Tom Faure

At this point, you’ve probably heard way too much about the city from University pamphlets. But New York City needs no introduction—it’s a melting pot whose spell is almost irresistible. And though it might seem banal to say so in an introduction to orientation, the city comes first—for ultimately it remains the one nonacademic common denominator between anyone reading this (Hi Mom). As Woody Allen might have known, New York’s your town, too.

Another top editor has left the Wall Street Journal, which News Corporation acquired last year. The journal Editor & Publisher reported Wednesday that Bill Grueskin, deputy managing editor for news, will leave the Journal and become dean of academic affairs at Columbia's School of Journalism.

In an e-mail to Barnard students and affiliates today, outgoing President Judith Shapiro announced slight delays with construction of the new Nexus building. The center, originally scheduled to open for the Fall of 2009, should now be ready by January 2010.

The New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is using DNA fingerprinting technology to identify the person who hung the noose on a Teachers College professor’s door, but still have no suspects.

Despite impending finals and term papers, today a handful of students will be paying closer attention to the crucial process known as Funding At Columbia University.

The Office of Student Affairs gave new details last night about the reforms that Columbia's administration is considering making to the advising system for Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The Office of Student Affairs gave new details last night about the reforms that Columbia's administration is considering making to the advising system for Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The Columbia Political Union named its new board last night, with Alastair Shearman, SEAS '08 and CPU's director of operations, being named general manager in an uncontested race.

The Student Governing Board issued a statement last night calling on Columbia to review the disciplinary procedures used under the Rules of University Conduct.

The Columbia University College Democrats elected their new executive board last night, with current vice president Josh Lipsky, CC '08, being named president in an uncontested race.

SGA election profiles sent in by candidates, compiled by Tom Faure

SGA President

Idris Leppla, BC '08

Platform

Increasing access to financial aid: An egregious amount

of aid goes unused because of a lack of communication

between the financial aid office and the student body.

The Columbia Political Union launched its new blog yesterday afternoon, boasting a relatively high-profile array of campus columnists representing all sides of the political spectrum.

The University has censured at least three students for their disruption of an Oct. 4, 2006 protest by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, one of the implicated students confirmed Tuesday.

A number of students who rushed the stage during Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist's Oct. 4 speech at Columbia received letters yesterday informing them that they would be punished with "disciplinary warnings" for their conduct at the event.

The Columbia College Student Council's election board announced last night that the One Columbia party would not be charged with any of the three violations alleged in a report filed early this morning.

The Columbia College Student Council's election board announced tonight that the One Columbia party would not be charged with any of the three violations alleged in a report filed early this morning.

Talk of changes to the advising systems at Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science has been circulating among the schools' respective student councils in meetings, resolutions, and e-mails this semester.

A 37-year-old woman living at 600 W. 113th St. was found dead on Thursday.

The newly-formed Student Capital Campaign held its first meeting last night to launch the early stages of an initiative to place students' concerns at the center of Columbia's four billion dollar capital campaign.

University officials have refunded costs paid by the Columbia University College Republicans to host Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, whose speech was halted on Oct. 4 when protestors rushed the stage.

The system through which student clubs gain funding is a mystery to most.

The new pass/fail policy passed two weeks ago was approved after 10 months of confusion, evaluation, and a potentially key fire alarm.

Though the elections for the next crop of undergraduate student council leaders will take place some time this spring, the maneuvering has already begun as two representatives of the Columbia College Student Council have hinted at potential runs for the presidency of the executive board.

The University is investigating a seventh Columbia student involved in the disruption of Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist's speech, an official confirmed Wednesday.

Bystanders came to the aid of a woman who was apparently attacked in front of Tom's Restaurant at the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street Wednesday. Witnesses said a man pushed the woman into a light pole, subsequently elbowing her in the face and yelling at her.

African studies is set to be gradually integrated into the Middle Eastern and Asian languages and cultures department, a move that department heads have said will help MEALAC regain the prestige it previously held.

Maybe it doesn't take perfect SATs and thousands of extracurriculars. According to the New York Post, Esther Elizabeth Reed, 28, proved that all it took to get into Columbia was a name-specifically, someone else's name.

Created in 2000, the Columbia University Scholars Program, which oversees John Jay, Kluge, Global, and C.P. Davis scholars, is still finding its feet.

