Jimmy Breslin on volunteering

The legendary writer Jimmy Breslin, who came to lecture at Professor Dick Wald's Critical Issues in Journalism class tonight, was figuring out how to navigate the closed-off campus yesterday when I spotted him on Broadway near the 116th St. entrance.

Breslin, 77, doesn't think too much of ServiceNation's initiative to round up 100 million annual part-time volunteers by 2020. The group has declared Sept.27 a national Day of Action and is urging citizens across the country to hold community service rallies and events.

"I don't volunteer too good," Breslin said. "I like pay."

Despite the tough security, Breslin didn't need a Columbia ID to get in. Those NYPD-issued press passes can get you anywhere and Breslin walked right in the main gate.

As I escorted him toward the Journalism School building, a woman at a second checkpoint asked if he was with me — as if Jimmy Breslin needs a Columbia student to get past barricades.

"I'm with myself!" he snapped back.

AP Photo/Jim Cooper

Security Update

Starting at 2 p.m., campus security began checking Columbia IDs at the section of the campus around Alfred Lerner Hall. Security has also intensified with the arrival of the secret service.


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"The Morning of" - Preparation for the Service Nation Summit

More details here

Campus political groups to register students to vote tomorrow.

Columbia University campus Republicans and Democrats will unite for one cause tomorrow afternoon: voter registration. The Columbia Political Union, an organization that aims to increase student involvement in the political process, will assist in signing up voters.

From 4 to 6 p.m. College Republicans will be tabling on College Walk and encouraging people to write letters to the troops in Iraq, said Lauren Salz, executive director of Columbia College Republicans, over e-mail.

"Security" gets tensed over tomorrow's schedule

The Day Before

A mixture of Columbia security, NYPD, and secret service agents discuss security Wednesday morning.

From Security

Workers follow a tight schedule to make Thursday night's forum possible.


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Auditorium Sneak Preview

Clockwise from the top left photo: the big screen is prepared for the main event; tech staff comply with a Secret Service request to seal off visibility from Broadway; workers prepare the stage for the main event; Columbia students walk towards the Journalism building through the limited access gates, which will be manned by security on Thursday.

Columbia on Highest Security for McCain-Obama visit.

Columbia will be treating the security alert level at Thursday's Service Nation event “almost like [we would for] a sitting president,” said Public Safety Director John Murolo.

Security will be shared between groups from campus public safety, several branches of the NYPD, secret service, state troopers and private security details.

Attendees will have to go through magnetometers (think airport security wands) and may not be allowed to bring bags into the event.

Several campus entrances and streets including 114th with be locked down, but Lerner Hall's Student Center will continue to be open during the event.

Murolo said that he and his department started security preparation nearly two weeks ago, before Columbia was finalized as location.

Columbia's John Murolo Does Auditorium Walk-Through with Gov Paterson's Security Team

Columbia University Director of Public Safety John Murolo discusses secret service placement with New York Governor David Paterson's security team for 9/11 Service Nation event.

NYPD Checks Security Procedures at Columbia University

Representatives of the New York Police Department toured the Columbia University campus Tuesday with a member of the Columbia campus safety team in preparation for a visit by senators John McCain and Barack Obama.