In case those high lottery cutoff numbers had you thinking EC was some sort of “Palace in the Sky,” you can enjoy a hearty helping of schadenfreude this morning.

Tipsters tell us and Housing confirms that all hot water is off in the building because of “emergency repairs.” Maintenance crews are just now arriving, so there’s no estimated time yet for when the hot water might be back on.

So, if you live in EC and were in need of a hot shower this morning, you may want to investigate the time-honored tradition of the bucket bath. Be sure to heat the water in your microwave first.

UPDATE 12:07 p.m.: Housing confirms the hot water is off in most dorms, the notable exceptions being Woodbridge, Watt, and -- The Land That Happiness Forgot -- McBain. Repairs are nearly completed, though, so the hot water should be back on shortly.

Bwog has been informed that the above treasure is the first thing that greets your eyes when you enter the EC lobby. Professor-in-residence Harrist discovered it on his deck.

As everyone slogging towards the housing process finish line knows, East Campus is nice. Nice enough for professors to consent to live there, despite the social disadvantages of sharing a building with 700 undergrads and about half as many clean pairs of underwear at any given time. Don't scare them away. And don't leave your shoes on the windowsill.

Why didn't you think of this first?

Six CC '09 gentlemen who met on their pre-Orientation COOP trip have started a blog from their EC townhouse. Designed with a bright red hue to echo their townhouse's decoration ("as if McDonald's built a ski chalet"). Casting reformed gender norms to the wind, the group has chosen the title of "The Mansuite," an epithet for the group that existed long before the blog.

Updated often (for now, at least), the Mansuite blog boasts a photo album with rotating shots of recent parties the bro-consortium has hosted. One such photo, which depicts the archetypal scene of a frenzied and cramped college party, is the permanent bottom banner of the site. Previous posts have included documentation of the Mansuiters' $450 spending sprees treks at the 125th Street Fairway and of scooter rides down the Lerner ramps.

It is unclear where the idea to start the blog came from, but in a short play one member (who would only go by the alias of "Colin Drummond") wrote for Bwog in an attempt to link Mansuite back to its roots, the member wrote of a fallen scooter, upturned risotto bowl, puddle of spilled wine and a freeze frame of Gossip Girl forming the letters B-L-O-G. If this description is any indication, the Mansuite is certainly worth a read.

- ECS

For those of you staying in East Campus or McBain over break, Columbia University Facilities will be using the time to fix your residence. In McBain, elevator repairs will mean that both elevators will be out on Monday, December 29th.

In EC, the story's slightly less chipper, and quite a bit longer. Facilites "has identified significant deterioration to the plumbing lines for the sink and washing machines in the East Campus laundry room," and so "the East Campus laundry room will need to close during the upcoming weeks." The work could take all of Winter Break.

This seems like an appropriate time, then, to remind everyone sticking around in EC over break that there is a tunnel in the basement to Wien, the closest building with a laundry room. Thank us later.

On November 12, Bwog received an anonymous email with the subject line: "Exorcism on Broadway 9." The email detailed an incident that occurred between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on October 25th, that involved several students who the sender identified as Christian Koreans -- despite our attempts to reach various groups, there's been no way of verifying this. There was also a Barnard student present who had been signed in earlier that evening.

According to the email's sender, the Barnard student had expressed concern for her health, and so an "exorcism" was performed. Details about the procedure remain scant, though the girl's repeated shrieking eventually caught the attention of a Broadway RA, who stopped by the scene in an attempt to break up the gathering. The RA's attempts to interfere were brushed off, and another ResLife staff member, who was described as being a part of the group, told the RA to allow the students to continue with what they were doing. RAs for Broadway and Ruggles have confirmed that the incident occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 25th, but few know the details of what happened, and none are willing to discuss it on record.

What would Saturday night be with out a dance party in Lerner, free food and student association spirit? Bwog simply does not know. Tonight brings you not just Ahimsa and the HSO's celebration of Diwali, one of the most important Indian holidays of the year, but also the Korean Students Association's rendition of Pojangmacha - that's outdoor eating done Korean style! Sometimes life is so sweet, the only difficult part will be deciding which to go to first...

Bwog recommends starting at Diwali for a little dancing in Roone, some naan noshing and some more schmoozing with TAAL from 7:30 til 9 and then heading over to the Ancell Plaza for the final hour of Ponjangmacha. Although the event starts at 7, if you're lucky, some Soju and other forms of Korean street food and drink might be left for you to enjoy!

Shocking Report from Bwog tipster Hillary Busis: The fire alarm in East Campus has gone off three times in about thirteen hours.

According to Public Safety, it's not a fire drill, just a malfunctioning alarm. And they have "people working on it."

Stay strong, EC.

Jezebel has breathlessly recounted an argument that occurred between Columbia's own James, a self-described anti-feminist with a private Facebook page, and an unnamed Barnard student who slapped him for saying that he hadn't met an "intellectual feminist" in his life. Naturally, this all happened this weekend at a party East Campus because of course.

James' mysterious and covert Facebook also features a theoried-out anti-feminist rant. It's cryptic and long and its coherence is tenuous, but you can read the whole thing on Jezebel (if you're so inclined).

