Notes From the Neighborhood

Compiled by [Sam Blum], [Megan Bungeroth](http://nypress.com/?s=Megan+Finnegan+Bungeroth) and [Sean Creamer](http://nypress.com/?s=Sean+Creamer) Columbia's Champ of the Courts Brian Barbour, a 6-foot-1 junior at Columbia, leads the university's basketball team, the Lions, in scoring with 14.1 points per game. He's been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's best point guard, and is one of the best free throwers in the country. We asked Barbour about this year's season and his role on the Lions. West Side Spirit: You guys have won 11 of your past 12 games; are people more excited around campus about the direction of the program? Brian Barbour: We have a great alumni base that's been very supportive of us. And as students start to come back from break, I think if we can keep it going, it can become a big thing around here. When coach [Kyle] Smith took over [before the start of the last season], that was one of his goals. How do you think your role has changed since the beginning of the year, before Noruwa Agho got injured? Noruwa was a very vocal leader, very strong-minded, and he was our main offensive weapon. Everyone kind of looked to him. You can't replace a guy like that. I've never been much of a vocal person, but I'm trying to step that up. What's been the key to the success of the team the past two months? Cohesion has been very good. Our defense has been big. But mostly it's all the different guys stepping up in their roles. Everyone is doing the little parts they can to keep the team going. Do you think Columbia has a good chance this year in the Ivy League, considering how heavily favored 25th-ranked Harvard is? Yeah, absolutely! You're not going to accomplish anything saying this team or that team is better than us. Intergalactic Party Going intergalactic never seemed this fun in astronomy class. The American Museum of Natural History is holding a Cosmic Cocktails and Space Arcade event to celebrate the oddities of space by way of live music, indie games and an open bar to "test" the effects of alcohol in a 1g environment. The event is Thursday, Jan. 26, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Rose Center for Earth and Space(enter from 81st Street). Astronauts must be 21 or older to participate. The soiree will feature live music by One Ring Zero in the Cullman Hall of the Universe, where they will play music from their album Planets, a tribute to the Solar System. Babycastles, a Brooklyn-based video game studio, will offer patrons a chance to play independent arcade-style video games and explorers will have a chance to study the exhibit Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration, where visitors can discover the smell of the moon, fly over Mars and participate in other space-oriented activities. Tickets are $75 and include two hours of open bar, appetizers and admission to the exhibition. For discounted tickets for $45, call 212-769-5200 and use the code BEYOND. Answer to Mosquito Problem on UWS Residents of West 83rd and 84th streets have been targeted by an influx of mosquitoes recently despite baffled residents' efforts to eliminate potential breeding grounds and rid the pests from their neighborhood. Late last year, Council Member Gale Brewer wrote to the commissioners of the departments of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and Environmental Protection (DEP) asking that the city repair or address holes in the surrounding streets left by construction, which residents said were collecting water and serving as ideal homes for the mosquitoes. Sam Miller, assistant commissioner at DHMH, wrote back to Brewer to say that the actual home of the flying bloodsuckers is the dank recesses of the sewer system. The DEP has been working with the Department of Transportation to flush the sewers beneath the afflicted streets and reports that the mosquito population appears to be lessening. The mosquitoes, it should be noted, have not been found to carry West Nile virus, but have been nonetheless plaguing residents who dare to leave their windows open. Digging into NYC Buildings History The Municipal Art Society will hold a series of seminars on how to navigate the city's agencies and documents to discover the history of buildings. Architectural historian Anthony Robins will lead a four-week course teaching participants how to unearth documentation on a structure's origins, architects, owners and builders. Attendees will get a crash course in deciphering building records, tracking down information from deeds and obituaries and sorting through archival materials for useful artifacts and clues about a building's past life. Sessions will be held each Wednesday in February, starting Feb. 1, from 5:45?7:30 p.m., with an additional weekday field trip to be announced. Classes meet at 111 W. 57th St., 16th floor. The cost is $300, or $250 for MAS members and full-time students. Call 212-935-3960, ext. 1234 to register.