The 2008-2009 Rhodes Scholars have been announced, and Columbia's very own R. Jisung Park of Shelton Connecticut has made the list!

Per the winners' bios press release: "R. Jisung Park, Shelton, Connecticut, is a senior at Columbia where is a double major in economics and political science. Jisung has done research in tropical rainforest studies in Australia and has developed a cross-disciplinary course of study at Columbia in sustainable development. He serves on the editorial board of a journal on sustainable development, is an a capella bass singer, has taught English in Korea, and spent a year studying at Oxford. He will return to Oxford to do an M.Sc. in nature, society, and environmental policy."

Congratulations R. Jisung Park! We look forward to congratulating you once again when PBK is announced.

Last year two Columbians were awarded the scholarship: Jason Bello and George Olive. In terms of inter-Ivy competition, Princeton was the big winner this year, with three students represented. Harvard was runner-up with two, and Brown, Penn and Yale tied with Columbia. Here that Yale? Tied.

After saving so much cash earlier today, Bwog thought to splurge a little. To reward ourselves after a rigorous day of studying, Bwog was in the mood for something warm and hearty. Unfortunately Casa Fiesta refried beans didn't cut it. A second trip to Westside, however, yielded the makings of a gourmet dinner. If you're lucky and have extra time on your hands tomorrow night, Bwog suggests making a Pork Chop with Pomegranate and Fennel Salsa for your Sunday supper.

Here's the trouble with the holidays: indulging in too many homemade, holiday treats — latkes, gelt, pecan pie, eggnog and the like — often results in no longer looking so svelte in the lovely argyle sweater Santa or the Hanukkah Armadillo brought for you. And you know, eating healthy isn't so bad. What with Pink Berry, Tasti, the numerous sushi joints and the other healthy options Broadway offers, sticking to pretty healthy diet can be pretty easy for those who care to. What's not so easy, however, is maintaining a healthy-ish diet while maintaining a moderate-ish budget.

On this chilly November night, the guys at Westside thought to keep the outdoor produce warm with flannel blankets! The picture above documents their attempts to keep their asparagus and grapes relatively happy, if not frozen!

Here at the Bwog, we're fans of the underdog, the little guy, you know, the little train that could so to speak. So when it comes to consumerism, corporations and all that jazz, we support locally-owned independent businesses. As detailed in the current issue of The Blue and White, Morningside Heights unfortunately has succumbed to the fetters of the chain gang in recent years.

But today, November 22nd is America Unchained Day, a holiday celebrating locally-owned businesses that have remained free from corporate conquest. No holiday, however, can be properly celebrated without an obligatory sale. You've heard of Memorial Day sales, you've heard of Independence Day sales, you've heard of Labor Day sales, but today Book Culture brings you something new - an America Unchained Day Sale! From now until 8 PM, Book Culture, is hosting a special one day sale and book event: 10% off everything in the store, excluding text books and periodicals!

The sale offers an excellent way to get started on your holiday shopping and at the same to make the most of your money. And the best part is this is conscientious consumerism: you'll be supporting (and injecting potentially millions more dollars) into the local economy. Tis the season, after all.

Don't forget, you can also embrace the spirit of the holiday at other locally owned Morningside Heights establishments, like Janoff's, Mondel's Chocolate and if you're feeling particularly charitable, the Morningside Bookshop.

At this time of year, Bwog, like just about everyone, is sick of Butler. But there are like twenty other libraries on campus, right? Yes, there are. And yes, Columbia students are probably too fortunate for our own good too. But sometimes, what we have just doesn't suffice...

So on this brisk Saturday, Bwog has a suggestion for you dear finals-frazzled reader — take a weekend vacation away from your cubicle in 209 and head downtown on the 1 train to the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library on 20th St.

This morning CSIS - Columbia Students for International Service - brings their humanitarian mission to you in the form of free bagels and coffee. If you're into cross-cultural learning and exchange, being a responsible citizen of the world and bettering all of humanity (or if you could just use a free bagel with schmear,) head to the fifth floor of Lerner for this free brunch-cum-info session. Representatives from major international service organizations will lead the panel, so don't miss out! Although the event runs all morning, bagels and freebies are wont to run out!

There's nothing like a Saturday morning trad to get your weekend off right. Wrap up in your comforter and scroll down for a smattering of cartoons from this week - Enjoy!

"I'm nothing, and yet I'm all I can think about."

