Wall Street Indiscreet
One Student Dissects Gordon Gekko
i-bankers don’t call it “i-banking.”
Roughly 20 minutes into our interview, that’s what Paul Owen told me. I had been excited to interview Owen, CC ’07, a campus celebrity and well-known partyer. Even before signing his $145,000 deal with a major bulge bracket investment bank, Owen was living a life most others could only envy: a member of one of the “athlete” frats (though not an athlete himself) and, if Facebook photos are to be trusted, the recipient of no small amount of attention from females.
I thought I was playing it cool by calling…
Letter From the Editor
Following the Daily News’ “exposé” on Columbia’s “playpen for sexual hijinks,” Ann Coulter told Fox News in late November that the students whose privacy was invaded were “probably not lookers.”
I am an avowed supporter of Coulter—not that she’d ever accept my crypto-Jewish sympathy. When she declares that Columbia, as a microcosm of liberal culture, is “coarsening the culture and trying to make all of us like, you know, one step above the heifers,” I listen.
In a June editorial, the LA Times scribe Meghan Daum defended Ann Coulter as a satirist in the tradition…
A Final Visit to Harlem
Mr. Dynamite Returns One Last Time to His Old Stompin' Grounds
Before going to his final resting place in Georgia, James Brown made one last stop in Harlem. A white, horse-drawn carriage brought Brown’s body to be laid out in an open casket at the Apollo Theater on 125th Street. But hours before, the street filled with residents and fans. The viewing lasted well over 12 hours. While vendors hawked T-shirts, mourners danced to Brown’s hits in storefronts.
It is this dynamic cultural landscape—this ability to find joy even in mourning—that was perhaps under-explored in the countless eulogies of Brown. Harlem had a special, formative relationship with the…
Ask Socrates
Dear Socrates,
My best friend recently got engaged to a man she’s been dating for seven months. He’s a great guy, but he wants her to skip law school so she can move to Boston with him and start a family. I’m not the only one of her friends who thinks she’s making a big mistake. How do I approach her about this?
— Confused and Concerned
Dear Confused,
What is it to approach one’s friend?
Dear Socrates,
My son came home yesterday with a pierced ear.…
Battle for Our Borders
Construction to begin on wall between Columbia and Barnard
The debate over the relationship between Barnard and Columbia took a major turn on Wednesday with the an-nouncement that the University will begin building a wall across Broadway in February. President Bollinger de-scribed this as “a necessary step in preserving Columbia culture from foreign influences.”
The wall will extend from 120th Street to 114th, and Barnard students will need to apply for special papers to get across. The application process is expected to take three years. Columbia students will be allowed through with swipe access.
So far, Barnard administrators have not formally announced a policy…
Whose Mid-Life Crisis Is She?
When I saw Laurel Nakadate’s video art for the first time, I was most struck by a segment where she stands alone in a room, wearing a naughty French maid outfit and a defiant expression. A dog rushes into the frame and begins enthusiastically humping her leg. The scene was entirely fascinating. Since her first video installation, “I Wanna Be Your Mid-life Crisis” at Daniel Silverstein Gallery in 2002, Nakadate has steadily made a name for herself in the nebulous world of video art, most prominently romancing lonely middle-aged male strangers on-screen. This autumn, her efforts have shown at…
Born to Party, Willing to Work?
Columbia Professor Takes a Closer Look at the Regrets of College Students
While their most well known collaboration undoubtedly remains the United States’ Declaration of Independence, both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson also actively opposed procrastination, and their proverb “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today” continues to resonate today.
Parents endeavor to prevent their children from putting off chores, as educators insist that students not delay their homework, and as corporate executives repeatedly encourage employees to complete tasks ahead of time: everyone is trying to get things done, and the secret of getting ahead is getting started.
“Hyperopia” has long been a synonym…
Columbia’s Warrior
CC 'O6 Goes to Iraq
As the sun sets over Manhattan, it rises over Iraq and the head of one of Columbia’s own: First Lieutenant Josh Arthur, CC ‘04. He is an infantry officer. And he is in Iraq.
