Current-founder Bari Weiss, CC '07, writes in the (possibly ill-fated) New York Sun today about the 19 incoming Columbia GS first-years who had previously served in the Armed Forces.

(According to Weiss, GS's founding in 1947 was created in part to respond to the high numbers of ex-soldiers returning from WWII.)

Weiss spoke to a number of the 19 first-years about the differences between military life and academic life, and reactions range from confident about success ("You sit down next to these girls who are 18 years old and they've got plastic jewelry from Claire's and they're trying to understand the rise and fall of the USSR. They can do it; but we've seen dictators rise and fall") to thankful for the ability to appreciate the civilian life: "I'm just happy to be alive. I'm ecstatic here."

You still have an hour and a half left in the activities fair! Hurry up before all the snacks run out (SGB is still serving samoosas and chicken wings, for those out to ruin their diets). Feel free to refer to the following extremely approximate cartogram for locations, and see highlights after the jump.

Bwog hauled herself out of bed at an ungodly hour this morning to lie in wait for PrezBo as he ran, preceded by two Amazonian bodyguards, in the midst of hundreds all looking around for their leader. It looks like he may have had as rough a night as anyone there.

More photos after the jump!

Political clubs pay attention to politics!

Lauren Salz...she's everywhere!

The Hawkmadinejads will take care of this

JShap rides off into the sunset to bright new career as a lounge singer

Political science becomes even less of a real field

Last night (tonight?) at the intersection of Broadway and West End, friends of the Kitchen Cabinet, Raul, and the Ceiling packed into a room scarcely larger than a Carman double to witness an unlikely succession of bluegrass and rock that satisfied every taste and craving. Perched on a table, Bwog tapped her toe to the lyrical stylings of campus character Ashraya Gupta and covered her ears to the cacophony of the former Wizards of the Coast.

So college, and yet so glorious.

It's a phenomenon almost as annoying as having to re-enter your SSOL password when you leave it alone for more than 3 minutes: rising prices at campus eateries.

So far, Bwog tipsters and staff have seen price hikes at many campus eateries. Offenders include Ferris Booth, which, in addition to replacing the popular stir fry station with a taco bar, has raised prices at several of their other stations.

At $7, Ferris and 212 sushi, for example, will now set you back more than many supermarkets in the area (M2M sells it for about $4). Cafe 212 has also raised its prices on sandwiches, and they've also stopped selling sunflower seeds, which Bwog considers a travesty.

Finally, Butler's Blue Java has, as our tipster put it, "coffee now priced at Starbucks levels, pastries even higher." If you've heard of other places, on-campus or off-campus, raising (or lowering!) their prices, let us know at bwgossip@columbia.edu or in the comments.

How to lose friends and alienate people

Oh Sarah Palin, is there anything to which you are not tangentially relevant?

The first of a two-part series on truck-based dessert foods.

Reading doesn't count unless someone sees you doing it.

Why try to forget about all the fun stuff you missed out on when you could relive the disappointment?

eyePod!

It's Activities Day time! Today and for the next several weeks, Columbia's panoply of clubs, societies, associations, teams, groups, organizations, and alliances will compete for your attention and allegiance. Explore and ask questions, but beware the listserv: you'll spend the next four years trying to get off. We've done a bit of the legwork for you. The first part covers political and media groups.

N.B. We have not included every club that ever existed, only the ones we find worthy of note. We make no claims to be fair or balanced.

"The Chattering Class" (Media)

• Columbia Television (CTV) - While CTV is mostly an opportunity for aspiring newscasters to play with expensive equipment, CTV has had some high points in recent years: a video that made national news�over and over and over�as well as arguably one of the most awkward sitcoms in Ivy League history.
  
• WKCR-FM (Columbia University Radio) -- WKCR is as old and venerable as the people who listen to it--we don't know who they are, but there's apparently enough of them for the station to have its own SDA staff member.
  
• The Birch -- Columbia's Slavic journal, which enjoyed a high point in the time of Vaclav Havel, is perhaps the greatest manifestation of Eastern Bloc pride you'll find in Morningside.
  
• The Blue and White -- Only the best monthly undergraduate magazine printed in blue ink on campus. The B&W started this humble blog in 2006, and the brother-sister publications feed off each other in a healthy symbiosis. Both are always recruiting people who like words, pictures, and advertising.
  
• Columbia Daily Spectator -- With airy third floor offices next to the Heights and a million dollar budget, the Spec is a venerable institution and a good place to learn the journalistic trade. If you decide to join, make sure to keep your friends who don't -- Spec tends to suck away social lives and slay GPAs faster than you can say "dead tree". Decide quickly, though, since newspapers may not be around when you graduate.
  
