Heads up to students applying for financial aid. Federal Student Aid Grants are being cut. For starters, congress has allowed Academic Competitiveness, and SMART Grants to sunset. While these grants were geared toward very specific academic achievement, they did allow students to earn up to $1300 for the first two years, and $4000 for the last two years of college. Not anymore.

Feds Cut Financial Aid

As the spring deadline approaches, Columbia students seeking financial aid must file their taxes early, then submit their FAFSA form to the U.S. Department of Education. Busy keeping up with classes, many on campus don't know federal grants have just been cut. As of the 2011-2012 school year, the federal government will no longer fund the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) or the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART).  Even Pell Grants - reserved for lower income families - are under what the president called a "scalpel" during a recent press conference. Specifically, the White House has proposed cutting summer Pell grants. What we don’t know is how much more of federal financial aid, including Pell grants, Stafford loans and even work study will be cut by next year.  

Columbia Undergrad Jenny Vallancourt was particularly concerned about her Stafford Loans, saying:  "Um, I don't know much about Pell Grants, but I get a Stafford Loan, so I'd say that that's probably more important to me." She voiced concern about subsidies being cut, adding: "Definitely, I think that would hurt my financial situation."

Yet right now - undergrads need not be concerned about Stafford cuts. The current White House proposal to reduce Stafford loan subsidies is targeted only to graduate and professional students. But Federal Pell grants - which are exclusively for undergrads- are slated to be cut next year. 

To find out how the University and its individual schools might react, we spoke to the "guru" of Financial aid, Skip Bailey. He's the Director of Educational Financing at the School of General Studies.

"Certainly it is a concern that Pell grant funding might be reduced. It's not at all clear. It looks like some of the legislation is suggesting a 15% across the board cut. Again, we at GS would not have the ability to compensate for that loss," said Mr. Bailey.

So far, the cuts are modest. Consider that ACG and SMART Grants were only helping a few of us. According to Skip Bailey, only 40 out of 1300 students at the school of General Studies received them this year. As for Pell Grants, only 15.7% of Columbia College students receive them. And don't forget: other aid is available. "Campus-based funds" (meaning your school adds funds to its government allocation) - have not come under threat. 

Ever wonder who decides how much aid you get? It's a top-down process. The federal government disperses annual allocations to the University as a whole. Then, it's up to the Provost. Bailey adds: "The Provost's office makes decisions about how much these funds called campus based-funds - SEOG is on of the three - Perkins loan, and Federal Work-Study, the three of those comprise campus-based funds. It means federal government money that the campus receives and the campus then allocates it. So the Provost decides how much GS gets in SEOG, Perkins, and the Federal Work-Study Program."

That said, be proactive - scholarship money is there to be had, both internally from Columbia endowment funds, and of course hundreds of outside scholarships as well

"I think most students should avail themselves of these search opportunities. You never know if you're part of an included group and never knew it," Bailey adds. As application season begins, make the most of available resources. 

Postcrypt changes

After a month long suspension, Postcrypt Coffeehouse will return to the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel without security next week for the first time in more than a year.

The Coffeehouse was placed on suspension in December by the University Chaplain for scheduling events on dates after which student programming was supposed to end last semester.

The venue’s decision to stop serving alcohol was a major factor in the Chaplain’s decision to stop requiring the presence of a public safety officer at Postcrypt’s events.

Lenfest Awards honor professors' achievements

This month, eight faculty members were honored with the Gerry Lenfest Award at this year's Distinguished Columbia Faculty Awards Ceremony.  Faculty were commended on a variety of merits, ranging from scholarship to professional involvement.  The recipients came from both the arts and science disciplines and will receive $25,000 per year for the next three years.

Students respond to heckling of veteran at ROTC debateAs the debate about allowing ROTC to return to campus progresses, it is clear that tension is continuing to build up.

This week, the issue received national media coverage after military veteran and School of General Studies student Anthony Maschek was allegedly jeered by the crowd at the third of the University Senate’s town hall style hearings.

Gavin McGown of transgender rights group Gender Revolution explains what happened at the meeting.

“At the two and a half hour mark, someone received less than polite treatment,” McGown said.

