Barnard finalizes meal plan

After a semester of debate, Barnard officials have decided to implement a universal meal plan for all students. Because of the opening of the Diana Center, more dining locales became available for student use. The meal plan, however, will offer students more choices. CTV News sat down with Dorothy Denburg to discuss the changes.

"The program we've chosen looks different than the one we were originally thinking about that gives students a great deal of choice in terms of the ratio of meals to points and the option to buy points only," explained Denburg, Dean of Barnard College.

Denberg stressed that the changes to the meal system will be beneficial to students -- even commuters.

"There is a tremendous amount of differentiation now. Before we were looking at basically three options but now we are looking at eight or so options. It's completely different now."

The meal plan, however, is subject to change depending upon the feedback the college receives in the coming semester.

"The Food Advisory Board was set up last semester in the Fall of 2009 and the board is set up to bring students together with the key administrators in dining services. So the students can bring forth concerns about allergies and pricing," states Vice President of Student, Amy Chen.

"SGA has picked up the cause to maintain an ongoing dialogue with Aramark so that they have the opportunity to say what they like or don't like."

Chen assured students that the meal plan would provide students with means to connect with friends.

"For me, as a senior, I don't even have a meal plan but I still go to the dining hall sometimes. If I am running in between classes, and I'll definitely go to the cafe -- I'm in the cafe at least twice a day."

For students concerned about the financial implications of this new plan, Denberg states that financial aid adjustments will be made to cover some costs. For CTV News, I'm Christina Chao.

Ben Jealous to speak at CC Class Day

President and CEO of the NAACP Ben Jealous will speak at this year's Columbia College Class Day. Jealous graduated from Columbia College in 1994 and attended Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship. He is the NAACP's youngest president to-date. Last year, Columbia awarded him the John Jay award.

The class day speaker selection process begins in October. The Columbia College Alumni Association submits a list of notable graduates to CCSC. In consultation with administrators, CCSC narrows the list to five potential speakers. CCSC announced the final choice at Havana Central on Wednesday.

Last year's speaker, Eric Holder will return to Columbia to speak at this year's Law School graduation.

SEAS Elections

Chris Elizondo told attendees at the Engineering Student Council's Election Night that he was there to win -- and win he did when the ESC board elected him President. Elizondo, the former VP for student life, beat out Heidi Ahmed for the position. Ahmed previously held the post of secretary, and was elected VP for policy after losing the presidency.

Elizondo pledged to cut through bureaucracy and seek improvements in the facilities available to engineering students. He cited slow elevators and a lack of classroom and meeting spaces as major concerns.

Unlike CCSC elections, Engineering Student Council elections are internal, meaning only current council members have a vote.

If Yellow Let Mellow

Trash bins, recycling bins, and paper bins are found everywhere on campus to promote green habits. Outside of Havemeyer, a row of bins. Outside of Uris, a row of bins. Outside of Dodge a row of bins. Someone must be using all the bins but are all students taking the steps to be more green? CTV News spoke with students from different areas of the spectrum about the matter.

"Every once and a while I'll see a flyer or I'll see EcoReps people either in Lerner or somewhere or I'll get an e-mail but I can see that they are going out of their way to promote it but I don't feel like there is that much participation among actual resident," explained Brendon Cline, Co-Founder of GreenBorough.

GreenBorough is a special interest community located on 604 W 114th. What is so unique about GreenBorough is the eclectic use of materials throughout the house and the sustainability of residents activites. Most of the walls are decorated by materials that were previously found on the street.

"People have interests like in environmental science and animals and things like that. Recycled furniture, some free-gan artwork everywhere. It's a cool eclectic mix that just things that people are interested in."

There are varying degrees between everyone on campus. There green attitudes are completely embraced by everyone but students try when they can to make a difference. For CTV News, I'm Jose Ricardo Moreno.

Berkowitz becomes Nursing School Dean

There's a new doctor in the house at the Columbia Medical Center. Over Spring Break, University President Lee Bollinger announced that Dr. Bobbie Berkowitz will assume the role of Dean of Nursing.

Berkowitz currently teaches nursing at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on public health policy and reform, particularly at the state level. She previously held the position of deputy secretary in the Washington State department of health, among other elected positions.

Berkowitz takes over from Dr. Mary O’Neil Mundinger who has held the post of dean for twenty-four years. The appointment is effective as of September 1st.

