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Graduate Profile: Shruti Kumar

Lien Hoang — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:22:52 -0500

Councils Address Aid, Endure Impeachments

Lien Hoang — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:04:22 -0500

CCSC Passes New Frontiers Proposal

Lien Hoang — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

A report passed by the Columbia College Student Council last night outlined five problems and potential solutions for Frontiers of Science. The report addressed the course's overwhelming breadth, the length of discussion sections, weekly individual assignments, reading materials, and its location in Miller Theater as subjects for review. The report omitted an earlier plank about grouping students into discussion sections according to their scientific background and interests. "We're not telling the faculty what to do, but giving them suggestions based on what students think," said Jessica Becker, CC '10. "The purpose of this report shouldn't be misconstrued," Alidad Damooei, CC '09 and academic affairs representative, said. "It's not like we change these five things and it's all fixed. We're not that stupid. It's more about opening up dialogue with faculty." When the council's academic affairs committee was working on Frontiers reform in February, Damooei focused on the division of students as a chief aim of the report. He has since met with David Helfand, head of the Frontiers of Science program, and said he has come to agree with Helfand's philosophical and practical objections. "We thought that doing that [splitting up students] would take away from the general idea of a core class which is to bring together students of different experiences," Damooei said. Damooei said there was still a problem with "lumping students together" because of the differences in skill levels. Therefore, he said he felt that one of the most important suggestions in the report was creating a student focus group to influence the direction and content of the class. He cited a similar system, the Committee on the Core, which gives students a voice regarding the Core Curriculum but which doesn't cover Frontiers. Currently, Frontiers faculty work to ensure that the material is comprehensible by having faculty members in one scientific field check the material presented by members in another field. "I say, why not just have students do this?" Damooei said. "A professor still has technical knowledge, a scientific background, so his perspective is not most representative of students." To fill up what council members called the unnecessarily-long two hour discussion sections, the report recommends using some of the time to give "a preview of the upcoming lecture." The report also proposes the hiring of an additional instructor for the help room and the addition of a textbook or course pack to bridge the "gap between the overly simple material" in Habits of Mind reader and the technical articles." Of Miller Theater, where lectures are held, the report states that the bad lighting and desk-less seats are "more conducive to napping than rigorous focus," and advocates that lectures be moved to 407 International Affairs Building. Since that room only holds 300 students, the lectures could be split into two sections, the report says, which would also increase scheduling flexibility.

CCSC to Get Technology Czar

Lien Hoang — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Correction appended. The Columbia College Student Council passed a constitutional amendment last night creating a new Director of Technology position, whose primary duty would be maintaining a council Web site. Michelle Diamond, CC '08 and CCSC president-elect, introduced the amendment as a follow-up on one of her campaign promises to make the council more transparent, namely through an updated Web site. While 11 council members supported the amendment, two stood in opposition, raising concerns regarding the amendment's stipulation that the new position would be appointed and have voting rights. Although most of the council members' discussion was off the record, David Chait, CC '07 and class president, said that he pushed for an elected position with voting rights, which would make the member more "accountable" and also make the council "more representative of the student body." Allan Lau, CC '09 and pre-professional representative, also voted against the amendment because he felt the Director of Technology shouldn't have voting rights. "Being on council is already an incentive," Lau said after the meeting. "It should be an honor. That should be enough for them to have to work hard." He agreed with the amendment that the position should be appointed, as elections don't guarantee that students are qualified to run Web pages. "The best way to choose is judging them on their work, not through an election." CORRECTION: This article incorrectly implied that David Chait voted against the resolution that created the position of director of technology. The council will review the amendment's details at the end of the school year.

