A bunch of you have sent us this Jezebel-by-way-of-other-blog post about how old-timey folks conducted surverys that assumed Barnard was full of hussies -- just like you kids today joke about!

The newspaper clipping tells the story of how one time, probably in the 20s, the Jester published a "Purity Survey", in which the gals of Barnard were asked sordid, old-timey things like if they've "soul kissed" and "Have you ever been tight?" With respect to that latter question, there were 38 nays and 32 yeas, and "of those answering in the affirmative, 14 said they had been tight once, 14 said they had been tight often, and four said that they were 'usually tight.'"

Eww. Wait, what?

Anyway, it was apparently "too hot to print" and was banned and then unbanned, and afterwards no one ever implied anything about the promiscuity of Barnard students ever again.

When we posted an update about all the new professorial friends you'll be making (and losing) next year, we weren't aware that we had made a grave and conspicuous omission. One recent grad informed us that Cheryl Mendelson, wife of Edward Mendelson, is filling in as "Term Associate Professor" in the Barnard Philosophy Department next semester. Cheryl Mendelson is also the author of such fine books as Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House and Laundry: The Home Comforts Book of Caring for Clothes and Linens, which are 884 and 400 pages, respectively.

Oh, dear.

According to scholarly database Amazon.com, Mendelson has also dabbled in fiction, namely a book called Morningside Heights: A Novel, which Publisher's Weekly described as a "talky, occasionally stilted debut." Apparently, it's about an opera singer and his wife, who turns "domesticity into a deeply creative act" -- kind of like Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House and Laundry: The Home Comforts Book of Caring for Clothes and Linens. (From Home Comforts: "Until now, I have almost entirely concealed this passion for domesticity. No one meeting me for the first time would suspect that I squander my time knitting or my mental reserves remembering household facts such as the date when the carpets and mattresses were last rotated. Without thinking much about it, I knew I would not want this information about me to get around.")

Anyway, Mendelson will be teaching two classes in the fall: Mind and Morals and What is Philosophy?

Bwog apologizes for the delay in Barnard class day coverage. Our camera wasn't working and we couldn't have you just take us at our word.

On Tuesday morning, as a faint drizzle turned into a steady downpour, 597 "awe-inspiring women" graduated from Barnard, along with their president. Let me the spare you the burden of reading the rest of this post: Barnard class day won this year.

Although the college had boasted of a star-studded class day with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Billie Jean King (tennis star), David Remnick (New Yorker editor-in-chief) and Thelma Adair (Head Start founder), only hizzoner addressed the graduating class. The rest received Barnard medals of distinction. New Yorkers are accustomed to seeing Bloomberg on TV for the occasional press conference, and he usually appears somewhat lovable, schlumpy and uninspired. But during his class day speech he was practically animated—funny at all the right times, legitimately inspiring at others—and reminded everyone why he's Joel Klein's boss and not vice versa.

He began by mocking JShap's poodle, Nora, who he called a "one poodle canine security patrol" and questioned the dog's legal right to parade about an otherwise dog-free campus. He then addressed the subject of the wall around the Vag's construction zone with the tone of an amused civil servant. "You've all spent your senior year learning to be graffiti artists," he said. "May I remind you—your tagging days are done. What happens at Barnard stays at Barnard."

Catch the final performance of Twelfth Night at 8 o'clock tonight in Barnard's Minor Latham Playhouse.

Rebecca Guy and Ralph Zito's interpretation of Twelfth Night may be traditional, but it offers an entertaining showcase of some of Barnard and Columbia's finest acting. The play is full of scrambled genders, intricate love triangles and drunken debauchery — themes that too often lend themselves to overacting. But, the current production does not suffer from these common pitfalls.

Thanks to many of the actors' eloquent intonation, the audience easily comprehends Shakespeare's meaning and wit. But Jill Usdan's deliberate elocution unfortunately comes off as haughty. Her dry performance as Olivia is demure, but uninspired and misses the silliness and vanity essential to her character. With lines as blatantly promiscuous as "Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better," it's clear Usdan could do more with the material.

Adding a hint of melodrama, Kara Feely dresses the cast in luxurious costumes — a mix of Spanish lace, gaudy rosary beads and billowy genie pants. Set against Betsy Adams and Elizabeth Noth's colorfully designed stage, Zito and Guy's vision of Twelfth Night comes to life in a flourishing courtyard.

The chickens have come home to roost. Krebs and Alidaddy slug it out for the final time.

Student group endorsements, here have one. They're handed out like candy.

Even with this, no one still knows what any of those funny acronyms actually mean.

Take a brochure, get more confused about Barnard.

Phillip Roth is glad its his birthday, not his funeral.

New York City has rats, really?

The Mystery of Pain.

Asked to legitimize the illegitimate, GSSC Elections Commission resigns.

Barnard Voting: The eBear Necessities.

