That's right, boys and girls--free cupcakes from the Class of 2011, bespangled in the old red white and blue (because there's an election day going on or something? Maybe just because it's Thursday).

Hope they're red velvet!

If you need some respite from frantic cramming tonight, head over to John Jay lounge from 8-10, where a tipster tells us that the SEAS First Year Class Council will be hosting a "hot chocolate study break." They'll also be announcing the launch of their new website, www.seas2011.com.

Oops... hope we didn't steal your thunder, freshman engineers!

Class councils are usually content with spamming our inboxes and springing for the occasional platter of Dino BBQ. And God bless 'em for it--free food and the electronically-reinforced illusion of class unity are the two pillars upon which successful student government stand. But the CC 2011 class council is taking this time-honored formula to its next logical--albeit deeply terrifying--stage. Bored with the usual, culinary instruments of age/school-based tribalism, the 2011ers are throwing a "blacklight dance party." From the email:

"What: The Highlight, a blacklight dance party. (Yes, we will have
blacklights and techno music.)
Where: Lerner Party Space
When: Monday, December 10th, THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES!"

There is a lot to be said here (a blacklight party? Wash your hands, guys!) that it is simply below a publication as dignified as Bwog to say--ecstasy jokes and the like. All we'll say is off your high horses, freshies: you can't just give your party a name. The Highlight just strikes us as so, so...so obnoxious, go-to-be-seen, $12 cocktail, West Village club "scene." So NYU.

Elsewhere in Fair Alma's orbit: In honor of his work as a pro-Palestinian activist, and, assumedly, in recognition of the fact that you can't go through four years of college without reading (or at least pretending to have read) Orientalism, San Francisco State University has dedicated a mural to Edward Said, the late University Professor and postcolonial theorist. Although we're miffed at having to concede the mural round of the "which University loves Edward Said the most" contest, Bwog is still pleased to see that a successful career in Morningside can get you painted on the side of a building 4,000 miles away.

-ARR

Correction: CCSC 2011's free donuts and coffee are from 9:15-10:15 PM in the Lerner Piano Lounge.

Learned Foote and Tom Amegadzie of Class Action! The ticket triumphed with 42% of 483 votes. Sean Udell (Representative — iColumbia) was the only candidate to break into Class Action's slate, garnering the most votes of the representatives with 168 (probably because of the awesome carnival that he proposed in the debates). The only Class Action candidate not to be elected was Noah Baron.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was that despite RealColumbia's strong showing on Facebook, they seemed unable to turn out their base. Vesal Yazdi and Tania Harsono came in second, 17 points behind Foote and Amegadzie.

The turnout overall was pretty low (even for American standards) and with under 50% turnout, Class Action's "mandate" is weakened substantially.

In other election news, an anonymous tipster reported the tearing down of a poster and remnants of torn posters in an eleventh hour campaign scuffle between Columbia's 711 Open 24/7 and Fight for Your Right.

Read more and you can find the complete results as well as the answers to iColumbia's Sudoku.

It's time to elect this year's leadership for the class of 2011. Check out the candidates with our facebook primary and debate coverage, and then vote here or swing by Low Plaza any time before 7:00 PM.

Meanwhile, Bwog would like to reward the ingenuity of iColumbia with a bit of free advertising. Answer will be available near the end of the day.

Presidents and VPs and Reps, oh my! Last night in Carman Lounge, speeches were spoken, questions posed and time limits were observed...is this democracy at work at Columbia?

When iColumbia Class Representative Sean Udell suggested an epic carnival on campus this coming spring (with both caramel and buttered popcorn!), he inadvertently described the entire Freshman CC debate. Indeed, it was a five ring circus, with the candidates acting as clowns and acrobats, a googly-eyed crowd and CCSC Elections Board member Andrew Ness as ringleader. Let the games begin!

If anything can be said of the debate in general, all of the parties agreed on essentially every policy initiative, from improved computer labs and laundry rooms to expanded hours for JJ's and better communication with the student body. However, several parties distinguished themselves by choosing not to discuss their platform in their opening address. RealColumia, instead of going into details about their "Four Pillars of Reality," spent their entire three-minute segment complementing each other on their hardworking attitude (in Vesal Yazdi's case, "a zest for life").

Columbia's 711 Open 24/7, on the other hand, built their entire campaign around suggestion boxes. "I'm not going to do this or do that," said Ankit "Taj" Gupta, who, instead of discussing his plans for a luau in Uris Pool (that was Class Action) or quoting Spectator articles on satellite gyms (iColumbia), told students how unqualified he was (he also loses his Carman room key multiple times a day) and hopes that his brutal honesty is enough to carry him to victory. Presumably assured of victory, none of 711's candidates for representative bothered to show up to witness the spectacle.

It's now time for Freshies to vote for CCSC 2011 and, armed with only 500 flyers and no money to spend, Facebook was bound to become a primary organizing tool. Justin Vlasits surveyed the endless domain of the Internet to measure the standings of each ticket with less than a week until elections. Check back for coverage of the 2011 debate in John Jay Lounge on Sunday at 9 PM--we'll be there with popcorn.

---

RealColumbia Party

Members: 167

Ticket:

President: Vesal Yazdi

Vice President: Tania Harsono

Rep: Adina Levin

Rep: Alyssa LaMontagne

Rep: Davey Gibian

Outside website: N/A

Pros: Extensive (and most likely overly ambitious) platform including practical reforms such as expanding the hours of John Jay dining hall, JJ's Place and Ferris Booth while also the exceedingly general "ease bureaucratic pressure on students." With three international students on the ticket (2 Canadian, 1 Aussie) and a footballin' theme, they should have a stranglehold on Columbia's Non Resident Alien voting block.

