The staff of the Blue and White kindly requests the pleasure of your company at our last general body meeting of the school year, tonight, at 9:30 PM in the catacombs of St. Paul's Chapel.

Join us as we bid adieu to the class of 2009 (picture in formal attire at right). We'll provide the cause and accouterment for celebration, you provide the camaraderie and good cheer.

The May issue of the Blue and White is imminent! For the last issue of the year, Lydia DePillis investigates the skies with Columbia's Rutherford Conservatory. Or tries to.

In Venice in 1609, Galileo created the first known telescope. It was a great leap outward in man’s expanding sphere of knowledge. Four hundred years later, on a rooftop at Columbia, his invention is embattled by—of all threats—a science building.

Not that the Rutherford Observatory, in place since the early 1930s, is exactly cutting edge; recently, its telescope was sold to a museum in South Carolina, to be replaced with more up-to-date equipment. Nor is Manhattan a particularly great place for observing. The light pollution and air disturbances alone make the night sky less accessible than it is in, say, Arizona.

The April issue of the Blue and White is out and about! If you haven't yet cracked open its new, glossy cover, here's another preview of what's inside: a profile of campus character Stephan Vincenzo.

Stephan Vincenzo

Stephan Vincenzo, né Jose Stephan Perez, CC ’12, learned about Carman Hall in the sixth grade. Touring Columbia with his great uncle, he glimpsed his future: “It’s not the prettiest dorm, but if you want good times, live in Carman,” his sibyllic uncle told him. Later, while tending to his great uncle on his deathbed, Vincenzo swore to him that he would someday attend Columbia. Carman has been on his mind ever since.

Vincenzo takes dorm living seriously, as evidenced by the name of his party production company: 11^th Floor Entertainment. Before he had even moved in, he became notorious for coordinating an orientation week party at a club downtown, for which 1,400 guests confirmed their attendance on Facebook— perhaps lured by his promise of “Open bar!!! srry no alcohol.” For such a bold move, Vincenzo achieved instant fame. His imposing social presence has already spawned caricatures in The Fed and is the inspiration for the character “Vincent Stephanzo” in this year’s Varsity Show.

The April issue of the Blue and White is now on a newsstand or under a dorm room door near you! If you can't get out to pick one up now, here is another preview: contributor Sam Schube enlists in the men's rugby team.

“Do not drop the fucking ball!” yelled coach Sean Horan. “That is our motto. Do not drop the fucking ball!”

Coach Horan’s barked command leaves the members of the Columbia men’s club rugby team with limited options: one can move the ball by running with it, kicking it, or passing it laterally or backwards to a teammate. The forward pass, that civilizing innovation of American football, is forbidden (the glossary after the jump may shed a little light on the game’s Brittanic terminology). Each side has 15 players of varying sizes and speeds, all working to move the ball to the in-goal area. After this point, mechanical laws fail to explain their motion, though it typically involves large, moving piles of large, moving men.

Large men seem to gravitate naturally towards the rugby team. The roster includes several ex-football players, a few all-around athletes, and a veteran whose high school happened to offer the sport. Coach Horan is a lifelong rugby devotee and tries
his best to convey his savvy with highlights reels and whiteboards, but for the most part, his team’s acumen extends not far beyond the basics.

In a preview from the April issue of the Blue and White, Will Snider and Lauren Glover tackle this month's At Two Sword's Length pro/con debate: is it worth introducing yourself at a party?

Just stand still and don’t say anything. No introductions necessary. All I need to do is stare at you and try to stay awake.

You sure do talk a lot. It seems that your mouth hardly ever stops moving. Please, just be quiet for a minute and drink the Long Island I bought for you? You have nice teeth, though. I like that in a girl.

Oh, a psych major. Interesting. You’re convinced we had a lecture together last semester? I e-mailed you the day before the final to “compare notes”? Fascinating. Wait. Did you say “psych major”? I wonder if you’re trying to read my mind. You better not be trying to read my mind. That would be freaky if psych majors could read minds. Maybe they can. Maybe that’s why girls major in psych.

I’d better stop thinking.

You know, I would introduce myself. I would tell you that my name is Will and that I grew up in Maryland with a loving family and two dogs and a sprinkler. I would tell you I was an all-star little league pitcher who ate hot dogs and played the violin and drank lots of milk because Michael Jordan told me to. I would tell you I read the entire Redwall series with a flashlight after my mom told me to go to bed, that I played Warhammer in my basement. But the thing is, you’d rather I didn’t. You want me brooding and mysterious. You want to take me back to your room, sexile your mousy roommate, and listen to me talk about my goddamn poetry. I don’t even have any poetry. But I can pretend.

In a preview from the April issue of the Blue and White, Will Snider and tackle this month's At Two Sword's Length pro/con debate: is it worth introducing yourself at a party?

Negative
By Will Snider
Just stand still and don’t say anything. no introductions necessary. All i need to do is stare at you and try to stay awake.