Michelle Diamond Wins CCSC Presidency

Lien Hoang — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Michelle Diamond, CC '08, was named next year's Columbia College Student Council executive board president as her One Columbia party took nearly 60 percent of the vote in this year's CCSC elections. One Columbia had more than double the support for the runner-up, junior Tracy Chung's Rebel CC party, which had 25.9 percent of the vote. The Voice party of Natali Segovia, CC '08, came in third with 14.3 percent of the vote. "I'm ecstatic, we're all absolutely ecstatic," Diamond said, referring to her ticket of Alidad Damooei, CC '09, vice president for policy; Jennifer Choi, CC '09, vice president for funding; Lindsey Lazopoulos, CC '08, vice president for campus life; and Glenn Thompson, CC '08, vice president for communications. After celebrating the end of the campaign at Nacho's, members of One Columbia returned to Diamond's suite to await the results with more than 25 supporters. "I was so happy to be surrounded by all these people that helped me and who are so important to me," Diamond said. With a total of 1,410 voters, turnout represented 34.3 percent of the student body, according to the results released by the elections board last night. That number was "significantly lower than last year," according to elections board chair Subash Iyer, CC '07. He said that 50.5 percent of the CC population cast ballots in last year's race between Seth Flaxman and Nishant Dixit, both CC '07. Iyer attributed this drop to several changes including the relocation of the voting site to Lerner Hall instead of the Low Steps, a new rule requiring candidates to stay at least 100 feet away from the site, and uncontested bids for Class of 2008 and Class of 2009 councils and for the two student services representative positions. "I don't think it will be close to last year," Iyer said yesterday, a half hour before the polls closed at 7 p.m. In the other races, Eric Wang and Felipe Tarud, both CC '08, defeated four other candidates to take the two open Columbia College Senate seats. Priyanka Gumaste, CC '10, beat Derek Hou, CC '09, to become pre-professions, scholarships and fellowships representative with 54.9 percent of the vote. "It was good campaigning," Hou said, "and it just reflects that both candidates were qualified, in such an even vote." "Of course it's disappointing not winning, but Pri will do great job," he added. In the year's tightest race, Donna Desilus, CC '09, edged out Kenneth Liu, CC '10, for the academic affairs representative spot by a mere 26 vote, 2.2 percent margin. With 39.6 percent of the vote, AJ Pascua and Sue Yang of the Go party, won as Class of 2010 president and vice president. The election was marked by allegations of foul play, including alleged death threats against incumbent 2010 class president Mark Modesitt. His Alma Matters [Remix] party came in last, also trailing the Toga party of Maximo Cubilette II. "It was an interesting case," said Pascua, who was downtown when the results were sent out via email. "Charlotte Freinberg, the representative who won for the Toga party, was the first to call just to congratulate me and say she'd be happy to work with me. … Go meshes very well with Toga." "It was a very long process," Modesitt said. "I'm glad it's over. As corny as it sounds everything happens for a reason, so now I'll focus all my attention on something else." Neda Navab and her Access party and George Krebs and his Fusion party were both re-elected as class presidents for the Class Councils of 2008 and 2009, respectively, in uncontested races. Meanwhile, Molly Conley, CC '10, and Brian Leung, CC '09, were both elected as student services representatives. As for next year, "The entire school is going to see fantastic things from us," Diamond said.

