day-care

March 7 was the last time the Columbia men’s basketball team took the floor. That night, now over eight months ago, rival University of Pennsylvania thrashed the Lions in Philadelphia 85-65, wrapping up a devastating 6-24 campaign that saw Columbia finish at the very bottom of the Ancient Eight.

You have probably wondered what would happen if you were to contract COVID-19 tomorrow. What kind of care would you require, and would you receive it? And—a question causing as much stress as the illness itself for many—would you be able to pay for it? Unfortunately, if you’re a student who is relying on Columbia for health care this semester, you may be right to worry.

For Columbia’s faculty, COVID-19 comes with more barriers than remote learning; it means a lack of child care, research, and, for some, progress on their tenure track. In the midst of a global pandemic, caretakers and untenured professors are facing a disproportionate number of obstacles to professional growth compared to their peers.

Lawrence A. Wien stadium may have the capacity to seat 17,000 people, but the vast majority of its seats remain empty even during a normal season. Homecoming, a rare Columbia tradition that gathers thousands of students, alumni, and faculty to a football game Columbia often loses, remains one of Columbia Athletics' only opportunities to cement its role as an irreplaceable force in the University—both as a community and a revenue-driver.

Whether you’re going to class or catching up with friends, video chatting has become part of everyone’s daily routine. However, after many months of working, networking, playing games, and even taking exams over Zoom, many voice the same complaint: an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as Zoom fatigue. Read Spectrum’s tips to find out more about what it is and develop better screen habits during the day.

“That girl … what did they do to that girl?” asks one of the boys, laughing as the camera pans to the quiet street. From offscreen, another boy drunkenly yells, “If that gets around, then you might go to jail.” The quaint street in Steubenville, Ohio, becomes eerily suspicious as anxious text messages between the boys appear on-screen. Months later, these texts would become incriminating evidence in the rape of a 16-year-old girl known as Jane Doe.

A recent community health study determined that residents of Community District 9, which encompasses 110th to 155th Street on the West Side of Manhattan, experience significant barriers in access to health care. The study reported that slightly over one-sixth of the CD9 population was unable to get medical attention when they needed it. If there is a world-class hospital located at the center of CD9, why are so many people who desperately need medical attention unable to receive it? As Spectator reported last week, West Harlem residents lack sufficient access to medical facilities and hospitals. This challenge is due to the impoverished state of about one-fifth of CD9 residents, the district’s disproportionate number of people with medical conditions, and the presence of only one hospital in the district.

Over the past few years, we have completed one of the most rigorous academic programs in the entire world and together faced the gauntlet of relentless exams, essays, research projects, and problem-sets galore. As we stressed over finals, laughed over the latest meme in columbia buy sell memes, and ventured out into the concrete jungle that is New York City, we became stronger, more mature, and more capable of handling the often unforeseeable challenges that life throws our way. Even so, very few of us expected our Columbia experience to end with such somber solemnity.