While the Obama-McCain registration page appears to be broken at this time--most likely overwhelmed by all of you constantly refreshing the page--the unchanging black-and-blue interface of Columbia College has undergone a makeover. Here's hoping it's more navigable than the last.

Wipe that crust from your eyes, Columbians. It's the second day back from Spring Break, and jetlag is no longer an excuse (unless you're just returning from some three-day hell of flight cancellations and missed connections, in which case...good luck!) While you suck it up and drown yourselves in coffee, here's some more stuff we've picked up recently:

• History of Human Rights professor Samuel Moyn isn't sharing in seniors' ill-will toward Class Day speaker Matthew Fox. In a rare use of his faculty Facebook account, he's joined up with the group "Matthew Fox Speaks for Me" and voiced his incomprehension of the ongoing brouhaha: "As someone who attended class day last year and found John McCain less than enthralling, and as an obsessive fan of both 'Party of Five' and 'Lost,' I have only one question for those angry about the invitation of Matthew Fox this year: what is the deal?"

• We know, we know. The word got out long ago that the erstwhile Jonathan Taylor Thomas (of pre-adolescent heartthrob "JTT" fame, now answering to "Jonathan Taylor Weiss") has been stalking our halls as a student at GS, taking history classes and being spotted on the Barnard campus. We've tried for an interview, but, alas, the Home Improvement star has remained mum. Yesterday, however, IvyGate upped the ante by looking up Weiss' email on the directory, from which he oddly never had himself removed, and inviting the fanmail to pour in. Head over there for details - and a photomontage that will take you back to fourth grade.

• Finally, you Columbia homepage watchers might remember that Center for the Study of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (CASA) study that had been lingering near the top of the newswire for some time now - the one that pointed out that "half of college students binge drink, abuse prescription and illegal drugs". Yesterday, suddenly, and for some unknown reason, the announcement disappeared. One possible theory: being masters of the obvious wasn't enough to secure those grant applications...

UPDATE: The CASA study is still there, it's just scrolled off the page. It's still not much of a revelation, though. In any case, we're resisting the temptation to edit out that line about jetlag being no excuse...

-CJS

All Columbia staff received an email yesterday alerting them to changes in the online directory; evidently, changes are not limited to the new antifreeze-blue "search" button. The email, sent out by Lisa Hogarty, Executive Vice President of Student and Administrative Services, indicates that the online directory will now have "an improved search engine," "a comprehensive browse function," and "more continual updates to directory data."

Additionally, there will no longer be a printed Faculty and Staff Directory, though if you have a hankering to kill a few trees, you can place an order for a directory through Print Services. (Bwog wasn't aware that such a document existed in the first place).

If you'll excuse us, we're off to pull an Ashley Cross and remove our personal information from the Columbia website - though it should be said that our mailing addresses, full names, and dorm numbers really do look great in the new interface.

In which Bwog actually clicks on those homepage links you studiously ignore when checking your email...

Sachs' crew, rewriting the story of Katrina, confronts existential quandaries

Barnard prof may have saved Sophia Coppola's latest flick from the deep shame of tiny historical inaccuracies

Über-Greek CC alum (he's the "Archon of the Holy Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople"!) to represent College in Trustees...we think we know his position on the Core

Nikola Tesla (who is somewhat affiliated with Columbia, at least enough to have a bust of himself donated to Mudd by some random Michigan schoolchildren) may have actually "invented electricity"

Will the administration next claim that Enrico Fermi "invented uranium", that Thomas Hunt Morgan "invented genes" . . . or bolster ex-Journalism School prof Al Gore's claim that he "invented the internet"?

Matthew Harrison C'05, who loved being President of CCSC so much that he decided to stick around after graduation, has been deluging Bwog's inbox lately (okay, he sent us two emails) hyping up Environmental Sustainability Day (which is apparently tomorrow).

