WikiCU - User contributions [en]

Harmony Hall

2015-04-29T18:41:22Z

Aaj2127: /* Disadvantages */

{{Infobox reshall
|Name=Harmony Hall
|Image=Harmonyhall.jpeg
|Built=[[1928]] <br> (Converted [[2009]])
|Renovated=
|Population=90}}

'''Harmony Hall''' is an undergraduate dormitory located at 544 W. 110th Street. It holds the distinction of being the undergraduate dormitory furthest from campus (apart from some [[Barnard College|Barnard]]-specific dorms). Until [[2009]], Harmony was a [[Law School]] and [[GSAS]]-only dormitory, offering dirt cheap corridor living to budget conscious students as an alternative to the more expensive [[University Apartment Housing]]. While [[Housing Services]] has compared the building's layout to [[River Hall]], the two buildings differ in one very important respect- River was the recipient of a $10 million gut renovation in 2000 making it one of the most modern and desirable dormitories at the school. Harmony, by contrast, will merely receive a fresh coat of paint when it is converted to undergraduate housing.

==History==
The building was originally built in [[1928]] as a clubhouse for [[W:The Explorers Club|The Explorers Club]]. However, the Great Depression scuttled the club's plans to finance their building through steady rental income from subletting the upper 5 stories of bedrooms in the building, and they left in [[1932]]. The building eventually came into the possession of Columbia. One can still see the heritage of the building in the allegorical portraits representing the continents on its façade.

[[Harmony Hunter]] talked about it.

==Facilities==
76 singles and 7 doubles of varying size are located corridor-style on 8 floors in the building. There are separate men’s and women’s bathrooms on most floors and co-ed bathrooms on floors 5 and 6. Each floor has a kitchen with a full-sized refrigerator, sink, and stove, and a common area with a flat-screen television attached to the kitchen.There is a laundry room in the basement, and 2 printing stations in the main lobby. There is bicycle storage in the basement.

A significant number of the singles are under 100 sq. ft and go as low as 76 sq ft. This makes it likely that Harmony Hall will be a dormitory of last resort for sophomores desperate for singles.

Savvy students will observe that Harmony Hall is 9 stories tall, taller than the buildings immediately adjacent to, and behind it, meaning opportunities for well lit rooms in the building do exist.

==Advantages and Disadvantages==

===Advantages===
* A few large singles (some up to 150 sq. ft.).
* The best people you'll ever meet.
* High floors have a fair amount of light.
* Fresh coat of paint on walls.
* Flat screen TVs in lounges.
* Pre-war building façade.
* Superintendent is the best. Reported problems are fixed relatively quickly.
* Many doors to explore in the basement, including the passage into the Synagogue
* Closest dorm to [[Koronet's]], [[Rite Aide]], [[Westside|Westside Market]], and a bunch of other stores, retail

===Disadvantages===
* Far from campus. The schlep to Pupin and Mudd is more than half a mile and to EC, roughly 7/10 a mile. If you're a person who runs late, this might not be the best choice for you (you always have the option of paying $2.75 to take the subway). Some previous residents wondered if this housing option was worth the walk to and from campus. Expect a long walk for anything social - as most dorms are several blocks away.
* There is no air conditioning, so expect a fair amount of street noise from 110th Street and Broadway intersection when opening windows.
* Many inhumane tiny singles, some as small as 76 sq. ft. (about 30% smaller than most John Jay singles).
* Has a reputation for housing some of the most antisocial people at Columbia.
* Lounge areas are very small.
* Kitchen trashcans stink up the kitchen whenever lid is opened.
* Creepy murder-movie basement
* Only one elevator. It's old-style and slow, so some would take the stairs to the eighth floor rooms because of impatience. Others, would just wait, since it takes longer to hike up Machu Picchu than for the awfully slow elevator to descend.
* Cockroach, rat, and other vermin problems (including bed bugs and sink-inhabiting water bugs) have been reported by previous residents, especially on lower floors and basement areas...most likely in the past. Recently, however, there have not been many sightings of these vermin (at most, there may be one or two stray cockroach appearances during the school year).
* As a pre-war building, expect all the problems you would with a non-renovated pre-war building: hot water running out periodically (doesn't happen, really), heating on too high (tricks you into believing your body is experiencing the symptoms of a menopausal woman with heat flashes), lack of full soundproofing (can hear your neighbors getting it on, no full privacy for your kitchen conversations, etc.)
* Only one printer, that's extremely slow and frequently breaks down/jams. Just un-jam it yourself...it's simple to do and takes less time than waiting for maintenance. Printer takes a while to turn on, so if you're in a rush to a morning class, it's best to stop by Lerner to print, rather than wait 5 minutes for warming up.
*Unfortunately, that passage to the synagogue has no doorknob/handle on the Harmony side

