space

The 14th floor of Pupin Hall is a place not often visited by those who are not majoring in astronomy or astrophysics. Yet this past Friday, students and professors of all disciplines spent the late afternoon attending a space-themed event on the highest floor of the building.

Dear readers,

Preliminary plans to overhaul Uris Hall reveal a vision that is far removed from the current state of the building, featuring expensive and drastic changes to a currently “claustrophobic and privatizing” space. The renovations would aim to create a space dedicated to modern interdisciplinary research and intellectual community, according to a draft of committee recommendations obtained by Spectator.

Swiping my MetroCard to enter the 116th St. station is more than a monetary transaction. With it comes my promise to be quiet, to keep to myself, to occupy as little space as possible: all the things that are required of a good passenger on the subway. If the train is more than three minutes away, I wait huddled against the wall, feeling the weight of my hands tucked away in my pockets. Typically, my headphones are in as I attempt to distract myself from the sound of subway cars screeching to a stop like nails on a chalkboard (it’s the one noise I haven’t adjusted to in the city), and all the voices that inevitably follow.

Columbia students love to hate Lerner Hall. In the two decades since Columbia’s alleged student community building opened, its MC Escher-esque design, lack of social spaces, and sterile aesthetic have personally aggrieved every student on this campus. Land in New York is expensive, and the whimsical ramps that criss-cross the Lerner atrium wastes it; the fluorescent-lit cinder block hallways just beyond the atrium feel more like a supply closet than college.

Despite a 35 percent increase in Arts and Sciences and Engineering student enrollment over the past decade, the number of usable classroom spaces on campus has largely remained fixed. This trend has led to an increase in the number of classes held on Fridays and Saturdays, and has placed the burden of bargaining for space onto individual departments.

Barnard’s Student Government Association announced the creation of a new Muslim prayer space and ratified a new constitution, creating new roles on the council dedicated to issues of equity at a jam-packed weekly meeting on Monday.

Lerner Central Lounge, the recently refurbished study-free space dedicated to student recreation, has become yet another study space one semester after its opening.