Have you heard about this new movie? We think it's called something like, "Star Trek"?

In case you missed the $50 million marketing campaign that has included everything from fast-food "Kingons" to Trek-themed Eggo waffles, the New York Times gave you another chance to join in the hype this weekend with an op-ed from Columbia Journalism School professor David Hajdu.

Hajdu, who is also the music critic for The New Republic, turns Star Trek apologist in the piece, calling the original 1960s TV show a pioneer of "cultural retro-activism." Star Trek, he says, synthesized elements of American pop culture history into a format easily understood by the younger generation, transmitting cultural heritage. The crew of the Enterprise explored not the future of humanity but the archives of Hollywood.

Bwog admits to seeing the new Star Trek this weekend and can confidently say Hadju's brand of Star Trek is dead. This reimagining, while still an engaging adventure, avoids ham-fistedly plumbing the depths of Americana to develop a storyline.

Some fans—perhaps even Hajdu—will lament this, but if the change means no more space hippies, space Yeti, or space Nazis, Bwog's not complaining.

We know that almost all of us had to overcome something to get to Columbia, but let's be honest: some had to overcome more than others.

As the first example of this, the New York Times presents Carrie Montgomery, a new member of the class of 2013, and one of twelve Times scholars this year. Despite growing up in the South Bronxwith 9 siblings and an ailing single mom, Montgomery maintained a 95.6 average in four years at the Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice, and now joins a group of 12 that will recieve $30,000, a laptop, and (perhaps just as precious in this economy) a guaranteed internship at the Times.

The Times reports that Carrie wants to be a lawyer, and hopes to write an autobiography some day to encourage young people like herself to work hard and succeed despite their backgrounds. We'd say she's off to a good start. (photo via the Times)

Rats, garbage, and the yells of Take Back the Night--they've heard about it all.

Last year, the city surveyed 25,000 households and asked them to ponder what makes them happy. These poetic responses were boiled down into a series of categories about city services and quality of life in various neighborhoods.

Using The New York Times' handy animated chart, Bwog found that sweet Morningside is in the middle of the pack for many categories, most of which are irrelevant to your average Columbian (students were not included in the survey, as they don't count as a "household,"). This area rated daytime subway safety and parks highly, as well as a variety of senior citizens', educational, and public health services.

On the other hand, we had a huge problem with everything college-y: rat control, street noise, air quality, and crime, and we'd have to agree: rat control is just one of those things you can't do too well.

Image via morningside-heights.net

The poor, defenseless buildings of Morningside are under siege from the ravenous monster that is Columbia University.

Or so local residents would have us believe. More than a decade ago, locals petitioned the Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect Morningside Heights (which includes a large number of older buildings with their original architectural styles) as a historical district; a "sustained, exuberant, cogent expression of the American Renaissance," they wrote, obviously for some kind of coursework.

The New York Times has an update as to the status of that battle, fluffed with some fascinating local history. Somewhere in city offices, the 200-plus-page document is sitting in a dusty corner next to your thesis, a "Pending" stamp across the cover. The article begs for your pity with pictures of dilapidated, soon-to-be-demolished buildings labeled "threatened brownstones."

Columbia of course did not respond to the heartstring tugs: though PrezBo declined to comment, spokesman Robert Hornsby said that a designation is "unnecessary" because Columbia has been a "steward" of preservation. Far more importantly, though, in Bwog's view, it might set back dorm renovations, and that just can't happen.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Columbia's Economics department, along with Econ departments across the country, is hiring no new economists this year. Last year, Columbia made nine new hires, eight of whom were snagged from other schools.

Economists can generally make more working for the government or the private sector, but, for obvious reasons, jobs in those areas are not quite as plentiful as they used to be.

On the well-employed side of the economist equation, Columbia econ prof Jagdish Bhagwati weighed in on protectionism in the federal bailout package, arguing against a 'Buy American' provision in the bill. Sadly, the stimulus has no provision aiding ailing econ PhDs.

Graphic artist Christoph Niemann posted these LEGO sculptures of New York artifacts and features, immediately recognizable to any City dweller. The pictures have attracted a lot of attention and give little credit to Madison Square Garden, which is represented by a tire.

In other arcane urban news, the strange sweet smell that has visited Manhattan on occasion since 2005 - and has always been particularly strong in Morningside Heights - was explained today.

As the New York Times reported, the culprit is a processing plant in New Jersey that uses an herb called fenugreek (pictured right). The business running the plant seems to be in line with all health and environmental standards, so it will not be shut down. Thus, the sweet fragrance will probably continue to invade New York in the future.

Many graceful hat tips to the handful of tipsters who sent word of the huge article about the Columbia Ballet Collaborative in Saturday's Times. The CBC was formed in 2007 by GSer Victoria North and four friends over a meal at Deluxe (naturally.) And as the article explains at length, the club is designed to provide a outlet for dancers who aren't in a professional company but still want to perform.