Election Poll Shows Diamond in Lead for CCSC Presidency

Lien Hoang — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:00:00 -0500

In preparation for the Columbia College Student Council elections taking place today and tomorrow, the Spectator conducted a poll for the executive board positions last week. Among 263 students polled, 28.9 percent said that if the elections were held that day, they would have voted for One Columbia and its presidential candidate, Michelle Diamond. Tracy Chung's Rebel CC followed with 16 percent, and Natali Segovia's Voice party trailed at 13.7 percent. More than half of the students, 54 percent, responded that they intended to vote in the elections. Of the 40 percent of students not planning to vote, nearly half said that the elections don't matter. Even among students who do plan to vote, the plurality of students said that elections don't matter. In response to a question about why elections are unimportant, one of the most common responses was that the elections only matter to the students running and are a method of resume-building. Chung promised not to include her CCSC involvement on her resume if elected, if voters expressed this concern. Students also said they didn't participate in elections because they viewed CCSC as ineffective in bringing about change due to empty campaign promises and powerlessness against the administration. One student wrote that "major universities are not designed for the students to wield power," while another asked, "Has there ever really been anyone elected that honestly effected great change through their own efforts?" Indeed, many respondents sought candidates with the ability to build strong bonds between students and administrators. Students also complained about similarities between candidates and the lack of opacity in the council. They also called that elections a popularity contest. Surveyed students and executive candidates agreed that the budget, particularly the council's allocation of funds to student groups, is a key issue in the campaign. Diamond said at the e-board debate that she'd like to provide such funds by using the CCSC's surplus, "which are just sitting in our bank accounts not doing anything." One of the most important issues with voters and candidates is the advising reform. The CCSC passed a resolution at the end of February which called for doubling the number of advisers and combining the First-Year Sophomore Academic Advising Center and the Junior Senior Advising Center so that students can have the same adviser for all four years. The resolution was co-authored by Diamond, and most of its provisions have been adopted into One Columbia's platform. The Voice party advocates similar but less dramatic changes, maintaining a separation between FYSAAC and JSAC. The party claims that its provisions are "realistic" and utilize "the structures that are already in place." Financial aid was another pervasive concern among polled students. Current CCSC president Seth Flaxman, CC '07, fulfilled his platform promise to increase financial aid when the administration announced that it would turn loans into grants for students coming from families making less than $50,000 annually. But, as Cosette Olivo, CC '07, wrote in the survey: "That is a big issue that people have given up on because the administration just gave us a little bone. We need more money." Voice wrote on its platform that although the University "is not likely to pass reform again this coming year," the party would "ensure the continuation of what has already been set in motion." One Columbia made a similar promise on its site to "push to make donation allocation public and ensure that funding is getting to the students who need it." Rebel CC pledged the same in its platform but went one step further in stating that it would work to increase donations by "strengthening student and alumni ties to the school."

E-Board Candidates Duke It Out

Lien Hoang — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Candidates at Monday night's Columbia College Student Council executive board debate spared few words to defend their experience and ideas for the future of the school. As they talked of freedom of speech, council transparency, and club funding, members from each of the three tickets-One Columbia, Rebel CC, and Voice-regularly spoke past the appointed time limits, pushing the debate half an hour overtime. "I have never seen such long sentences in my life," elections board chair Subash Iyer, CC '07, quipped, evoking laughter from audience members and candidates. Featuring prominently into the debate was te charge by Tracy Chung, CC '08 and head of the Rebel CC party, that Michelle Diamond, CC '08 and head of the One Columbia party, had violated CCSC election bylaws by promising Student Governing Board members a funding increase in exchange for political support. The elections board ruled that the charge, and two others filed with it, were without merit Monday afternoon. Asked if the accusations amounted to "mudslinging," Chung replied, "This was not a last-minute mudslinging strategy. We put a lot of thought into it." Largely shielded from the the charges, Natali Segovia, CC '08 and head of the Voice party, said to the audience, "We played a fair game and that's what we're most proud of." Each of the three parties trumpeted the importance of funding for student groups. Diamond said her ticket hoped to use the CCSC's surplus as a source for increasing this funding. Chung shot back, arguing that the surplus money was earmarked for major renovations such as updating Lerner's black box theater. The parties also agreed that the council budget process should be made more transparent to increase accountability and voiced support for a refurbished CCSC Web site as a way to reduce council insularity. Glenn Thompson, CC '08 and One Columbia's candidate for VP for Communications, called the current site "horrible." Likewise, all three tickets emphasized their support for free speech on campus. Asked how the council would handle a hypothetical crisis like Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist's Oct. 4 visit., Segovia said, "There was no stance from CCSC, and that is something we find problematic."