That someone was Maschek. For veteran advocate and GS student Marco Reininger, the incident was troubling.

"Unforturnately, it hasn’t been a very Columbia-like discourse,” Reininger said. “Of course, I was disappointed with the event regarding the treatment of Anthony Maschek, but at the same time I realize it was only a few individuals that engaged in the catcalling and engaged in the heckling.”

McGown, however, does not feel that students intended to heckle Maschek, but were provoked.

“People had been sitting and talking to each other for two and a half hours before that point, and had managed to do so with some passion but with no one interrupting anyone else. At this point, what was said [by Maschek] was not said was not phrased in the most delicate manner. It was phrased provocatively,” McGown said. “[That] doesn’t mean that it was in any way appropriate for people in the audience to have reacted as they did, but nor was what [Maschek] said said with the greatest of respect.”

The exchange between several students and Maschek led many national news pundits to claim that the veteran was being discriminated against due to his involvement with the military. Barry Weinburg of the group Everyone Allied Against Homophobia says this is not the case.

“We have an enormous number of veterans at the School of General Studies who we work very hard to make sure can attend here,” Weinburg said. “So I think the idea that we discriminate is not a real argument, because we don’t.”

Reininger is frustrated by the crowd’s poor treatment those in favor of ROTC, saying that it has not been an ideal venue for free speech.

“I feel that a lot of [comments made by] the people involved in a lot of the discussion have been parallel to what is actually at stake. I feel that a lot of the arguments that were brought up were just warmed up rhetoric,” Reininger said. “I’ve seen some pretty despicable remarks made, especially online, and I wish that the dialogue would be a lot more civil at times.”

However, Reininger believes that the negative moments do not outweigh the positives of the open debate.

“I encourage everyone to stand up and state their opinions,” Reininger said. “That’s what an academic institution like Columbia is there for.”

Harlem expansion - Development Board controversy

West Harlem Local Development Corporation, the group that oversees the $150 million community benefits agreement that is part of Columbia University's expansion into West Harlem, should disband, members of Community Board 9 said.
According to the Board, the four year old West Harlem LDC has been inactive for the past two years, but voted this week to reincorporate as a nonprofit, angering West Harlem residents.

The LDC has not yet responded to the community’s call to disband.

Preview: Floridita Closure

Datemyschool.com

In a world full of thick books and problem sets, finding love can be hard.  However, two MBA candidates at Columbia's Business School have come up with a solution by launching datemyschool.com.  This site, already boasting over 7,000 users, aims to help students at Columbia find time for love in their busy schedules.  Expanding to schools nationwide, the Columbians plan to help students find love outside the library.

France campus expansion

Columbia plans to expand its operation at its Reid Hall location in Paris.

Starting in 2012, the university will launch a new Global Scholars program at the site.

The space was previously used under contract by the University of Florida for a study abroad program, but Columbia asked that program to vacate the site earlier this month.

The Treasury Judges TARP

This Friday, SIPA students, professors, and the press gathered to hear David Miller, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Chief Investment Officer, weigh in on the TARP program.  

Mr. Miller began by highlighting the positive effects of the Troubled Asset Relief Program - which he helped to create.

"Banks raised about 150 billion dollars in private capital initially, which ultimately saved hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. They helped restore market confidence, reopened credit markets, and laid the groundwork for economic growth," said Miller.  

On the overall cost of the TARP program, Miller had positive news to report, yet did not mention specific figures. "We anticipate that the cost of the program overall will be negligible, and merely a fraction of what was initially estimated. The investment portfolio, taken as a whole, will likely break even."

While breaking even is certainly an incredible achievement for the Treasury, under the circumstances, David also warned about the limits of the Troubled Asset Relief Program

"And TARP has also helped create the conditions necessary for economic growth. And it's important to note that I'm saying conditions necessary because TARP by itself was not meant to start creating economic growth merely help create the conditions."  

Managing expectations, Miller added, "It really is folly to believe that the next crisis can be completely avoided any more than future recessions can be eliminated."

Moderated by SIPA Professor Merit Janow, the floor was opened up for questions. She asked, "One question is how have we really reduced the risk of bailouts?"

