H1N1 Vaccine Currently Available to Students

Limited numbers of H1N1 vaccine are now available to students by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, students are encouraged to contact Health Services at 212-854-2284.

Happy holidays!

Last night, the campus was lit up in a celebration of community and the holiday season. Hundreds of students attended our annual Tree Lighting and Yule Log event.

Our campus paper also published an interesting student perspective on these events and building community at Columbia.

Photo credit: Char Smullyan

Asking questions

A student recently shared this quote with me. I thought it was a wonderful reflection of our own hope is for students to take a step away from the certainly of knowing the 'right' answer and, instead, experiment with areas of interest that are the products of their own curiosity and questions. As we enter the holiday season, and our students head home to discuss their own adventures and developing questions, perhaps this quote can serve to get the conversation started. Would love to hear your thoughts..

"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." -Ranier Maria Rilke from Letters to a Young Poet

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Eleanor Daugherty
Office of Parent and Family Programs

Confessions of a Textaholic

I used to think texting was a rather ridiculous way to communicate when it seemed much easier to just pick up a phone. That is, until my daughter moved across the country and three time zones to attend NYU. A schedule of pre-arranged phone dates with her quickly came to sound like forced oral reports and I began to feel we were rapidly losing the closeness that comes from being in each other’s proximity.

That changed the night I sat, bored stiff, in an advisory board meeting and decided to check in with her, via text. That spontaneous and highly entertaining conversation (which we could not have had over the telephone as we were both otherwise engaged) led to a habit of checking in with each other constantly, trading anecdotes and advice, weather reports and restaurant reviews and we have never been closer. When our younger daughter started Columbia this fall, we updated our phones to full keyboards and added Skype to the computer. While I would still rather hear their voices over the telephone I have come to value the electronic alternatives that keep us connected in our daily lives.

Renee
Parent of a CC 13 student.

How do you connect with your student? Please post your thoughts, questions, recommendations, below.

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates to speak to students

Lerner Hall has a bit of a buzz today as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates prepare to talk to students and discuss global economics and green initiatives. The event will be broadcase on CNBC tonight at 9pm EST.

Family Weekend; Remarks from Professor John Kender

We recently enjoyed several days with families on campus during our annual Family Weekend event. At the luncheon, Professor Kender shared a few thoughts on what faculty look for when engaging young minds. An excerpt of his remarks includes:

"We look for a sense of personal intergration. In those disciplines like the humanities that seek out human truth, we hope you realize that the most personal is often the most universal, and that a certain fearlessness in presenting yourself honestly is critical. Write poetry -but, there needs to be truth behind the poetry. For those in disciplines like science and engineering that seek out physical truth, we hope you realize that a respect for the natural world does not mean you have to check your personality at the door. There needs to be imagination behind that patent application. Don't be afraid to color outside the lines of your discipline."


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Columbia Alumni Win Big at the 2009 Tony Awards

Columbia College alumnus Tom Kitt (CC '96) took home two Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestration for the musical, Next to Normal, which was nominated for eleven Tony Awards in total. He collaborated with alumnus and lyricist Brian Yorkey (CC '93), who shared the award for Best Original Score.

As undergraduates, both collaborated on the Varsity Show, a full-length musical satire produced, written and performed entirely by students. Yorkey served as artistic director and songwriter, while Kitt wrote the music for the 100th and 102nd Varsity Shows. No stranger to graduating its artists to stage and screen, the Varsity Show has produced countless alumni over its 115-year history, including Oscar Hammerstein II (CC '16), Lorenz Hart (CC '18), Richard Rodgers (CC '23), I.A.L. Diamond (CC '41) and Terrence McNally (CC '60).

While on campus, Kitt performed with the Kingsmen, Columbia's oldest all-male a cappella group, which also once featured alumnus Art Garfunkel (CC '62). Before Next to Normal, Kitt composed the music for the 2006 Broadway musical High Fidelity, and his string arrangements will be featured on an upcoming Green Day album.

Next to Normal was not the only show with Columbia connections. Columbia School of the Arts alumna and former faculty member Diane Paulus directed Hair, which debuted at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park last summer and with its move to Broadway won the 2009 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

With a dozen conservatory-caliber arts majors, over 40 theatre, music, dance and arts student organizations, arts internships from Broadway to 5th Avenue to Lincoln Center and its location in the arts capital of the world, Columbia University offers countless pportunities for students interested in the arts.

Source: http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/college