Though this weekend many of your fellow Americans will be doing such celebratory things as eating hamburgers in an outdoors setting and watching fireworks, we know that 1. it is hot out, 2. many of you are vegetarians, and 3. there's an argument to be made that if you've seen one firework, you've seen 'em all. With that in mind, here's an alternative Movie Rental Guide to the Weekend that is both indoors and firework-free. And as always, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments.

For the History Buffs: John Adams (2008)

This weekend, America is turning 232, making it just slightly older than the Columbia College website. Traditionally, Americans celebrate their country's birthday by cooking meat on grills outdoors and then watching fireworks. For this week's Guide to the Weekend, we've consolidated a few events that will give you the opportunity to do just that.

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular; 9PM
Prime Viewing Spots: Manhattan: East River Park, South Street Seaport, FDR Drive between 14th and 42nd Streets; Brooklyn: Greenpoint, Empire Fulton Derry State Park (in DUMBO), Brooklyn Heights Promenade

Brooklyn Independence Day Parade; Between 66th and 86th Streets on 13th Ave in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
Head to 66th Street in Dyker Height's for the 103rd Annual Independence Day Parade! Who knew Brooklyn had a 66th Street? Featuring classic parade staples like floats and veteran marching bands.

Today, the Village Voice ran the first part of a billion part article that's something like the definitive account of everything that happened surrounding Madonna Constantine. You might recall October's noose-hanging incident and the whole multiple charges of plagiarism thing, for example. Anyway, we've distilled everything that's new and important in the article in easy-to-digest bullet points below (Spoiler Alert: She plagiarized.)

• "As many as 10 people complained about Constantine over several years, and these sources say the college did little to intervene."
• "Constantine attempted to silence her accusers in the spring of 2007 by sending them letters threatening to sue unless they dropped their claims. She used college stationery and the college mailing account."
• "Despite [former student Karen Cort's] accusation [of plagiarism], Constantine never pursued official sanctions. Instead, as punishment, she ordered Cort to cancel plans for the January break and come to her office. Constantine had her mark each book in her office with the professor's stamp. The shelves in the office held hundreds of books. The job took several days to complete."
• This particular plagiarized text was a second-year research paper written by the aforementioned former student, Karen Cort. Constantine told Cort to list Constantine's name as the primary researcher, despite Cort actually writing and researching the paper. For whatever reason, Cort agreed.
  
  (Read more...)

You might recall that awhile back a famed street artist drew Hillary Clinton's face on the sidewalk in front of Citibank. She looked stupendous, and our artist left in his wake promises of two additional portraits to come, namely those of Barack Obama and John McCain. Well Columbia, we are thrilled to report that for Mr. Obama, that time has come. Well, nearly -- the forehead might need some shading in. But oh, he is a masterpiece and a fine addition to sidewalk in front of the Citibank.

Meet Graciela Chichilnisky, an econ professor who was just awarded a $200,000 settlement from Columbia, which is roughly the amount of your tuition or any one product from Nussbaum & Wu. She has been suing Columbia on and off since 1990 (back when some of you Terrible 12s weren't even born!), claiming gender discrimination and unequal pay, claims that were also previously settled in 1995 for $500,000. As a result of the earlier suit, Chichilnisky's salary was raised from $60,000 to $110,000.

So then, in 2000, Chichilnisky stopped teaching math and started working exclusively in the econ. department because Columbia was terminating the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization, which she had chaired. She found that her office in the Mathemetics building was hers no longer. "It's almost impossible to believe this is happening," she told Spec. "The destruction and removal of one's office space, without notice is like a violation of one's physical space." Columbia repsponded that the school is crunched for space and that Chichilnisky wasn't making full use of her math office.

She filed another lawsuit claiming that her pay was less than that of her male counterparts, and that in dismantling her office, Columbia "has retaliated against her by breaching the terms of the settlement." In turn, Columbia filed counterclaims, charging that Chichilnisky had a secret second job -- she was the founder and CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation -- and that she never disclosed that to anyone in Low. According to CU, this was a breach of the previous settlement agreement.

