WikiCU - User contributions [en]

Boredatcolumbia

2024-12-01T07:26:06Z

Dlez:

[[Image:Bored.png|thumb|200px|Former B@B logo]]

'''Bored at Butler''', or '''B@B''', or at times '''Bored at Columbia''' (with various capitalization schemes, a choice of "at" or "@", and various domain name suffixes) is an online hangout for bored people.

The website was considered to be Columbia's version of [[w:4chan|4chan]]. For some people it was the last resort, when there's no one on gchat, no one on [[w:facebook|facebook]], nothing new on the net. However, it has since evolved into more of an online community.

The website was set up by [[Jonathan Pappas]] CC '06, a [[Sigma Phi Epsilon]] brother from West Virginia. He said that the site "illustrates what many college students would say if they weren’t culturally pressured to be socially acceptable. That was the idea to it. Take a college student, strip them of their identity and see what they have to say."<ref>See also, [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19 John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory], as expressed in "Green Blackboards (And Other Anomalies)", Penny Arcade, 19 March 2004. For the more academically inclined, see [http://www.samblackman.org/Articles/Suler.pdf John Suler, "The Online Disinhibition Effect", CyberPsychology & Behavior, Volume: 7 Issue 3, pgs. 321-326 (July 28, 2004)], [http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html Revised, August 2004]</ref> Pappas himself frequently posts under the pseudonym Jae Daemon.

Originally set up to entertain procrastinating students at [[Butler Library]], the website soon spread to other universities. After Columbia asked Pappas to stop using its [[Columbia crown|crown]] logo due to the controversial language that often appeared on the site, Pappas used it as an opportunity to transform what had become a growing "Boredat" empire. (In March of [[2013]], [[Dartmouth]] did the same thing<ref>http://thoughtposter.blogspot.com/2011/10/cant-use-letter-d.html</ref>.)

There are now boredat pages for various different schools, the most active other than Columbia and Dartmouth being Carleton College's iteration <ref>https://carleton.boredat.com/</ref>. The cultures on these boards vary, Dartmouth's often making headlines for being notably raunchier and more controversial than Columbia's.<ref>http://thedartmouth.com/2013/06/21/bored-at-baker-stirs-controversy/</ref> There is also a "Global Board", where students from different schools can troll each other about which one of their institutions of higher learning is objectively better than the others.

Boredat is a registered LLC in the state of [[California]]<ref>http://thoughtposter.blogspot.com/2013/03/boredat-llc.html</ref>. As of November 2024, the site is offline.

== Demographic analysis ==

Under b@b's old system, pre version 8, anyone accessing the site from a Columbia I.P. address could post comments anonymously. The system has since been revamped to include email verification so that troublesome users can receive Jae's banhammer. Your account and email are never actually linked, except via a heavily encrypted key, or so Jae claims<ref>http://thoughtposter.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-b-does-and-does-not-protect-you.html</ref> (just like the NSA aren't creating an archive of all those dick pics you snapchatted.) There seem to have been cases in the past on the Dartmouth board, where police investigations were involved, that forced Jae's hand<ref>http://jezebel.com/dartmouth-student-encourages-rape-of-classmate-on-anony-1518380538</ref>, but for the most part, anonymity has been preserved.

Since the revamp to Version 8 and 9, in 2010, there have been hundreds of pseudonymous personalities and anonymous users over the years and there are on the order of about 50-100 unique user log ins on a given day. Columbia students from all walks of life frequent the site according to [http://bwog.com/2012/12/14/imagined-community-an-editor-gets-boredbutler this] [[Blue and White]] write up. Nonetheless, there are some observable trends:

* Many B@B visitors happen to be fucking idiots. And some aren't fucking idiots. They're just idiots themselves. Just good old, plain jane idiots. Damn straight.

* Many B@B visitors happen to be pretending to be fucking idiots for #thelongtrell , but they're probably actually not self aware enough to realize that pretending to be dumber than you are for the lulz is still pretty damn dumb. HAHA JK IT'S HILARIUS I TROL U

* Some large segment of B@B visitors are Columbia gay men, looking to hook up with each other in [[the stacks]] or equally sketchy areas. It seems that at least more than a few gay students have found temporary love thanks to the anonymous message board.

* Conversely, straight hook ups never happen on b@b.

* Since the b@b revamp there have been cases of b@b personalities dating, and the board has developed its own mythology, history, cliques, gossip and above all dank memes.

* As in all chat rooms, most of the "women" are men. And a few of the femanons are pretending to be men to avoid unwarranted attention.

* Campus media, like members of [[Spec]] and [[Bwog]], frequently lurk b@b for the gossip and campus media discussion.

