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Vol. V, No. IV May 1999 Columbia College, New York, N Y

ON TEACHING ART COLUMBIA AND THE ARTS by Projessor Archie Rand a conversation with Dean Austin Quigley Also in this Number: History of the , Sex, Race and Art CONTENTS. 76 BLUE J 77 RANDOM THOUGHTS ON TEACHING ART 80 THE DISCOURSE-LOYERS 82 COLUMBIA CONVERSATIONS 85 HARK! HARK! THE LARK! 86 GIRL-. A FICTION 87 ODE TO SENIORS 88 CURIO COLUMBIANA 89 SEX, RACE AND ART: A REVIEW 91 THE JAZZ AGE 93 TOLD BETWEEN PUFFS 94 MEASURE FOR MEASURE 95 CAMPUS GOSSIP On the cover: “Campbell’s Condensed Blue & White,” by Katerina A. Barry. Covers of the BLUE & WHITE incorporate our ancient seal in an image illus­ trating our current theme. Ifyou are interested in contributing a future cover, please e-mail [email protected] THE BLUE AND WHITE

V o l . V . N e w Y o r k , M a y 1999 No. 4 effected by it. THE BLUE AND WHITE In this number, THE BLUE Sc WHITE COLUMBIA COLLEGE inhales a touch of the Columbian arts culture. N e w Y o r k , NY Archie Rand, professor of visual arts and artist, NOAM M. ELCOTT, C’OO Managing Editor lyrically communicates what is involved in M. TILGHMAN TREADWAY, C’OO Publisher teaching visual arts. For Archie, the art of teaching is intimately bound up in his own WRITING ASSOCIATES artistic practice, and so his story is personal. MATTHEW Z. RASCOFF, C’01 Art native to Columbia is found throughout CHARLES A. LONDON, C’02 these pages. Jane Chuang C’01 is feature in PUBLISHING ASSOCIATES Measurefor Measure and her short fiction Girl KATERINA A. BARRY, C’OO Production Mgr. also lurks about. EMMANUEL H. MARKS C’02 Random Thoughts on Teaching Art includes images—reproduced in the blue and white of CONTRIBUTORS The B&W—from the studio of Archie Rand. DEAN AUSTIN E. QUIGLEY Also present are reviews of Columbia’s own PROF. ARCHIE RAND art institutions—our quartet in residence and DAVID M. DAMAST C’99 the School of the Arts’s Master of Fine Arts JENNIFER F. GLASER C’OO thesis exhibition. ANNE-LISE PETERSON C’OO Finally, The B&W and individuals involved ALIZA PRESSMAN B’OO in the arts conversed with Dean Austin RACHEL E. ROBERTSON C’OO Quigley. Among the many issues covered, the MICHAEL SCHIRALDI E’OO Dean introduced the possibility of an integrat­ KATE J. GROSSMAN C’01 ed arts program. YAACOB H. DWECK C’02 § JANE CHUANG C’01 We continue to solicit your contributions: The Blue and White invites Columbia students Questions to Dean Quigley, Campus Gossip, to contribute original literary work and welcomes feature pieces. Upon returning from Summer letters from all our readers. Communications sojourns, The B&W will investigate Columbia should be addressed to the Managing Editor and international—studying abroad, vacation trav­ should be accompanied by the name of the . els, international students, and the various [email protected] Hauser, casas, and maisons where foreign cul­ ture can be imbibed. If you are interested in he arts touch us as do few contributing or just have some salacious gos­ other things. We spend sip, e-mail [email protected]. weeks preparing for “the § big show” or a few hours The Blue and White Writing Prize. Each year, checking it out. We witness The B&W will award a $100 cash prize to the yet another sunrise from author of the best piece published in its pages. behind our still half empty We invite, as always, your questions, thoughts canvases, manuscripts, compositions. On rare and observations. Only now, we are willing to occasions we display our work, view it, are pay.

75 BLUEJ. The Steps; class day address s graduation is fast upon us, it is time once at the class’s commencement will be truly com­ Aagain to give our farewells to another out­ mendable. standing Columbia class. Amidst the pomp and $ splendor of Class Day, the Blue J eagerly antic­ But when the Blue J rails against one tradi­ ipates the final sagacious words from the class tion he may simultaneously call for the rein­ o f‘99. statement of another. While basking in the sun And yet the speeches of graduation day, he watched the flocking masses of all walks of made by the Class President, the Salutatorian life come together on the Low Libraiy steps in and the Valedictorian, have not always been as a spring night’s dream as they danced to the insightful as one might hope. Considering the sounds of P-funk. For the Blue J, such a sight competition for grades at Columbia, the vale­ recalled fond memories of his own freshman dictorian, in order to have become the valedic­ year, when, after finally unpacking his belong­ torian, doubtless spent the vast majority of her ings and kissing his mother good-bye, he ven­ Columbia years tucked away in a cubbyhole at tured warily onto the steps where he was Buder, risking contact with the outside world immediately greeted by a stranger who, upon only when absolutely need be. This sacrifice to handing him a cold, malted beverage said, academic excellence should “Here’s a beer. What’s your name?” This, my of course be duly acknowl­ friends, is college. That edged, but does it qualify unequivocal mix of intense her to make a final speech intellectualism and ridicu­ which shall stand to repre­ lous revelry. Yet Columbia’s sent the class of ‘99 for all campus is in desperate want years hence? One year of for specific locations where recent past, our valedictori­ such congregations can an’s speech consisted of occur. Many a Columbian lamenting her lack of social past, ingenious as always, life combined with vitriolic solved this crisis by selecting words ‘gainst the parents the perfect venue for their who pushed her so hard. festivities: the Steps. As noted in a guidebook Surely this did not leave her class with the to New York, the perfect architecture of our warm feeling of closure which the institution magnificent Low Library Staircase puts it of the graduation speech propounds to pro­ along side the Spanish Steps as one of the vide. And why should it have? If the speaker is greatest in the world. Yet while the comparison not chosen based on her possession of speech- to the Spanish Steps may be apt in terms of giving virtues, who then can righdy expect a architecture, their is no competition in terms of good speech? Perhaps it is time to forego the jubilation. The administration has been so suc­ ancient valedictorian tradition and seek out a cessful in harassing students off the Steps, that new process by which the final address may be now only rising seniors can recall the era when selected. The Blue J proposes to the adminis­ this multi-leveled perch teemed with drunken tration that it offers a speech writing contest merry-makers. Therefore, I call upon each and for any member of the class who wishes to eveiy Columbian to follow in the grand tradi­ speak at graduation. The speeches would be tions of drinking and protesting. Reclaim your evaluated by a pre-chosen group of faculty and hallowed Steps! Hold fast to the wine and spir­ students, thus ensuring that all of the speeches its of youth, let administrators that come do what they may!