Columbians reach out

This Saturday, Columbia hosted it’s annual Columbia Community Outreach program where Columbians came together to serve the local community. The day started out with keynote speakers from local community service organizations and culminated in about 50 service project throughout the city. With a record number of volunteers registered this year, Columbians were able to directly have an impact on their local community through volunteer work. Food left from the event was donated to a non-profit organization called City Harvest, a group committed to ending hunger in New York City.

CCE helps students network

As students anxiously search for entry-level jobs and internships this semester, Columbia's Center for Career Education continues to expand its networking services. With weekly workshops and networking nights, students are flocking to the East Campus building to help secure their future.

Jill Galas Hickey, the Director of Programming at CCE, said "Networking 101 is a great workshop for anyone to attend. For the purpose of it this evening, it was to help students prepare for one of our flagship events, which was media networking night."

Columbia sophomore Chanel Soto said, "I learned a lot of important information about networking that I didn't know. I love the elevator speech that she told us to give under sixty seconds like who you are, what you should do. It was really interesting and very informative."

"Networking is a skill that everyone at Columbia should take advantage of trying to master while they're here because they will take it through their internship search, job search, their job transition as alumni," said Hickey.

Students also have access to the CCE clothing closet, where they can rent proper business attire donated by Bloomingdale's and Macy's.

"Students are getting great opportunities to meet with employers and alumni through our events, but they shouldn't be stressed about what they're going to wear. As you know, a proper wardrobe for interviewing can be very expensive," said Hickey. "There's a very simple process on our website to reserve a suit. It takes about a week, and we manage the dry cleaning and the up keep of the suit."

The competitive race to enter the professional world will continue at Columbia, but hopefully students can relax knowing they have access to a career center with helpful personnel and a closet full of clothes.

Columbia accepts Common App

Starting this fall, Columbia will accept the Common Application. According to Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Jessica Marinaccio, Columbia will rely on the common app for all first-year and transfer applications. The Admissions office hopes the change will make Columbia more accessible to applicants with limited college counseling. Last year, over 25,000 students applied to CC and SEAS.

Over 400 institutions already accept the app. Although applicants can send the same application to many schools, admissions offices have the option to insert a supplement with questions unique to that institution.

Sports Roundup

After the first day of competition, the university's well-regarded fencing team had two Columbians in medal contention this weekend at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships. However, the Lions came in 7th place overall with Dwight Smith finishing fourth in men's epee and Jeff Spear seventh in men's sabre after the final round.

With Cornell's 62 to 45 loss to University of Kentucky in the NCAA men's basketball round of 16, the Big Red made Ivy League history. Cornell's team would have become the first Ivy League team in 31 years to reach the final eight in the tournament. Though initially taking the lead, the Big Red were no match for the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Lions' men's baseball dominated its home opener, lifting Columbia to a 5-1 win over Bucknell at Robertson Field. In the nightcap, Dario Pizzano broke a 3-3 deadlock with a solo home run in the eighth and Columbia completed the sweep with a 5-3 win.

The debate about healthcare reform

On March 21st Congress approved the Health Care Reform Bill that has been the center of political debate in the country for nearly a year. A few days later President Obama signed the controversial bill, which also included an overhaul of student loan programs.

"It's a long and confusing document that I'm not sure anyone knows what it's about at this point," said one student.

In the confusion, many small aspects of the Health Care Reform Bill such as the changes in Student Loans have been overlooked. The new policy increases funding for Pell Grants, giving more students the opportunity for higher education.

Freshman Kevin said, "So I guess the overall idea with that how they just took away the middle-man in the end is the best thing because it is the best way to maximize profits for the government. And plus the money's being re-routed to the Pell Grant anyways so that's great."

While junior Johan added, "It's great but I don't know how we're going to get the money for it when we are in a war and everything."

Funding has proven to be the biggest problem with the Health Care Bill. Though the policy has promised to reduce spending in the long-run, many students have doubts about the policy's financial impact, such as tax demands that it may impose.

One student mentioned spending and costs, "I think important caveats are economic cost. In the long run it is supposed to cut costs but it will be interesting to see what happens in the short run."

And freshman Nashoba pointed out, "I have to pay and extra $300 in tax every year even though I don't actually get health insurance. "

The debate about health care has been raging for a long time, and the President's signature threatens to deepen the divide between supporters and opponents of the Bill. Some students felt the issue of healthcare was a matter of patriotism

As one student expressed, "And to not offer this basic health care that every American really should deserve, I personally believe that's very un-American."