* There is frequently a sizeable [[GS]] population amongst the userbase, probably because their school lacks even the pretense of physical [[community]] (unlike some of the other undergraduate schools, who at least pretend to have community.)

== Frequent discussions ==

Generally, b@b is a deluge of shitposting (low value content). But for the sake of having a longer list:

* >tfw no gf/bf
* Barnard girls are ugly/fat/lesbians vs. Columbia girls are ugly/fat/lesbians
* [[GS]] students (they're old, they smell, and they're annoying)
* Midterms (midterms are a bitch; I don't want to study for midterms; I'm going to fail all of my midterms)
* What's the average GPA?
* Is my GPA high or low? (answer: anything below a 4.2 makes you a failure at life)
* Manhattanville (Should Columbia buy all of Harlem and build a huge student center + park + new dorms there?)
* [[specsucks]]
* [[copypasta]]
* Greentext stories, both real and fictional or some combination
* actual student concerns about privilege and social justice.
* people trolling shitlibs.
* your jimmies have been rustled/my jimmies are rustled
* linking to things on campus media/discussing spec op eds.
* frats are stupid
* >[[Biology]]. >A Hard Science / [[Mowshowitz]] sucks!!!
* Transhumanism
* I have no life! / You have no life!
* Am I autistic?/ You're autistic! / Users on this board must suffer from autism.
* I'm fucked! / You're fucked!
* I hate my life! (there's a good chance I'll jump under a moving car next week)/What's the best way to kill yourself? There have been cases of students on b@b literally talking other students off the ledge, so it has served a similar function to a less qualified version of [[nightline]]. Since the introduction of personalities, after the reboot, the community has often been very supportive in such cases.
* Should I go to [[CPS]]/Is [[CPS]] helpful?/Go to [[CPS]]!!
* How do I get laid?
* Should I ask the girl opposite from me out?
* Talking to girls (has anyone tried yet?)
* Who wants to have sex in the stacks (answer: nobody, ever)
* Relationship advice (why do you guys always go for the boobs first?)
* Should I shave? How?
:* Should I trim? Oh shit I accidentally cut off my balls!
* Does anyone want to hang out at 1020/Tom's/my dorm? B@b parties and hangouts have been known to happen, generally bringing the entire board community closer together.
* People gossiping about specific personalities/b@b celebrities, or trolling them.

The anonymous format lends itself to a posting style that is usually layered in irony and self-awareness, as well as playful--and occasionally more malicious--trolling, but at the end of the day the concerns and topics include the usual sorts of concerns you might imagine a college student to have.

==Some History==
Boredat has existed in some form since 2006. By version 1.3 in 2006, Disagree and Agree buttons had already been implemented and by late 2006/early 2007 boredat was at the height of its popularity with iterations at various other universities. <ref>http://thoughtposter.blogspot.com/2011/01/history-of-boredat-in-9-versions.html</ref> The site went through many updates and versions, eventually losing popularity and being taken offline by end of 2008 due to the high maintenance costs of the most recent version, version 7.

Late October 2009 The original "retro" Boredat version 1.4 was allowed to exist in its original form at low cost. The activity there proved that people still wanted some form of Boredat. Nonetheless, many of the pains of the original version 1.4 had not been addressed and it was difficult to control the damage un-moderated anonymity can cause. Complaints as well as threats of lawsuits emerged. As a result, on December 2009, the entire Boredat Empire was shut down. In an open letter, Pappas explained that a recent slew of racist and homophobic comments pushed the content on the website beyond tolerable.<ref>http://www.ivygateblog.com/2009/12/in-wake-of-hate-speech-boredom-reigns/</ref> Pappas hinted that he would like to "build" the empire again with the help of coders from various Ivy League schools, and although he believed the shutdown was "temporary", he offered no guarantees.

Boredat went back online in 2010 as version 8.<ref>http://columbiaspectator.com/2010/02/09/boredbutler-returns-after-shutdown</ref> Version 9 followed soon after, which is still the version in use now. Version 8 and 9 introduced a slew of new features including personalities, or pseudonyms, as well as required email registration. The site gained a devoted core of 20 or so personalities, plus anonymous users. It also remained popular at [[Dartmouth]]. Eventually, a global board was also introduced, where students from boards at other schools could communicate with one another. Another change enabled by registration was that your account would now track your post history as well as gather points for all the Agree, Disagrees, Profile Views and link clicks you received. Week leaders and all time leaders in points are tracked and visible on the site, presuming they use a personality. In order to address previous problems of inappropriate posts, and the subjectivity of what constitutes an inappropriate post versus what constitutes free speech, Jae decided to grant some trusted users moderator privileges, so that egregious posts could be put up for a vote for removal amongst the mods. If a post is put up for a vote, three affirmative votes can save it or remove it. Moderator status is a closely guarded secret LIKE THAT FIGHT CLUB RULE LOL. How one becomes a moderator is not transparent.