76 T he Blue and White, May 1999 Random Thoughts on Teaching Art by Professor Archie Rand was asked to write something about teaching, ly featured locales which accommodate unfa­ Ibut it is difficult to evaluate the art of my miliar subjects. teaching development. I feel that as my teach­ I was a member of that class of painters who ing career began early in my professional life, had not fought in any of the primary battles of that I should start with those incidents, which post-War art. As I came of age, it was apparent contributed to my formation, and then discuss that the smoke was clearing and there were no how that preparation impacted on my growth. winners. I saw not only intellectual, but moral When teaching, if I can remember how alternatives in my choice of style selection. Our devotion to my practice came about, how I generation did not see ourselves as indiscrimi­ learned, I can then try to find ways to replicate nate—we had varying affections and an educat­ those experiments for my students. Since my ed understanding of the positions. To break schooling was pleasurable, it would follow that this stand-off, we had to construct a language my training has heavily informed my attitudes capable of dialogue. Jasper Johns and Robert both as an artist and as a teacher. Rauschenberg had technically instructed us in My father, a part time one mode of cross-pollina­ painter, was rarely at home. tion. But to me, their meth­ When he was, on Sundays, ods appeared to be within there was always an unspo­ the realm of strategy, avoid­ ken invitation to join him in ing the satisfaction, or even, his painting. He displayed the obligation of statement. whatever tricks of represen­ At a loss for corroborated tation he knew. It seemed, direction my first answer somehow, that there was a came from someone who was connection between the not a visual artist. sharing of culture and the In my teens, as an amateur finding of community. piano player, I had become My high school art teacher familiar with the pianist/com­ was encouraging, as were my poser Cecil Taylor. Taylor next set of mentors. Larry played huge compositions, Poons was an abstract painter and Lennart made from many avenues of musical attack, Anderson was a figurative artist with whom I arrayed in enormous, and beautiful aural piles. studied at the Art Students League in 1966. I I asked him, simply, how did he do that? He worked on a few distinct bodies of work but told me something, possibly profound, which I didn’t feel the need to resolve the opposing carried around in my head for years until I approaches of their instruction as I was young could decode his gift. He said, “If the music is enough not to have formed major aesthetic true, then the form takes care of itself?’ Thank prejudices. All of the visual tactics and their you Cecil. results seemed to me to be valid and nutri­ Larry Poons was a leading practitioner of tious. I was hungry and happy to have all the the color-field movement of painters. As I stuff made available to me. I was also thankful became one of his studio assistants, I was rou­ that it was clear to them that my generational tinely directed to paint on his paintings, which interests would allow me to develop other cri­ gave me confidence that no amount of instruc­ teria. As a partial consequence of accepting the tion or praise could replicate. Larry’s calculat­ polarity of their teachings, my work has usual­ ed generosity made me feel self-respect of a

77 working with another way (remembering Kline) in artist and I which I could give. Teaching and work feed learned that off each other. Teaching makes one articulate, to educate is more concretely, the current state of their the­ to show oretical grounding. Once targeted, the teacher trust. can then ask, “what’s wrong with our conclu­ We would sion?” go to Max’s The pupils and teacher evolve and question Kansas City, premises together, which makes a class one liv­ which was a ing organism. The students act as the control popular specimens, while at the same time, they are artists’ bar. working as accomplices in thought. The health For the price of their accomplishment verifies my direction. of a drink you could sit next to contemporary I not only enjoy teaching, but I have learned and veteran artists and get a rich education to use its forum for self-questioning as a prod just by hearing their stories. Tales about the in my own work. Monitoring my work in the late Franz Kline’s instruction, which Kline classroom becomes my gauge as to the quality would often fit into his casual conversations, of inquiry in my studio work. So that both as convinced younger listeners that even without a teacher and as a painter, I am stimulated to a classroom, he must have been a superb create fresh avenues of approach. teacher. One afternoon, in Max’s, a painter told My evolving profiles become unified by my me that Kline had said, “Painting has nothing belief that visual language is a manifestation of to do with knowing, it has to do with giving.” some aspect of self-identification. It is a voice, We listened to whomever was talking and saw and as such, all visual product made by a that effective teaching could be done through given artist is centrally related, and is there­ an effective anecdote. I was an art brat and I fore inherently consistent. As the body of ate this stuff up. work continues, each accomplishment locates In 1972,1 had the opportunity to take over another point on the artist’s increasing cir­ the teaching of Theodore Stamos’s painting cumference. Now, I can watch, more calmly, as class in Scarsdale. Stamos was bitter over his my career takes the unanticipated turns. I implication in the Rothko estate case and expect that this feels natural to my students. offering his class to a twenty-two year old Painting is a way in which we display our greenhorn was a show affection. It is how we of contempt towards save things. To recog­ his unsupportive stu­ nize those implied dents. Although I was verities stimulates a appreciative, it was validation for our apparent that this was existence. This pro­ not an act of flatteiy. I vides a painting’s use­ had never considered fulness. Artists honor teaching before, but a contract to make was grateful for the those things which chance. I found I had vindicate the visions a talent for teaching of possibility within and that my words ourselves. We per­ could help others cre­ ceive, appreciatively, ate something real. In (W that there is evidence addition to painting, of agreement on those teaching provided me matters which we

78 T he Blue and W h ite, May 1999 hope will guarantee ourselves into the our continuity. Often very world which we enough, people come know won’t have us is along who assure me to blaspheme our call­ that freedom is a ing. Thankfully, we viable place, and in its have the capacity to habitation one can transform our emo­ reflect the unedited tional disfigurement range of human expe­ into something of use. rience. These are peo­ The great humanists, ple who jump ship, Piero, Rembrandt, and they have no even Pollock, almost style, only voice: Eva succeeded in talking Hesse, Sinatra, to us in the least aes­ Lennon Sc McCartney. thetic terms. Their John Coltrane, Louise JM* sKll, I**'*-! work makes itself Bourgeois, Martin A**« available to a quality Scorcese. Warhol said +* ft*- > , . of dialogue which that “Pop Art is about approaches, or on liking things.” Warhol some level even stim­ also took his mother to church every Sunday. ulates, physical touch. Aesthetics, to a large Go figure. A colleague once announced to the degree, garble the issue. Aesthetics are what class that he “doubt(ed) the sincerity of my the lesser artist will proffer in lieu of state­ enthusiasm.” Meanwhile, Rainer Maria Rilke ment. The viewer is assured that the artist says, “I praise, I praise, I praise” and Louise abides by conventions whose trespass would Bourgeois says, “Thank you. That is my phi­ demand the viewer’s involvement. Fearing the losophy. Thank you very much.” These are emotional consequences of that examination, artists who know how to continue. Gratitude is the artist and viewer decide on inviolable bor­ the most essential creative tool. The vulgarity ders. And nothing gets said. There is no com­ and humiliation of this position is something I fort since there has been no comparing of deal with. I ask my students to encounter and note. The artwork is a forgery purporting to address this. chronicle an apparent sharing of a mutually St. Paul says that of Faith, Hope and consumed experience. There is no Charity Charity, Charity is the supreme attribute. being performed. I warn my students about Charity is, unlike the other two, a person-to- the perils of work which looks good. person action. It alone requires an interven­ The Talmud states that it considered a tion into the real world. To reconnect with crime for a teacher to lecture is such a way human interaction—with our earlier failures that the students can’t follow the teaching. which convinced us that we were intimately Offenses can, in some cases, be viewed so incompetent—is an act which steels only the severely as to merit capital punishment for the best artists. Matisse wanted his paintings to teacher. To make art about our own alienation talk to the very bourgeoisie which hounded is redundant. As a double negative, it neutral­ him (in reality or imagination) into reclusive­ izes itself and plays to the groundlings. It is ness. Warhol said he wanted to be Matisse. received information and as such is a timid, We know that it’s not possible. That we can thoughdess activity. It seems to me that the never go home. That we can never re-enter only thing you can do, really, is to go on. And that illusory. These “things” we make now to try to be clear. stand in our stead in this world. That’s the deal. Despite that, to not try to reinvigorate All images in this article are by Archie Rand.

