Check newsstands tomorrow, and you'll see something familiar: a shiny New York Magazine cover story digesting the last 40 years of crazy activism at Columbia, featuring glamour shots of David Judd, Chris Kulawik, Karina Garcia and a smattering of other rabblerousers. Take a seat, because it's a doozy, reaching back to the SDS protests of the 60s, racing through Minutemen, and parsing every protest and meeting since then for a larger point about College and the Left (it is New York Mag, after all).

Here are the takeaway points, in case you're too mired in papers to read the whole thing: Radical kids today don't have the energy of Mark Rudd & Co. Career-oriented Democrats don't have the energy of the radicals. Kulawik doesn't need energy, because he's got skillz. Columbia has historically been riven by identity politics--mostly around Israel-Palestine--but now the lines are starting to blur.

Well, now everyone else knows.

- LBD

Neologisms-R-Us

In addition to all the other crazy stuff going on this week, it looks like you can add another controversial event to the list, because Thursday is going to be Islamo Fascism Awareness Day. Great. Bwog recalls the good ol' days when we were called "islamofascist" by a pundit or two, and we wonder if some Safire-ean scribe wants to offer an etymology of the term.

Speaking of Which

Another bit of media chit-chat: the editorial Karina Garcia and others put up on CounterPunch calling out Columbia for its apparently discriminatory rulings regarding the stage incident, titled "A Case of Racism." "By bowing to right-wing pressure, Columbia University brought shame to itself," it declares. "But their politically motivated and ultimately racist punishments should not obscure an obvious truth: we won." Well snap.

And Just Sayin...

Did anyone else notice that CCO, which went down on Saturday, was sponsored partially by Student Loan Xpress? AWKWARD.

Because a few interesting tidbits have been coming over the alias, and we're tired of talking about grades too.

- We may have forgotten about the Minuteman dust-up, but the members of New York Immigration Control and Enforcement (a few of whom were in Roone on the fateful night) couldn't let it go. According to CNN, "several" protested outside Lerner on Thursday, demanding that the offending students be expelled. Bwog has learned that eight students have been sent disciplinary letters and decisions are pending, but we'll go out on a limb to say that they'll be able to finish out their time at Columbia.

Meanwhile, protester-in-chief Karina Garcia will be back at school this semester after having taken the rest of 2006 off to go on a speaking tour of high schools, colleges, and radio stations, including a keynote address at the Socialism Conference in LA hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The College Republicans haven't got anything on their docket--could 2007 be the year of chill at Columbia?

- Not weatherwise, anyway. It was 68 degrees today in the city, and 2006 marked the first time that New York had a snowless November and December since 1877. But really, it's all just hype...

- Carrie Bradshaws of the world, take note! The Spectator is looking for editorial board members and columnists. Yes, including a sex columnist.

- Twenty-one blocks north, a much nicer subway story than those involving chainsaw-wielding goons.

- It seems that Macintosh is closed for asbestos removal. That explains some things.

- The Columbia crown has been turning up in some strange places recently. But considering Public Affairs still hasn't decided whether the logo should be secular chic or trendily theist (in Bwog's estimation, crosses and spades have aboout an equal presence on campus these days), Duke Nukem is the least of their worries.

Thanks to Julia Kite, Dan Gant, Jessica Cohen, Addison Anderson, and Miguel Lopez for the tips.

- LBD

An article in today's New York Times takes a step back to look at President Bollinger's track record on dealing with free speech issues in the last few years, given a run of pesky controversies. Why doesn't Yale ever have to deal with this kind of thing?

...maybe because they're having too much fun following the exploits of a certain pathological liar.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people learned yesterday about October 4th at an immigrants rights rally in Union Square, where media darlings Monique Dols and Karina Garcia spoke to a throng of signwaving protesters and hipster NYU kids. Definitely friendlier turf than Morningside Heights: their speech met with cheers, and members of the International Socialist Organization racked up signatures on a petition in support of the protesters. At the very least, people weren't surprised.

"It's Columbia," said one woman who identified herself as an alumna. "What do you expect?"

The Columbia contingent at the event was small, perhaps because the Chicano Caucus had chosen this weekend to host the East Coast Chicano Student Forum, where people like former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda spoke in Earl Hall. So much solidarity, so little time...

- Lydia DePillis

Yes, we know that October 4th was almost two weeks ago and most of you are sick of it, but there's still a bit of news trickling in that we thought we'd share.

Item # 1: We reported earlier that several protesters had been sent letters enumerating the charges against them, and they met with administrators today regarding their punishment. Bwog is not at liberty to report any more details at this time. The Columbia Protesters Defense Committee, however, has been busy, posting flyers all over campus this afternoon to generate support. They might need it: Professor Rodolfo de la Garza, in a forum tonight on immigration, blasted the protesters for trying to get themselves off the hook. "There's a sense in which if you participate in a demonstration, good for you. But don't say, Columbia, you can't punish me," he said, pointing emphatically. "We're too old to give freebies. We pay our way."

