Overheards
out at columbia
By Carla Vass
Print“Hey, can I get your number? But really quickly, because I’m actually on a date right now.”
—Guy to girl at Canons
Man at urinal #1: I’d like to smack the motherfucker who invented the button fly.
Man at urinal #2: Seriously. He clearly wasn’t a drinker.
Man at urinal #1: It’s just so selfish.
5 March 2009
vol. 6, issue 6
More FEATURES
The author of Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Imagination talks about hippos, ducks, and the implications of choreographed animation.
By Zach Dyer
Zach Dyer talks to Mark Doty, who made history as the first American to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, about New York City's power as a muse.
By Zach Dyer
Zach Dyer interviews Neil Gamon, author of Coraline and The Graveyard Book, as well as writing, in some form, the script for movies Beowulf, Stardust, and the movie version of Coraline.
By Zach Dyer and Carla Vass
Zach Dyer and Andy Ross discuss OK Go’s politically active projects and, shockingly, why Music Hum may not be a huge waste of time.
By Zach Dyer
Melanie Jones talks to Katrina Steinmetz about the growth of dance music, holding down multiple jobs, and why she's creeped out about "settling down."
Zach Dyer talks with the executive director of Poets House, one of the largest public collections of poetry in the United States.
By Zach Dyer
Meredith Perry chats with Glen Lowry, the executive director, about running MoMA and gearing it toward a younger audience.
Zach Dyer interviews long-time freelance writer Moira McCormick about the death of the industry and the downfall of print media.
By Zach Dyer
The Eye sits down with Joanne Abbot Green to discuss her role as parent to the Marathon and the one place in music where money isn’t a concern.
By Zach Dyer
The Eye sits down with DJ Earworm to talk about music theory, copyright, and the problem of profit.
By Zach Dyer
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic tells the Eye how she created a jaw bone joint from bone marrow stem cells.
By Zach Dyer
Professor Randall Balmer talks about the difference between bias and balance and why he won’t be taking the Pope up on his offer.
Scott Maxfield, president of Delta Sigma Phi, the largest fraternity on campus, discusses "debunking the myth" of Greek life and what it means to be a fraternity in New York City.
By Zach Dyer
Melanie Jones and Canby discuss matrimonial law, women’s place in the courts, and how it’s all changing.
Most New Yorkers are caught up in the city’s constant buzz, but Christopher Thomas is obsessed with capturing its hidden tranquility.
SIPA grad explores chinese-taiwanese-american relationship through film
By Tala Akhavan
Rajiv Lalla journeys to "Sports City" and meets an undercover officer on his way through Jordan.
By Rajiv Lalla
The most creative, ridiculous, and stupid wireless Internet names at Columbia.
If you have seen the macabre thriller Hostel—which I stupidly watched the night before leaving for Prague—you understand the chills that ran down my spine as my taxi from the airport pulled up to the gloomy Hostel Propoka...
By Nishi Kumar
Everyone loves a good doomsday scenario. When scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, located in Geneva, switched on their new multibillion dollar particle accelerator in September, the “End of Days” crowd found brief vindication. A headline in The Sun, a British newspaper, read: “The End of World Due in 9 Days.”
1. His support for our troops 2. His good rapport with the locals 3. His arsenal of well-crafted metaphors
On Thursday, Feb. 12, PBS NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa, BC ’84, and star Sunita Rathore joined the Columbia community to view the documentary Child Brides: Stolen Lives. Produced by PBS, the film showcases a study of Northern India, Niger, and Guatemala—three countries where girls are forced into marriage, in some cases as early as three or four years old...
By Jon Coico
• At least two people die every year from vending machines falling on them. • The oldest known goldfish lived to 41 years of age. Its name was Fred. • Someone who is obese has a 250% chance of surviving in a car crash compared to someone underweight, or of “normal” weight...
By Carla Vass
Tess Rankin watches a dubbed Home Improvement and smells the orange blossoms in Granada, a province in the autonomous region of Andalusia, Spain.
By Tess Rankin
An examination of the origins of some oft-used, not-so-oft examined phrases (Courtesy of Wordorigins.org and the Oxford English Dictionary).
By Carla Vass
One man realizes the advantages of an iPhone in public places.
By Carla Vass
Ted Griswold explores El Nariz del Diablo and drinks some fruit nectar on his first days in Ecuador.
By Ted Griswold
Sarah Tuttle is part of Team FIREBall, which studies the hot gas that exists between galaxies in space using (what else?) hot air balloons.
By Carla Vass
Valentine's Day Across the Globe
Singaporeans, Chinese, and South Koreans spend the most money on Valentine’s Day gifts worldwide. In Japan, it has become an obligation for many women to give chocolates to all male co-workers. Men return the favor on March 14, “White Day,” handing out white chocolates, lingerie, and jewelry to friends and loved ones...
By Carla Vass
Teen Depression vs. the Great Depression
There’s depression, and then there’s Teen Depression (you know who you are, Peter Petrelli look-a-likes). Teen Depression can, like, totally suck, especially if you’re marooned in the god-foresaken suburbs...
“Hey, can I get your number? But really quickly, because I’m actually on a date right now.” —Guy to girl at Canons
By Carla Vass
Tess Rankin, studying in Granada, discovers that being grown-up is just a plane ride (and a few continents) away.
By Tess Rankin
Briana Fasone gets the "university experience"... and realizes she'd be better off at Columbia.
A recent anthropological discovery may boost interest in Columbia's fledging linguistics program.
