take place on […]

Bwog wanted to know why winter break is an absurdly long (some might even argue unnecessarily long) 31 days this year. Bwog Webmaster and calendar analyst extraordinaire Zach van Schouwen points out several factors that contribute to augmentation of 2007’s Winter Break—which is a seven day increase from last year’s reasonably-sized 24 day break.   […]

This week’s question for Bwog comes from Daily Editor David Iscoe who wants to know if hitting an electronic device such as a computer is a good way to get it to work? David requests an engineer’s advice. Lucikly, webmaster Zach van Schouwen was on hand to answer David’s question. “The master walks in to […]

AskBwog: Special Double Useful Question Edition The first of this week’s questions comes from Bwogger Maryam Parhizkar who wants to know where she can convert her loose change into dolla dolla bills, yall. The Bank of America on 107th and Broadway  has change-converter machines that are free for anyone to use, regardless of whether they […]

  Everyone’s favorite Morningside newspaper is taking a midterms hiatus, so no QuickSpec today. There will, however, be Ask Bwog. Bwog will be taking on questions about anything—Columbia-related or not. For instance, “Why does Lerner 4 smell like vomit?” or, “Why does the M104 smell like vomit?” both make excellent queries. Send questions to bwog@columbia.edu […]