Bacchanal concert out of this world

Chewbacchanal is named for Chewbacca, a wookiee from George Lucas' Star Wars movies.

The week of festivities included giveaways, parties, a brunch, Coraline in 3D on 4/20 and the main event, a concert on the steps.

This year's concert featured indie band Of Montreal, Wiz Khalifa and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah.

"I think that we try and go for artists that have diverse genres. I think that's why we try and generally have two musicians," says Cleo McGovern, treasurer for Bacchanal Special Events.

"Naturally, we're limited by budget restraints, first of all. We have a set amount of money that we use for artists. And then, once we get a feel for what people want, who people want to bring we see their availability and what their costs are," adds co-president Jody Zellman. "And so over the course of a few months, you have people who are either in or out because of time and budget."

The concerts costs approximately $100,000. While donors fund concerts at other institutions, Bacchanal's concert is financed entirely by ABC and the student councils. Organizers face high stakes and plenty of red tape.

"Your tuition pays for Bacchanal," explains McGovern. "Funding anything is such an intense process. We need to get approval five times to spend $20 on lunch for the artists or something like that."

"I think the worst part is the real life thing, having to work with departments, getting permission, having to go through bureaucratic loopholes. It's really a huge process to go through to get permission."

An estimated 1200 people attended the concert. Organizers had some advice for attendees.

"Wild out. Have a baller time," advises Alex Kirk, co-president of Bacchanal.

"Maybe they could relax for a little bit, unwind, just for a few hours; pretend everything's going to be all right," adds Zellman.

Barnard Medal of Distinction Honorees announced

Barnard’s one hundred eighteenth Commencement ceremony is shaping up to be a star-studded event. Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, and Chief Curator of Harlem’s Studio Museum Thelma Golden will all be present to receive the Barnard Medal of Distinction. President Debora Spar will confer the Medals during the commencement ceremony on Monday, May 17. The medals are Barnard’s highest honor.

Honorary candidates announced

This Wednesday, the university announced that it will confer eight honorary degrees and recognize two winners of the Alumni Medal for Excellence. The recipients of honorary degrees included Harvard historian Bernard Bailyn, CalTech chemistry professor Jacqueline Barton, distinguished Harlem educator Geoffrey Canada, New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein and award-winning playwright and author Tony Kushner.

The University will recognize C. Lowell Harriss posthumously for his long-time service to the Columbia Economics department. Artist-activist Xu Bing and Koji Nakanishi, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry will also be honored. Ron Gonen, founder of RecycleBank, and artist Dana Schutz will receive the Medal of Excellence. The awards will be presented during Commencement on May 18.

Student leaders tackle academic schedule

During winter break many students had the misfortune of having finals scheduled on December 23rd, forcing many to miss the holidays. This sparked a petition where 1600 students asked the administration to reevaluate the academic calendar.

Andrew Springer, Senator for the Journalism School, discussed what the senate is doing to address this issue: "Student senators got together in an unprecedented act with Whitney Green and Sue Yang of CCSC and ESC to talk about this and to come up with a solution. And part of the problem that we realized that wasn't in the original petition was the issue of study days."

While the current solution allows students to re-schedule their finals, this has not eased the feeling that there are not enough study days.

Springer said that, "We had originally proposed an idea that would shrink the calendar. But it became very clear that that simply wasn't going to pass. Even if it did pass, it wouldn't change the calendar next year. The only way that we could do this was to compromise with the faculty."

In the senate, faculty outnumbers students 3 to 1, making a compromise more difficult than originally thought.

"Harvard doesn't have this problem, Yale doesn't have this problem, Princeton doesn't have this problem," indicates Springer. "Why do we have this problem? Faculty say that if we move up the academic calendar to start before labor day, which is what we proposed, they wont' be able to find child care services and, in particular, young non-tenured faculty are losing time to work on their tenure."

While a preliminary solution has been reached, debates concerning the resolution to the schedule continue. Springer assure students that, "This is only the first step, we're going to keep working on study days. This is not the end, this is the beginning."