He geeked out a bit to let us know there is now an environmental section on the University Events Calendar, which we all check religiously at least four times every day after our emails, the NY Times, Gothamist, and of course, Bwog.

"It'll be green for the next few days (to draw attention) and then turn green to match the rest of the site," he writes.

He's also tickled pink (er, green) by the header on Columbia's Ask Us page, the "Go Green Columbia" logo on the header of CUIT's website and the announcements on the SFS, Registrar, the ID Center, Housing, and Dining homepages. Yes, it's also an event on our site right over there ----->

We know he loves this stuff. He knows we know he loves this stuff. He ends his email with: "I'm a dork."

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the University's (kind of overdue) campaign, Matt!

A few things that Bwog noticed on the Columbia Homepage this morning:

- Rich man (Bill Gates) gives another rich man's (Warren Buffett)
money to a third rich man (Jeff Sachs) to, eventually, help poor

- Administration puff paper takes note of Bwog idea, interviews faculty bloggers

Also, two of our favorite banners from the homepage, each picturing a campus personality featured in our October Issue, which will hit dorms and libraries imminently! See if you can spot who we're talking about.

There's something different about Columbia's homepage, and it's not wittier news headlines. A few days ago, eagle-eyed website watcher Chris Szabla noticed that the two spades on Columbia's crown logo have morphed back into crosses, prompting our tipster to wonder whether the Campus Crusade for Christ had paid off or if there are more divine forces at work. If the latter, He could move a little faster: the secular crown is still visible on many University webpages. Today, CU Public Affairs explained in a note that they made the "very slight" change "in order to maintain a simple design while also more accurately echoing the classic crown that is distinctively 'Columbia.'" Bwog reached Vice President for Communications David Stone as he was leaving for the weekend--let us know what you're thinking and we'll relay questions when we talk to him next week.

Meanwhile, one Bwog staffer recalled a comment made by one professor last year about the pre-spade iteration: we should obviously remove the crosses since we are all no longer Christians, but keeping the crown seems quite fine as the majority of students remain staunch monarchists.

Amen to that!

The ever-so-helpful Columbia homepage has a story about Natalie Portman's legendary visit to Stuart Gottlieb's Terrorism & Counterterrorism class. Most important, however, is a link to the video footage! See Natalie on Van Am Quad! See Gottlieb looking hot! See yourself, unshaven and weary-eyed, totally unprepared for contact with Hollywood royalty!
Also, there's a full list of other celebrities that have suprised stunned students all over the country. Natalie Portman ranks high in the absolutely random assortment of people: Elie Wiesel, Marilyn Manson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ashley Judd, Frank McCourt, and Snoop Dogg, among others.

Headline spotted:

Engineering Students Perform Plumbing Feats in Ghana

Thankfully the phrase "Feats of Rectal Strength" was rejected by the Columbia homepage. They know better. Bwog doesn't.

Today's Headline:

Recycled is the Paper of Choice at Columbia.

In other news, food is the eat of choice.

Just another day of the obvious on the Columbia homepage.

Current Columbia homepage headlines:

Music Is a Major Key to Reviving the Musical City

Learning to Think Strategically Is Harder Than It Looks

This just in: Falling Brings You Closer to Ground.

Also, a quote from the music article:

"The suicide rate in New Orleans appears to be rising long after the floodwaters receded, according to several speakers. They described the effects on elderly people of being cut off from their communities, perhaps forever...

But for all the tales of devastation, conference participants took time out for music, including rousing jam sessions."

--Matthew Harrison

An empty puff piece on South Asian studies at Columbia ("Of Columbia's many ties with South Asia, India is probably the strongest") ends with a dazzling flourish of geopolitical hubris:

"the buzz about Columbia's newly revitalized South Asia program will soon be spreading all over the Subcontinent."

Just like militant Islam!

Um, the world is flat?

Columbia says:

Middle School Girls Experiment With Science Day

Before you know it, they'll be building meth labs.