You sure do talk a lot. It seems that your mouth hardly ever stops moving. Please, just be quiet for a minute and drink the Long Island I bought for you? You have nice teeth, though. I like that in a girl.

Oh, a psych major. interesting. You’re convinced we had a lecture together last semester? I e-mailed you the day before the final to “compare notes”? Fascinating. Wait. did you say “psych major”? I wonder if you’re trying to read my mind. You better not be
trying to read my mind. That would be freaky if psych majors could read minds. Maybe they can. Maybe that’s why girls major in psych.

I’d better stop thinking.

You know, I would introduce myself. I would tell you that my name is Will and that I grew up in Maryland with a loving family and two dogs and a
sprinkler. I would tell you i was an all-star little league pitcher who ate hot dogs and played the violin and drank lots of milk because michael Jordan told me to. I would tell you I read the entire Redwall series with a flashlight after my mom told me to go to bed, that I played Warhammer in my basement. But the thing is, you’d rather I didn’t. You want me brooding and mysterious. You want to take me back to your room, sexile
your mousy roommate, and listen to me talk about my goddamn poetry. I don’t even have any poetry. But I can pretend.

What’s your name again? I like your hair. Maybe I’ll start to pet it. Maybe you’ll like that. I need an activity to help focus my energy so I don’t fall over.

Oh damn. It looks like I’ve spilled my drink on your
pants. Hm.

Wait—I meant to do it. yeah, I meant to spill my beer on you, because you like being disrespected (Didn’t The Game say something about that?). I can so do this. and then maybe if i slowly lean toward your
face, we’ll start making out. here goes.
nope. Spilled again.
now you look kind of mad, but i’ll just smile and
laugh to defuse the awkwardness. at least you’ve
stopped talking for a second.
i wonder if you secretly want to know my name.
maybe you do. maybe if i tell you my name, you’ll go
ahead and kiss me, and we can go buy plane tickets to
mexico and sit on the beach and make love in a ham-
mock and never go to Butler again. But maybe you’ll
think i’m lame. i’ll just be some skinny white kid with a
Brooklyn lager and an above average Sat score look-
ing to lock lips and hips for a few early morning hours.

if i don’t tell you my name, i could be anyone. i could be
a shipping heir. i could be a war journalist. I could be an
NYU student. you like these fantasies. i know you do.
in the end, though, i won’t introduce myself because
self-introduction is self-defeating. People worth know-
ing know other people worth knowing; they are always
introduced. Besides—if i have to start talking, i’ll start
sounding like the played-out econ major that i am. and
then i won’t ever get to say i hooked up with lauren
glover.

The Varsity Show and the Blue and White are looking for experienced graphic artists who are comfortable using Adobe Photoshop to clean up photos and make them illustration-quality (see examples at right). Your skills will be put to use in designing the images in the Varsity Show program.

If you're interested, please email bweditors@columbia.edu immediately.

The February/March issue of the Blue and White has hit newsstands, benches, and tables near you. In addition to the reports on hometowns from the issue, here are trips down memory lane from Jersey City, Hickory Hills, and the East Village.

Jersey City, NJ

Most Jersey City residents are in it for the cheap. Compared to New York City, the Duane Reade is cheaper, condos are cheaper, food is cheaper, and parking is cheaper. To be fair, the two cities share a river, and Jersey City has a waterfront district packed with (ugly) new skyscrapers. There’s public transportation, too: the PATH train—Port Authority Trans-Hudson—takes budget-conscious yuppies where they wish they lived in under ten minutes. There are dreaming real-estate agents who call Jersey City the “sixth borough” of New York. Yet we remain New Jersey. The proof is in the Hudson County accent.

If you limited your investigation to the waterfront, with its safe neighborhoods of quaint brownstones, it would seem that people choose Jersey City solely for the ease of commuting away from it. But move away from the Manhattan-reaching edge and you will penetrate a sort of “inner city,” where Jersey City comes into its own. Read more after the jump.

The February/March issue of the Blue and White will be hitting newsstands, benches, and tables near you later this week, but until then, here's the issue's Conversation, in which Hannah Goldfield sits down with Minimalist/all-around chef Mark Bittman.

Though best known for his column "The Minimalist" in the New York Times weekly Dining & Wine section, Mark Bittman is also a blogger, a television personality, and the author of many books--including the modern classic, How to Cook Everything, and his most recent effort, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, which has earned him the titles "food historian" and "philosopher." Champion of oatmeal and other easy, savory breakfasts, he sat down with The Blue & White for the first meal of the day, to talk about cooking, nature's ironies, and what the new administration might do about the American food dilemma.

The Blue and White: In your new book, Food Matters, you refer to yourself as a "decent cook." Is that just modesty? Why are you not a great cook?