Congestion plan coughed up.

Bob Dylan meet Joe Pulitzer.

How safe are we really?

In other Columbia-related news: the NYTimes captures the different views on the boy arrested in the recent death of a grad student.

This afternoon, Bwog took a leisurely stroll to admire the baked goods at The Bake Sale of the Year. The immodestly named pastry exchange was set up just inside the Barnard gates. Featuring treats from Nussbaum, Westside Market, Silver Moon Bakery and some other neighborhood haunts, the proceeds of the sale benefit the CARE organization. Bwog stood by as a crowd of about ten stormed the bake sale, thrusting dollar bills at the overwhelmed-looking Barnard girls on the other side of the register. The bake sale will continue until 3 PM today.

The naming of buildings at Columbia has always been a project undertaken with the greatest care. Indeed, the majority of buildings on campus carry the names of prominent alumni who have contributed much to the university and to society at large. One is hard-pressed to find a building on campus without a family name of some significance attached to it. Yet, Barnard has deliberately deviated from this fail-safe approach to the naming of edifices at Columbia, in its choice to name the new student center currently under construction at the heart of its campus, the Nexus. While Nexus may not even be the final name of the building, Barnard has suggested that it would consider selling the naming rights to the highest bidder over the Internet, many have claimed that the choice of the word "nexus" for a campus center is quite suspect. Some Bwog tipsters have even recently suggested that the ignominious name of the new Barnard campus hub actually derives from the Latin root meaning "bondage in slavery or debt." Bwog set out to clarify if Barnard's new campus center will indeed be a campus hub of human bondage by emailing Barnard's Media Relations Director. Her response after the jump:

About two hours ago, members of the Barnard community received an email detailing the chilling aftermath of a not-really-successful mail fraud scheme. Apparently, one Barnard student became quasi-entangled in a web of money laundering and stolen identities after trying to sell some text books. The email reads:

"On 2/28/2008, a Barnard College student reported that she had used a Web Site to sell her textbooks. She was contacted and negotiated a price, $100.00, for the books and requested that the monies be sent to her mailbox at the College. She received two checks: one for $1900.00 and another for $2500.00. She began receiving emails and text messages to cash the checks and to keep $300.00 for her trouble; she was instructed to send the remaining monies to the purchaser via Western Union."

Apparently the fraudulent check will bounce, but the money in the wire transfer will still go through. Or something. Which is somehow bad? (The intricacies of law enforcement elude us.) Also maybe the pseudo textbook purchaser could have stolen her identity. But probably not.

Indeed, a frightening could-be cautionary tale.

One of the amazing things about water bottles are the limited expenses that come along with owning one. Some might actually call this the basis of the water bottle's appeal: It's a one-time expenditure, and after you buy one for $5, you never have to pay for water again, as water fountains are conveniently free.

On that note, we ask you to direct a critical eye towards Barnard. In efforts to discourage students from buying bottled water, BC is going to be offering students the chance to refill their plastic water bottles for 50 cents-per-fill with Poland Spring water, effectively capturing about half of the cost and none of the freshness of bottled water.

This filling station trial run will last until the 15th and might culminate with the ousting of bottled water from Java City altogether. The College has already started polling--though only 28 people have participated--the BC student body on the initiative.

The choice between harming the environment and paying for what's essentially tap water has never been so murky.

The now-notorious Saint Valentine's Day flood sure was dramatic, what with the entire Barnard quad being evacuated at 2 a.m., but it seems to have left little damage. Even at the epicenter of the leak, on the fifth floor of Sulzberger, only the lounge and hallway are affected. But a disarticulated radiator, a few holes in the wall, and a two-toned carpet barely hint at anything unusual around here. A maintenance crew is at work and expects to find the spot where the pipe burst soon.

Indie rock... and the election!

TC... and the Peace Corps!

Manhattanville... and the Super Bowl! (And the phrase "iron curtain of safety!")

Judy Shapiro... and a vaguely mean knitting joke!

Starting at a few minutes before six, students began to file in. There were name cards to fill out, a buffet to be devoured. Barnard had pulled out all the stops for tonight's Town Hall: note the pristine white table clothes.

According to Kate McNamara VP of Communications for the SGA, tonight's Town Hall was a response to fall's Town Hall, which unfortunately (or fortunately?) occurred when hate crime season was in full bloom. Students had expressed concerns about the hate-filled, crime-ridden environment that was fall 2007, and Barnard felt that "maybe what needs to change is what happens in our classroom," according to McNamara.

The official presentation began with Dean Denberg, the Dean of Barnard College. With trusty PowerPoint at her side, Denberg provided background information about BC's general education requirements. There are nine total GERs, and they are called, fittingly enough, The Nine Ways of Knowing. Implemented in 2000, each has broad-ish objectives ("Literature", "Historical Studies", etc.).