The piece also includes smaller profiles of North as well as other CBC dancers, plus glimpes into what the Collaborative's meetings and performances look like. (Oh, and also, there are apparently free professional-level ballet classes open to all on Saturday mornings.) For further ballet and dance department reading, check out a similar article in the March 2007 issue of the Blue and White by current LA Times reporter Kate Linthicum, BC '07.

Today's New York Times Sunday Book Review includes a letter to the editor from philosophy and English professor Philip Kitcher, in which he masterfully corrects Slate overlord Jack Shafer. The latter had hypothetically asked in last week's review of Roy Blount, Jr.'s Alphabet Juice: "Who before Blount thought to construct a complete conversation using only English vowels?"

Writes Kitcher: "The answer is James Joyce. Almost. The conversation Shafer cites, with the five vowels in order, has a precursor in a sentence from 'Ulysses.' In Chapter 9, Stephen Dedalus is meditating on his debt to the writer George Russell, whose pseudonym was AE. Stephen concludes his musings with a five-letter sentence: A.E.I.O.U."

Trawling the weddings section of The New York Times, Bwog found out that Columbia's very own Farah Griffin was married last Saturday. She teaches English, comparative literature, and African-American studies. She also directs the Institute for Research in African American Studies here and has written several books about jazz musicians.

The lucky man is Prof. Obery M. Hendricks Jr., who teaches "biblical interpretation" at the New York Theological Seminary ("in New York," the Times notes).

Congratulations from Bwog!

Bwog Presidential Archivist Mariela Quintana reports that all kiosks surrounding campus are completely sold out of today's copy of the New York Times. Gawker is also reporting the same problem in the West Village, where there is nary a copy to be found. The Times has also picked up on their own paper shortage, reporting that they sold out three editions even after planning for a larger circulation today. Note that the owners of the newsstands on 115^th and 116^th Streets were interviewed.

Been able to locate a copy of the paper? Let us know your secret location (bwog@columbia.edu) -- a readership suddenly so interested in deadtree journalism again will thank you.

Robert McFadden, a writer for the New York Times' CityRoom blog, waxed poetic this morning about his recent visit to Morningside Heights. Sights include our local public library branch (conscience clearing), our fair campus (an "open fortress"), and Riverside Park ("burning yellow and russet"). Overall, it's really just a page-long muse, but at least it's a good testament to Bwog's recent autumnal melancholy.

If you're trying to study in Butler right now, you probably already know that there's a giant children's reading party going on out on the lawns--it's part of the Times-sponsored Great Children's Read, and a zillion tiny people have turned out to ensnare you on your way to midterms purgatory.

If you're able to escape, They Might Be Giants are going on at 3:10 PM. And meanwhile, there's a certain amount of schwag to be had, including those delicious little greek yogurts.

Update, 2:15pm: The view from a Butler denizen:

Adorable photos of frolicking children the jump.

Nick Sprayregen may be the loudest Manhattanville holdout, but he's not the only one.

Meet Gurnam Singh, owner of two gas stations on 125th Street. He's the other holdout to Columbia in Manhattanville, though he's declined to speak publicly about the wrangling until this month.

In an exclusive with the New York Times published Sunday, Singh finally shares his side of the story after years of unsuccessful negotiations with Columbia. It's a tale of immigrant success mixed with recent woe—Singh bought the stations in the 1980s after immigrating to the United States from India, but the past year has brought his family frustration, exhaustion, and one case of stress-induced shingles blisters.

Read the story for the full details. Also keep an eye out for a surprise cameo by Sprayregen, who Bwog speculates may possess a hotline phone to the NYT Metro desk.

- JYH

This week's New York Times Magazine features a bunch of professors dressed up in really expensive clothing. Why? "These professors make academia look good," was the explanation proffered.

Anyway, naturally this thing is called "Class Acts" and as you can imagine, it is wonderful.

Plus, one of the models is Columbia's own anthropology professor Michael Taussig (right), dressed to the nines in a dandyish Alexander McQueen cardigan.

Bwog doesn't know whether this New York Times story about engineers earning credit for service projects in Harlem was originally supposed to run yesterday, but, regardless, we doff our collective (and imaginary) caps to the Grey Lady for its sense of timing.

In short, the engineering school allows students to earn class credit while doing public service at the same time. While this is currently the only project on such a large scale numbers-wise, the Times reports that "at Columbia, other academic departments are now considering integrating service into the curriculum, and community projects have become a key part of the university's sales pitch to prospective students."

Other highlights include an appearance by Jack McGourty, a one-sentence mention of today's "service fair," and the man behind ServiceNation declaring that "the millennial generation is the greatest serving generation since the greatest generation." Bwog is happy to score one for optimism.