Oh sure, you may be a fan of Cribs or Pimp My Ride, but nothing really screams "pimp me" like a bookcart. At least, so say the runners of Unshelved.com, who have just concluded their third annual "Pimp My Bookcart" competition. Continuing our university's fine winning streak, this year's first place prize went to the employees of Butler's Rare Books and Manuscript Library, who turned their bookcart into a hot dog cart. We're hungry just looking at it, and so were the judges: "We rarely agree on anything as easily as we did in giving this cart first prize. Succeeds in all of our judging categories!"

You can see a rearview of the "hot book cart" here, and you can also see the ingenious designs it beat.

The November issue of The Blue and White is on racks near you! This month, we went abroad, into Morningside, and outside of conventional history.

The only feature that combines public nudity in Japan with being a Mormon in France (plus music and food from Argentina, Russia, and Turkey).

The chain store invades Morningside Heights.

Imagine a Columbia where athletes and protestors are the same people.

Meet veterans of the Iraq War, the hunger strike, and the campaign trail.

It may be the 25th anniversary of coeducation at Columbia, but even the university seems to have forgotten.

With less than a month to go in the semester, we at Bwog are among the many converging on Butler. If you've forgotten to sneak food and drink in, though (a course we recommend do not endorse), your only source of caffeinated comfort is Blue Java. Strangely, though, the Butler Blue Java prices are even higher than its other locations around campus. Bwog contributor (and longtime coffee muckraker) Jon Hill investigated, only to have Housing and Dining say "We understand your concerns. Please note the prices are a bit higher in Butler due to higher expenses."

Oh really? How specific! But just what are these higher expenses, pray tell?

Our perseverance got us forwarded onto Michael Novielli, chief of administration of Student Auxiliary and Business Services. Already having been briefed on the company line, Novielli was ready to give us all the details. "The main and only reason is that our cost of doing business at Butler Library is higher. It's an agreement Dining Services has with the University Libraries and I can't comment any more than that, but our costs of doing business at Butler are about 10 percent higher." Novielli refused to comment on any specifics behind the increase, although we're pretty sure the real reason starts with "m" and ends with "-onopoly."

Silver said he "didn't count" how many professors this support-seeking email was sent to, but that "it was sent to people we knew and/or those we had reason to think are in favor of ROTC at Columbia. [...] This was not a sample in the statistical sense, so the rate of return, or the percentage agreeing, among those to whom the statement was sent, is not relevant or meaningful."

Military types have an opinion on NROTC.

MTA raises fares yet again.

With budget trouble, New York special ed will likely be among the first cuts.

Not having Wednesday before Thanksgiving off is massively inconvinient.

The best way to get your message across to New Yorkers is to talk about forest fires.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, CC '63 (who taught at the law school as recently as 2006) collapsed last night during a speech in Washington D.C. Towards the end of an address to the Federalist Society, Mukasey began to slur his speech before he collapsed. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where press reports say he is now "conscious, conservant, and alert," though there is no word yet why he fell ill.

UPDATE: Mukasey left the hospital around noon Friday with a "clean bill of health." Doctors ruled out a stroke or cardiac problems as the cause.

Seniors are invited to take comfort in the womblike warmth of Lerner's basement for the third installment of this year's Lerner Pub.

It will be the classiest Lerner pub yet; featured drinks include red and white wine and Corona, with limes!

Entertainment includes The Kitchen Cabinet, hard-rock band Raul, and, once again, everyone from your first-year dorm you've forgotten about.

11 PM til 1 AM.

Some heavy (and not-so-heavy) hitting faculty came out in the Spec today endorsing NROTC's presence on campus. Bwog is inquiring into the genesis of the list--mostly male--and will update as information becomes available. The ad ran as follows, with editorial notes in italics:

"We broadly support the return of ROTC to Columbia University -- some of us unconditionally, others if legislation prohibiting military service by open homosexuals is reformed, and/or provision made for faculty control of appointments, curriculum and credit. We all believe, in principle, that an ROTC program at Columbia is an appropriate educational responsibility of the university."
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Michael Adler (School of Business)
Mark H. Anders (Earth and Environmental Sciences)
James H. Applegate (Astronomy, and co-chair of the 2005 University Senate committee on ROTC)
Richard T. Betts (Political Science)
Paul Duby (School of Engineering)
Eugene Galanter (Psychology, Emeritus)
Kenneth T. Jackson (History)
Mark Kesselman (Political Science, Emeritus)
Robert A. McCaughey (History, Barnard, author of Columbia history Stand Columbia)
Letty Moss-Salentijn (College of Dental Medicine)
Richard M. Pious (Political Science, Barnard)
Robert Y. Shapiro (Political Science, Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP))
Allan Silver (Sociology)