10 reasons why I am not ready to give to Columbia

10) I do not have a job.
My Columbia degree was supposed to help facilitate this—it hasn’t yet. I am broke.
Jokes aside, the nine remaining reasons are more than a mere list of complaints. I have greatly enjoyed my time at Columbia and am grateful for the education I received. However, I believe there are systemic issues here that need to be addressed, namely bureaucratic wastefulness alongside a neglect of key areas of academia and student life. Much of the bureaucratic headache is comprised of small, silly things that are remarkably fixable. So perhaps think of this list instead as, “Ways in which Columbia can and should get its act together” so that I can be more excited to support my alma mater when the job does come!

Bureaucratic mess:

9) No debit cards
Neither 212 nor Blue Java takes debit cards. Even taxis take them. Only drug dealers and sketchy taquerias don’t. This is a pain and a sign of an antiquated, lazy bureaucracy.

8) Lerner space requests
On the theme of failed bureaucracy, this system sucks. Without fail, every time I request a room via the online system, I get no response. Yes, it is NYC and space is limited, but not having an accurate system—to see which rooms are available, for how many and when, with efficient ability to respond to requests—is absurd.

7) Borrow Direct
Don’t get me wrong—I love the Borrow Direct system. I used it often during my time here and think it is a great resource. However, Butler has no system to see which of these books come in and out. These books have no bar codes, and thus Butler’s system assumes you picked up every book—if the system misplaces it you’re out of luck.

6) No guests into pretty buildings
My parents pay thousands of dollars a year for me to attend this school and yet I got a hard time, and was almost denied, when I wanted to show my dad my favorite study spot in Butler!

5) Energy wasters
Columbia Housing actually e-mailed all of us encouraging us to open our windows if our rooms got too hot this spring, basically throwing up its hands to energy efficiency. Watt’s system is set so that the heaters are on if the temperature is below 50 degrees, so my heater is on when it is 49 degrees outside. Please, Columbia, let me wear a sweater if I get cold!

I thought we were diverse?

5) No African studies major
I like the Core. I understand and agree that our nation is the product of Western philosophy and intellectual development. I acknowledge that I signed up for a certain education at Columbia, founded on certain classic texts and ideologies. That said, it is an international world and these sorts of majors are a no-brainer necessity.

4) No love for the Andes
The history department at Columbia, which I admittedly love and thus am going to be extra critical of, has six professors listed as faculty in the field of Latin America. Of these six: three primarily teach at Barnard, one is the dean of SIPA (and thus relatively unavailable, though he does make quite an effort), three teach in other departments, and one only does pre-colonial history. But again, don’t get me wrong—her class is great. Nonetheless, this leaves no one working on or teaching about the Andean region or Brazil, post-1492, in the history department. In comparison, there are 32 faculty for the United States. Worse than the neglect for the Andes, there are only three faculty members for Africa.

Community

3) There is “no strategic plan for building spiritual life,” as stated by the Episcopalian campus priest. Yes, there exist groups on campus, but not nearly enough is done to actively encourage, promote, and support spirituality in this community.

2) Under-funding Community Impact
Every year over 900 Columbia University students volunteer within Community Impact’s 32 programs, which serve over 8,000 local community members. Community Impact programs teach GED and job-training classes, it offers after-school programs, and its members cook at local soup kitchens. All of this is managed on a yearly operating budget of just $1.6 million, only 28 percent of which (roughly $460,000) is provided for by Columbia University. Community Impact is supposed to be Columbia’s active arm and pretty face of service in the much under-served Morningside Heights community. Other schools, such as Harvard and Yale, have multimillion-dollar endowments that fund comparable community service organizations. These organizations thus do not have to spend a second (or dime!) of manpower on fundraising, but can focus on serving their local communities. I am eager to give financially to Community Impact when I’m able. I hope Columbia University will expand its support of volunteerism, which would not only help develop Columbia’s internal community but also its relationship with its neighbors.

1) Senior Week or exclusive party?
Okay, just a fun one. But seriously? There were only 471 tickets for the more than 1500 University undergraduate seniors! So much for class-wide events! We’ve been here four years and only a few get to go? Come on, Columbia—do better.

MaryAlice Parks is a Columbia College senior majoring in history and political science. She is a co-coordinator of Artists Reaching Out. The Albright runs alternate Tuesdays.
opinion@columbiaspectator.com