79 THE DISCOURSE-LOVERS by Philolectus ugust Reader, know that when the In the years that immediately followed, the APhilolexian Revolution comes, everything sister Societies, then the only activities and will be Blue and White. Consider yourself social organizations available at Columbia, lucky, then, to be ahead of the curve. Consider, proved to be enormously popular. Campus also, the Blues and Whites of Yesteiyear: the social and cultural life revolved around the Philolexians and the Peithologians. It was a friendly rivalry of the Philolexians and the heady time at Columbia after the War. The Peithologians. Before there was a substantial school had been renamed, admissions were University Library, something which did not soaring, the new building on Park Row was happen until shamefully late in Alma Mater’s becoming inadequate and the King’s College lifetime, the students of Columbia relied on Literary Society, in which Alexander the libraries of their Literary Societies. was notably active, had Although the Peithologian been replaced with the Society was doomed to die more democratic-sound­ out in the second half of ing Society for Progress. the Nineteenth Century, it That Society, in turn, was left behind an important unable to cope with the legacy. When, in due demands of the student course, intercollegiate ath­ body for a focus of their letics were introduced at rhetorical activities. Columbia, it became nec­ Instead, each class formed essary for the school to its own and literary have appropriate colors to society. adorn its athletes. The stu­ In 1801 the Junior dent body, neatly split Class of the College desig­ between Philos and Peiths, nated its literary society by agreed that the colors of the name of Philomathean. On 17 May 1802, both societies complemented each other. Thus, the Philomatheans, realizing that their accom­ if you have ever wondered whom to blame for plishments would fade away upon their gradu­ the intimidating colors worn by Columbia ath­ ation, opened their membership to all letes, August Reader, you need look no further. Matriculated Students attending the Lecture of even one Professor and changed their name to “Cold comfort, this, poor Fresh, what shall he do, To aid his fainting soul in dragging through the Philolexian Society of . These studies that so torture him and vex? Their symbol was the Rising Sun and their His guardian angel points to Philolex.” color was Light Blue. Erastus B. Rudd, 1861 In 1803, for the benefit of the new students, the Freshman Society was founded, to prepare Throughout the nineteenth century, the the younger students to join Philolexian, which Philolexians lived up to their name as “Lovers at the time excluded First-Years. In 1806, the of Discourse.” In 1812, Philolexian initiated members of the Freshman Society, many now Columbia’s first , The Philolexian Juniors and Seniors, decided to reorganize as Observer; which was produced, much like cer­ the Peithologian Society. Their symbol was the tain current campus publications, at the fre­ Shining Star and their color was White. quent rate of twelve times in the following sev­ enty years. The Society initiated prizes and

8o T he Blue and W h ite, May 1999 contests in Oratory, Poetry, and Composition, Philo, it was one endowment of which still survives today as being reorga­ The Philolexian Prize, offered annually by the nized, and reor­ English Department. Most importandy, the ganized again, Society served as a forum for debate on the and reorganized issues of the day: “Resolved, May 17, 1814: It again, its leader­ would be expedient to extend the benefits of a ship taken over liberal education to the female sex.” Resolved, by the Univer­ March 4, 1881: That a Course on Oratory sity, its func­ should be offered.” “Resolved: That the elevat­ tions absorbed, ed railroad is a greater nuisance than a bene­ its membership fit.” “Resolved: That Polygamy among the but a fraction of earlier years. Nevertheless, the Mormons should be suppressed by the consolidation provided renewed intellectual National Government.” “Resolved: That vigor to the Society: membership of this era Athletics are carried to excess in the prominent included , , American Colleges.” Substantially serious , , and William often took place, but in those days, Theodore de Bary, a name perhaps not unfa­ Philolexian was renowned as the home of miliar to you, August Reader. The culmination Columbia’s skilled Parliamentary Debaters. of this period exploded a few years later into The Society approached its Centennial in 1902 the under the leadership of full of pride and, indeed, hubris. In 1909, see­ three-time Philolexian Prize winner, Allen ing that King’s Crown, an earlier era’s student Ginsberg. activities organization, was weak, Philolexian In this Age of Iron, the Society’s brilliance is attempted to become the center of all cultural perhaps less than it was, yet the spirit of the life at Columbia. Philo expanded into dramat­ Beats left a deep irreverent streak that still lives ics, it held dances, concerts on the on at Philo. Every year the Society holds the steps; it was everything to everyone. Alfred Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Predictably, this dilution of purpose at its Contest, a just commemoration of the author apparent height of power brought about the of “Trees,” a Philolexian of the Class of 1908. Society’s long decline. Columbia’s debate Guided by its sometimes surreal traditions and record during these years was one of unceas­ beatnik sensibilities, Philo continues to play an ing failure. In a momentous majority vote of active role in the intellectual and cultural life 1911, the Society decided it was no longer of Columbia, hosting open debates every week interested in debate, it would thereafter be an and publishing a literary magazine, Surgam, Elizabethan dramatics society, “abhorring all eveiy May. With that fitting motto, I leave you: Modem notions of acting.” This period lasted Surgabis, Dear Reader. for nearly twenty years, with the records grad­ To contact the Philolexian Society, e-mail ually growing sparser. When next we hear of philo @ph ilo.org.