As people graduate and new students enter Columbia, the core group of personalities continues to rotate. New power users emerge, and the board culture continues to evolve and shift. Ultimately it's the users that determine the culture of the board and community. There have been various power users in the past who have gained fame (or notoriety...or a bit of both) who are still on occasion a topic of discussion or influential on the board. The board has developed its own history and mythology over the years, as well as its own secrets which the anonymous format lends itself to naturally.

== External links ==
* [http://www.boredatbutler.com/ Bored@Butler]
* [http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/03/05/070305ta_talk_widdicombe The New Yorker, "The New Bathroom Wall"]
* [http://bwog.com/2012/12/14/imagined-community-an-editor-gets-boredbutler/ The Blue and White on the new b@b]
* [http://columbialion.com/blog/boredbutler-a-guide/ The Columbia Lion's guide to b@b]
* [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516236 Harvard Crimson, "He Was Pretty Bored, Too"]
* [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=515684 Harvard Crimson, "Bored at Lamont"]
* [http://www.ivygateblog.com/blog/2006/10/students_united_by_internet_soul-crippling_boredom.html IvyGateBlog.com, "Students United by Internet, Soul-Crippling Boredom"]
* [http://thoughtposter.blogspot.com/2011/01/history-of-boredat-in-9-versions.html A history of b@b, on the site's devblog]

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:Butler Library]]

Katrina Armstrong

2024-12-01T07:23:41Z

Dlez:

'''Katrina Armstrong''' is currently the Interim [[University President]], following the resignation of [[Minouche Shafik]] in August [[2024]]. She is also Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University [[Irving Medical Center]] and Dean of the [[Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons]].

Armstrong, in a September 2024 email, set a goal of reopening campus access, which had previously become restricted before and during the [[Gaza Solidarity Encampment]], in "weeks, not months." However, as of November 2024, campus access remains ID-only at all gates.

{{succession|preceded=[[Minouche Shafik]]|succeeded=incumbent|office=President of Columbia University|years=2024-}}

[[Category:University presidents|Armstrong]]
[[Category:Deans|Armstrong]]

President of Columbia University

2023-12-12T02:37:44Z

Dlez: /* Columbia University */

The '''President of Columbia University''' is the highest officer of the university. The President is equivalent to a Chief Executive Officer in a corporation, and the [[Trustees]] are equivalent to his or her Board of Directors. The President is a member ''ex officio'', but not the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Since [[Frederick A. P. Barnard]], Presidents have published public [[Annual Reports of the President to the Trustees|reports to the trustees]]. Originally an annual occurrence, the recent trend has been to five-year reports.

== List of Presidents ==
===King's College===
* [[Samuel Johnson]]
* [[Myles Cooper]]
===Columbia College===
* [[William Samuel Johnson]]
* [[Charles Henry Wharton]]
* [[Benjamin Moore]]
* [[William Harris (President)|William Harris]]
* [[William Duer]]
* [[Nathaniel Fish Moore]]
* [[Charles King]]
* [[Frederick A. P. Barnard]]
* [[Seth Low]]
===Columbia University===
* [[Seth Low]]
* [[Nicholas Murray Butler]]
* [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
* [[Grayson Kirk]]
* [[Andrew Cordier]]
* [[William McGill]]
* [[Michael Sovern]]
* [[George Rupp]]
* [[Lee C. Bollinger]]
* Minouche Shafik

===Acting Presidents===
* [[Benjamin Moore]] - 1775-1776 ([[Myles Cooper]] fled New York)
* [[Henry Drisler]] - 1867, 1888-1889 ([[Frederick Barnard]] leave of absence, and then resignation)
* [[John Howard Van Amringe]] - 1899 ([[Seth Low]] leave of absence)
* [[Frank Diehl Fackenthal]] - 1945-1948 (period between [[Nicholas Murray Butler]] resignation and [[Dwight Eisenhower]] appointment)
* [[Grayson Kirk]] - 1950-1953 (served while [[Eisenhower]] took leave of absence to run NATO)
* [[Andrew Cordier]] - 1969-1970 (appointment retroactively made official)

[[Category:University presidents|*]]
[[Category:Office of the President]]

Lee C. Bollinger

2023-12-12T02:37:25Z

Dlez:

{{wp-also}}
{{dir-also|lcb50}}

[[Image:LeeBollinger.jpg|thumb|Lee C. Bollinger]]
[[File:PrezBo and Bloomberg at MVille.jpg|thumb|Bollinger and Bloomberg look over Manhattanville from a new building]]

'''Lee Caroll Bollinger''' [[Columbia Law School|Law]] '[[1971|71]] was the [[University President|president of the university]] from 2002 to 2023. He is affectionately known as '''PrezBo''' (alt. spelling '''Prezbo'''), a term coined by the [[Varsity Show]].