Cons: Only 6% of Columbia College is international. Their platform is organized under the "Four Pillars of Reality," which sound more like a postmodern adaptation of the Five Pillars of Islam than a political party's central ideas.

---

iColumbia Party

Members: 152

Ticket:

President: Anna Ginzberg
Vice President: Amanda Olivo
Rep: Sean Udell
Rep: David Zhu
Rep: Michael Mirochink

Website

Pros: Mad Photoshop skillz (see picture) with the added bonus of partially invisible head. Indeed, this tech-savvy party's website has photographic evidence of their knowledge of the Low steps and Alma Mater! David Zhu can also beatbox while playing flute.

Cons: Apple lawsuit pending.

Ex-freshmen Rob Stenson and Mike Molina have captured exactly how Bwog was feeling last night at 1:00 AM when, locust-like, a swarm of 2011ers descended upon Ruggles.

It was terrifying.

Ready or not, 2011 arrives on campus THIS MONDAY. An anonymous photobwogger chronicles the fits and starts of Columbia before the Deluge.

COOP and CUE take off Thursday morning, and were recently spotted doing COOP and CUE things on the lawns, which involve shouting "ROAR!" in an ephemeral expression of spirit.

In the first Freshmen Profile, Tania Harsono was giving a chance at redemption. This time around, Bwog staffer Lucy Tang pokes and prods at Dan Cho's insecurities.

RA RA SHISBOOM BAH

Here's Dan Cho

Friend or Foe?

Hometown: The twilight city that's gonna set my soul on fire. (For non-Elvis or Dead Kennedy fans, that's Las Vegas, NV)

Prospective Major: I'm not a big fan of the whole "making money" thing, so probably English or Film Studies. You never know though.

Where are you looking to begin the first of the best four years of your life?
On an isolated tropical beach, surrounded by beautiful women, and enjoying the soft symphony of gently rolling waves. I'll be spending my freshman year of college at Carman though.

Remember Tania "Boobilicious Bartender and Greek Life Spy, Official Party Animal #1" Harsono? Well she's baaack... Bwogger Lucy Tang delves again into the seedy side of 2011.

During Bwog's first glimpse into the class of 2011, many people accused me of singling out, mocking, hazing, and humiliating Tania (which is completely fair, but it was all in jest). Not surprisingly, the number of willing victims for the Freshmen Profile dwindled down after that spectacle.

Fortunately Tania's got a sense of humor, not to mention courage, and she was willing to talk to me again to jumpstart Bwog's Freshmen Profile series.

This time we get a fuller picture of Tania, more subdued. After all, no one is drunk 24/7...

Hometown: Vancouver BC
Prospective major: Double in Economics and Political Science
Dorm: JJ floor 11

How long do you think it'll take you to lose your...

• Dignity? I already have (thanks Lucy!!)
• Moral compass? I never will - I've mapped the moral waters
• Sanity? 1 day - first day of NSOP, I'll finally meet all the Facebook friends and be sorely embarrassed when I can't identify most of them, so I'll put in extra effort to remember names, and my head will implode and become the size of the universe before the Big Bang.
  (Read more...)

Good news, followed by some possibly not so good, but on closer ex amination pretty awesome news:

CHIPOTLE IS OPEN! And better still, they're offering a $5 drink-and-burrito combo until closing today. Athletes can rejoice at the fact that 100% of today's sales will go towards Columbia athletics; stoners and lovers of Mexican food can rejoice at the markup being not nearly so bad as feared--burritos and tacos are a reasonable $6.75, the same price as at most of the chain's suburban locations.

Meanwhile...NACHOS IS CLOSED! But buck up, class of 2011--there are still plenty of places around campus where you can underagedly get your drink on, although the ones Bwog is thinking of are crowded enough already.

Workers at the newly-gutted former nightclub/Mexican restaurant informed Bwog that a resta urant and juice bar will soon occupy Nacho's old location. Could this mean that the Jamba Juice rumors are true? Maybe, although Jamba's urban markup is a lot worse than Chipotle's (it's five bucks for a small Jamba in midtown, compared to $3.25 in the 'burbs).

And on a non-Mexican food related note: Columnist Robert Samuelson accuses Judith Shapiro and Co. of "embracing censorship." The Washington Post isn't quite as critical as Samuelson, but still has its doubts.

Finally, for the curious: that bad 80s pop music you hear is emanating from this year's massive clam-bake themed Student Services staff party. It looks like a fun time, although Bwog really isn't loving the humidity right now...

- ARR

Tips are slower these days, but a critical mass has long since accumulated. Items of interest:

NSOP has a theme! Not as graphically snazzy, but least they're not hyperventilating like last year.

Silly kids. Don't they know that winners play basketball?

This happened a while ago, but good news doesn't get old. Cute!

71 indictments for accused J-school rapist: why don't we just assume he's getting life and call it a day?

CU profs come out for Spitzer spawn (at least 5, by our count)

It appears that the SEAS 2011 valedictorian race is over.

Everyone should enter this. Cereal party!

From a tipster:

"go to google maps. click street view. check out college walk - might bwog-readers care to find their friends?"

As if websites, news, print media, videos and pictures weren't enough, Google has made Googleable yet another category of information: every fucking square inch of Manhattan. While Bwog is impressed with the audacity of such an undertaking, it's not sure how exactly this is useful, unless you have hours to kill at your internship or are badly pining for College Walk. Cool new feature, or part of Google's sinister conspiracy to enslave the human race and ascend to God-like heights? You be the judge.