Shaft
At Columbia, shaft refers to the vertical passageways through buildings (and between buildings) around which many rooms have windows. These shaft rooms are often highly undesirable.
The Spectator's housing blog, The Shaft, is named after such shafts (probably the McBain shaft).
List of shafts
- 47 Claremont, one on either side of the building
- South shaft is wide because it opens out onto the adjacent shaft of a Barnard residence hall.
- North shaft is much narrower, with little light.
- McBain, the most notorious shaft at Columbia
- Broadway, not really a shaft
- Floors 3 and 4 have a very wide shaft at the center of the building
- Floors 5 and above are arranged around a U-shaped corridor