Mamadou Diouf, the incoming director of the Institute of African Studies at the School of International and Public Affairs, is visiting campus this week in anticipation of his appointment this coming summer.

Diouf, a professor of history and African-American and African studies at the University of Michigan, said he was looking forward to taking over the institute, which has been without a director since 2004.

Mamadou Diouf, professor of history and African-American and African studies at the University of Michigan, has accepted Columbia's appointment as director of SIPA's suspended Institute of African Studies, he confirmed Monday night.

Six months after the School of International and Public Affairs temporarily suspended the Institute of African Studies, some students say they are pleased with the administration's increased efforts to increase dialogue but that more is needed to improve the study of Africa at Columbia.

Josh Rosner, CC '08, Josh Dorsch, GS '08, and Jenny Merkin, CC '09, will head next year's Hillel executive board as president, vice president for initiatives, and social va'ad coordinator, respectively.

The Columbia University College Democrats' Global Warming Bash benefited from the unseasonably warm weather on Thursday, as organizers challenged students with a poster reading: "Tomorrow is the 1st of December. ... What are you wearing?"

Josh Rosner, CC '08, Josh Dorsch, GS '08, and Jenny Merkin, CC '09, will head next year's Hillel executive board as president, vice president for initiatives, and social va'ad coordinator, respectively. The voting period opened Wednesday, and the results were released Thursday night.

When parties differ on educational financing, a shift in the House and Senate can have a significant impact on school policies. But this year, because of a predicted division of governmental control, the results are less likely to lead to major changes.

It's 9 in the morning and you have 30 seconds to get to class on Hamilton's third floor. You rush for the elevator just as the doors are closing and stick your foot out. Made it! You'll stay in your professor's good graces.

While some observers have questioned Columbia's lack of commitment to free speech in the last few weeks, the activist group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has been accusing Teachers College of similar faults.

"It all comes down to the express."

The express subway line, that is. These are the words of wisdom that Kyle Gerry, CC '09, has for anyone thinking of living off campus.

The neighborhood that New Yorkers live in may indicate how healthy they are, according to a recently released study.

McVickar Professor of Political Economy Edmund Phelps was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday.

After two years of fundraising efforts, Columbia's School of Journalism officially launched the largest capital campaign in its history last week. Academically, a string of recent hires and the opening of the new Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism have followed the creation of last year's new Master of Arts program.

Unlike many test prep and private tutoring programs that dot the country, the Let's Get Ready program offers free tuition and is staffed entirely by volunteer Columbia students.

According to a new study by Columbia researchers, sexual orientation may play as critical a role as race or social class when it comes to health-care access.

A panel of female leaders discussed the future of global security in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Low Library on Tuesday, closing out September's series of World Leaders Forum events.

It was 8 p.m Thursday night, and Peter Gallotta, CC '09, was wasting a golden opportunity to relax.

Columbia University has temporarily suspended the operation of its Institute for African Studies, after the program went two years without a permanent director.

The name "Columbia University in the City of New York" was adopted in 1896 under the administration of University president Seth Low. But many students are left guessing when asked about the name's origins.

David Blum, an adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Journalism, will head downtown this Tuesday for his first day as editor in chief of the Village Voice.

How hard is it to get a C? Succinctly, it's pretty hard. Three years ago, only two percent of final grades distributed were Cs.

William Baldwin, a former associate dean, will serve as interim dean of Teachers College effective September 4.

Nine months after Teachers College President Arthur Levine announced he would step down this summer, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported Thursday that Susan Fuhrman, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, will leave her position in July to become Teachers College's new president.

Darlyne Bailey, Teachers College dean and vice president for academic affairs, has announced that she will step down after Labor Day to take the position of dean at the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development.

The move comes on the heels of the announcement that Susan Fuhrman, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, would become president of Teachers College in July, filling a vacancy left by outgoing president Arthur Levine.

Classes were just beginning for 2005 when first-years and returning students were already receiving e-mails about September's World Leaders Forum. It was just the start for a year of star-studded events and increased Columbia efforts to spread its reach on a global scale.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of downtown Manhattan on Saturday to call for peace and a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The marchers, many holding signs and banners, trekked from lower Midtown to Foley Square, where speakers and themed tents met them for the Peace and Justice Festival.