Council Proposes Advising Changes

Lien Hoang — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:00:00 -0600

Correction appended. The Columbia College Student Council passed a resolution this week, in support of preliminary academic advising reforms, including assigning students to the same adviser throughout their four years, doubling the number of advisers, and providing guidance that is specific to their fields of study. The resolution urges Columbia to combine the First Year Sophomore Academic Advising Center and the Junior Senior Advising Center into a "one-stop shop," according to Michelle Diamond, vice president of the Columbia College class of 2008 and a nominee for CCSC president. She authored the resolution with David Chait, president of the Columbia College class of 2007, and Molly Conley, vice president of the Columbia College class of 2010 and a candidate for CCSC Student Services representative. While affecting no immediate changes, the one-page resolution served primarily as a harbinger of a more-detailed resolution set to come by the end of spring. It was "symbolic" more than anything else, Chait said. "It's almost a publication for the student body, to let them see we've [the council has] heard their concerns," Chait said. "We'll continue to periodically pass resolutions as we reach new stages in this project. ... It's almost a document of what we're doing, not the work itself, because the work itself is meeting, talking to people." The council's passage of the resolution this week comes as Diamond and Conley are both running for office, enabling them to cite the issue while campaigning. Council members say that centralization would eliminate the transition between advisers, thus allowing students to maintain a single adviser for their entire time at Columbia. Diamond said she felt this would solve the "real lack of personal relationships" between students and advisers. She also said she thought maintaining "physical proximity" of advisers meant that they "will be talking to each other more, so they'll have a better understanding of what's going on across different areas." The resolution also calls for advisers receiving "better basic training on undergraduate requirements," while also undergoing "area specific training ... whereby incoming students will be assigned to advisors specializing in their intended major field." In response to concerns that students may have trouble keeping one adviser if they continually change majors, Diamond suggested that advisers be determined based on each student's general area of interest, as students are likely to switch majors that still fall under their broader interests. Diamond later said that although the council didn't have a complete advising plan yet, the main idea was to give students "greater mobility" among their advisers. The resolution further stipulates that faculty members be made a more integral part of the advising system because they could supply more specialized knowledge. In addition to decreasing the student-adviser ratio from 300:1 to 150:1, the resolution also recommends doubling the time of preliminary first-year advising meetings to 30 minutes. Diamond said that the council wanted to work with the administration on the reforms. "The biggest impetus for this resolution was to put pressure on the administration because from time to time, the administration needs a gentle reminder that this is still a priority," Diamond said. " It's something they're still working on." After the resolution was passed, the authors went on to meet with Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo and Engineering Student Council members on Monday night to go over what changes the students think should be made. Diamond emphasized that the administration has been very "receptive" to student contributions to improving the advising system. CORRECTION: The jump headline for this article incorrectly characterized a resolution passed by the Columbia College Student Council. The resolution called for lowering the student-adviser ratio to 150:1. It did not call for hiring 150 more advisers.