Item # 2: Today literary theorist Stanley Fish, in his New York Times blog, called Gilchrist's speech a "piece of entertainment," calling out "Chris Kulawick" for intentionally provoking a response (well Chris, at least this won't show up on Google). Apparently it's persuaded some people. In the days following the protest, Claudio Lomnitz, head of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, circulated a letter within the department in support of the protesters, but said in the same forum that he has reconsidered since reading Professor Fish's blog.

Item # 3: Footage of Karina Garcia v. Jim Gilchrist on Democracy Now has been YouTubed. Okay, that's not really news, but two items does not a Daily Minute make!

- LBD

If you noticed a hubbub in front of Lerner at 11:00 AM this morning, it wasn't another protest--just the aftershocks. The People on the Stage netted what appeared to be most of the local media outlets--plus bystanders--in a press conference to get out their message about what happened on October 4th. Bwog couldn't help but notice a book next to the podium: Marxist Theories of Imperialism: a Critical Study.

First up is Chicano Caucus political chair Karina Garcia, who reads a statement claiming that the adminstration is treating "racist, fascist, armed, vigilante" Minutemen as victims. Apparently, Prezbo has received over 3,000 letters of support for the protestors in the past 36 hours...and Bwog was feeling sorry for itself.

Then comes Martin Lopez, C '09, whom you can recognize from the six black and white still photographs in which he's getting kicked by a Minuteman. Before that, he says he was kicked by Chris Kulawik himself, although he can't be sure. "I demand that Columbia University not take any reprisals against the students who took the stage," Lopez said. Good news, Martin: according to a source in Public Safety, they're not planning on taking any disciplinary action, although the deans may still do so. But at least you've got the fuzz off your back.

Then comes a woman from National Lawyers Guild, who harkens back to the good old days of the 60s, when 30 students were suspended in a protest over Columbia's affiliation with a weapons think tank. The protesters, then, are "continuing their legacy of protest against societal injustice." Power to the people!

Then comes Monique Dols, head of the Columbia chapter of the International Socialist Organization, who will match Kulawik's record by appearing on Fox News tonight (O'Reilly) for the THIRD time.

Next a lady from Washington Heights brings it all back home with a reference to that other issue, Manhattanville. "We're not only exploited in our countries, we also find exploitation here," she says. "They seem to forget that Columbia is in the midst of Harlem, which is a disgrace, a disrespect, and we will not stand by it." She's a practitioner of "radical compassion" and "subversive love." Hey...can we get some of that?

Eva Fortes, C '09, is the woman of the hour--along with Monique Dols, she took on Hannity and Colmes on very short notice. The bad news? They didn't let the girls tell their story. The good news? Bwog interviewed Fortes--who started the anti-Minutemen facebook group and penned an article in today's Spec--shortly before she went on national TV. You'll be able to see the video online soon, and Bwog will post YouTubes of both that show and tonight's O'Reilly Factor in the morning (we get tired too). Meanwhile, here's Eva's story, unspun and edited only a little bit.

Were you involved in the inside protest?

I got the heads up that it was going to happen, and about the desire to have a protest, And so, the minute we were sure, we had a meeting, and that was very much just people shouting out ideas, we're going to protest, in what manner are we going to protest? At that meeting, we decided that we were going to have an outside protest, and to have as many people as possible come. We wanted to have also a protest outside Lerner, but I think Columbia didn't give us the space.

As far as people going inside, we decided that those who wanted to go in and actually listen could go in. I really wanted to hear what he had to say, and ask him good questions at the end. And then we decided we should have some consolidating color, we would all just have white t-shirts. And then we discussed, should we protest inside? We weren't sure there would be a question and answer, and we had a couple of people type up a question sheet to hand out to people as they were going in, so if there were a question and answer, we would be prepared with actual and difficult questions. The other plan, if we weren't allowed to ask questions—we didn't outlaw heckling, heckling was alright—was to, at the very end of Gilchrist's speech, when the applause starts, we were going to stand up and turn around, and that was the extent of it.

When I got to the protest yesterday, it was going really well. I went in and sat down. I saw Karina [Garcia] there, and I asked her, hey, things have changed since that initial meeting, what are we going to do? And she said, we're not going to do anything, at all. And I said, are we even going to be standing up and turning around at the end of the speech, and she said no no no, just sit, because they're allowing question and answer. Throughout the speech, people were heckling, I was heckling. I think he should have ignored a lot more of the heckling than he actually did. When the students came out with the banner, I was surprised, and when people rushed the stage, I had no idea what was going on. I and the friend I had come with were the only ones to stay seated. I was honestly really frightened and embarrassed. One of the girls who was holding the poster said hey, they're going to go after the people who rushed the stage, so let's have a meeting of all those who rushed the stage. I went with them because I felt implicated in the thing already because my name was on the facebook group and I was going to write the spec article.