Eminent domain in Manhattanville no longer imminent

On December 3rd, the New York State Supreme Court put a damper on Columbia’s expansion into Manhattanville when it ruled against the use of eminent domain. One of Columbia’s biggest opponents is Nick Sprayregen, President of Tuck-It-Away Storage, who has owned properties in Manhattanville for nearly 30 years. Mr. Sprayregen is adamant about defending his businesses and, in the process, the surrounding community.

"I’m not against the expansion. To the extent that Columbia says it needs space I think that’s fine, and to the extent that they purchase property in the open market that’s great, and to the extent that there’s economic activity even better, so that I have no dispute with. But again, when it comes to the threat and use of eminent domain, that’s where we’ve drawn the line and said 'No, this should not be allowed.'"

In an official statement released on December 12th, Columbia stated that “The university has been able to reach mutually beneficial agreements with dozens of the commercial property owners in the area and we continue to hope to reach such agreements with the last two.” These agreements will be harder reach now that the court ruling has given Mr. Sprayregen some momentum.

"I think it’s a historic court ruling, especially in a state like New York that traditionally has virtually always sided with the government and private parties in their use of eminent domain. My hope is that this will carry forward and the court of appeals will uphold the ruling and we can make a very strong difference not only on this case but how eminent domain is used and abused going forward across the state if not the country."

Though Columbia is not a party in this litigation, a few members around the Manhattanville community marched to Columbia President Lee Bollinger’s house on Saturday to protest the Empire State Development Corporation’s intent to appeal the court ruling.

"I think that especially if this ruling is upheld it will forever leave a black mark on the Columbia name and none of that would have been necessary if the administration had just been able to compromise, but they never were willing to."

Regardless of the appeal’s status, Columbia is moving forward with demolition in the Manhattanville properties they already own. They are currently working on building the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, which will house the university’s interdisciplinary neuroscience initiative. Columbia expansion efforts have similar academic buildings in mind, but Mr. Sprayregen feels that Columbia can meet these needs in other ways.

"From the very beginning, Columbia has always stated, 'We need everything' but they’ve never articulated why, and the real answer’s because they want it. That’s not a good enough reason, especially as a private institution, that they should be invoking eminent domain."

President Bollinger has stated that the appeal process will determine whether or not Columbia has a new campus moving forward.

Early admission decisions sent out

The results are starting to come in for Columbia's next group of freshman, the class of 2014. Jessica Marinaccio, Columbia's Admissions Director, recently released a statement regarding early admissions decisions for the incoming SEAS and CC students. The number applicants increased by only 2% this year to 2995 and 631 were admitted for an early admissions acceptance rate of 21%. Columbia's new students come from 41 different states and span the globe, coming to New York from countries like Ethiopia, Greece, Jordan and Vietnam.

USenate Confidential

The University Senate may soon become an even more exclusive club, with the proposal of a new 50-year confidentiality policy. The Senate is the main policy-making body at Columbia and meets monthly to address campus issues affecting faculty and students. Current guidelines require the release of a set of public minutes from committee meetings that include the outcome of votes as well as the majority and minority opinions on questions of major interest. Many senate members feel this is an obsolete process, arguing that most of this information is already released in senate reports. The new proposed guidelines would institute a confidentiality policy on committee minutes that would make them inaccessible for 50 years. Students have objected to the element of secrecy that this would add to the University Senate. With new clauses being added to clarify some of these issues, the policy may come to a full senate vote as soon as January.

BC meal plan changes anger students

The new meal plan at Barnard for the Fall of 2010 is leaving a bad taste in students mouths. It will now be required for all students to purchase a meal plan, regardless of their year and housing location, although with the flexibility of options. Next year students will be able to use their meals and points at Hewitt Dining Hall, or in the new dining locations in the Diana which will open next semester. These include Liz's Cafe which is an expanded version of Java City and will have the infamous McIntosh stone hearth thin crust pizza as well as the Diana dining hall which will be open through late lunch hours. Barnard's Dean Denburg says goal of the new meal plan is to build a sense of on-campus community, something that has been difficult to preserve following the removal of McIntosh, the previous student center.

