Cup of Joe

Columbia students now have yet another way to feed their caffeine addiction on campus.  Joe Coffee opened their new location on the second floor of Columbia's Northwest Corner Building this Monday. Joe Coffee, however, promises to be more than your average grab-and-go coffee joint. As a local company, Joe Coffee already had a large following for their artisanal coffee around the city. Joe Coffee had been interested in opening a store in the Columbia community and went through the university's rigorous approval process to open their new location right here on campus. 

CTV talked to Joe Coffee's manager Jessica Bertin about Joe Coffee's history: "Joe was started seven years ago by a brother and sister duo, Jonathan and Gabrielle. They loved coffee and had been looking for quality coffee all the time."

Jessica explained what sets Joe Coffee apart: "Really the focus is quality and the recognition that it's awesome to have all the other things that go with coffee, but coffee is the core. And hospitality. Espresso beverages are hand crafted to order; we steam milk for one beverage at a time. We just have a lot of quality control." 

Joe Coffee also supports the university's commitment to sustainability. Jessica elaborates, "The concept is that by focusing on quality and what it takes to create really quality coffee. Then you will, be definition, support your community and your environment."

Joe Coffee provides an open and spacious area for students to sit down and enjoy their coffee 8AM to 8PM on weekdays and 9AM to 5PM on the weekends, although they do not currently accept dining dollars or flex. In the future, Joe Coffee looks to host more coffee tastings and brewing lessons. Starting next week, Joe Coffee will start offering food in addition to their current variety of coffees and teas.

Snowy January Breaks Records in NYC

This past Wednesday, New York City saw one of the biggest snow storms it has seen in recorded history.  Nineteen inches fell on the city, crippling transportation and covering roads and sidewalks with a white blanket.  Airports and the bus system were shut down to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers, and crews worked night and day to attempt to clear the snow and slush.  The storm added to an already snowy month for the Big Apple, giving us a total of 36 inches for January, the snowiest January on record.

Urban Technology Innovation Center

New York City wants greener buildings. The mayor announced this week the creation of the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center, a joint project between the city and Columbia, NYU, and City University of New York.

The schools will conduct research and work with companies to create greener commercial building products commercial products that will be offered to local builders at a discounted cost.

 The three universities together will pay for about two thirds of the cost of the project, upwards of $500,000.

Up & Coming Columbia Musician

While John Jay Hall may look like your typical first-year dorm, its residents are quickly discovering that they have a fledgling pop musician in their midst. 

Freshman Danny Murcia has started an internship at Atlantic records, working underneath a woman in artist development who is helping to manage the career of Bruno Mars. "Yeah, it's really exciting," Danny says.

"I think he has a good variety, and he's definitely found his sound early on," says a floormate on John Jay 7.

Not only has Danny landed an internship at one of the most prestigious record labels in the world, he also recently completed a two track EP entitled "Nothing to Prove" - singing and producing everything on his own.

Danny works from the comforts of his dorm room in John Jay 7 where develops new beats and melodies. Of his catchy dance pop sound, Danny said: "The dancier stuff has come as a result of trying to get a wider reach, and trying to make music more feel-good."

Danny launched a website, listentodanny.com, that offers free downloads of his new songs. Thanks to a grassroots movement from his friends on John Jay 7, the site has had thousands of hits in just over a week. Kalena Zimmerman of John Jay 7, explained the campaign: "At 3 AM we went up to fifteenth floor and worked our way down, writing on every board. The next morning everyone was wondering what happened."

 "We're also thinking of putting a giant sign in front of Alma mater's hand so everyone walking on campus will see it," says another John Jay 7 friend. "We'll see where creativity takes us and get the word out. Everyone has to listen to Danny. Everyone in this entire world: Prezbo, President Obama, everyone, listen to Danny."

Apart from his solo career, Danny sings in the Columbia a cappella group Notes and Keys, which recorded an album over the weekend featuring two Danny Murcia arrangements.

He has a lot of really good input that most people don't have because he's a musician," says Freshman and fellow Notes & Keys Zach Vargas-Sullivan. "It's really good to have him there."

Danny hopes to major in music with a concentration in economics.

"it's definitely been a life long dream, but it's more of an evolving dream," Danny says of his career aspirations. "It kind of started out as 'i want to be jimi hendrix', then it kind of moved to 'i want to be Michael Jackson' and now it's kind of like, i would like to be sort of a songwriter/producer, kind of like Bruno Mars-starting out songwriting and eventually coming out as an artist in his own right so that's kind of the dream right now."

Alum Donates $10 Million to Bridge the Gap Between Law and Business at Columbia

Alumnus and Greenwich real estate developer Richard Paul Richman donated $10 million to Columbia this week to fund the establishment of the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business. The aim of the center will be to bridge the gap between the Business and Law schools.