The BLUE & WHITE is looking for . Please e-mail [email protected]

8i Columbia Conversations Dean Austin Quigley on the Arts n this number, we continue our running dialogue be intellectual enough. And then, on the other Iwith Dean Austin Quigley, members of The side, there has been a concern for people B&W and students with a special interest in the involved in creating or performing art that you theme. We solicit specific questions, comments, and should not contaminate their minds with his­ general topics for discussionsfrom all readers. tory, theory, criticism or anything else that can Our topic was the arts. Present were four mem­ get in the way of the spontaneous production bers of The B&W—Noam M. Elcott, Katerina A. of art. Both of those presuppositions are of Barry, Matthew Rascoff, and Charles London—in dubious validity. addition to Kate Grossman, a member ofthe music For these reasons and others, Columbia department, and Aliza Pressman, a poet who has College has [only] in the last few years decid­ published work in previous numbers of this publi­ ed to establish a range of arts majors. The pro­ cation. ject has been to see whether or not, in our cur­ In our next number, to be published in riculum, we can in fact integrate the creation of September, we will discuss international life at art with thinking about art. And most of the Columbia and optionsfor travel and study abroad. majors have been set up to try to show that Responses from readers and suggestions for artistic creativity and intellectual creativity can future topics must include the author’s name, class enhance each other. On one hand, performing and year, and should be sent to theblueand- and creating art can in fact be done better by [email protected]. some people some of the time if they know 20 April 1999, Office of the Dean something about history, theory and criticism. NME: What is the posi­ And, on the other, if you’re tion of the Arts in a liberal going to study an art form in arts education? terms of its history and theo­ AQ: Evolving is probably ry, it might be as well to have the answer to that. Columbia some sense of the environ­ College . . . has relatively ments in which art is created, recently committed itself to displayed and performed. arts majors. And for a very There is one other issue long time Columbia tended that your question raises. to share the opinion that was What you always hope to fairly widely distributed have happen at a research around the United States institution is that the under­ that there are two kinds of graduate and graduate pro­ people involved in the arts: grams will productively those who engage in the practice of the arts intersect. And that, in a variety of different and those who think about the arts by doing ways, the inevitably more advanced work that criticism, theory and histoiy. And there has goes on at the graduate level can be linked been a history around the United States of uni­ through the graduate students in direct teach­ versities deciding that the gap between those ing, supervision of some kind or simply in col­ two things is so large that it may be unwise to laborative work. This has worked very well bring them together. So there has been a reluc­ over the years in primarily academic depart­ tance of some institutions to have majors in a ments. . . . But there is a separate degree pro­ liberal arts college which include practical gram at the graduate level for people involved work in the arts because the majors may not in the performing/creative arts, who earn an

8a The Blue a n d White, May 1999 MFA instead of a Ph.D., because the MFA is to attract that sophisticated New York audi­ much more direcdy related to subsequent pro­ ence, and I think that puts pressure on the per­ fessional work in these arts. And these gradu­ formance arts around here. ... I think that’s a ate students may or may not be so well very good pressure. But it does mean that [stu­ informed about history, theory and criticism. dent performance groups] must arrive fairly And, therefore, the linkage rapidly at a very high level between MFA students in order to gain an audi­ who are going out to do ence. It is a challenge for professional work in the Between replicating the past all students in our majors arts is not quite so simple and ignoring the past there's but it is an even greater as the linkage between challenge for students people who are going out that piece in the middle which whose work in the arts is to get doctorates and displays guided creativity and not linked to the curricu­ teach in the universities lum, as the professional and the undergraduates in informed imagination facilities tend to be linked those departments. That to curricular programs. creates a situation in The new student center, which new relationships need to be developed Lemer Hall, really will help here. among students in arts programs at the B.A., CL: With New York right here, the audience MFA, and Ph.D. levels. and the creators have a whole different oppor­ MR: As not every art is represented, where tunity. People could stay on campus, but a lot does one draw the line? of times they try their abilities out there in the AQ: I think you’re looking for a more clear­ professional world. And the audience is the ly defined conceptual line than actually exists. same way. Conceivably, on a Friday night a The presence or absence of particular pro­ campus theater could be competing with The grams and even their overall shape is a matter Iceman Cometh or Rent. . . . of the history of the institution which, with the NME: Or not competing... . exception of Barnard, has tended not to fore­ AQ: So, I guess the point we derive from ground practice in the arts at an undergradu­ this in general is two-fold: students coming ate level and which already has certain kinds of here with an interest in the arts have the right undergraduate and graduate programs in to expect the institution to be providing first- place. It’s just a matter of how fast we move rate programs and facilities. . . . But the other ahead in various areas. side of it is that the institution will also be KG: [That being said, in the music depart­ expecting on the part of students, a significant ment] we have this really amazing group of amount of talent and commitment to make students who, for one reason or another, did­ best use of these programs and facilities. [The n’t apply to the Juilliard program and are here belief at] Columbia is that things must be pursuing their BA’s and find a remarkable done at a high level, and the expectation on all dearth of opportunities. Talented musicians are sides is that the arts are coming from a long slipping through the fingers of Columbia. way back. But we’ve made a lot of progress in Eveiy year many people graduate who could ten years. have created a very lively music scene at MR: What is available for students who Columbia and didn’t have the opportunity for don’t find their niche in studying any one artis- whatever reason. AQ: [That is] partly the downside of the upside of . The upside being that in New York City the arts are at a general­ ly high level and audiences are of a fairly sophisticated kind. If you want to do perfor­ mances of various kinds, you’re going to have

83 tic practice but still have a general interest in it doesn’t simply ignore it. What is not creative art? is simply replicating the past. But between AQ: One of the possibilities being consid­ replicating the past and ignoring the past ered by the School of the Arts, is an integrated there’s that piece in the middle which displays arts program, which would attract students guided creativity and informed imagination. who all have a serious interest in a particular The nature of creativity is one of the things art form, don’t necessarily want to major in it, that an integrated arts program would in fact but would benefit from explor­ do by looking at creativity in a ing the arts in general. Someone variety of different art forms. And who is an excellent sculptor, this is, of course, one of the someone who is an excellent issues that registers the potential­ actor, someone with an excellent ly productive intersection of voice ... it might be useful for artistic creativity and intellectual them to study together in terms creativity. of an integrated arts major where NME: How can those students you bring the history, theory, not involved in the arts as cre­ criticism and practice of the vari­ ators or performers benefit from ous art forms together into a sin­ the arts life at Columbia? gle program. Students can learn from each MR: They can attend performances. other both about particular art forms and AQ: A lot of practical activity that goes on in about the arts in general. the arts involves behind-the-scenes work. So AP: This program raises the issue of the even if you don’t have the talent to write or relationship between theory and creativity? paint or get up on stage to play an instrument Must creativity conform to pre-existing theo­ or sing or act, there is a role to be played in ries? simply setting the scene for the arts and mak­ AQ: Creativity that isn’t related to anything ing the arts performable and available for pre­ that preceded it wouldn’t be recognized as cre­ sentation. And you can learn a lot by just get­ ativity within that field. So, there’s not neces­ ting involved. ... sarily a collision between creativity and conti­ KB: I think the practical benefit is just the nuity with previous practice or previous idea that when you come to college you learn thoughts. Indeed, for creativity to earn that sta­ as much from the other students you meet as tus it needs to be considered in terms of how you do from your professors. Having a com­ it is like and unlike what came before. You can munity of artists alongside economics and his­ use the past as a means of guiding you forward tory majors is important because, through con­ rather than governing what you think. versation in and outside of class, alternative Creativity can be guided creativity, which views will be introduced into an otherwise works both with and against what went before; purely academic setting. WE CAN MAKE YOUR MOVE OUT EASIER BOX-T WINE-T APE- COLUMBIA BUBBLE WRAP and EVERY­ THING ELSE COULD YOU EVER HARDWARE NEED 2905 Broadway OPEN 7 DAYS between 113th & 114th Monday-Friday 8:30-9 662-2150 Saturday 9-7 Sunday 11-5

