Wednesday April 17, 5.10am: On waking up, I turn to the student-run Columbia Daily Spectator, my go-to source for campus coverage. It has just posted a story about a new encampment on the South Lawn. University president Minouche Shafik is due to testify later this morning in Washington before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce: campus has been ID-entry only since the start of the week. When it gets light, I walk over and see that about 30 small tents have sprouted in front of the library. A sign declares the east section of the South Lawn a Liberated Zone. I head off for breakfast wondering what the day holds.
4月17日，星期三，早上5点10分： 醒来后，我就翻阅由学生运营的《哥伦比亚每日观察家》(Columbia Daily Spectator)，这是我获取校园新闻的首选来源。它刚刚发布了一篇关于南草坪(South Lawn)新营地的报道。大学校长米努什•沙菲克(Minouche Shafik)今天上午晚些时候将在华盛顿向众议院教育和劳动力委员会作证：从本周开始，校园只能凭身份证进入。天亮后，我走过去一看，发现图书馆前已经支起了约30顶小帐篷。一块告示牌宣布南草坪东段为解放区。我去吃早餐，心想今天会有什么新的变化。