According to a Columbia release, the Center for Business will encourage collaboration among Columbia's most prominent business and legal scholars to generate research that will inform public policy and help to unite study in both business and law.

TA English Testing

If you’ve had a TA that you just could not understand, this is news for you.

Columbia announced this week that it has partnered with OWL Testing Software to begin implementing a web based program that will analyze voice recordings to ensure that international doctoral candidates wishing to become TAs can perform at an acceptable level of English proficiency.

Columbia anticipates screening about 100 students with the software each year.

Barnard Class Day Speaker

Harvard graduate and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Sandburg will speak at Barnard’s 2011 Class Day, the school this week. Called the “most valuable friend” of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg by the New York Times, Sandburg was recently named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune magazine,

CTV News Weather Update - January 30, 2011

  I hope everyone is enjoying the sun today, because the snow will be returning early next week. On Monday and Tuesday we will have partly cloudy skies, with a high of 35 on Monday and a high of 27 on Tuesday. Temperatures will drop to 15 degrees both of those days, so be sure to bundle up once night falls. On Tuesday we will be hit once more with snow showers, with a high of 30 and a low of 26. On Wednesday we’ll have the awful snow-rain-slush mix that everyone hates, but then Thursday through Saturday show clear skies once more, with highs in the low thirties and lows in the mid twenties. Lucky for the freshman going to Winter Wonderland, you’ll hair won’t be covered in snowflakes as you enter Lerner. Be sure to catch the Black Theatre Ensemble’s “The Colored Museum” this weekend in Lerner’s black box.This is Emily Ellis with your weekly weather update.

Columbia Sees Huge Spike in Number of Applicants

In 2010 Columbia saw a 32% increase in the number of applications received for incoming students.  With Columbia's switch to the Common Application, submitting an application has become easier and more accessible to prospective students.  As a result of the increased interest and accessibility, Columbia now ranks second only to Harvard on the list of universities receiving the most applications for the Class of 2015.

This spike in applicants promises to make this year's application process the most competitive yet.  We wish all applicants the best of luck as admission decisions are mailed out this Spring.

Intro: Club Sports

Club Sports Financial Difficulties

The Club Sports Governing Board is asking CCSC for a twenty to thirty thousand dollar bailout after an unexpected change in the administration's coaches pay policy left them with nowhere else to turn. CCSC President Learned Foote weighed in on the issue.

"Our first contact with this issue was when certain clubs reached out to us at the beginning of the semester and basically notified us that the university was moving to a different program in terms of fringe benefits for certain employees. Employees that were previously classified as part-time employees would be affected by this change in policy," said Learned Foote, President of CCSC

"There were additional fees that were applied to these coaches and that would significantly increase what these clubs would have to pay, which in turn would mean that the Club Sports Governing Board which oversees these clubs would have to pay more, which means that the student council has to pay more," commented Foote.

"So, as we are one of the main sources of funding for the governing board, they turned to us as a way to potentially make up for the shortcoming since they did not expect these changes to come into being," Foote explained.

"We want to make sure that this does not negatively impact clubs. We weren’t super excited to find out that there might be another twenty to thirty thousand dollars that would be paid for out of student fees, but it is our responsibility to make sure that the governing boards are able to do what they need to do, and since this in university-wide policy, there is no way around it," said Foote.

CCSC heard the governing board's request, but has yet to decide whether or not to provide the group with additional funds. I'm sure many people are hoping that they come to a decision quickly.

Sports Roundup

Men's basketball started out 2-1 in Ivy League play with back to back victories against Cornell and then a 77-66 loss to Harvard. The team moved to 3-1, however, after cruising to a 66-45 win over the Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday night. The team is now 12-6 overall and plays next Friday at Brown.

The women’s basketball team has been struggling all season, but they are finally showing signs of life, taking three of their last five. Their latest victory came at home against Dartmouth on Saturday, winning by a score of 67-61. Senior Lauren Dwyer put up 19 points on the day.

Several Columbia track and field records were broken when the Lions competed at the Penn State Invitational on Saturday. Sophomore QueenDenise Okeke broke the Columbia triple jump record, jumping 12.43 meters. Junior Justin Holloman ran a 22.12 second 200 meter dash, the best in the school’s history, but only the second fastest among Ivy League schools at the event.

Don’t look now but Columbia’s squash team is tearing up the courts. They swept both Vassar and Northwestern 9-0 this Saturday improving their record to 9-2 on the season. The Columbia Men’s Tennis Team has been less successful, dropping a 4-0 decision to both Louisville and the University of Tulsa during the weekend.

Men’s swimming defeated Brown, in the process setting a record for Uris pool. The 400 free relay was completed in a swift 3:01.05 minutes, breaking a record set by Cornell in 2008. The Lions improve their record to 5-2, with a 3-2 record in the Ivy League.