== Floor plans ==
<gallery>
Image:Harmony 1001.jpg|Floor 1
Image:Harmony 2001.jpg|Floor 2
Image:Harmony 3001.jpg|Floor 3
Image:Harmony 4001.jpg|Floor 4
Image:Harmony 5001.jpg|Floor 5
Image:Harmony 6001.jpg|Floor 6
Image:Harmony 7001.jpg|Floor 7
Image:Harmony 8001.jpg|Floor 8
Image:Harmony mezz001.jpg|Mezzanine

</gallery>

==External links==
[http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/harmony Columbia Housing - Harmony]

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.80365" lon="-73.965843" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.80365, -73.965843, [[Harmony Hall]]
</googlemap>

[[Category:Columbia undergraduate residence halls]]

10027

2015-04-29T18:34:27Z

Aaj2127:

[[Image:10027 Zip Code.png|thumb|400px|10027 boundaries on Google Maps.]]

'''10027''' is basically Columbia's zip code. Notably, [[Lerner Hall]] falls into this zip code, so all students with a Lerner mailbox have an address of the form: #### Lerner Hall, New York, NY 10027.

In order to ensure proper delivery, however, it is best for students to be more explicit about where their mail is going. Either including "2920 Broadway" (Lerner's address), "c/o Columbia University," "116th and Broadway," or Lerner Hall's own zip code extension, 7164, seem to work.

South of the campus (including [[Frat Row]]), all buildings fall into the '''10025''' zip code. So if you're using Google to look for something nearby, make sure to search "near 10025" instead of "near 10027." Unless you want to end up at a [[Duane Reade]] in the middle of [[Harlem]].

==External Links==
*[https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=0&companyName=&address1=2920+Broadway&address2=&city=&state=Select&urbanCode=&postalCode=&zip=10027 USPS.com Zip Code Lookup]
*[https://goo.gl/maps/nui3j 10027 boundaries on Google Maps]

[[Category:Morningside Heights campus]]
[[Category:Morningside Heights]]

Los Angeles

2015-04-28T18:32:27Z

Aaj2127:

{{wp-also}}

'''Los Angeles''' is the largest city on the west coast, and the second largest city in the United States (after [[New York City]]). Like New York, Los Angeles is very polluted and has a large and diverse immigrant population. It also is comprised of hundreds of unique neighborhoods and municipalities with their own distinctive charm and character. In fact, the Los Angeles Metro area is the densest metropolitan region in the United States, given that the Metro covers a five-county area with nearly uniform density.

Though much of Los Angeles has historically been covered by ghettos and ruled by gangs, in recent years the city has taken numerous strides to drastically improve its neighborhoods. One Angeleno equated Los Angeles to "[[the Bronx]], multiplied by six." However, the area also boasts some of the most affluent neighborhoods/suburban tax havens in the world, including Beverly Hills and Newport Beach.

It has 2 main Universities, [[UCLA]], and The [[University of Southern California]] (USC), which share an extreme (and pathetic) sports rivalry. L.A. also has [[Caltech]], but located on its outskirts, because it engages in unnecessarily dangerous experiments.

It is rare to find someone at Columbia who is from Los Angeles who did not go to the tony [[Harvard-Westlake]] school, though it has been known to happen.

The newly elected mayor of the city, [[Eric Garcetti]], is a CC '92 and SIPA alum.

[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Cities]]

University of Southern California

2015-04-28T18:25:56Z

Aaj2127:

'''The University of Southern California''' is a private university located on [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].

USC is to [[UCLA]] what [[NYU]] is to [[Columbia]], made even worse by the fact that UCLA is a public school, and is located on Westwood, near Beverly Hills and Hollywood, while USC is in South Central, the L.A. equivalent of [[The Bronx]], multiplied by six. The two schools share a fierce rivalry and each likes to make jokes at the expense of the other. It also has woefully deficient Wi-Fi on campus, numerous slumlords in the immediate vicinity of campus, and an excessive overlap of police protection via the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the USC Department of Public Safety.

USC is mostly filled with [[WASP]] kids who got rejected from [[UCLA]] and [[Stanford]], or out-of-state students that got better financial aid packages. Much like [[Columbia]], despite having a number of well-maintained Metro stations adjacent to campus, many students neglect to explore their outside environs, choosing instead to engage in debauchery on-campus on many a weekend night.

One might wonder why anyone would choose to attend USC, but maybe it's because Randy's Donuts (the best on the west coast) is near USC campus.

[[Category:Universities]]
[[Category:Safety school]]
[[Category:California]]