Basketball Mania returns

After being canceled last year due to reduced crowd attendance, Midnight Mania is finally back and it seems just about everyone is ready to unleash the Roar.

"When they canceled it, I was pretty upset but I am really glad it's back now."

"We have a lot of people here so it's probably going to be great."

"They’re definitely trying to invoke some more spirit with the free stuff and everything so that’s cool, very exciting."

Joe Jones, the coach of the men’s basketball team, believes the return of midnight mania is crucial for team and community morale: "Its been a great event for us over the past several years I think our guys were really bummed out last year when we didn’t do it and its really for them, its for the women’s team, and its really for our whole campus."

"It energizes the campus gets students from all the schools involved, and its something we can build on," explains Gerrald Sherwin, former Columbia Alum and athlete.

"We've got a lot of guys that didn’t play last year, or played a limited role playing, in a much different role this year. So it will take us a little time but I really feel like in a month or so this team will be ready to really get going."

While the university tries to increase support for athletics, some students remain skeptical.

"It was really hyped up and we thought there were going to be a lot of people here."

"Hopefully we can win some games."

"I think we could win some games. I think it could be great."

Looking for their first win, the basketball team travels to captain Kevin Buldger’s hometown Chicago this Tuesday to compete against De Paul.

"What better way to start our season by going to Kevin’s hometown and getting it done. He calls it Chi-Town, so we’ll see what they've got for us."

English professor passes away

Karl Kroeber, professor of English and comparative literature, passed away on Sunday November eighth after a long battle with cancer. The 83-year old wrote extensively about American Indian Literature, art criticism and art history. He taught at Columbia for nearly 50 years, teaching classes like Native American Studies, Romantic Poetry and Children's Literature. Professor Kroeber will be greatly missed by students and colleagues.

Coming to a clinic near you: swine flu vaccines

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene now encourages individuals under the age of 24 to receive the H1N1 vaccine. Vaccines are also available for pregnant women, those in close contact with newborns, and people with medical complications between the ages of 25 and 64. For a complete list of clinics and more information, please visit the New York City Department of Health's flu website at nyc.gov.

Theater production manager punched

Be wary of running into professors at Toast. On Friday November sixth, Lionel McIntyre, an associate professor, punched Camille Davis, a Columbia theater production manager. Regular patrons say that Professor McIntyre often engaged fellow patrons in debates about current events, politics and race. But this heated discussion went awry when McIntyre punched her in the eye. He was released without bail, following a court appearance.

The War on Drugs lights up Columbia

While students have shown little interest in a proposal to ban smoking on campus, the war on drugs has gone completely unnoticed. On Wednesday, Ryan Grim, senior congressional correspondent for the Huffington Post, tried to change that. He asks, "If drugs can be lethal, should they be legal?"

"There are bills in the House every year, usually Barney Frank is one of the ones who introduce it, to lift the ban on medical marijuana and another one is to lift the ban on recreational marijuana," says Aditya Mukerjee, VP of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Mr. Grim argues that "the thing that people should take away from the history of America’s drug use is that drugs are dangerous things. Now there’s a funny thing about it, adults actually do have the capacity to learn."

With the intellectual capacity of American adults confirmed, concern shifts to the publication of misleading facts about drugs.

Mr. Mukerjee: "We’ve never actually had an overdose from THC. It’s as safe of a drug as you’re likely to get. Yet, because of our history, because of Hearst’s actions in the mid-30s, that’s why we have marijuana illegal, and that’s why we have alcohol legal though regulated. The ideological problem at stake here is we’re going based on history and not based on science."

Mr. Grim: "The reason I got into the book was to try and put our current relationship with drugs in a broader context. One of the biggest problems that we have in terms of drug policy in the U.S. is that we have zero memory. We don’t remember what happened twenty years ago in terms of drug policy."

Memory loss is a known effect of cannabis, but Mr. Grim is specifically referring to the inefficient policies that guide the War on Drugs.

Mr. Mukerjee: "If you say that the War on Drugs is in the quest to eliminate drugs, I don’t think that’s ever going to be won."

Mr. Grim: "In the 80s, price increases in marijuana drove men toward other drugs. The War on Drugs – hard soft or otherwise – helped persuade pot smokers to put down the bong and pick up [cocaine]."

Mr. Mukerjee: "The myth that people who use drugs are lazy or unproductive or other, it’s a complete myth. To anyone who’s unsure on where they stand on drug policy, that’s the one thing I would keep in mind. Keep yourself open to the facts and always ask, ‘where are these coming from?’ because, frankly, most of the stuff you learned in your D.A.R.E. classes is wrong."

