Zahra Khimji and Bwog editor Maryam Parhizkar write about a very long cycling trip with a very noble mission.

While in the United States people are constantly striving for ways to save the environment and stop global warming, Iranians too are striving for ways to promote peace environmental awareness. Somayeh Yousefi and Jafar Edrisi, an athletic couple who first met on a mountain peak near Tehran in 1998, are just such people -- this year, the Iranian cyclists began their journey to promote peace and environmental conservation, one country at a time.

Professor Dennis Dalton, well-known in the last few months for taking part in the recent hunger strike, introduced the event. "This word, peace -- that matters most to me," Professor Dalton said, while physically pointing to the word on the large banner hung on the table in front of the room. Dalton warmly welcomed the cyclists, stating that although we must work to resolve conflict that we had gotten into with Iran, "violence spreads like a cancer . . . we are plagued with that cancer now, and we must cure it."

Yousefi and Edrisi then proceeded to explain their mission, which involves cycling around the world and creating a "green line" of newly planted trees along the way to promote peace and environmental awareness. "No one will be living in a peaceful world without the environment," Yousefi, the English speaker of the two, said. Yousefi and Edrisi have been tracking every step of their trip and blogging whenever they have the chance. Starting from Iran, they have cycled through major parts of Europe such as Greece, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and have crossed the Atlantic ocean (by flight, of course!). As of today, the couple has planted a total of 14 trees, with 2 in New York State.

College Walk is crammed with merrymakers for the annual tree-lighting ceremony. All in all, it is a very Columbia Christmas: the Kingsmen modified "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" with a verse on lovebirds PrezBo and Ahmadinejad and Eric Foner gave a Bush-bashing speech about critical thinking in the new year. An unfortunate elderly gentlemen picked this hour to drive across College Walk and was greeted by Manhattan-centric cries of "Jersey plates! Oh, shameful!"

Best of all were the tables and tables of cookies (store bought) and hot beverages (a fine, tart cider and a very chocolatey, smooth cocoa). Spread among the free food were jingle bells, an informal poll (sample size 6) of which revealed one-third to be jingleless decoys. Make sure to grab a ringing one and join the procession from Low to John Jay lounge, where the Yule Log ceremony will start around 7.