Most days are routine, really—another patrol around western Baghdad, maybe some paperwork for the higher ups, and of course, seeing to the needs of his men. Yes, they are his men. He leads a platoon of a few dozen soldiers—grunts, really—and he is responsible for their lives. He has to make sure that they don’t die, that they kill when they have to,…
Letters From Baghdad
Our First Dispatch From the Front Line
November 25, 2006
Find Baghdad International Airport on a map, and my unit is in the first built-up areas just to the east and northeast. The area is almost exclusively Sunni. It was once somewhat more mixed, with perhaps as much as 30 percent of the population being Shia. But as a result of the recent sectarian violence you’ve probably heard about, Shias are either leaving the neighborhood voluntarily or departing this world very involuntarily. The stories in the media of sectarian violence are absolutely true, and they probably aren’t overstated.
By far…
Winter’s Forbidden Fruits
Citrus provides more than just a shot of vitamin C in the winter.
By December, silhouettes of Christmas trees loom visibly in living room windows. The crisp scent of fresh pine needles wafts throughout the neighborhood, ideally under a blanket of white snow.
That is, of course, if you are from New York. Louisiana celebrates a very different Christmas. They have their Christmas trees, but the branches sport leaves instead of needles, and juicy oranges dangle in lieu of glittery ornaments.
Pine trees only arrived in this southern state in the 20th century. Louisianians housed dwarf citrus plants, which then conveniently produced their own ornaments. But why fruit…
No Stress for the Curly Tress
After a long and congested drive downtown, the first thing I noticed at Devachan Salon was the group of three women behind the counter. The beautiful heads of black, red, and blond curls proved an auspicious sign for what was to be my first experience at this salon for the curly-haired.
Located in the trendy but often overbearing environs of SoHo, the salon’s unique interior is the perfect match for its neighborhood. Set in the basement of 560 Broadway, Devachan is a spacious white room, divided into sections by white mesh that hangs from the ceiling, pulled…
Best Buys
Smoking bunnies, stoned teddy bears, and dopey frosted donuts are only some of the corrupted innocents found in the twisted, satirical collections of Kidrobot. Founded in 2002 by designer Paul Budnitz, Kidrobot does not sell, as the name might suggest, electronic toys for minors. Instead it features limited-edition street art, collectible toys, and apparel.
Still not interested? The “toys” are designed by artists and graffiti writers including Michael Lau, Frank Kozik, and Tristan Eaton, and have even included collaborations with New York fashion designer Keanan Duffty. These precious objects range in price from $4 to $400, with…
Children’s Hope Carries Film in 2006
Teenage queens, super spies, pedophiles, and fauns unite to form the year's best in movies
Criticism is a subjective business, but mediocrity affects us all equally. The smug production of adequacy has, over the course of our short lifetimes, become a livelihood for many (anyone involved with Night at the Museum) and an accepted burden for millions more (um, me). So as redundant and arbitrary as these annual lists are, anointing the bravest and most exciting works of a medium that is being driven into the ground is something of a public service. So without further ado, on with the superlatives and hyperbole!
13. BRICK – A bafflingly assured debut, Rian Johnson’s…
A Place in the Sundance
With 15 films screening at the prestigious festival, film at Columbia has never looked better
Venice may hold the world’s oldest film festival, and Cannes’ may be the most fashionable, but it is Park City, Utah, that hosts the largest independent film festival in the United States. And this year, a sizable Columbia contingent is making the trip. The Sundance Film Festival will screen an unprecedented 15 films made by University students and alumni, including five dramatic features, one documentary, and nine shorts.
The filmmakers faced tough competition just to have their films screened. This year, only 122 feature films were selected from more than 3,000 submissions. Newcomers abound, due in part…
DVD Double Feature
Watch these films together! "Deliverance" (1972) and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (2006)
If you ever needed a warning against vacations in the rural South, this week’s movies will scare you straight back into the loving bosom of your harsh, urban metropolis. While adventures through the backwoods might seem like a good way to get closer to your friends, it seems that weapon-wielding, inbred maniacs will usually appear to ruin your fun. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning tells the ambitious story of the rise of Leatherface before he even had the mask of human skin that gave him his proper name. Four teens make the mistake of taking a road trip…