James Tyson

A string of thefts on Columbia's Morningside campus from Saturday through Sunday have led Columbia's Department of Public Safety to release closed-circuit TV images in an effort to catch the individual allegedly responsible.
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The Department of Public Safety is searching for a male from 20 to 25 years of age and 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches in height carrying a grey messenger bag and wearing a yellow sweatshirt and black and white sneakers.

Public Safety has released images pulled from Closed Circuit Television footage that show the man entering a Columbia building. Public Safety officers believe that the man is in possession of several stolen Columbia ID cards.

"This is a guy who apparently stole somebody's ID card and has been going around campus and stealing unattended property," associate vice president for public safety James McShane said Monday evening.

"In the meantime," McShane said, "students and faculty should not leave their items unattended."



UPDATE: Tuesday, 3:20pm—The burglar stole unattended belongings over the weekend from Dodge Fitness Center, among other locations.

"He hit a couple of buildings, and I know he hit Dodge," McShane said Tuesday afternoon.

"There is an investigation and it is ongoing." said Brian Tesseyman, a Senior Investigator with the Department of Public Safety who is working on the case.

Anyone who sees a man fitting the above description should notify Public Safety immediately at 212-854-5555.

Check www.columbiaspectator.com for updates.

In his early days, he aspired to play professional baseball. But when President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic addressed a capacity audience in Low Library Thursday evening, he directed his remarks toward education and infrastructure.

Graduate students interested in studying Latin America and the Caribbean can now look no further than Columbia.

The Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science & Engineering will serve as a model school in a new joint venture between Teachers College and the government of the Dominican Republic to improve that nation's educational system.

On Friday, as the World Leaders Forum neared its final days, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark spoke about the economic and environmental challenges of global climate change while President Danilo Türk of Slovenia talked about cooperation between the European Union and the United States.

With the recent increase in enforcement of University alcohol and party policies, many students are questioning the merits and motives behind what some have deemed a "war on fun."

China's most wanted woman spoke at Columbia Tuesday evening at a forum hosted by the Columbia International Relations Council and Association. Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur American Association, spoke to an audience of about 70 as a guest of CIRCA, a student organization focused on engagement with international affairs. Wearing a traditional Turkic hat atop her two long braids and speaking through a translator, Kadeer discussed the long-standing tensions between the Muslim Uyghur minority and the Chinese government as well as this summer's violent clashes in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Kadeer was born in the Xinjiang province—which she refers to as East Turkistan—and lived as one of China's richest businesswomen until she was jailed in 2000 as a result of her political activism in support of the Uyghur cause. Released five years later, she came to the United States and now continues her activism from Washington, D.C. In recent statements, the Chinese government has named her culpable for inciting the summer's ethnic riots at the cost of an estimated 200 lives, a charge that Kadeer vehemently denied at the event. The controversy surrounding the Xinjiang riots elicited protest, and in Havemeyer Hall students posted signs saying "Rebiya Kadeer is a terrorist" and distributed brochures near the building's entranceprior to the speech. One student held a poster that read "Stop Lying Rebiya Kadeer" while two other students handed out pamphlets. As Kadeer began her speech, Public Safety officers removed one protesting student and confiscated his sign. Speaking through an interpreter, Kadeer highlighted the Chinese government's "Develop the West" program, which she characterized as one geared toward the assimilation of the Uyghur ethnicity into the greater Han Chinese majority. According to Kadeer, the government has succeeded in encouraging Han Chinese to move to Xinjiang by offering priority status for employment, as well as easily obtainable housing. Kadeer lamented these efforts to resettle Xinjiang with Han Chinese which she said, when combined with forced movement of Uyghur youths to other regions of China for work, created major population imbalances. As Han Chinese moved to Xinjiang and took jobs there, the government "forced young Uyghur girls and young Uyghur boys to go to big cities like Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing and take up jobs in factories," she said. "Why can't they find jobs for them in East Turkistan when millions of Chinese immigrants get jobs? Why are they moved to different, alien places?" Kadeer also criticized what she characterized as the Chinese government's opportunism in using the war on terror to brand "obscure" Uyghur groups as terrorists. Kadeer described the government's campaign to control coverage of this summer's unrest in Xinjiang as a broad effort to portray Han Chinese residents of the region as victims of Uyghur violence. "What you hear from the Chinese propaganda is not the truth," she said. "They showed gruesome images of Chinese victims 24 hours a day as a result [Han] Chinese took to the street." In the question and answer session following her speech, one student asked Kadeer for her thoughts on the Chinese government's policy of favoring Uyghur and other minority students in college entrance exams. The policy, which some Han Chinese view as discriminatory, dictates that minority students receive an extra 15 points on their exam scores. Kadeer responded that, while this may benefit Uyghur students in the short term, discimination in the job market negates any positive impact it may have on Uyghur unemployment. Despite her criticism of the Chinese government, in an interview with the Spectator prior to her speech, Kadeer mentioned what she saw as a possibility for coexistence between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. This summer "Uyghur students, for the first time, held Chinese flags during the protests," she said. "They wanted to send a message that they accept Chinese rule but want to be treated as citizens." In the meantime, Kadeer called for openness and international attention to the Xinjiang unrest and the plight of the Uyghur people. "I want the world to stop the genocide of Uyghur people. I call for democratic countries, especially, to go to China and find out the truth for themselves," she said. "We are asking the help of the world, because we cannot help ourselves." news@columbiaspectator.com

A Columbia student was hospitalized early Sunday morning after being hit by a car on 114th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. break The Pi Kappa Alpha pledge was struck around 12:30 a.m. Students on the scene said that the police were called and, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, the student was taken to St. Luke's hospital. A Pike brother said that the student's condition was not critical. "It seems like he's going to be okay," he said on Sunday morning. Spokespeople from Pi Kappa Alpha and Columbia University Public Safety declined to comment.

A Barnard College student was a victim of public lewdness in Riverside Park on Sunday afternoon. break The student was walking in the park at approximately 1:55 p.m. when a man approached her and exposed himself. Barnard Public Safety has released an alert regarding the incident and advises students to be aware of their surroundings at all times but declined further comment.

A Morningside Heights woman was robbed at gunpoint in her apartment Tuesday evening. break Two male perpetrators allegedly followed the woman into the elevator of her building at 122nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue on December 23rd. One aggressor displayed a gun and forced the woman to enter her apartment. After following her into her home, the men stole several items and then fled in an unknown direction. The two robbers were described as men in their early twenties—one 6 feet tall, the other 5-foot-10-inches—wearing coats and baseball caps. Investigators have made no arrests, and have recovered none of the stolen property, the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information said Friday. The NYPD's 26th Precinct and Columbia Public Safety declined to comment. Individuals with additional information about the crime can contact Detective Signoretti of the 26 Pct. Detective Squad at 212-678-1351.