  (Read more...)

While the campus prepares for the visit of the two presidential candidates, students have already gotten started on the fall election. the College Democrats, MSA, and Free Culture are co-sponsoring a campus-wide voter registration initiative, modeled on the popular CUAssassins game that every year afflicts students with amusingly high levels of paranoia. Teams of students will compete to register as many students as possible, with the overall goal being "100% registration of the entire freshman class, and anyone else who isn't registered." The three teams with the most registrants receive "significant cash prizes."

The clubs have partnered with well-known off-campus organizations such Rock the Vote, HeadCount, Mobilize.Org, and the League of Women Voters. Dems Lead Activist Jenna Hovel also told Bwog that members from many other campus political groups, including CQA, BSO, and the Asian-American Alliance, are involved, though the boards have not officially co-sponsored it (yet). Frankly, though, Bwog just wants to see the Assassins-esque "kill stories."

To register your team, e-mail ac.cudems@gmail.com.

Don't fret, readers: you now have a chance to get tickets for the McCain - Obama forum! In an email sent just before noon, President Bollinger officially announced the details for the event and ticket process behind it. All one has to do is register online here between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. tomorrow (Friday). Winners will be notified on Monday.

As for the odds, it appears that almost every Columbia student is eligibile, and preliminary reports indicate that, this time, all the schools have actually recieved the email before tickets disappear. Furthermore, a senior administration official tells Bwog that not all the remaining tickets will go towards students. In other words, the percent chances are almost certainly in the single digits.

For those of you who don't get a ticket, "alternative viewing options for those unable to attend are being arranged." Full email is below the jump.

Everybody will read today's issue for some forum. But there is other news, apparently:

Madonna Constantine refuses to go away.

How quickly could you construct a "Vag?"

Professors aren't gods? Whaaat?

Already tired of New York clubs? Some months-old options.

Well, they moved quickly this time. As we wrote about before, the announcement of a joint appearance by Obama and McCain on campus next Thursday took student government and group leaders completely by surprise.

Just before midnight, though, the presidents of the student councils, club governing boards, and Panhellenic councils have sent an email to President Lee Bollinger, as well as fellow administrators interim Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger, Executive Vice President for Student Services Jeffrey Scott, and Housing & Dining Vice President Scott Wright.

The email asks for two accomodations: "a fair share of the tickets made available are apportioned to undergraduates" and "arrangements, similar to those made for the Ahmadinejad visit, should be made for all students, including but not limited to the installation of a large screen on South Lawn." In other words, "make sure everyone gets an equal chance at tickets, and give us another jumbotron." The full letter will be printed in Thursday's Spectator, but you can save yourself from waiting outside a residence hall until noon and just read it below the fold.

Holy shit.

Spec is reporting that the candidates will speak on behalf of ServiceNation, an organization that aims to increase public service participation.

We're trying to figure out whether the event is open to students, and will be updating as we do.

According to the NonProfit Times, 500 seats have already been filled: "500 supporters are expected at the event in New York City. On September 12, leaders representing many sectors of American life will convene to ratify a Declaration of Service and to draw national attention to the platform of ServiceNation." Roone's seating capacity is 1,500.

UPDATE 8:17 PM: Infuriatingly vague news about ticketing in PrezBo's mass email: "Given our limited space, we will ensure that all seating available goes to students in our University community. Students will receive a follow-up email tomorrow with details regarding how to register for the ticket lottery." (full e-mail after the jump).

UPDATE 9:45 PM: The major political campus groups seem to have been completely blindsided by the announcement as well--the College Democrats were just beginning their freshman open house when they got the news, and the packed Broadway room gasped in unison when President Chris Daniels dropped the bomb at the end of his speech. The Dems may ask for a Jumbotron screen on one of the lawns, a la Ahmadinejad last year. Outside the Broadway room, Bwog hailed a rushing CCSC President George Krebs, who said he just heard about it and would be meeting with administration to discuss particulars tomorrow.

Columbia Political Union head Nick Shea said he also found out like everyone else, and that the group will likely plan "one or more events around the same time as the McCain/Obama event." The College Republicans' Executive Director Lauren Salz have not yet responded to inquiries says that the CUGOP "did not hear about Obama and McCain coming until the Spectator asked me for a comment. I think it's amazing that both candidates are going to share the stage at Columbia. We don't have any events planned right now, but if we do plan events, they are not going to be partisan in nature. It's September 11th, and the theme of the event is public service and non partisanship, so we will not be holding any sort of rally in support of McCain."