84 T h e B l u e a n d W h i t e , M a y 1999 HARK! HARK! THE LARK! By Peter G. Lech , Spring, playful maiden, Winter’s halcyon ridiculously absurd music of PDQ Bach. Make days are here, you, subject of the song­ sure to keep your eyes open and your ears bird’s warbling melody! Indeed, Spring hasclear of obstructions so that you can catch a heraldedO the advent of these ever-distracting lark sighting here at Columbia before it flits songbirds which adorn not only the eaves of away into the endless bustle of the New York Buder’s storied colonnade, but also the stage music scene once again. Comprised of four of Miller theater and the sixth floor of Dodge. young women—a far cry from the traditional A special bird, a rara avis, a Lark, in fact, has idea of the music quartet as one of four old found its perch in the hallowed halls of men with scoliosis huddled over the score, Columbia’s music department, host in the past squinting at it, trying to grasp at Beauty with to such musical names as Varese, Bartók, and sweaty brow and fervently pulsing bows—the Elgar (not to men­ Lark String Quartet tion Verdi’s libret­ has garnered much tist) and has in fact attention from the made its nest here, musical world, hav­ hoping to continue ing won the 1990 its stay through next Namburg Chamber year. Music Award, the The Lark String quartet is among us. gold medal at the Shostakovich String Quartet Columbia’s quartet in residence for the 1998- competition and most recently, having com­ 1999 season has already given two perfor­ missioned and recorded a piece by composer mances: one in October which celebrated Ned Aaron Kemis which then won the 1998 Rorem’s 75th Birthday and one in February in the Musical composition cate­ featuring the work of Debussy and Dukas. gory. They recently extended their six-disc Their final concert will be given on 25 May at contract with Arabesque Records to twelve, Miller Theater at 8pm. But this is one facet of among which have been released a recording the quartet’s manifold commitment to of works written for the Lark Quartet by Peter Columbia. Citing “increasing attendance at Schickele, titled “Shickele on a Lark,” a CD of Miller Theater and making accessible the works by Schnittke, one featuring Russian beauty of Classical chamber music” as one of composer Borodin, one of Schumann quartets their goals, the quartet has given free “talking and one of works by Schoenberg and concerts” at Miller and in the surrounding Zemlinksy. Coming soon will be CDs featuring Momingside Heights community—in elemen­ quartets by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. tary schools and churches—which feature The concert on the 25th should be well works by well known composers, adorned lib­ worth the usual $7 student ticket price at erally with commentary by one of the four Miller, and with any luck, the Lark will contin­ ladies in the quartet. These gigs have been ue to sing sweetly atop its perch on the gilded sprinkled generously between the group’s reg­ (and recently renovated) roof of Columbia’s ular concerts and their tour with Peter bastion of High Art, Dodge Hall. Schickele, musical satirist and discoverer of the

Look out for BLUE & WHITE general meetings next year.

«5 GIRL: A Fiction By Jane Chuang irl remembering something but she fakes the chalk between his hands. “Can anyone give a yawn and pretends to know nothing. me an example of alliteration?” What a bubblehead, the teachers say in the Girl studies the carpet again. It is a swirl, a officeG at lunchtime. Her English teacher smiles snowstorm of dark colors. The pattern does when he hears that. He is a big man. He screws not end anywhere, but circles back on itself her, lets her know when he wants it by beck­ again and again. She blows another bubble. oning when they pass each other in the hall. “Miss Drew,” he says. Girl looks up. He is They f— in the teachers lounge after every­ angling his brows down. His eyes are black one’s left. It’s got a green carpet and a big and narrowed. “Please spit out your gum now.” wooden table. He unzips, and runs his hands She gets up and spits it out into the trash up her thighs. Girl says nothing. She doesn’t bin. She sits down again. care. There is nothing in her head. Nothing on “Thank you, Miss Drew.” her mind. Girl pops gum and chews slowly. He underlines the definition of alliteration She likes the first chew, the intense sugary tex­ that he has written on the board. “So, can any­ ture, the softness that folds between her back one give me an example?” teeth. Class is boring, then interesting, then Everyone is quiet, listless in their plastic boring again. She never chairs. It’s almost summer. looks up at the teacher. The air thickens in this “Alliteration—does any­ room, the humidity solidi­ body know what that is?” fies on the walls. Girl tugs The carpet in the class­ her shirt out in front of her room is blue and grey and to make it stop sticking to red dots fused together. her skin. Girl thinks of the slide in “No one?” He taps his art class. Dots and dots, foot and then turns and millions of dots. Mrs. around to the board and Epstein pulling back on writes: the projector and the dots “Peter Piper picked a smaller and smaller and peck of pickled peppers.” then they were faces and “Can anyone read this bodies and lawn chairs. for me?” Impressionism, remembers Girl, and then she In the first row, Dan raises his hand. blows a bubble. Small bubbles are for class, “Thank you, Dan. Pm glad you’re showing when the teacher might get mad. You twirled some motivation.” The teacher motions for him the gum around the tip of your tongue and to speak. blew slowly. It bulged, then sunk in on itself. “Sorry, Mr. Gatt,” says Dan. “Just stretchin?’ “Well, since none of you knows, I’ll have to He grins, and stretches, first one way, then the tell you what it is.” When he is teaching, he is other. Mr. Gatt sighs, his hand goes to his fore­ angry. His bulk shifts from leg to leg, his face head and he begins to massage his temples, his expands and grows ruddy. Girl smiles out a thumb on one side and his third finger on the comer of her mouth. “Alliteration is,” he writes other. He sits down, shuffles through some on the board, “similar consonant sounds at the papers and then breathes one long slow beginning of words.” breath. “All right,” he says, turning around, rubbing “OK. Since you’re completely knocked out

86 The Blue a n d White, May 1999 by alliteration, I guess it’s not much use going smoke. “Hey Katie,” says Dan. He offers her a on to the rest of what I planned for today. cigarette, but she shakes her head. Shrugging, Eveiyone, just sit and be quiet.” Mr. Gatt takes he taps the pack twice against his palm and out a book from his briefcase and begins to then draws one out, lights it, takes long drags read it. Girl listens to the pages turning fast of it. and then slow. She takes out another piece of “Hey,” she replies and sits down next to him. gum and begins to chew it. She plucks a blade of grass, tears it with her Mr. Gatt stops her in the hallway. “After nails. school,” he says, and then keeps walking. Girl “What’s your demon?” goes to her locker, spins the combination, Girl looks up, startled. Dan watches her for opens up the skinny grey door and closes it. a moment, then cocks his face away to blow She goes outside, walks past the football field smoke. Her face smooths, and she says: and to the grassy hill where all the kids go to “Nothing.”