Cigarettes get put out at Michigan

While Ryan Grimm and others are writing critically about the U.S. policy on drugs like marijuana, institutions such as the University of Michigan are striving to impose a ban on drugs that are legalized in this country. They recently announced a goal to have the campus smoke free by July 2011. In response to questions about how this will achieved, university officials say that people caught smoking on campus will receive an invitation to a smoking cessation workshop rather than receiving a citation. Michigan is following a trend in university smoking bans including a proposed ban here on our own campus. But not everyone is supportive of the idea. Even non-smokers are concerned about the imposition on individual rights. Associate vice president of student affairs Simone Himbeault Taylor addressed this saying, "The objective is not to take a law-and-order approach to this. The objective is helping them make thoughtful choices about their own lives." We have yet to see how the debate will play out here at Columbia.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates keep Columbia classy

On Thursday, the world’s two richest men visited Columbia. Warren Buffett, who graduated from the Business School in 1951, joined Bill Gates in Roone Arledge Auditorium for a CNBC broadcast event. The current recession dominated the night's discussion; Gates and Buffett assured the audience that the worst has passed and reminded students about some positive aspects of the downturn. The billionaires also brought their values to the discussion, stressing the importance of ethics in business. Throughout the night, Gates and Buffett made sure to provide a positive outlook on the economy to the nearly 700 SIPA and Business School students in attendance.

Sports Update

In a reversal of fortune this week, the mens' football team beat Cornell in Ithaca. The Lions were down twenty to sixteen at halftime, but recovered to beat the big red, thirty to twenty, The Lions were helped by helped by a pair of rushing touchdowns by M.A. Olawale who entered the game halfway through the third quarter.

The volleyball team ended their season with a win, playing Brown in 5 sets, with a 3-2 win against the Bears. They ended their season 12-15 overall and 3-11 in the Ivy League.

Swimming and diving opened their season with an exciting meet at the Uris Pool. Their huge win against Yale, 151-149 was a great way to start off the season. Next, they take on Harvard on Friday November 20th 5 pm at Uris pool.

Women's basketball lost to Oakland today in a close game in Levien Gym. They're 1-1 after the first weekend of the season and will travel to Brooklyn Wednesday night to take on Long Island University

Club sports are gaining strength at Columbia, this year led by the Men's water polo team. They recently went into the New York Division Championship October 31st and November 1st as first seed and managed to win first place out of 8 competitive teams for the 2nd consecutive year. This weekend they're at the National Collegiate Club Championship tournament at the University of Florida.

Question of the week: Do you feel safe around campus?

Although campus tour guides continue to trumpet Columbia's safety record, some students fear for their safety in Morningside Heights. Recently, members of the Columbia community report being robbed at gunpoint in Riverside Park and attacked on Morningside Avenue. While most find campus safety adequate, students cite several areas that they avoid.

"Actually, I feel that campus safety is not very effective. When I am on campus, literally on College Walk and coming back from anywhere, it’s fine. But, in the event that I study at SIPA a lot, and I walk down Amsterdam and turn on 114th, there are a couple of bums that sleep on the grates of John Jay and all that Public Safety does is drive past you and continue driving around campus and really doesn’t do anything. And, it’s really dangerous on Amsterdam for some reason, and it always feels really freaky at night, to the point where I should just cut through campus and take the long way, instead of going down Amsterdam and making it shorter. However, on campus, it’s fine, since it’s a closed campus and it’s not so bad. But I feel like they can do a lot more in terms of outside the immediate area."

"I guess campus safety isn’t too bad. I mean, if you avoid the parks at night, you should be okay. Pay attention, don’t flash your iPhone or whatever around everywhere. The recent crime wave has really disturbed me, and I hope that Public Safety and the police will be able to crack down on this to make sure it doesn’t happen again."

"I wouldn’t walk on Amsterdam or nearby Schermerhorn."

"Even though the emails about security alerts have been increasing lately, I personally haven’t experienced any issues with campus security. I have always felt safe on campus specifically, and the surrounding area, particularly on Broadway, maybe with a decreased safety feeling on Amsterdam and further that way. I feel security on campus is not an issue for me personally."

On the other hand, several students felt no concerns about neighborhood safety and say they have not changed their behavior despite the recent spike in crime.

"Even though there have been a lot of happenings in terms security, I still pretty much do whatever I used to do, including running in Riverside Park at 12 AM at night with nobody with me. A lot of people say that’s not a good idea, but I’ve never had a problem. I’ve done it for the last two years that I’ve been at Columbia, and it seems to be working out well for me."

"I don’t really do anything different because of the safety [concerns]. It actually feels safer than at home, so I’m comfortable here."

"I feel very safe, I always see security guards going around, so I feel their presence. At night, I don’t really walk around 125th Street, which is where I live because I don’t feel too safe at night. During the day, it’s fine though."

"I think campus safety is pretty good. Sometimes you just need to be careful about where you are and at what time of the day. Morningside Park is probably not a great place to be walking around in at night. You just have to be smart and be in groups. It’s a really safe campus, but it’s still New York City. Actually, from what I’ve heard, the safety in New York is much better than a lot of other major cities. I think people just need to be smart about where they are and whom they are with."

"I still feel pretty safe at night. I don’t really go anywhere totally off campus. I wouldn’t go for a walk alone in the park at night. But, the gates and the guard at the Barnard gates make it really safe. Generally, in this area, I wouldn’t wander too far at night, but for the most part I feel really safe on campus and around here."

Regardless of their views, students hope that Public Safety will be able to address the problem and keep the community safe.