For the third consecutive year, Columbia has won an award for its float entry in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, which took place June 29 in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood. Columbia’s ABBA-themed “Dancing Queen” float won honorable mention from judges at PRIDE Chicago, the parade’s organizer. In years past, Columbia’s float has won for the best organization float award for previous themes like “Nancy Sinatra” and “The Sound of Music.”

Columbia is a step closer to purchasing the land at 16th and State streets for the construction of the Media Production Center. The Community Development Commission voted unanimously to recommend to City Council the sale of the $3.2 million parcel of land for $200,000. The one-story Media Production Center will include two sound stages, a motion capture studio and an animation lab, among other amenities, for film, video and television majors.

The Student Government Association elections have been held and the results are in. Voting for the senators ended on May 2 and the executive board nominees were voted on on May 6. The new senators have already taken over as of May 6, but the executive board won’t officially be in charge until June 1. The new senate convened on May 6 to vote on their leaders for next semester.

Students in the Audio, Arts and Acoustics Department have tried to voice their concerns about the growing number of problems in the department to the administration and to the Audio, Arts and Acoustics Department through letters and meetings with little or no response.

The end of the semester holds a whole new level of meaning for the study abroad student in London. We only have a few weeks to get in any last-ditch London experiences. I bought tickets to a concert at Astoria 2, a notorious venue for hardcore and alternative-rock that is slated to be torn down. A few students are going to attempt to rush through every museum in London in a day. I may have drunk a lot of tea since I’ve been here, but I have yet to dress-up for proper tea service and nibble on crumpets (a fancy way of saying English muffin).

This past year has been the longest one yet. As a reader, you now know my opinions and have learned of my lessons, and perhaps I’ll leave you with the most important one for my last column: You can’t do this alone. I’ve tried it both ways: Once about a year ago I thought I was too busy with my job here, class and commuting to spend quality time with anyone. It was the worst year of my life. I lost friends, hurt family and stressed myself out to no end.

In the ongoing race for space in the South Loop, DePaul University has taken the lead over Columbia—for now. DePaul increased its real estate holdings in the South Loop by 25 percent with the purchase of the 14 E. Jackson Blvd. in June. According to a press release, the acquisition of the 18-story, 384,000-square-foot building makes DePaul the largest educational institution in the area and the largest owner of land with approximately 1.7 million square feet in South Loop holdings.

More than 2,000 Columbia students will walk across the stage and graduate on May 17 and 18 at the UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine Ave. Columbia officials expect 700 to 750 students at each of the three ceremonies and about 5,000 to 6,000 guests at each, said Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs. Typically students bring an average of eight guests, he added.

In his March 19 State of the College address, Columbia President Warrick L. Carter said Columbia had 750 scholarships available for students, a number that might appear high to anyone who has checked out the scholarship page on Columbia’s website.

The Coalition of Chicago Colleges, which consists of various student governments from Chicago schools, met with Metra executives on May 5 to discuss student discounts on its rail system. Earlier this semester, the CCC submitted an amendment to the Illinois legislature to be attached to a current bill. The coalition hopes to expand the definition of students to encompass college students as well as grade school and high school pupils. Currently, Metra only grants discounts to the latter of the two groups.

School districts eager to boost scores and keep pace with federal mandates are using computer games, electronic blackboards and even pep rallies to prepare students for state exams. Technology in particular has become a mainstay for some schools as they prepare students for an acronym soup of tests.