Most people don’t come to SEAS to “fall in love with celebrity culture.”  But Jared Eng, SEAS ’04, left Columbia reaching for the real life stars. Dubbed “the nice Perez Hilton” in an NYTimes profile, Eng writes the wildly successful celeb gossip blog, Just Jared. (NYT) The Sundance film festival kicked off last night. If you can’t […]

Real World Big Deal News: the House voted to repeal the health care reform law yesterday. Whether you think health reform is godsend or a communist plot (or you just don’t care), it definitely affects you. Last March, we tried to make sense of the student-specific policies, so here’s what you’d be losing. But the […]

Bloomberg: Bloomberg is to give his 10th State of the City address today, where he will address issues of education, crime, housing, and politics, as well as announcing a plan to make it legal to hail livery cabs. (City Room) Operation Ivy League: Harrison David is reported to be in the custody of a retired […]

The latest in New York City hawk drama: Lola, one member of the red-tail hawk power couple, has flown the coop. Meanwhile Pale Male is canoodling with a younger chick. We trust Hawkma’s soaring above all the scandal. (NYPost) Whoah! We beat Cornell?! Major Kudos to men’s B-ball. (Spec) Apparently we’re “academically adrift.” In a new study, […]

At last night’s Golden Globes, the rich and famous came together to celebrate themselves, while us normal people gawked and asked “who they wore?” Gervais hurt some feelings, Helena Bonham Carter wore two different shoes, and The Social Network took home 4 pretty trinkets. (We love you, Aaron Sorkin!) This week in brouhahas, Amy Chua’s […]

Help yourself to some more newsy musings from Bwog’s cluttered Columbia Bureau desk. We proclaim this edition loosely linked by the theme of exploring. Baxter Wood “drives around in a big truck,” listens to free university lecture podcasts and blogs about his “reeducation.” It’s learning for the sake of it! Recently Wood reviewed a lecture […]

Have you ever noticed how time seems to run so much more slowly when you’re not drinking 9 cups of coffee a day and putting half of that energy into being passively aggressive? Bwoglines leisurely returns with a first installment: a feast of not-strictly-topical links, and context—something we all wish we had more time for. […]

This morning, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari to Tuck-It-Away and the Singhs, the last parties opposing the Manhattanville expansion scheme, meaning that they will not be considering the case (official court order list from 12/13 here). This formally ends any possible legal opposition to New York State’s use of eminent domain, and […]

In case you missed it, SantaCon participants gathered in large Santa-costume-clad groups across the US and went on a pub crawl. Bad Santa! (CBS) In other “Holiday Season” news, lobby decorations have become an increasingly contentious topic in apartment buildings across the city. (NYT) New Jersey’s black bear hunt is a boon to taxidermists and […]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… (Gothamist) NPR suggests you listen to annoying Christmas music. Richard Nixon wasn’t racist or anti-Semitic…. oh, wait. (NYT) A man got trapped between a train and the platform at Union Square. Scary! (New York Post) Update, 2:04 PM: Mark Madoff, son of Bernie Madoff, committed suicide this morning. […]

After years of just one Manhattan branch in Harlem, IHOP is finally coming to Times Square. Tourists rejoice! (Gothamist) Two men are accused of attacking a Queens imam in a subway and shouting racist and anti-Muslim epithets. (NY Daily News) Sarah Palin plans to visit Haiti—probably because she can’t see it from her house. (HuffPo) […]

Oh Hey, 2015! Columbia ED results are out today. Columbia bartenders don’t have to strip. Phew. (NYT) Anonymous “hacktivists” took down the websites of Visa and Mastercard yesterday in their war for WikiLeaks’ revenge, but the Feds know how to strike back. (NYMag, Gawker) Tania Bruguera talks about using dirt and cocaine in her behavior art. (The Eye) […]

A Med School researcher says that while prescription rates for antidepressants are rising, fewer Americans are seeking psychotherapy. (BusinessWeek) In a meeting of the top two teams in the AFC East, the New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets by a lopsided score of 45-3. (WSJ) Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder and global supervillain, was […]

Lotsa people are talking about SIPA’s reaction to WikiLeaks. Huffpo gave us this ridiculously dramatic photo, the Village Voice called Columbia fascist, and now NY Mag endorses NYU-style topless protesting. Apparently, telling students to ignore a major event totally revolutionizing journalism and politics counters the goals of most universities. Be rebellious, friends, go learn! Captain […]

Notoriously stubborn New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has come to a compromise that may bring medical marijuana to the Garden State by next summer. (NYT) St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the one on Mulberry Street, has been designated a basilica, New York’s first. (Daily News) Governments are scrambling in the wake of the most recent WikiLeaks document […]