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‘Spectrum’ Category
And the winner of the #CUSpectrum Instagram contest is…
Thanks to all who submitted photos to our Instagram contest! After a close race, there’s a clear winner: @alemineo’s photo, seen below:
alemineo / Instagram
We’ll use the picture as our cover photo — thank you to everyone who voted! There were some really great submissions, which you can take a look at on our Facebook page.
We hope everyone has a great summer, whether you’re Instagramming a beautiful beach or a tray of Starbucks iced coffees in the office.
John Jay gets a makeover
Columbia University Dining
First-years and nostalgic upperclassmen rejoice: Dining has announced its plans to beautify John Jay Dining Hall.
After last year’s remodeling of JJ’s Place, now John Jay will get the renovations and updates it’s (arguably?) needed for a while.
Here’s what Dining posted on Facebook, showing part of the new serving area.
For those of us who know and are comfortable with John Jay in its current state, though, there are some things we’ll surely miss.
1. The sauna
Don’t you worry, String Theory’s back
You remember them as the Coldplay and Maroon 5 playing quartet/quintet, but String Theory has switched things up with a cover of Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia. Cellos and house music?
It can be—and is—pulled off, with abundant additions of soulful glances, artsy camera shots, and broad smiles of utter musical absorption.
Check out the video below for a smoothly electrifying cover guaranteed to put a spark in what little brain cells you have left at this point, and don’t forget to listen to their incredible Game of Thrones theme song cover!
Columbia takes Buzzfeed: Nonseq edition
Nonsequitur, one of Columbia’s esteemed a capella groups, was featured on Buzzfeed today, in video #11 of a classic Buzzfeed list.
While you were bemoaning/taking your finals, Nonseq went down to Union Square to take part of some kind of citywide, Oreo-themed sing along featuring Owl City. The nature of this event? Your guess is as good as mine. But who doesn’t like Oreos?
Ezra of Vampire Weekend says he’d use Columbia degree to read at library
Today, the guys of Vampire Weekend, the loveliest of Columbia alums, did a Reddit AMA. They answered questions from Reddit users on everything from where they buy their salmon-colored shorts to some of their songs’ origins.
Ezra Koenig, lead singer and guitarist in Vampire Weekend, commented on his time at Columbia in response to a question about how their parents felt about them going into music after time at an Ivy League school.
Finalz
It’s late. You’re up. You may have noticed the moving and poignant nature of some posts now that the semester is winding down. This will not be one of those posts, because idk emotions wut? I DO know, however, that I should have devoted more time to writing things I need to write, and reading things I need to read, but instead, these are some articles I have read and videos I have watched. Enjoy!
Wooo academic journals!
Ducklings on the move spotted around campus
THIS IS NEWS PEOPLE in this edition of “duck duck finals” a gaggle of delightful ducklings reportedly invaded campus today to then waddle off into the sunset, bringing us a bit of joy during these dark times.
Here’s a duck.
Finn Vigeland/managing editor
A reflective 1:11
It’s late. You’re up. And you’re probably stressing about finals. I know I am. Or maybe in your free time you’re thinking about institutional racism, or cheating (either at Columbia or Barnard), or this. I know I was pretty pissed off that the section I did perfectly on in my Lit Hum final was dropped.
I think it’s sad that our year had to end on so many sour notes; you would hope that at least at the end of the semester, where we say good bye to our friends who are outgoing seniors, that we should be celebrating.
Instead, we get bogged down by the stresses of work, or we are bothered by the actions of others in our community that put us all in a bad light. And, as countless people have pointed out, it seems like we can never reach the end of a semester without hitting a rough patch that throws us into loud discussions on comment threads.
And let’s not even talk about how time flies. I don’t remember my first year here as having passed so quick. I missed so many opportunities to see and do things I didn’t do last year. I’ve never been to a Varsity Show. I can count on one hand the times I’ve been below 110th and above 120th. I could have structured my time more effectively to catch some more downtime with friends, and watch all my favorite TV shows I missed this year. I could have found more time to hang out with old friends, or make new ones.
I know I’m not alone in this; I’ve talked to so many people lately about angst around these lines. About how we keep getting told “this is the best years of our lives” and such (Aside: I’ve never actually heard somebody say earnestly, it’s always sarcastically, or at least second-hand).
Pillow fight starts at midnight!
As the title suggests, there’s going to be a wonderful chance tonight to beat up your fellow students with the thing you go to sleep on. You can find out more at the Facebook event, but basically the event will be happening right in the middle of Low Plaza at midnight.
The fight begins rights after everyone partakes in Primal Scream, so tonight will hopefully be an exciting way to relieve all that pent-up stress about finals, and a perfect opportunity to bash someone’s face in with an extremely soft bundle of down/polymers/what are pillows made of nowadays, anyways?
TL:DR – Tonight. Midnight. Low Plaza. Screaming. Pillows. Screaming Pillows.
Prove them wrong, don’t prove them right
Although I am not a Student-Athlete, I definitely identify as a student who is also an athlete. I see myself as a strong, motivated and active individual who strives for both academic and physical achievement. I play a sport: my sport is ballet.
“But,” you may protest, “Ballet isn’t a sport! It’s easy!” If I had a nickel for every time I hear this ignorant claim (which is usually coupled with a makeshift pirouette), I could probably buy myself a new pair of $80 pointe shoes.
I’ve always danced; it’s what I am best at. I know the commitment, the intense training schedules, the physical pain, and the sacrifices that accompany dancing ballet. I have felt the amazing exhilaration in performance, and the devastation due to injury. In short, I know the separate “world” created by this sport that no one truly understands unless they’ve spent 5 hours a day, 7 days a week in a leotard and tights, grinding their toes into the ground and bending their body into positions that are anything but natural.
Similarly, football, a sport of similar caliber to ballet in terms of physical endurance and emotional commitment, has an entirely separate culture. Being a football player comes with certain benefits such as academic assistance, a brotherhood, and physical strength. However, just as many people foolishly assume that ballet dancers are all “rich white girls” prancing around in leotards, animatedly discussing their respective eating disorders, certain unfortunate assumptions regarding physical size, demeanor, and academic ability plague football players as well. As intelligent Columbia students, we must put those University Writing critical thinking skills to good use, and realize that labels do not define entire groups of people.
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