==Presidency==

Bollinger came to Columbia after serving as president of the [[University of Michigan]], where he did now unthinkable things like host house parties for students. Occasionally, though, he will invite students for cotillions at the [[President's House]], where he will deftly avoid providing substantive answers to any of their questions or critiques.

His presidency has been marked by the vague goal of making Columbia a "[[global university]]," including the creation of the [[World Leaders Forum]] and the [[Committee on Global Thought]].

The massive [[Manhattanville campus]] project is another of his brainchilds.

==Other activities==

Once, in his spare time, he did something important involving law and [[affirmative action]]. Now, he mostly teaches undergrads how to behave like law students, luring them with a class on free speech, where he exercises Socratic Terror to compel debates that are still 1000 times more interesting than anything most actual lawyers do.

PrezBo also promotes physical fitness, inaugurating the [[5K Fun Run]]. The event, which occurs in September every fall, features free t-shirts and is led by PrezBo himself.

==Characteristics and interests==

He is rarely, if ever, seen walking to and from his official residence at [[116th Street|116th]] and [[Morningside Drive]]. Rumor (though confirmed by many who have actually seen it) has it he is driven the 1.5 blocks from his office in [[Low Library]].

He is recognizable for his wispy hair, trim physique, and vague, tepid statements about everything and everyone except perhaps [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]].

Bollinger submitted an op-ed (his first and only submission to a campus publication) In response to a Spectator staff editorial which called for the firing of the Athletic Director, [[M. Dianne Murphy]]. This was responded to by CCSC President Daphne Chen, who asked Bollinger to "really speak to us" in a Spectator op-ed.

He loves the word "global" and uses it about five times in each sentence.

Asked by The Daily Beast what book everyone must read before graduating college, Bollinger said, "Montaigne’s Essays. Why? Because they teach you how to learn, how to observe the peculiarities of life, how to be a good friend, how to know and be honest about yourself—and how to spend the last years of your life once you have done your part to make the world a slightly better place."<ref>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/04/the-books-everyone-must-read-before-graduating-college.html</ref> Because it would have been pretty embarrassing if he'd mentioned a book that wasn't part of the [[Core]].

Bollinger's salary was $1.93 million in 2010, which made him the 7th highest-earning college president.

His favorite TV shows are Mad Men, Saturday Night Live, the Wire, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He has gone hiking in an area densely populated with grizzly bears to test his endurance. He is a fairly interesting man.

==Personal Life and Early Career==

Bollinger was born April 30, 1946 in Santa Rosa, CA, the son of Lee and Pat Bollinger. He received a B.S. in intellectual history from the University of Oregon in 1968, where he met his future wife Jean. They moved east to Columbia University where Lee attended law school and Jean received a masters degree in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College <ref> http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Fall2002/Bollinger.html </ref>. They were married in 1968.

After graduating, Bollinger clerked for the Court of Appeals and then for Chief Justice Warren Berger. He taught at University of Michigan's law school in 1978 and became dean of the law school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994, and then president of University of Michigan in 1997.

Bollinger has a son and a daughter with [[Jean Magnano Bollinger]], Carey and Lee Carroll. Carey Jean Bollinger graduated from Harvard in 1998 and from Columbia Law. She is on a leave of absence from a doctoral program in research psychology at Teachers College. <ref> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/fashion/weddings/carey-bollinger-benjamin-danielson-weddings.html?_r=0 </ref> Lee Carroll Bollinger graduated from Berkeley, and received his law degree from University of Michigan, and an LLM from New York University. <ref> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/fashion/weddings/carey-bollinger-benjamin-danielson-weddings.html?_r=0 </ref>

{{succession|preceded=[[George Rupp]]|succeeded=''Incumbent''|office=President of Columbia University|years=2002-}}

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/ Office of the President]
* [https://directory.columbia.edu/people/uni?code=lcb50 Lee Bollinger]
* [http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/node/586 Finding Lee Bollinger (Profile in Spectator's The Eye magazine)]
* [http://www.cogmap.com/chart.php?id=2108 Organizational Chart (wiki) for Columbia University]
* [http://www.twitter.com/LEE_BOLLINGER Parody twitter acount, @LEE_BOLLINGER]

[[Category:University presidents|Bollinger, Lee C.]]
[[Category:Administrators|Bollinger, Lee C.]]
[[Category:Full professors|Bollinger, Lee C.]]
[[Category:Law professors|Bollinger, Lee C.]]
[[Category:Law school alumni|Bollinger, Lee C.]]