One recent grad forwarded Bwog the following email, which contains some bad news for the unluckiest 5,000 of you. Apparently, housing information that included names and social security numbers was accidentally posted online by a former student employee in February 2007.

Housing & Dining is very sorry, and has even bought you and your probably-stolen social security numbers an apology gift to make it up to you: "As an additional precaution, Columbia has arranged for you to receive a free two-year subscription to a credit monitoring service, Identity Guard CreditProtectX3SM. This service will provide you with a copy of your credit report, monitor your credit files at all three major credit bureaus and notify you of certain suspicious activities that could indicate identity theft."

Full email after the jump.

UPDATE 11:32 PM: One Bwog operative calling himself "Person who's SSN was exposed" has located via Google cache the Excel document that used to contain the SSNs and names in question. According to the aforementioned operative, the Excel document was created apparently in relation to "a HW for CS4733, aka 'Computational Aspects of Robotics.'" Also, the Spec has published the story.

UPDATE 11:11 AM: A Bwog writer and SSN victim just called Student Services and the email is not, in fact, a scam. Sorry folks.

As if he heard our cries as we riled against Dining's exploitation of our hero, Hawkmadinejad has risen from the garbage heaps, a rat clutched mercilessly in his claws. Everyone loves eating on campus!

Photo by Nat Gale.

Astute and protective tipster Jon Hill informed Bwog that he had noticed a poster outside the entrance to John Jay Dining Hall that features the likeness of campus hero and bird-about-town Hawkmadinejad.

It seems that Dining Services has taken tipster-generated photographs of our hero from the Hawkmadineblog and has reproduced them to advertise dining plans. Though why Dining thinks that particularly bloody photos of a hawk devouring a squirrel on a grassy knoll will convince students to sign up for a meal plan is beyond us.

While the bottom-most Hawkmadinejad on the poster does have a speech bubble that reads "Have You Seen My Blog?", Dining Services doesn't credit the photographs as the masterpieces of photographer/French Department administrator Isabelle Chagnon.

Tipster Thomas Chau wrote in to give Bwog more information on the state of Pertutti, which has had its windows plastered over with paper for quite awhile now. When we last discussed Pertutti, shortly after its closure, we knew that it would be a trattoria owned by the proprietors of Nonna, a dubiously-reviewed Upper West Side Italian restaurant. Thomas informs us that the new name will be "Campo", and that they'll be serving food until 2 AM and drinks until 4. He cited prices of "around $10 for a pizza and $15-$20 for entrees." Oh, well.

Bwog will be following up with the owners to learn more. Photos after the jump.

A Bwog tipster recently piqued our interest with a note about the latest happenings in Columbia's oh-so-fabulous (wink wink) on-campus dining scene. A recent email from Housing and Dining below reveals that Columbia students need not wait any longer to satisfy their cravings for a whole lox of Kosher foods. So get your fill today!

The new and improved Kosher Deli is now open. It's conveniently located just inside the lobby of John Jay Hall and it's perfect for a quick meal on the go. Use dining dollars, flex, or cash for a delicious sandwich, salad, side dish, or snack.

Hours of operation:
Monday - Thursday, 10:30am to 3:30pm
Sunday, 10:30am to 6:00pm

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Dining Services

Bwog begs to ask the question: How many city Health Inspection demerits did this fine Columbia dining establishment receive?

It's moment you've all been waiting for [insert bombastic drum roll] because this spring all of you baby-blue donning lions and lionesses will be able swipe your parents' money away in a smorgasbord of local vendors. Because The Powers That Be want to test run the program before they expand to "any/all interested vendors" in Morningside, they asked we the people to vote for the places that we visited most. And because all of the award shows are being canceled, Bwog will be giving out the 1st Annual Roaree Awards to the vendors winners of the survey. Results after the jump.

Students who log on to the Dining Services website to complete a quality-assurance survey are in for a special treat. Columbia is going to donate ten cents to the charity of your choice!

Ten cents?! You might think. That's vaguely offensive and pathetic! But wait! You can take the survey as many times as you want. So that's like, an entire dollar to charity for completing a quality-assurance survey ten times.

Columbia: forerunners in philanthropy and accuracy.

In other news, Wien residents awoke to a cordial email from Housing & Dining today, apologizing for the shut-down of the building's food court. In its place, Health Services and friends are moving into the arena (perhaps adding to the onslaught of mental institution jokes about the building).

As a gesture of reconciliation, Dining Services is offering Wien residents "$5 FREE DINING DOLLARS" to use on campus at their favorite venues. The email also states that the typical sandwich at Cafe 212 costs $5.95. At least there's the candy corn?

See the cheery dining advisory after the jump.

Bwog heard through the grapevine that some of the employees at 212 have asked familiar faces for a most unusual favor: to write Dining Services an e-mail requesting that the Chef's-Hat-Required policy be nixed.

We think this a worthy cause, and if you do too, shoot the Dining mandarins an e-mail at eats@columbia.edu. It'll take just a second and will do wonders for your karma.

Spotted in Lerner: Matthew Fox used to sell meal plans and dining dollars. Quoth his visage: "You may want me to get LOST on Class Day, but I can't get enough of the Ferris Booth Lunch Special! Sign up online for your plan today!"

We're not sure how many people present on Class Day could possibly be interested (or eligible) for meals or dining dollars, but we can't help but applaud Housing & Dining for keeping up on its campus gossip.

Bwog recently found this note on the Hewitt Dining Hall suggestion board; yes, "4 days" actually is emphasized that heavily.

I think it's great that you have soy and Lactaid milk for us. I think it is silly, however, to keep them in a chilled creamer dispenser, because they run out much too quickly. This coupled with the fact that they are not checked regularly means I've gone without Lactaid for the past 4 days. This is a common occurence. Please either invest in a new container or refill them.
Thank you!

Kate Ryan sent Bwog this photo from the comments board of the Hewitt Dining Hall at Barnard, where a great debate is being waged.

The first comment, by Jonathan (jcm2120), reads:

"Fire the sandwich lady (the regular one) She is absolutely rude, disrespectful, and shows no pleasure in doing her job."

...to which Alli (acl2118) replies:

"I love the sandwich lady. Jonathan is rude because he can't get any. The sandwich lady is hott [sic] and turned him down :("

We now eagerly await the Manager's Response...