SIPA grads don't want Pandit

Anger directed at banks has spilled over to Columbia. Some students at the School of International and Public Affairs oppose Dean Coatsworth's invitation for Citi CEO, Vikram Pandit to speak at commencement. The students say Pandit does not embody SIPA's traditions of public service.

Pandit holds four degrees from Columbia and sits on the Board of Trustees. He joined Citigroup in 2007, one year before the financial giant's collapse.

Pandit is scheduled to address graduates on May 17th. He will also attend the World Leaders Forum on Wednesday of this week.

Hollander suit dismissed

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a long-standing lawsuit against Columbia's women's studies department. Roy Hollander, Columbia Business School class of 97, first filed the lawsuit back in 2008. Hollander alleged that the discriminatory nature of a women's studies program was in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

After the lawsuit's dismissal in the lower courts, the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that the University has not harmed men with its women's studies department. Despite this setback, Mr. Hollander, who is a notorious men's rights activist, plans to continue his fight in hopes of creating a men's studies program.

Behind the Scenes: World Leaders Forum

In recent years, Columbia has seen its fair share of influential leaders. From Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran to Nicolas Sarkozy of France, heads of state draw large audiences. But how does Columbia manage to get such influential speakers and where do the invitation ideas come from?

"We develop a list of leaders that we want to issue a formal invitation to, and we send those out over the course of the summer. Usually we invite between 20 and 25, and those come from ideas that have been generated by the campus community," said Carrie Walker, Executive Director of University Programs and Events.

Forum organizers take recommendations from the community and try to come up with a lineup for the year featuring speakers that will interest and inspire Columbians.

"Perhaps we have a big initiative that one of the schools is working on in a country and we think it would be interesting to bring that leader here to speak."

In order to further direct dialogue between World Leaders and the University community, half of each speaker's program is devoted to a question-and-answer period. 

"I think it really gives students, for some of them, a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with someone who plays a direct role in global public policy."

As this year's round of forums comes to a close, we look forward to what the next year might bring.

Guardian's Bell appointed to J-School

The Journalism School announced that Emily Bell will take up the post of director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Bell is currently the director of Digital Content for Britain’s Guardian News and Media.  A graduate of Oxford University, Bell led the development of the Guardian's online presence for ten years. Starting this summer, Bell will spearhead the J-school's efforts to educate journalists with the skills and knowledge to lead the future of digital journalism.

Sports Roundup

The Men's Tennis team took the second Ivy League Championship in a row. They closed on their title after defeating Princeton at 6-1, ending their season with a 16-4 record overall.

The Men's Crew team host Boston University and Syracuse for the Conlan Cup. While the Lions were able to beat Boston for the Doc Lusins Trophy, the team wasn't able to fend off Syracuse for the Conlan Cup. The crew team will finish their season as they compete next week against Navy for the Maxwell Stevenson Cup.

Seniors look back

 As seniors anticipate graduation, they reflect upon their experiences that they have had while at Columbia. A few had these words of wisdom to pass on to the rest of the community.

"Don’t take Columbia too seriously, that sounds a little weird, but don’t take everything about grades, getting through classes, and housing and stuff like that. Don’t get too caught up in the small details, does that make sense. Focus on graduating." expressed one senior.

"Since I came to Columbia, I’m much more on top of my shit. I think everyone comes in here as a scared high school student and I would say after this experience of being in New York, I know a lot of more of who I am, what I want to do with my life. Just generally how to handle the world." explained one senior.

"I would say that you should get your requirements for your major and the core out of the way as soon as possible, so that you can really enjoy being a senior when you are a senior and you can take advantage of everything Columbia has to offer and everything New York city has to offer." mentioned one senior.

"My advice would be, what I give to any college student, college is only four years long. You are here to become skilled in a field but you’re here to have fun too. So, don’t take it for granted. " said one senior.

"Columbia has been a really fun experience. I think living in New York city helped a lot definitely. But as far as the classes I’ve taken here and the people I’ve met, it’s been great." as one senior expressed.

"I mean any time your just walking around campus on like Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, people are just wasted, and hanging out, and tripping over themselves. Generally very happy, it’s a very different vibe than what you get in Butler on any given day." as one senior recounted.