Mark Bittman: Well, I think I'm a lazy cook, so I think I'm actually an exceptionally good lazy cook. The other night, some friends came over and I had this fabulous black cod that I brought back frozen from Canada, and I marinated it in the morning in miso and soy and sake and stuff, and I broiled it--it took eight minutes. Everybody thought I was a genius because the cod was so good. Yes, I knew what I was doing. I didn't overcook the black cod, I didn't undercook the black cod, I marinated it the right way, I didn't use any recipes; I'm a good cook. But, I never make, for example, lasagna, because it's too much work. I don't make croquettes.

B&W: Well, you're The Minimalist.

Tonight: Blue and White meeting, 9:30 PM, catacombs of St. Paul's Chapel.

We'll be opening the floor to pitches for our upcoming April issue, meaning there will be many opportunities to claim and suggest article ideas. The meeting will, of course, also include the time-honored traditions of finger-jousting (pictured at right) and cookies.

Writers, editors, artists, poets, and designers old and new (especially new) are encouraged to attend.

Looking forward to the pleasure of your company.

Tonight: Blue and White meeting, 9:30 PM, catacombs of St. Paul's Chapel.

We'll be opening the floor to pitches for our upcoming April issue, meaning there will be many opportunities to claim and suggest article ideas. The meeting will, of course, also include the time-honored traditions of finger-jousting (pictured at left right) and cookies.

Writers, editors, artists, poets, and designers old and new (especially new) are encouraged to attend.

Looking forward to the pleasure of your company.

A reminder to all writers, editors, artists, poets and friends -- both old and new (especially new) -- tonight is the first Blue and White meeting of the new semester. 9:30 PM in the catacombs of St. Paul's Chapel.

We'll be discussing story ideas for upcoming issues, so if you've ever wanted to get involved with the magazine or with Bwog, please stop on by.

Here's another one from the upcoming December issue of the Blue and White: staff writer Jon Hill sat down with Nobelist/Columbia professor Joseph Stiglitz.

Economist and Columbia Professor Joseph Stiglitz made a splash in the academic world with his pioneering work on information asymmetry, the problem of hidden surprises faced by used car buyers, eBay bidders, and insurance policyholders alike. Stiglitz's insights earned him the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, but now that information asymmetry has returned to the headlines in the form of failed banks, subprime loans, and a credit crisis, people are turning to Stiglitz for analysis and advice more than ever. The Blue and White has been among those seeking out the professor's expertise, as our coffers are quite low.

The Blue and White: We read the headlines, we see the news stories, but from your perspective as a Nobel Laureate economist, how bad is it out there?

Joseph Stiglitz: Oh, quite. The decline in employment in the last month is symptomatic of obviously a very severe downturn, so the dynamics are extraordinarily negative.

The fact that the Bush administration seems to have checked out a little bit early before the end of the term is not very helpful, and combined with the fact that Paulson doesn't seem to know what he's doing, we've been spending money to very little effect and we're going into the second inning, as it were, with a huge deficit. We've had a negative savings rate and a housing bubble. It's a very pessimistic outlook. Investment will decline. States and localities are facing huge deficits.

The December issue of The Blue and White -- our Denominational Domination issue -- will be on stands (and online) later this week. In the meantime, here's something to read besides your old class notes.

"O Ye of Little Faiths" by Alexandra Muhler

While Columbia is an institution regularly accused of godlessness, our Student Governing Board (SGB) allocates considerable funding to faith-oriented student groups. The three largest religions on campus have robust memberships and budgets, though there's no correlation. According to SGB data, here's the breakdown: Hillel (2,000 members, $35,100 budget); the Muslim Students Association (700, $19,500); Columbia Catholic Undergrads (354, $10,800). The Bhakti Club, despite associations with the off-the-beaten-path Hare Krishna sect, claims 170 members, making it the fourth largest campus club of its kind.

Then there are the true minorities. This year, the Jehovah's Witnesses just managed to claim its 14 members, the bare minimum for SGB recognition, and declined a request to participate in this article. Other small groups present on campus include the Seventh Day Adventists (20 members, $500 budget) and the Baha'i (39, $2,485), who didn't respond to interview requests. The Unitarian Universalists have a campus chaplain but no club. There is no Scientology club; most individuals who practice the religion stay closeted.

Below, meet a few the loneliest practitioners in Morningside.

The Blue and White is in the market for a new publisher, who would begin in January and hold the position until January 2010.

Applicants should ideally have some experience in production, sales, advertising, or PR (whether via an internship or working with campus publication/creative production/student group), but we'll be considering anyone with an enthusiasm for the magazine.

The publisher is in charge of everything business- and publicity- related, which includes but is not limited to: soliciting ads on a monthly (and longer-term) basis, handling requests for subscriptions, working with our printer/ABC, brainstorming fund-raising opportunities, sitting atop the masthead and glad-handing the staff (pictured at right) during our monthly parties.

Interested parties should email bweditors@columbia.edu a short note detailing their background and interest in the position before New Year's Eve. If you have any questions, please feel free to email this address as well.