A Cappella on Glee

As a fan of a cappella, I like this Glee-souped-up a cappella rendition of Train's pop-catchy "Hey Soul Sister" by the all-male Dalton Academy Warblers.



Eric

Quick word: With DADT repealed, return of ROTC to Columbia is next

Yesterday, the Senate passed DADT repeal. Good.

The follow-up issue is Ivy ROTC. Immediately after DADT repeal, mainstream journalists contacted the presidents of the prestigious universities that lost ROTC during the Vietnam War about ROTC returning to their campuses. Their responses, including by President Bollinger, were promising.

Soapboxing ROTC rhetoric during the DADT era was easy. With the DADT block gone, now it gets real. The hard part for ROTC advocates is just beginning. The devil is in the details: buy-in from the needed university and military decsion-makers, course credits, faculty status, campus space and facilities, recruitment, operating costs, etc., etc., etc.. A viable business model for Columbia ROTC will be key. General David Petraeus on institutional change:

Now, as anyone who has been involved in transformation knows, change can be hard. It can be challenging. And it can be frustrating. Inevitably, all institutions resist change to some degree--even when all recognize that change is needed.

Eric

Columbia 5 drug bust

In yesterday's titillating scandalous news from Alma Mater, 5 Columbia students were arrested on campus for selling MDMA (AKA ecstasy), marijuana, Adderall, LSD, cocaine, and other drugs, like DMT and amphetamines. More up-the-minute reporting at bwog.com. MDMA, marijuana, and Adderall seem like drugs commonly used by college students. LSD and DMT are less common and a step up in risk, but still not surprising. Cocaine is the heavy hitter. Apparently, only one of the students sold cocaine and is facing the most serious charges.

I don't use drugs, but in college, I nevertheless had a peripheral sense of widespread drug use on campus and I wondered sometimes how students knew where to get it. I had (and have) no idea how to buy drugs, even the seemingly ubiquitous marijuana.

I believe if alcohol and tobacco products are legal, then marijuana, which I believe to be less dangerous for similar effect, should also be legal. But what is legal doesn't always seem right, and what seems right isn't always legal. The law is the law, and they're smart kids - they knew, or should have known, the risks they were taking.

FYI, as of this posting, all 5 students are still in custody in the Tombs according to VINE and the NYC DOC websites. Odd in the case of Michael Wymbs because the news reports said his parents attended his arraignment, hired a very expensive defense attorney, and were prepared to pay his bail. 1:40 pm Update: Wymbs is out, the others are still in.

Eric

Hyundai Christmas song commercials

The cute girl singing and playful guy on instruments with light-hearted antics featured in the new series of Christmas-themed Hyundai commercials are Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte of Pomplamoose. Look up their music on youtube. Yep, cute girl. They're a couple - lucky guy. Precious jewels.

Eric

Cool website of the day: thaddeusrussell.com

I took Professor Thaddeus Russell's class at Barnard in spring 2005. It is one of the few classes I took at Columbia that changed how I see culture and society.

Eric