Run for CCSC Begins

Lien Hoang — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:00:00 -0600

The Columbia College Student Council campaign season kicks off today, when the three parties vying for control of the representative body are first allowed to present their election platforms. The election will likely center around proposals to increase financial support of student groups and the number of campus-wide events, which representatives of all three parties highlighted as key issues for the upcoming campaign. "A lot of times I feel like there's not enough long-term fiscal planning to build up programs," Tracy Chung, CC '08 and Rebel CC's presidential candidate, said. "Last year, CCSC had a surplus, and instead of rolling that over, we should be giving it to the groups," said Michelle Diamond, CC '08 and One Columbia's presidential candidate. In order to build a more connected community, One Columbia also expressed a desire to create more cohesion between student groups through meetings with campus leaders to discuss methods of achieving common goals. Regarding the University's proposed Manhattanville expansion, Diamond said, "we want to ensure that any expansion follows the 197-A plan," a set of guidelines passed by Community Board 9 which represent the Board's vision for future development within West Harlem. Diamond based her support for the community-endorsed plan on the fact that it "would mandate that buildings are environmentally friendly." Neither Rebel CC nor Voice took a stance on the proposed expansion. "I don't think it's our place to propagate our views," said Katrina Ciraldo, CC '08 and Rebel CC's candidate for Vice President for Policy, while Natali Segovia, CC '08 and Voice's presidential nominee said, "Our role is to advocate and express what the student opinion is, what students feel on campus." Rebel CC and Voice each advocated different ways of improving what they felt to be a flawed relationship between CCSC and its constituents. "CCSC ... has previously been out-of-touch with the concerns of many students," Segovia wrote in an e-mail. She wrote that the party wants to ensure a strong connection to students by allowing student groups to present their concerns at council meetings on a regular basis. Rebel CC also expressed that it wants to bridge the CCSC/student body divide by revamping the council's Web site. "If there's one thing I want to leave Columbia with, it's a [CCSC] Web site," Chung said. The Web site currently features the 2005-2006 council, which Chung said he felt was "indicative of how CCSC views its role. They focus on working with administrators, but where are the students?" Bringing in the help of Engineering students, Rebel CC said it wishes to create a Web site that keeps students up-to-date on council activities, while pooling campus activities on a central calendar to reduce flyering. Rebel CC and Voice's shared goal of increasing communication is consistent with the tickets' allegations that the current council is too insular and needs a fresh perspective lacking from the One Columbia ticket, with Diamond, who has been on CCSC in some capacity for the past two years. As self-appointed outsiders, both tickets said that their strength lies in the variety of viewpoints they bring from other activities with which they've been involved. One Columbia countered by saying that it has both new faces as well as council veterans. "What makes us unique is the experience we have," Diamond said.

CCSC Prepares Frontiers Report

Lien Hoang — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:00:00 -0600

Members of the Columbia College Student Council have begun working on a report to address and provide solutions to what they say are problems with the Frontiers of Science course. Alidad Damooei, CC '09 and academic affairs representative for CCSC, has assembled an Academic Affairs Committee of six first-year council members, whom he believed "would have more of a stake" in Frontiers. At the group's first drafting meeting on Feb. 7, they decided on seven major problems with the course, which they plan to tackle in the report due in two to four weeks. One of the top concerns is the major differences between students' backgrounds going into the class. According to Damooei, some students felt "unchallenged" by the "simple" material in the class, as if instructors "think they're stupid," while students on the other end of the spectrum felt as though instructors "expect too much of them." "It would be better if one could group students according to their background," Damooei said. The committee is working on finding a way to place students in discussion sections according to their math histories. David Helfand, head of the Frontiers of Science program and professor of astronomy, took umbrage at the proposed reforms. "I simply reject the claim that 17-year-olds know more than faculty," he said. While Damooei acknowledged that doing this would mean that students come out of the course with completely different experiences, he felt that it would nevertheless be a "better match." "I think it highly improbable that that would happen," Helfand said, citing practical setbacks, such as the manner in which students would be grouped. But Helfand's main concern with the proposed reforms was philosophical. He emphasized that the purpose of discussions is to stimulate "peer learning," which includes juxtaposing students of converse backgrounds. As for students who struggle with this Core requirement, Helfand said: "It's disturbing when students come in with a 780 SAT and can't do ninth-grade math. But I don't blame the students because they certainly have the ability." The other main goal of the council committee is to build more cohesiveness within the course. "We want to try to create a better link between what's taught in lectures, sections, and weekly individual assignments," Damooei said. In response, Helfand argued, "I think there's more of a connection than a superficial look would reveal." As evidence, Helfand said that in the 2004-2005 school year, when Frontiers became a requirement, every section had one universal problem set per unit, but faculty quickly realized that was problematic and came up with several choices among the weekly individual assignments. Section leaders may also craft assignments that fit their individual classes. Helfand also noted that Frontiers faculty meet weekly to improve the course. "We constantly talk about what's happening and what we're going to do," he said. He added that they "spend a lot of time meeting with students," and if CCSC is working on reforms, "it would be most efficient to talk to faculty sooner rather than later." While the committee members plan to do just that, they began their efforts with an "outreach campaign," which asked first-years for suggestions about Frontiers.