Author Archive
My top 10 Columbia mysteries—with accurate speculation!
For the last three months, I (Mikey) have thought wistfully of graduation. Like another person two years ago, I too stay up late at night, thinking of graduation and trying to answer some of Columbia’s deepest mysteries. Here to help me answer them is Spec’s intrepid reporter Abby Abrams, a Harry Potter fan.
1. How come no one goes to Brad’s?
AA: Unless you’ve walked back and forth three times in front of the Journalism School, you may not have discovered the hidden location known as Brad’s or the Room of Requirement. It is a place that a person can only enter when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seekers’ needs. Or so Dobby tells me.
2. What are the other 90 stories of NoCo used for?
AA: Like the forbidden wing of Hogwarts’ third floor, these unexplored stories must be where Fluffy the three-headed dog sleeps over the entrance to what is clearly a series of tests guarding Columbia’s most prized treasure: PrezBo’s toupée. More »
Congratulations to the (Early Decision) class of ’17
You made it. Go drink some celebratory OJ, watch this video explaining why you should live in Carman, and then flip through that gray box thing below.
Then continue screaming or kissing your significant other or writing a press release thanking everyone you’ve ever met in your life. Then, if you have any questions about anything Columbia related (especially about Spec), you can email me (SEAS ’13, Comp Sci major, Econ minor) at mqz2001 [at] columbia [dot] edu or ask them in the comments below.
Making Columbia town halls and community forums online
By the end of this week there will have been office hours with Dean Goldfarb, a forum for the 113th brownstones, and a focus group concerning the Ruggles basement redesign.
Three facts:
- Most Columbia deans/Barnard deans/councils put a lot of effort into outreach.
- Students almost invariably don’t bother showing up to town halls.
- Students then complain on Spec/Bwog when admin does something unpopular.
Here are two reasons why people don’t show up to community forums/student council meetings.
1) It takes time. More »
Let me tell you a sad, sad story about a dude who couldn’t get into a history seminar
Here is a sad story:
11/11, 4 p.m.: “I should sign up for classes.”
11/11 7 p.m.: “Huh, I need to take a Nontech to graduate.” (later I found out thanks to my wonderful adviser Dawn Strickland that I was mistaken)
11/11 8 p.m.: “Problems in International History sounds FASCINATING. How do I sign up?”
11/11 8:09 p.m.: “Oh no, the deadline to apply to history seminars was November 1st!”
11/11 8:10 p.m.: “trollface.”
A look inside PrezBo’s Gmail
Inspired by Grantland’s glimpse of the email account of Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, I whipped out my investigative journalism skills and found an even more fascinating mailbox. Since this is an opinion post, I will assert that this (most likely) is not actually what PrezBo’s Gmail account looks like. More »
Thank you to the CU staff
I would like to take this space to publicly acknowledge how grateful I am of the CU staff’s response to the hurricane. The response was incredible and inspiring. Among what I saw (please do fill me in on other incredible work they did):
- Barnard and Columbia dining staff stayed overnight to feed us.
- Much of Barnard and Columbia’s personnel (Dining, Facilities, Public Safety) stayed on campus for us.
- When I was out on a 3 a.m. Westside run following the hurricane, I expected the streets to be littered with rubbish and devastated trees. Instead, I did not see a single fallen tree nor gargantuan piles of rubbish everywhere, but rather two huge-ass dumpsters.
- When I was out late that night, I saw Public Safety cars roaming everywhere. I’d be willing to wager I saw more public safety after the hurricane than I did when Obama spoke here.
- When the CS servers shut down, comp sci professors were up all night available to field questions.
- KeSho sent timely emails and tweets that really made me feel like I was being taken care of.
Even though the worst of the storm did not hit us, to say the least, we still experienced some pretty bad weather. The staff was ready on this one, and for that, I take my hat off to them. More »
Early Decision, some advice (I’m sorry this isn’t about the hurricane)
I know you wanted my perspective on the little discussed topic of #frankenstorm. I could just feel your eagerness readers, I really could. Unfortunately, I’m a complete hurricane noob and I probably would have just talked about this epic hurricane playlist Spec’s (handsome) city news editor compiled on Twitter.
Instead, I’ll talk about the Early Decision application (now due Nov. 5). The exponentially increasing number of questions I’ve received from high schoolers the past week can be divided into three categories: 1) I’m not sure if I want to apply early, 2) what the hell do I write about?, and 3) I’m not sure if I can get into Columbia.
I’ll cover the last question. More »
Webster Hall is a shithole
Mikey (first time in Webster Hall, first ever concert) went last Monday. Jill (second time in Webster Hall) went last Tuesday. This post is a week late because we had hard midterms. Sorry editor!
For an artist (MIKA!!!!) who has walked through air in a bunny-like astronaut suit before, Webster Hall was a dismal stage unworthy of his grandeur. It rained like hell the day I (Mikey) went, something I thought was physically impossible, given that Mika has magical powers.
Yet there Mika was, with his high-pitched, British cadence, somehow making Webster Hall magical. I (Mikey) guess that’s the deeper meaning of Webster Hall. It’s shitty, but that’s OK. More »
