John Davisson

Mariel Frank's decision to matriculate at Barnard was an improbable one.

In the past several months, as scores of candidates for state and federal office have courted New York's most influential constituencies and interest groups, Nick Whitehouse has had his sights set on an almost-forgotten minority: the homeless.

"Not surprisingly, when someone just became homeless, it's hard to see clearly and think that their vote matters," Whitehouse said.

Oscar Sevilla, a Barnard assistant superintendent who said he was attacked at 110th Street on Oct. 22, has been charged with filing a false report and suspended indefinitely from his job, according to an e-mail from Barnard Dean Dorothy Denburg.

In the 16 days since a speech at Columbia by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist erupted into a brawl, speculation has lingered over an individual seen on the Roone Arledge Auditorium stage who, according to video, photos, and eyewitness accounts of the event, appears to have kicked a protester walking below him on the auditorium floor.

Oscar Sevilla, assistant superintendent of Barnard's Cathedral Gardens, was stabbed in the back early Sunday morning in an attack by multiple assailants.

University officials have found "reasonable cause" to believe that four students who mounted the stage during an Oct. 4 speech by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist were in violation of the Rules of University Conduct, according to an e-mail sent to the protestors.

Text of the letter sent by Stephen Rittenberg, University Rules Administrator, to four students cited by Columbia for violations of the Rules of University Conduct

With Columbia's recent announcements that it will make a major fundraising push for financial aid and replace many undergraduates' loans with grants, the University has thrust itself into the increasingly aggressive nationwide competition in higher education to attract low-income students.

About a dozen students who protested last week's speech by Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist convened outside Columbia's W. 115th Street and Broadway gates late Tuesday morning.

Mark Modesitt, CC '10 and member of the Alma Matters party, was elected president of the Columbia College class of 2010 on Tuesday.

Employees at Butler Library were instructed to sidestep a ban on outside food by concealing meals and groceries in opaque bags, according to an e-mail sent to the library's staff.

A crush of eager candidates squared off about student life and vertical transportation at Wednesday night's debate for the Columbia College first-year class council.

Waiters, cooks, and other service employees at the Columbia University Faculty House demanded on Tuesday that the administration ensure job security in light of a multi-year overhaul of the facility, set to begin next spring.

A Thursday night police raid of a local bar sent scores of partygoers fleeing out a back exit and resulted in multiple summonses against the owner, according to eyewitness accounts.

The incident occurred at Soundz Lounge, located on Broadway between 123rd and 124th streets, where several hundred patrons-many of them Columbia students-were gathered for a party.

Interview with Seth Flaxman.

As a dizzying week of parties, advising, bonding, city outings, hookups, info sessions, placement exams, and meals came to a close last night, the class of 2010 appeared to respond the way any self-respecting Columbia student would-with pluck, grit, and a healthy dose of cynicism.

As classes begin at New York University this week, graduate assistants will return to teaching positions and await a union decision on whether to restart their discontinued strike.

It will mark the first time that many of the GAs have carried out instructional duties since November 2005, when the Graduate Student Organizing Committee initiated a six-month walkout protesting NYU's refusal to renegotiate their expired contracts.

In a year marked by tailgating controversy, diversity initiatives, and a flash access logjam, the interplay of Columbia's undergraduate student councils served as a stark reminder that Columbia's four undergraduate schools aren't always on the same page. Twice, it seemed that Barnard's Student Government Association was out of step with its fellow councils-first on the Baker Field alcohol policy and later with its proposal for universal swipe access to undergraduate dorms.

Police have arrested four teenagers for the death of Broderick Hehman, a New York University student who was struck by a car as he allegedly fled from a group of attackers in East Harlem. Hehman, 20, ran into the intersection of 125th Street and Park Avenue on the evening of March 24, when he was hit by a silver Mercedes-Benz.

Colleges and universities that accept federal funding must allow equal access to military recruiters, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday. The decision delivered a major legal defeat to Columbia and other schools that oppose the Defense Department's policy on admitting homosexuals.

The candles burned on both ends Tuesday night as Columbia and the Supporting Staff Association worked to hash out a new collective bargaining agreement for hundreds of Health Sciences employees. The outgoing contract for the SSA, a union representing about 1,250 lab technicians, clerical workers, and service employees at Columbia's Health Sciences campus, was set to expire at midnight Tuesday night .

Camille Bouquet, a Barnard junior and economic history major, died December 31 from injuries sustained in a car accident while traveling in Tanzania. She was 20. Bouquet and her parents, Edward and Nancy Bouquet, had been driving from Arusha to the Serengeti region on the afternoon of Dec.

A strike by New York City's 34,000 transit workers left millions of commuters struggling to get to work Tuesday and wreaked havoc for many Columbia students taking exams and returning home for winter break.   The stoppage of bus and subway service has paralyzed the nation's largest mass transit system for the first time in a quarter century, causing citywide traffic jams, prompting tight travel restrictions, and threatening to cause extensive economic damage to the city at the peak of the holiday season.

  NYU graduate student instructors will lose their eligibility for stipends and teaching appointments next semester if they continue to strike after Dec. 5, according to a written statement by NYU President John Sexton. In a message sent Monday to NYU's graduate assistants and posted on the university's Web site, Sexton wrote that the strike "should not be pursued any longer at the expense of undergraduates.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va.-As the final ramp-up to election day played out on the stages of the Northeast Corridor, many in the Columbia College Democrats turned their sights toward Dixie. In a pre-election blitz, 26 College Democrats boarded a pair of bedraggled passenger vans bound for Fredericksburg, Va.

A fire broke out on the fourth floor of Watt Hall yesterday, sending smoke pouring out of windows and residents into the rain. The blaze began around 5:20 p.m. in room 4K, where occupants Daniel Rinzler, CC '07, and Steven Rodriguez, CC '07, had been preparing dinner.

Beneath the ceaseless beat of the city, mixed with the rhythmic clickety-clack of subway cars and the shrill chorus of closing doors, there is a world of music like no other. From Far Rockaway to Van Cortlandt Park, from Jamaica to Times Square, artists daily take their acts to New York’s rumbling belly for a very difficult gig.