Archive for June, 2010
Barnard researchers: Botox users look like they don’t feel because they don’t
Botox users are sometimes/constantly mocked for not being able to express their emotions via facial movement. The joke, however, is on the Botoxian naysayers. A new study shows that Botox users don’t express strong emotions because the injection may weaken emotions. Ha! Who’s laughing now? (Actually, it’s probably not the Botox users, given the strong feelings necessary for laughter.) More »
Hall of Fame Class of 2010—some of them are pretty awesome!
Last week the athletic department announced the 2010 Hall of Fame Class, and after extensive googling research, we’ve discovered that some of the inductees did some interesting things during and after their time in light blue. Keep reading to learn about former athletes that have done everything from competing in the Olympics to writing books to inspiring songwriters.
See, we can be good at sports!
So you may have heard of this thing called the World Cup. It started quite recently!
The USA team doesn’t play until Saturday, though, when it’ll take on transatlantic rival England. just tied the English, which is better than losing! The last time these two teams met in the World Cup was in 1950, when the Americans managed to pull off a 1-0 upset. Joe Gaetjens scored the winning goal for the US. Guess where he went to college?
That’s right, he went to Columbia.
Though there aren’t any former Lions on the roster this time around, the Ivy League will be represented by head coach Bob Bradley, who played and coached at Princeton.
Today in perpetuated stereotypes
Stuck thinking about what to give to the graduate who has it all? If she’s a true Barnard woman, she’ll love the Barnard Store’s choice for the “intellectual, yet feisty” brand of college grad undergarments. The “oft-imitated signature lace thong’s” tangential relation to Barnard comes from the fact that it was originally developed by Gale Epstein and Lida Orzeck, BC ’68. Inspired by the classic Juicy Couture collection, the diamond-encrusted line of Barnard thongs and boyshorts is just one step away from full endorsement by Sir Mix-A-Lot. While Spectrum doesn’t believe in Columbia’s stereotypes, we can’t help but ask why the Barnard Store would do this to itself. Perhaps the strong, beautiful Barnard women of the modern era prefer to make their beauty more explicit.
Dean Denburg ‘changing hats’
It looks like Barnard will soon be getting a new dean. In an email sent to Barnard students early this afternoon, Dean Denburg announced that, at President Spar’s request, she will step down as dean on July 1 to assume the role of vice president for college relations on July 1, though she will continue to serve as dean until her successor is in place. Denburg’s replacement has yet to be appointed.
Stay tuned for updates. Denburg’s email after the jump. More »
Get your geek on
If you can bear the humidity, there’s stuff going on in New York that you might wanna do! And it’s summer, so maybe you can actually do it!
• Do you miss your astrophysics class from last semester? Good news! The World Science Festival, an annual event celebrating science, culture, and art, began on Wednesday morning and will run through Sunday. Stephen Hawking will be there! Events are all over the city. [NY Times]
• Oh, and the festival’s opening night gala included an adaptation of the children’s book “Icarus at the Edge of Time,” which was written by festival co-founder and Columbia professor Brian Greene and his wife. It’ll be reperformed on Sunday for those who missed out. [NY Times]
• Speaking of Greene, he thinks we might all be holograms! No, seriously. [AP]
• If science isn’t your thing, you can head on over to Riverside Church on Tuesday to hear Noam Chomsky talk about the problems facing Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. [PR Newswire]
• If that’s too serious for you, you could always stay inside and work on upping your friend count on Facebook. Don’t let it get too high though, because, as the J-School’s Dean of Student Affairs Sreenath Sreenivasan will tell you, Facebook cuts you off at 5,000. [NY Times]
At InternBar, drink your loneliness away
It’s a hard knock life out there for a New York-dwelling intern, what with the negligible (or nonexistent) pay and the mass exodus of all your friends. But fear not, glorified slaves: InternBar is hoping recreate that Campo feeling for Columbians staying behind and for visiting summer interns by hosting drunken bonding nights at bars across the city. Hooray, beer! More »
Because NY Mag neglected to mention the true great sandwich of NYC
The ever-lovable, ever-desperate Liz Lemon once said, “I believe that all anybody really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.” It’s a bit of a simplification, but an enticing one—in these oil-soaked, jobless times, the solitary consumption of that cross-cultural culinary treat can be escapist, meditative. I know I’ve achieved the occasional transcendent state while enjoying half an hour of Hulu and a #9 from Milano (try it, if you haven’t). More »
Liveblogging today’s M’ville hearing (UPDATED)
Spec reporters Maggie Astor and Kim Kirschenbaum drove up to Albany today to listen in on the hearing that may determine the future of Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion plans.
After seven years of heated debate over Columbia’s planned campus expansion, it all comes down to this. The New York State Court of Appeals—the highest court in the state—will hear arguments this afternoon on whether the state should be able to turn over contested private properties to the University through eminent domain. The hearing begins at 2 p.m. Live updates after the jump.
UPDATE: Read Kim and Maggie’s recap of the day’s events here.