Ode to Seniors

S o m e t h i n g was said at the dinner We’ll not blush for the past, not at twenty, That pierced through the shouts and the And what proper old fellows we’ll be, cheers, If still able to blush when we’re forty Like the notes of a batde-call bugle For the years when we earned our degree. That signals each soldier who hears. The night had been mad in its pleasure, “But at forty—let’s swear, boys, that forty And we, just a trifle too gay, Shall find us so clean, soul and name, Stood waiting to catch from our leader That the spirit of twenty might face us The last jolly word he might say. With never a feeling of shame.” Then we cheered once again at his bidding, As he rose—tall and straight was our hero Clasped hands, said good-bye to our joys, The captain who won us the game— And felt we were men from the moment We cheered with a will for the College, Of our very last parting as boys. And team, and we shouted his name Till the glasses just rang on the table, —The Blue and White, 1891 And he, through the deafening noise, Cried, “Fellows, one cheer for our parting, Our very last parting as boys. “Tve led you in many a ‘racket,’ And many a mischievous bout, And whether ’twas wisdom or folly I can’t very clearly make out. In any event, they are over, Those jovial and jubilant days, And to-night—what a night to remember— We stand at the parting of ways. “Just boys for once more, and, dear comrades, Should we meet in re-union again, Shall we find ourselves quite as true hearted And loyal—as men, among men?

8? CURIO COLUMBIANA t is the stated goal of Curio as “The Boxer” and “Che” start­ IColumbiana to cull from Alma ed to appear in urban areas as a Mater’s obvious and less obvious form of pop art. collections of great works. In this These pop art stencils came in number, we sought to solve the many shapes and carried varying riddle of the stenciled images messages. Some depicted the found around and about campus. “Uncle Sam” character while Most familiar are “The Boxer” others carried the slogan “Stop and “Che,” reproduced here. But War Now.” Stencils became enor­ what is the history of these famil­ mously popular because artists iar silhouettes found on sides of could easily reproduce identical buildings throughout images and could quickly affix Momingside Heights. Where do their work to the sides of a they come from? How are they buildings or sidewalks. Since made? And, of course, what are stencils were and still are con­ they? Our answer takes us back to sidered graffiti, it was of great the 1960’s, its graffiti, and the art importance that the process was of stenciling. rapid. Not only was the stencil­ Stenciling is a technique that ing process as rapid as normal enables an artist to rapidly trans­ free hand graffiti created with a fer an image onto any sur­ spay paint can or indelible face. The process calls for an marker, but it created clean­ impervious material such as a er, more legible artwork. sheet of paper, thin plastic, or The simple process of cardboard, to be perforated stenciling enabled many with lettering, a picture, or a people to express them­ design. Into the spaces creat­ \ selves in an artistic manner ed by the perforations the and did so using a medium artist adds a substance such which was best displayed in as ink, spay paint, or metallic public. These public works powder which, once forced of art should be valued for through the stencil, adheres their rebellious yet creative to the surface the artist nature. Some city beautifica­ desires the final image to be tion advocates would claim placed on. Once the artist that stencils, as graffiti, are removes the stencil, the destructive to property and painted image, in the shape to the quality of life of citi­ of the perforations the artist zens. Actually, stencils turn made in his or her template our streets into art galleries. remains. Because of the rapid reusable nature of stencils, in the early 1960s, images such

88 The Blue a n d White, May 1999 SEX, RACE AND ART: A by Noam M. Elcott he Wallach Art Gallery has featured the Jewish Museum’s Freud show. A surprising Thornhill’s rendering of Raphael’s tapestiy number of works—from Victoria Kostadinova’s cartoons, posters from the Spanish Civil War,biomorphic drawings to Katherine McVety’s Hogarth,T Piranesi, and now Mahoney. From the series of photographed body parts-take us Raphael week in Art Hum to 20th century his­ back more than half a century to the images of tory classes, these names and events, if not Salvador Dali or Man Ray. Of historical inter­ common parlance, are certainly familiar. But est, these works feel out of place among those who is Mahoney? Or Kiki Seror or Monique with a more contemporary bent. Andre Aiuto? But lest the viewer remain untitilated, these The nine individuals featured in the Wallach instances of retro-Surrealism are but the exhibition will soon receive their Master of beginning of the exhibit’s sexual escapades. In Fine Arts degrees from the School of the brushwork that approaches photorealism, Visual Arts at Columbia. The works on display Timothy Gardner gives us two larger than life are their MFA theses. Works produced by stu­ portraits, one of which has a Champion clad dents of art beg the question: How are we to twenty-something grabbing his crotch mid­ approach the exhibit? Are we jump. In case we missed the engaging with students or point, the adjacent watercolor, artists? homework or artwork? entitled Naked 400 (1999), In her curator’s statement, depicts a dozen-odd unclad Thelma Golden conceives of men at the start of a race. the show as an artist’s débu­ The exhibit’s rendering of tante ball or bar mitzvah. “The sex climaxes in Kiki Seror’s need for this exhibit,” she Rendezvous at a Distance (How writes, “is really about marking Her Fingers Became His Tongue) the passage from ‘student’ to (1988-99). Thumping electric ‘artist.’” Acknowledging the music and a mock lunar land­ arbitrary distinction between scape video are combined with the two categories, Golden, the text of a raunchy cyber-sex nonetheless, frames the exhibit encounter to create an orgas­ within the terms of an artistic mic, Internet-age education. Her interest lies in Gesamtkunstwerk. Yet this high pedagogical processes, not artistic products. art, peep show is available only Like most Columbia undergraduates, I when the gallery is empty. With a healthy num­ know less about the two year MFA program ber of strolling visitors (or even the faint foot­ than the nine year construction of the steps of the exhibit attendant), the private, Parthenon (thank you Art Hum). So I come to anonymous thrill of cyber-sex (or of watching this exhibit without reference to graduate it) is quickly rendered public, and the viewer degrees or theses, simply as a critical viewer of is snared as voyeur. This review’s earlier lan­ art. And I was impressed. guage of climax, orgasm and “unified artwork” Representative of today’s pluralistic art- is undermined in the presence of admonishing world, the exhibit is an eclectic mix of painting eyes. To avoid the label of pervert, the viewer and photography, Conceptual art and realism, can hope for but a few brief moments of erot­ abstraction and sex—enough sex, in fact, for ic pleasure before moving on to the next the Wallach gallery to be the second home of gallery. With sound, image and text, Seror suc­