Smoke, heroism and disappointment cloud EC and its environs! Eyewitness report from Bwogger John Klopfer:

"Minutes ago, outside of the Center for Career Education on Morningside Drive, a loud whoomph was heard and the smell of gas filled the Columbia University Tutoring and Translating Agency. Alarmed students poured out of its offices as flames shot six feet into the air through the hood of a taxicab parked just outside. The driver valiantly fought the flames with a small extinguisher, which availed him little. Within minutes, no fewer than three fire engines arrived on the scene. As bored firemen bandied about their axes and neighborhood children looked on in awe, the first engine's hose was brought to finish the job. Now, the driver is standing by his car making phone calls, looking disappointed as the fire crews roll out."

Photo by Sam Reisman

An anonymous Bwog tipster has forwarded us the following farewell email, which details the departure of Dr. Ajay Nair (right), Associate Dean of Student Affairs/Office of Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Nair will be returning to UPenn (where he was Director of the Pan-Asian American Community House) to serve as Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs.

So say hello to new (but interim) Associate Dean of Student Affairs for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Melinda Aquino. (That's her on the left.) You might remember Aquino from her position as Senior Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs. According to the OMA website, Aquino has previously worked at the University of Florida, the University of Miami, and Washington Sq.-based archenemy NYU. Also, "her current work examines cultural hybrity and 'techo-Orientalism' in cyborg science fiction literature and films."

Email after the jump.

Bwog tipster Sara Vogel informs us that Robert Thurman, professor of Buddhist studies and relative of all sorts of famous people, is this week's New York Times Magazine "Questions For..." interviewee. In the interview, Thurman talks about why the Dalai Lama never comes over to hang out anymore, totally disses Slavoj Zizek, and also at one point says, "I meditate on how Dick Cheney was my mother in a previous life and nursed me at his breast." (Impromptu Photoshop contest: if you send us an image of Thurman suckling at the teat of our Vice President, we will include it in this post.)

For more of the Robert Thurman interview experience, check out the Blue and White's October Conversation.

UPDATE 12:06 AM: A treasure arrives in our inbox, from Photoshop hero Jon Hill:

(Hello, Daily Intelligencer!)

Other than the economy and the presidential candidates and of course, IvyGate's triumphant return, the big news story of the week was the Supreme Court, which handed down a number of controversial decisions, from issues concerning the death penalty to the Second Amendment. For those of you want more of a judiciary fix, here are some weekend rentals from Film Rental Correspondent Brandon Hammer to satisfy your palate.

The History Buffs: Inherit the Wind (1960)

Based on the play of the same title, Inherit the Wind is the dramatized story of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, in which John Thomas Scopes was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution. The case created such hype that it drew two of the most famous lawyers of the time, three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Though all of the names are changed (Bryan becomes Matthew Harrison Brady while Darrow is changed to Drummond), the story is nonetheless an interesting examination of the conflict between those who have very different views of the governing principles of the United States. Moreover, despite the film's age, its subject matter -- from what it is acceptable to teach in school, to how two friends can maintain their relationship amid social and political competition, to the battle between urban and rural -- is still quite relevant.

Hey jobless alumni, why so glum? With your Columbia degree, the world is at your fingertips: first phone sex operating ("executive stress relief"), and now digital entrepreneurship. Bwog caught up with Kareem Shaya, former Fed editor-in-chief and inventor of famous website Send Barack Your Baby, which lately has gotten all sorts of attention from the rest of the internet, namely Gawker and CNN.

The website provides an opportunity for parents to ship their children in boxes to Illinois so that they might be kissed by a certain other Columbia grad. Except it doesn't actually, which is why the slideshow of Obama-supporting babies features no baby-in-box pictures, to remind us it's only a joke and that babies can't even vote.

One newsanchor in the CNN video also cautions us not to send an actual infant but "if you do, be sure to use bubble wrap." At which point she suffocates a doll with bubble wrap and sticks it in a carboard box. Mazel Tov Kareem!

The Associated Press is reporting that Robert Williams, the ex-convict charged with torturing and raping a Journalism School student last year was found guilty of 44 of 46 counts.