Miller responded with an emphasis on the long term. "I think its going to depend on the implementation of Dodd-Frank which is in its early stages, so I think better oversight is critical. The system is more stable but there's a lot of work to do to make sure that there isn't a big destabilizing event."  According to Miller, we are not out of the woods. 

David supports robust regulation. Agreeing with SIPA students, he said the hard part is to retain top talent when regulators are not paid competitively. David himself is an exception, driven to serve. He was a former employee of Goldman Sachs and now works for the Treasury in the Office of Financial Stability.  

EWB wins award

The Engineers Without Borders chapter here at Columbia was chosen via the online community as one of three winners to be featured on PBS's Planet Forward. Their project  to implement sustainable sanitation and water management in Ghana was selected as one of the most innovative engineering ideas to reduce energy consumption. The special Earth Day broadcast will air on April 8. For more information about the competing projects, visit planetforward.org.

Sports Update

Columbia Men's Basketball dropped a pair of games on the road this weekend against Penn and Princeton. Columbia led Princeton 24-23 at the half and and were four minutes away from pulling off a monumental upset before Princeton surged back and got the 66-61 victory to stay on top of the ivy league standings. Columbia's shooting guard Noruwa Agho had a 21 point game, putting him in a tie with Yale's Greg Mangano for most total points in the conference. Columbia falls below .500 against ivy league teams but if they win one of their final two games this weekend against Yale and Brown at home, they will finish with a winning record in overall play for the first time since 1993.

Columbia women's basketball was able to beat Penn 61-54, a team they had lost to by twenty points just two weeks earlier. Melissa Shafer racked up 15 points. The Lions were not as successful against Princeton the following night, losing 65-52. Their season comes to an end this weekend when they go on the road to play Yale and Brown.

Columbia men's tennis team was tied 3-3 with Binghamton when they squared off inside the Dick Savitt tennis center, but sophomore John Yetimoglu won a razor-thin three-setter in the number five singles spot to clinch the win. Columbia men's tennis destroyed the Army 6-1 on Saturday to improve to 4-4 and sweep the weekend. Columbia women's tennis broke even this weekend, losing to Maryland 5 matches to 2 on Friday but beating Temple 4-3 on Saturday.

Columbia wrestler Kevin Lester was a unanimous selection for the all-ivy first team. The columbia Junior went 5-0 against ivy league competition, and won 15 consecutive matches to end the regular season. Senior Eren Civan and Sophomore Nick Mills were second team honorees.

Barnard presents senior thesis plays

The Barnard thesis plays, Saint Plays and Cahoot's Macbeth, are playing at the Minor Latham Theatre in Milbank Hall this upcoming Thursday through Saturday. The thesis plays are completely student-run productions put together by the Columbia-Barnard theatre department. 

I interviewed the director of the Saint Plays to find out more about the show. "I'm Katie Lupica. I'm a senior at Columbia, and I am the director of the Saint Plays. The Saint Plays are actually a cycle of over 100 short plays based on the lives of Catholic Saints. They're all written by the playwright, Erik Ehn, and for this production we will be doing four of them. And they are about the saints Joan of Arc, St. George, St. Agnes and St. Christopher," she told me with a happy, tired, overworked expression. Katie took advantage of her role as student director to portray the plays in her own perspective. She told me, "The stories are sometimes very biographical about the saints and sometimes very distant from the conventional stories. It's a lot of experimental staging, flying and dancing and singing, that sort of thing."

Along with impressive staging techniques, students working on the thesis plays put emotion and creativity into their sets. I interviewed Rolando Rodriguez, the set director of the other thesis play, Cahoot's Macbeth, and asked what part of the play most inspired his set design. He described that, "Cahoot's Macbeth where the actors are speaking english but then you have this character, easy, who comes in speaking a language most of the audience would not understand and eventually most of the characters begin to speak the same language." From this scene, Ricardo created a whole world in which the play exists. He went on to describe, "I took license from this moment of the play to research surrealist images and get a surrealist taste in the set and that is where most of the destroyed and deformed shapes of the set comes from because I wanted to highlight this theatrical and very imaginative and surreal world that is of Cahoot's Macbeth."

From flying actors to surrealist sets, the thesis plays promise to put on quite a show, so don't forget to get your tickets free at the Columbia TIC.