»9 cessfully sets up a cyber-peep show only to put assembled portraits that span the gamut of it and its participant on trial before fellow faces in American life: differing races, sexes, gallery visitors. Rendezvous at a Distance, there­ ages, nationalities. But with a few moments of fore, includes two relationships: The anony­ careful study, an eerie feeling sets in. The pho­ mous, distant encounter between the cyber­ tographs have an uncanny resemblance to one sex participants and, more importantly, another. Here the eyes, there the nose. As it between the viewer and the work of art. We are turns out, Mahoney spliced each of the por­ used to encountering artwork as we would traits with his own, thereby creating images images in a peep show: Our gaze possesses the which carry common traits. This room of diver­ image; we remain aloof and distant. By creat­ sity becomes a miniature melting pot. We’re all ing a public peep show, Seror challenges the different, but still the same. anonymity of the viewer and, through implica­ Not so simple. Another return to the images tions of voyeurism, forces us to reflect on the reveals that the women carry some stubble and act of viewing. faces with darker skin tones are lightened in Not included in the exhibit’s Bacchanalian certain places. At times, this bleached skin revelries is Gregory Mahoney’s Children of the appears like a cancerous malignancy spreading Damned (1999), a room full of straight-on, across the face. Gregory Mahoney, it is clear, is black and white photographic portraits. At first a white male. When his image is blended with glance, it appears that Mahoney has merely that of other white males, resemblance is the sole effect. But when his image is combined with that of females or non-whites, Mahoney’s mascu­ line beard or his white skin tone imposes itself onto the figure (with the effect most potent on non-white women). Mahoney has literally stamped the seal of a white, male world onto the faces of every woman and non-white in the group. We are now forced to re-interpret the repeated com­ mon traits. They are not what we all share, but instead, what we all share with white males. The uncanny resemblance is the dominant culture peering through each of us. The white male template forces itself on a bed of diversity, creating in its image such perversities as beard­ ed women and diseased non­ whites. The 1999 MFA Thesis Exhibition is on view at the Wallach Art Gallery through 5 June. The Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday 1:00-5:00 PM and is located on the eighth floor of Schermerhom Hall.

90 T he Blue and W hite, May 1999 THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Schiraldi hey run our student councils, star on CTV, Senior Class President Charlie Leykum C’99, and push our teams to victory. They always who wore some really fancy studs in his tuxe­ have the best seats on the Steps and theirdo shirt. Tnames constandy appear in the Spectator. They One really fancy stud who didn’t wear a wear special pinky rings. You’ll never see them shirt at all was former ADP president Dylan up close. Except on one night Hightower E’99. Onlookers debated whether I speak, of course, of the prelapsarian look was the snazzier than the long Society’s night of Hot Jazz black dress with the sheer and Cold Champagne. Not midriff that he wore last since Studio 54 closed its fall. Sahil Godiwala C’99, doors has there been a in a dapper tux, also drew wilder place for New attention as he passed York’s social elite to dance from girl to girl, and, the night away. except for a few mishaps in There is a black market the vicinity of the piano, of sorts, in which those swung like it was going properly connected few out of style. Looking over obtain a number of passes it all was Kandi Birdsell and carefully parcel them C’99 and one of the prima­ out to those who are owed ry organizers of the event. favors. Only the lucky few Some referred to her as that receive a coveted invi­ the “crown princess of Hot tation are allowed in. Jazz,” a title she richly Despite such selectivity, deserved. on 10 April, the ADP With so many people house was once again and so much cheer, one crowded from wall to wall party wasn’t enough, and on every floor, especially so various subparties clus­ near the bar. Those brave tered about the main enough to plunge into event. Towards the end of these crowds and persistent enough to come the night, the creme de la creme sociale retired out the other side were rewarded with a taste to a VIP Room to sip from a cache of the finest of Wycliff champagne. Last semester, a lesser spirits and converse upon news and social mat­ brand was served, and there were disastrous ters. But it was not just the social elite who consequences. Dresses were ruined. Potential found themselves congregating in the less hook-ups were aborted. This time around, no public areas of the house. A large room on one expense was spared, and the improvement was of the upper floors was a favorite spot, includ­ well received. The only caveat was the difficul­ ing a large contingent from the ADP chapter at ty of opening the new bottles, especially as the the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who night progressed and the revelers grew weary made the journey to New York solely to attend of dancing. The situation was dire until a few the party. guests stepped forward and took over the There were also persistent rumors that an uncorking. One such hero was Columbia impromptu nudist congregation was occurring

91 on the lower level, but there were no actual These hearty souls had a splendid post-party sightings to confirm this. No rumor is too out­ reception elsewhere. rageous for Hot Jazz. Many were doubtful in Unfortunately, not all of the late-night the fall of 1997 when the buzz was that Matt events went quite so swimmingly. Gendemen Damon and Ben Affleck were going to show from the Alpha Epsilon Pi and Zeta Psi frater­ up. Not only did they drop in, but they also nities entered into a dispute over ownership of threw up all over the downstairs bathroom. a cellular telephone, and it quickly became Brushes with the fame are common at Hot apparent that there would be no hope of non­ Jazz. This year, some revelers reported seeing violent resolution. The two became so deeply media mogul Susan Gladstone B’99, best engaged in fisticuffs that a team of Columbia’s known for her work as General Manager at Finest had to be called in to restore the peace. WBAR. The event officially concluded at around 2 o’clock, when the band had long since left, along with most of the guests. Mauricio Mena C’97, a devoted ADP alum­ nus, thanked the remaining rev­ elers and sent them on their way. However, many of them wished to keep their spirits high all through the night and onward to the Community Outreach event taking place the following day.

C o l u m b i a G e a r H e r e

92 T he Blue and White, May 1999 TOLD BETWEEN PUFFS ll good sleep is the same and all bad sleep Generally the bad-sleep braggadocio takes Ais bad in its own way. Of all the neuroses, the form of a sum total of hours slept over a addictions, ugly habits, assorted syndromes number of days, as in: “Yeah, I’m pretty tired and pathologies that make this Verily Veritas’ —I’ve slept eight hours in the past three days.” unique being, bad sleep is surely the most The danger of this formulation is that it is eas­ egregious, the most hideous, the most embar­ ily trumped: “Yeah, me too . . . I’ve had six rassing. Good sleep makes you strong and hours in the past five days.” healthy; bad sleep atrophies your muscles and I prefer to counter deprivation-heroism weakens your immune system. Good sleepers with sarcastic awe: “Hmm, you sure are pretty are optimists; bad sleepers are pessimists. W busy!” But really deep down inside I’m has become a bad sleeper and for no good impressed. What masters of self-deprivation, reason at all. self-abnegation, self-flagellation these Bad sleep is to be distinguished from dis­ Columbia students are! I think to myself. They eased sleep. Unlike true illnesses like insom­ are an elite sect of ascetic monks, an intellec­ nia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea, bad sleep is a tual commando unit, a factory of academic failure of discipline and is therefore a moral super-machines, turning out startling philo­ failure. You don’t have to have bad sleep. If sophical explanations, brilliant scholarship, you really wanted good sleep, you’d just have original math proofs, stopping only to refuel! it. You see I’m just as guilty as everyone else. My schedule is a recipe for bad sleep. I How can we explain bad sleep pride? have CC at 9:00 AM on Mondays and Freudians say flaunting your bad sleep is an Wednesdays. There’s a paper due every week unconscious cry for sympathy or companion­ for my 11 AM Tuesday seminar, and I usually ship, that you discuss your bad sleep habits get up at 5:30 to write it. Mix in an astronomy with those you want to sleep with. Who, after problem set due Thursdays at 1:00, and voila, all, would want to sleep someone who actual­ I’ve just swallowed another weekful of very ly sleeps at night? Marxists argue that capital­ bad sleep. ism has made poor students into sleep-slaves, The problem is, so has everyone else. toiling at Orgo into the deep hours of the Which means no one really makes much of an night just to scratch a measly existence while effort to get better sleep. If I knew you were living in a tenement—Wien. Revolt! they cry, having great sleep I would want it too. But against the sleep-thieves, the sleep-bour- bad sleep is worn with pride around here. It’s geoisie, those dirty capitalists who steal all the really quite extraordinary. Have you ever sleep! heard anyone boast sincerely about their bad This is all quite compelling, I think, but just sex? Bad looks? Bad anything? People brag when I’m on the brink of becoming a con­ about their shabby, unsatisfying sleep as if it vinced sleep revolutionary, just as the witch­ were an inverse (perverse!) indicator of their doctor from Vienna has nearly hypnotized me productivity or proof of how wonderfully dis­ into somno-sexual reductionism, the alarm tracted they are. rings. It’s time to wake up.

