mardi-gras

I am a Columbia student from Louisiana living full time in New York City.

Today was the last day to glut yourself on pancakes and other decadences, because starting tomorrow, for 40 days and 40 nights, we must give up all the luxuries Columbia students know and love. Here is Spectrum's guide to what Columbians should give up for Lent.

This week's plummeting temperatures are the best reason to indulge this Fat Tuesday.  Who wouldn't benefit from an extra layer of blubber this time of year?  Here's the top five Mardi Gras celebrations in NYC tonight, covering everything from live blues music to Cajun food on campus with plenty of cheap drinks in between.

Good morning, Columbia, and happy Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day! For Lent this year, why not give up ignorance by reading this morning's Wake Up Call?

It's Friday again, and we are now only two weeks away from spring break. Of course, there's still plenty of midterms and papers to get through before then, so why don't you take a break and read some of this weekend's articles to de-stress? No inertia: El Taller celebrates 35 years, faces uncertain future---El Taller, a latino art gallery and performance space, may be leaving its landmark space on 103rd Street and Broadway thanks to a $10,000 increase in rent (sounds familiar...). This won't keep them from celebrating their 35th Anniversary, though---on March 1, they'll kick off 35 nights of music by artists from both New York and Latin America.

If the Columbia community learned anything this week, it's that it's just not OK to appropriate the traditional garb of another culture so that everyone knows how "down to fiesta" you are. Unless you are a member of an established club representing said appropriated culture on campus, in which case it's probably fine, as long as you do so with the right level of sensitivity and an op-ed to back you up. But even then you might get labeled a hypocrite in the comments section. All said, it might be best to leave the fake mustaches and sombreros at home this weekend and embrace the festivities of Mardi Gras instead. Because nobody's going to claim that you're disenfranchising the Catholic hegemony.

It is no secret that some Columbia students have impressive résumés. We have in our midst published writers, hacking wizards, and even an Olympic medalist. Now, we even have a queen.