For further details -- though Bwog warns that it's extremely disturbing -- the New York Times has a detailed summation of the events of the 19-hour torture session.

Gather round Columbia, it's time to re-welcome IvyGate into our browsers and into our hearts. Naturally, it has returned dressed to the nines, with a new WordPress redesign and fresh-faced summer editors. Bwogger Justin Vlasits favors the mouse over chalk-underlines in the new masthead (see above), while a Yalie friend of Bwog noticed that clicking on the chalky names re-directs readers to posts about that school.

Now let's meet the man and woman behind the summer incarnation of IvyGate 2.0. Why look, it's hometown favorite Nina Shield (BC '07), and some rising sophomore from Harvard. After introducing herself, Shield puts together a nice little wrap-up of all Vag-related happenings. She is the first Columbian to helm the good ship IvyGate since the legendary days of Chris Beam and Nick Summers. (Oh, and Andrew Nusca, a former summer editor, was a J-Schooler.) Go Lions.

Conn Corrigan, a J-School grad writing for the New York Sun, is reporting that Madonna Constantine, she of noose-hanging incident and now-confirmed plagiarism fame, is being suspended indefinitely from Teachers College after an investigation concluded that despite her claims to the contrary, she did, in fact, plagiarize the works of two former doctoral candidates and a former colleague. Letter sent to TC faculty and obtained by the Sun after the jump.

The New York Times is reporting that the J-School received a 5 million-dollar gift today from one Mr. Leonard Tow, a Columbia grad whom the Times identifies as "a former chief executive of Citizens Communications, and Century Communications" as well as a philanthropist -- and how!

Tow is hoping that his $5 million will aid J-Schoolers in figuring out how to save the dying newspaper business by attaining Internet-savvy. (Hint: stop printing newspapers on paper.) Tow also explains that he was annoyed at Harvard and its fancy "Internet institute" because it was much better than Columbia at teaching grad students how to publish things online.

Tow also donated $3 million to the CUNY J-School to create the Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation, which will focus on research and development. Funds at Columbia will be centered around training J-Schoolers in "digital media." What exactly can 5 million buy these days? Accoring to J-School dean Nicholas B. Lemann: "two professors in new media" and "a curriculum that may include data-driven reporting and software design for news organizations."

According to Editor & Publisher, CUNY will have to match the donation through fund raising in order to receive it. Columbia will have to do the same, but it will have to double Tow's donation and fund raise $10 million.

During the onslaught of the academic year, many students forgo newly released books for required reading or problem sets, making summer the perfect time to catch up on leisure reading. In a menial attempt to recapture the spirit of the literary salons during the 17th and 18th century, Bwog is introducing a book club for the summer. Though the internet pales in comparison with actual conversation, we are hoping to create an open space to foster thought and discussion.

All Bwog readers are welcome to participate. There will be a post in advance announcing the next selection. Generally, the works will be either contemporary fiction or nonfiction. The actual Book Club will take form as a dialogue between our two reviewers, Lucy Tang and Pierce Stanley, and the comments thread will allow readers to contribute to with questions or criticism or even a book suggestion. Because the book club is still in its nascence, nothing is concrete, and the more feedback, the better.

We have chosen The Mayor's Tongue to inaugurate this summer. The Mayor's Tongue is the debut from Nathaniel Rich, an editor at The Paris Review. There's been a lot of hubbub surrounding The Mayor's Tongue, because Rich hails from a literary lineage--his father is Frank Rich, the New York Times columnist, and brother Simon Rich is a well-established humor writer--and The Mayor's Tongue will determine if the legacy lives on. The book offers two narratives, related but never intertwined. The first sees Eugene Brentani, a young man obsessed with renowned author Constance Eakins, running off to Italy for the daughter of Eakins' biographer. The second narrative features Mr. Schmitz, a much older man, who loses his wife and struggles to maintain normalcy with his best friend Rutherford.

Take some time this weekend to open up The Mayor's Tongue and join us in a few days for our discussion. It's a fast read, we promise.