By Philip Crone
Carla Vass ponders the value of Columbia as a school and as a name brand.
By Carla Vass
Neferti Tadiar, from the Center for the Critical Analysis of Social Difference, explains why splitting up issues of race, gender, and sexuality from each other is a mistake.
By Victoria Fox and Carla Vass
Nishi Kumar learns that in order to immerse herself in Czech culture, the best plan is to travel.
By Nishi Kumar
Rajiv Lalla gets first-hand experience of one of the costs of ignoring gay rights in Jordan.
By Rajiv Lalla
Professor Niall Bolger explores why couples are allegedly healthier, wealthier, and happier than singles.
By Jia Ahmad
Josephine Ruiz-Healy examines our paradoxically lazy obsession with speed, from abbreviations to the iPhone.
A look at sisterly love (and other four letter words).
The film
By Carla Vass
Tess Rankin takes a pilgrimage to Galicia and discovers the frustration of language "registers."
By Tess Rankin
Gaela Braun discovers meditation and salvages her sanity in the process.
By Gaela Braun
Ted Griswold learns how Ecuador's indigenous populations are fighting to save their cultures.
By Ted Griswold
How Columbia's Dr. Firestein is using olfaction to unlock the secrets of the mind
One student discovers that making the transition to college is especially difficult as a foreign student
One student discovers that returning to America after living in Italy is not so easy.
Dr. Darcy Kelley studies tree-frogs in order to better understand vocal communication
Our study abroad correspondent reflects on her past few months in Prague, including why she is no longer surprised by being served beer with breakfast.
By Nishi Kumar
Painful Omissions From Butler Video
Some movies you'll really miss on a Friday night...
A brief and very unscientific rundown of who was watching on Monday night.
By Evan Omi
Greetings, children! A brief Q and A with your favorite GS student.
A Layman’s Guide to Vampire Weekend’s New Single, “Horchata”
Because not everyone can graduate from Columbia with a B.A. in comp lit.
By Evan Omi
I’d Like To Thank Manhattanville
A theoretical noble acceptance speech by Lee Bollinger.
By Jon Kaplan
Americans find “whatever” to be the most annoying word in conversation; what ticks off Columbians?
A proposal for the Columbia School of Mixology that would make Jake Gyllenhaal proud.
Whether you’re trying to create new memories or relive those that already exist, the following series of special Morningside Heights dining experiences will maximize your chances of sentimentalism this fall.
By Tony Gong
We wonder how CC thinkers would have developed if their philosophical dialogues had to be conducted over Internet messageboards.
Columbians take culturally relevant Halloween costumes to a whole new level.
Mike is Carman’s smooth talking, music-loving security guard who swipes the IDs of hundreds of first-years with a smile and a fist-bump.
How many Columbians actually used the break to fulfill their civic duties?
An older and wiser student offers his take on the smoking ban and the Northwest Corner Building.
By Doug Hill
Just in case your T.A. tells you the Black Eyed Peas "might" be on midterm
By Hannah Yudkin and Betsy Morais
Top five most awkward places around campus to run into someone you haven’t seen in awhile
By Tony Gong
Finals season is upon us, but have no fear! The Eye is here with some tips to help you cope.
One writer, three concerts, the ultimate hipster ethnographic expedition.
By Julia Miller
The first weekend back, students were unable to cite “five essays and 800 pages of reading” to keep them from going out. Phones all over campus recorded the evidence.
Turning on, tuning in, and rocking out is a college tradition. This week, editors reveal what’s they've been listening to.
Wanna take a spin on the new websensation chatroulette? Keep these rules in mind.
Snow storms are fun, but isolating friends isn't. Make sure to pick your snow battles this winter.
By Paul Hsiao
Taking the Guggenheim by Storm
Three fellowship recipients talk about their projects and passions.
By Jia Ahmad
The Veritas Forum reveals the ugly truth about modern-day human trafficking.
By Phil Crone
The debate over Google Books reaches Columbia.
By Moses Nakamura, Lucy Sun, and Jia Ahmad
Columbia's Philosophy Outreach program teaches high schoolers around the city.
By Phil Crone
A Columbia geophysics professor builds a device that can take carbon right out of the air.
Professor Monica Miller explores the role of fashion the black diasporic identity.
Professor Monica Miller's new book explores the role of fashion in black diasporic identity.
A conference with Judith Butler, Robert Zimmer, David Bromwich, and Richard Shewder explores the purpose of academic freedom.
By Jia Ahmad, Nneka McGuire, and Nicholas Wong
What you might have missed in the Schools of Journalism, Business, and Medicine.
By Jia Ahmad
Literature professors at Columbia combine multiple disciplines to earn their Fellowships.
By Sarah Ngu, Paul Hsiao, and Jia Ahmad
Twenty years after Tiananmen Square, China has caught on to the internet revolution.
Anthropology professor Neni Panourgia explores scholarship in the digital age.
By Sarah Ngu
Seamus Heaney speaks on the surprisingly creative art of translating.
By Tucker Kuman
As midterms set in, the ethical implications of non-prescriptive drug use are brought to the forefront.
By Ren McKnight
The trouble with Cairo: too little space, too much to accomplish.
(I Wouldn't Live) Anywhere But Here
Perry finds Southern comfort in CU sorority life.
Students capture the activist spirit in Hyderabad.
By Hilary Krentzman and Anna Feuer
Channeling your inner kid between classes can be difficult at Columbia.
New Jersey offers all the cultural enrichment that Manhattan lacks.
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