Will meal plans short-change CU undergrads?

The days of Dining Dollars and on-campus Flex seem to be coming to a close now that JJ's Place and Ferris Booth Commons will likely become dining halls in Fall 2010. CTV News sat down with Scott Wright, Vice President of Student Services to discuss the changes.

"Student are presently doing almost 1.5 million dollars worth of off campus Flex business with the local vendors and almost all of that is money that is not being spent in Dining Services. The changes, at present, that's we're talking about will be to convert JJ's Place and Ferris Booth Commons into one-price-at-the-door, all you care to eat dining facilities."

While Cafes East and 212 survive the meal plan conversion, Wright maintains that this policy change will not affect off-campus flex. In fact, Wright cites the success of off-campus Flex as the reason for the policy change.

"There has been a steady decline in the amount of retail a la carte dining on campus. So with those sales going down and meal plan participation going up, we felt that it was important to expand the amount of board plan capacity."

While many students favor the change in policy, some students worry that the change will hurt the quality of food at these campus eateries.

"The commitment that we've made to the students who are working on this is that not only will the quality not suffer but the program won't change at all."

Dining Dollars and Flex are not the only Columbia mainstays that may be leaving this campus. Housing and Dining will replace bottled drinks and snacks with fountain beverages and move certain food stations.

"At Ferris Booth Common, we will relocate sushi. In fact, one of the reasons we wanted sushi in Cafe East, in the lobby of 212, was in preparation for the elimination of sushi. At JJ's Place, we see eliminating the grocery items that are offered right now. Our plan is to offer a small amount of grocery items, breakfast cereals, laundry detergent, and a few things like that."

For students who depend upon JJ's and Ferris for quick snacks and drinks, Wright encourages these individual to use Butler Library, Cafe 212 or any other campus retail facility. The complete terms of the dining overhaul will not be available until Spring 2010 and changes will not be implemented until next Fall. For CTV News, I'm Janelle Mills.

NY Fed president gives outlook at World Leaders Forum

Earlier this week at a World Leaders Forum in Low Library, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William C. Dudley, spoke on the Federal Reserve’s role in responding to the financial crisis as well as its economic outlook for 2010. Dudley argued that though the government’s stimulus package prevented a total collapse of the financial system, there is no question that the Federal Reserve could have done more to prevent the crisis. He also recognized that the bank bailout was an “offensive” process, especially in an economy with a 10 percent unemployment rate. Dudley cautioned that though the worst of the economic crisis has ended, there is still a long way left before the country achieve full recovery.

Baker field being redeveloped

Columbia is developing plans to make additions to the athletic complex at Baker's field up in Inwood Park. The new sports center would provide additional space to the athletic program for training space and locker room, adding to the several fields and boating house that already exist at 218th street. More importantly, the new construction would include a major restoration of the waterfront and salt marsh. By doing this Columbia hopes to not only save one of the the only remaining salt marshes in Manhattan and a valuable resource for the eco-system, but also wants to forge a relationship with the K thru 12 programs in the area, making the waterfront an educational experience for local schools. Plans are still in the beginning stages for these projects but already theree has been feedback from the local comunity of Inwood Park, mainly regarding the noise and disruption that currently exists because of Baker's field and whether or not Columbia intends to provide public access to the new space.

Sports Update

On Saturday, the Columbia basketball team won its second match in a row, winning at Bryant, 69 to 57. Defense propelled the Lions, as they held Bryant to only 25 first half points. The Lions, who improved their record to 5-4, will take an eleven-day break for final exams. In other sporting news, Columbia head baseball coach Brett Boretti will be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Davidson College. Boretti was one of the Wildcats' all-time greats in baseball. As head coach at Columbia, he led the Lions to their first Ivy League Baseball Championship in 31 years in 2008. Columbia will open the 2010 season at UNLV on March 5.