They say it takes seven years to become a New Yorker, but as students with only four years here, we need to expedite the process. Here are a few tips on how to quickly disguise your inner tourist and show off your city savvy.

Tuesday, Aug. 26

8-9:30 a.m.: Good Morning Walk/Running Start, College Walk
General advice for all morning events: There is no guarantee you’ll meet many folks during these. There’s also a chance that you’ll run into—literally—50 bright faces who share your passion for exercise and mornings. These occur every day of Orientation, so naturally turnout depends on how late activities go the night before.

125th Street

Prestigious and powerful Columbia University has had a long and complicated relationship with its neighbor to the north, Harlem. As the University plows ahead with the campus expansion project in West Harlem’s Manhattanville, Harlem’s beloved “Main Street,” 125th Street, is also getting a face-lift. Last spring, the New York City Council approved a plan to revitalize 125th—but “revitalize” can be a potentially dirty word when it comes to city planning in low-income areas.

Barnard’s Director of Financial Aid Alison Rabil, BC ’86, will step down from her position at the College in mid-October, Dean Dorothy Denburg announced in an e-mail.
Check back for updates and interviews.

Debora Spar has been Barnard College's president for exactly one month. Read on for the second part of Spectator's interview to learn about Spar's thoughts on women's education, college rankings, and Barnard's international goals. Spar explains why she thinks Barnard's endowment lags behind its peers, and how it prevents the College from being as "ambitious in some respects as we’d like to be."