93 MEASURE FOR MEASURE N ight, the w ay home you breathe in the crisp black air— the garage door is still open your bags are waiting in the trunk mother and father have already gone in. it’s winter in new jersey, of course there is no snow— the storms always skip this part of the state, if there were light now, you could see that the grass is savanna green, behind you, the car makes its last clicks and is quiet, you are looking out into the sky, trying to decipher the piercings, the white pinholes of light, orion’s belt, the great bear, in a letter a friend writes to you from africa, she describes how her camp is guarded by warriors when you emerge from your tent into the darkness they appear: skins brushed with night, spears slim, tipped with a small piece of lightning, you are thinking about these invisible guardians you are thinking about the skyscrapers in the city you left behind how tall and slight they looked in the distance as the train headed south. —Jane Chuang C’01

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94 T he Blue and W hite, May 1999 CAMPUS GOSSIP gorgeous clear Saturday last week greeted Coordinator, Buder Renovation AGeorge Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, 509 Buder Library among the best of funk bands, to the steps of 854-1641 Low Library. The concert got off to a bit of a dull start despite Mr. Clinton’s best efforts. But Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 just when it appeared that the concert would From: Aline Locascio be a drag, a few joints were rolled and the To: Bingo Columbia is more and more becoming a To: Aline Locascio centre of Art and Music. The lectures on To the librarians: “Modem French Painting,” given by Mr. J. C. It was thoughtful and helpful of you to post Van Dyke last year, are repeated, with addi­ “the week’s work” on the Internet so the tions and changes, in a course on “Old Italian library users would know what to expect. Now, and Modem French Painting.” The number it seems the idea has been discontinued, as the who could wished to take this course, and webpage has not been updated since mid- who could not on account of a scarcity of tick­ February. Why did you put an end to some­ ets, is only one proof of the popularity of this thing useful and downright polite? series. One can safely say that no subject is Bingo more popular with the students or the public. Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 The lectures on Music are almost equally as From: Aline Locascio popular. Mr. William J. Henderson gives a To: Bingo thorough sketch and analysis of the evolution Sorry, We are short staffed these last sever­ of form and style, and illustrates it as well as al weeks and have not managed to keep the can be done with an upright piano. Though Week’s Work updated on the Web. I am there are not so many students taking this pleased that you find that posting so useful. course as that of Art, there is always a well- We are making every effort to resume as soon filled room at the time of the lecture. as possible. Please bear with us! Thanks for (The Blue and White, 1892) your note! Aline Locascio § losophy. I think he’s actually quite well known With this number we bid adieu to I. S. for his quick and clever comments, “Yeah, Salzberg, publisher of the B&W and architect yeah” being one of the most famous. Also, the of its 20th-century renaissance. Han, who lecturer wasn’t speaking of the prevalence of graduates in May, discovered 1890s copies of double negatives versus the lack of double this publication in the Columbiana Collection positives. He was claiming that although dou­ and made it his goal to revive a dead magazine ble negatives create positive statements, in no 100 years after it stopped publication. Would language do double positives equal negatives. that there were more such enterprising That’s what makes the “Yeah, yeah” funny. It’s Ezekiels to revivify grand old Columbia tradi­ an example of what the lecturer said didn’t tions and create new ones from their dry exist. I refer to him as “the lecturer” because, bones. finally, I don’t think it was Noam Chomsky $ who was lecturing. I heard John Austin. My Columbia College now possesses one of the sources are pretty reliable, but if you want to finest carpenter shops in the city. be sure you should contact Prof. (Campus Gossip, 1892) Morgenbesser. —Rachel Robertson C’00 § k On an a warm but overcast April Thursday, The first-ever Bacchanal, the University’s a mini camevale visited the steps of Low. Two week-long Spring festival, was held April service groups, Jews for Social Justice and 18th-24th. The festivities perhaps sacrificed a Interfaith Voices Against Hunger, set up sever­ bit of historical fidelity for the sake of sobriety al tables to combat homelessness by writing (our dictionary defines a bacchanal as “a letters to politicians and distributing food to drunken or riotous celebration: orgy”), but those in need. Adding an air of festivity, a rock the event proved a success nevertheless. Some trio beat out some groovin’ tunes in front of of the more popular activities included (in no Alma Mater. Just next door, Columbia Special particular order) sweets at the new bistro Le Events set up a “Jumping Casde”—a small Monde, midnight dodgeball, a semiformal shrine to stress relief. While some wanted the under a tent on South Field and casino-style free food to go to the students as the home­ gambling. less relieved stress in the “Casde,” but the $ reverse proved more beneficial to all. Two towels are now hung in the Arts wash­ $ room (Campus Gossip, 1892) Overheard-. “As many of you know, Ausdn $ and I have had our disagreements on occa­ I recently noticed a significant change to sion. Overall, however, I found it so wonderful downtown east comer of 110th Street and to work with him, that I decided to afford Broadway. Mike’s Papaya, home of the 50-cent myself the pleasure of appointing him twice.” hot dog, has gone for a new updated look. -President George Rupp, 21 April 1999 That yellow antiquated landmark that greeted $ you after late nights of clubbing and boozing Correspondence. About your version of the has become history. Do not be fooled: this is “Yeah, yeah” story that appeared in the gossip bad news. Today they change sign, tomorrow pages of your most recent issue [April, 1999]: they’ll raise the prices. (If you need evidence I think that story is very well known and a lot of this kind of inflation, just look at of variations on it exist, but I’m going to go Koronet’s.) Enjoy the 2 Franks and a soda for ahead and say that my version is the right one $2 while you can, my friends, because before and that yours has a few mistakes. First things you know it, you may be paying $2.50. first—that “anonymous Columbian” is not —Anne-Lise Peterson C’00 anonymous. He is Sydney Morgenbesser, still here, and now an emeritus professor in phi­

96 T he Blue and W hite, May 1999