Oh okay fine, here's the thesis: "The ethos of the feminist movement and gender relations today in America [is] the homosexualization and corruption of women into earthly creatures moved only by sex and material power, incapable of affirming a natural and sacred feminine identity in favor of an unnatural masculine one."

Bwog just heard word that this July, Governor Paterson signed legislation making smoking illegal in all New York college dormitories -- this includes EC!

A pair of RAs also noted that at least for Columbia, the mere possession of tobacco products is forbidden.

In other crackdown news, one Bwog staffer was removed by security this morning for eating some delightful breakfast treats in a Lerner computer lounge. The no-eating policy in the computer lounges is nothing new, but now it seems it's actually being enforced, which is just awful.

Smoke, heroism and disappointment cloud EC and its environs! Eyewitness report from Bwogger John Klopfer:

"Minutes ago, outside of the Center for Career Education on Morningside Drive, a loud whoomph was heard and the smell of gas filled the Columbia University Tutoring and Translating Agency. Alarmed students poured out of its offices as flames shot six feet into the air through the hood of a taxicab parked just outside. The driver valiantly fought the flames with a small extinguisher, which availed him little. Within minutes, no fewer than three fire engines arrived on the scene. As bored firemen bandied about their axes and neighborhood children looked on in awe, the first engine's hose was brought to finish the job. Now, the driver is standing by his car making phone calls, looking disappointed as the fire crews roll out."

Photo by Sam Reisman

The answer, as six unlucky CU students will probably soon find out, is perhaps a lot more than $200. One Bwog tipster (and probably dozens of other students with decent lottery numbers) received an email from a group calling themselves "Columbia Students." The email proposed an Old-Timey Barter in which housing lottery numbers would be swapped in order for "Columbia Students" to secure a coveted East Campus suite with 6 singles. The email reads:

"Obviously, we know that there would be no reason for you to help us out, but we were hoping that with monetary compensation some of you would consider a swap. We would be able to get 6 good rooms in Broadway (or very possibly a 6-person suite in EC with 4 singles and 1 double), so if you are interested in swapping rooms/suite for a decent monetary compensation (at least $200 per person, but price is completely negotiable)"

Parties interest in swapping lottery numbers should email the (endearingly utilitarian) Gmail address provided: cu.housing.seniors@gmail.com

Full email after the jump

While you sun yourselves in far-flung locales, remember, gentle readers, that the 2008 housing lottery waits for no one. In the spirit of steadfastness, we invite you for a brief sojourn back to East Campus.

A Brief Guide to East Campus, from someone who lives in Wien

Next door to the dilapidated honeycomb that is Wien Hall rises the stentorious [point taken! - ed.] edifice of East Campus. With its own moat-like brick-layed "plaza" serving little or no purpose except during Orientation Week (hotdog party memories anyone?), EC lives up to its reputation as a latecomer to the campus housing circle, a distant add-on to the cozy buildings surrounding the lawns and nestled down among the residential side-streets of Broadway.

As an outsider, I'm afraid I have little to offer in the way of gross-out anecdotes about bathrooms or complaints about maintenance or broken doors or somesuch thing. I do offer a hodge-podge of general notes on the dorm, though, that might be helpful to potential residents:

This is for a very narrow section of the population, namely for those of you bored in class, reading Bwog, and contemplating a shower on your return to your dorm in EC. Tough luck. There will be no running water in EC for an indefinite period of time. The reason? Only the delightfully intriguing "emergency repairs" was given.

The winds of change (and frigid, seasonal air) are a'blowin' in Morningside. Beginning with Toast, everyone's favorite spot for a second or third date. Toast has relocated from its previous location on Broadway between LaSalle and Tiemann (right near 125th) and has taken up residence in Carne's old spot on Broadway and 105th. With Manhattanville's development in the works, this seems a bit counter-intuitive to Bwog, as property values in precisely Toast's old location are sure to skyrocket. Nonetheless, we look forward to schlepping just as far to Toast, this time in the other direction.

Farther up on Broadway, big news for Pinkberry devotees in the form of its latest flavor addition: coffee. Bwog picked the brain of Pinkberry cashier Shadenia who explained that many customers have been sampling coffee, but not many have been ordering it. "They have to get used to it." Those quickly-adapting coffee converts are enjoying the new flavor with chestnuts, a new seasonal topping. (To those following Pinkberry's seasonal ingredients, winter's chestnut is replacing fall's pomegranate seeds.) "I'm not really a coffee person," said Shadenia, quite seriously.

Bwog observed six customers in Pinkberry, none with coffee. Melanie and Angela ate original and green tea, respectively. They seem underwhelmed about the addition of the coffee flavor and had no plans to try it. "It's the same category as green tea," Angela explained. Bwog asked for clarification. "There's original. And then the other flavors are green tea and coffee." Brows furrowed, Bwog exited Pinkberry.

And no recapitulation of developments in Columbia and its environs would be complete without a salute to the new EC elevators. The vaguely space station-y silver elevators are just as sterile and ugly (metal mesh!) as the old EC elevators, the design of which Bwog can barely remember.

- JNW

Move-out yields hints of distinctive suite decor.