The Columbia Chronicle

Comedian comes to Campus

By Megan Bennett

March 7, 2014

Chicago-based comedian Damon Williams performed at the Music Center, 1014 S. Michigan Ave., on Feb. 26, as a part of Columbia’s African Heritage Month celebration.A writer and actor, Williams has performed in radio, film and television for almost 20 years. He has participated in ComicView, a comedy show that aired on BET until 2008, and was part of the popular Kings of Comedy Tour, opening for Steve Harvey, Cedric the Ent...

Major label, minor role?

By Managing Editor

March 3, 2014

Beyoncé did it. Radiohead did it. So did Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Frank Ocean and David Bowie. Although the music industry has spent years calculating the perfect formula for how to successfully release an album (Step 1: Shove a catchy single on the radio, Step 2: Flood the market with promotion (What up, Pepsi endorsement?), Step 3: Hold a turnt up release party, rinse and repeat), Kid Cudi’s recent overnight release ...

Robo-stop right there

By Stephan Hall

February 24, 2014

The original 1987 “RoboCop” was poorly written, excessively violent and downright hokey. However, its novel concept, impressive special effects and dark sense of humor made it a memorable classic.The 2014 “RoboCop,” released Feb. 12 by Brazilian director José Padilha, falls short for the same reasons but with none of the charm or technical bravado that redeemed the original. The film joins the growing number of forg...

President Kwang-Wu Kim meets with the Student Life Advisory Board Feb. 5 to gather input regarding future tuition increases and scholarship funding.

Columbia announces tuition increase

February 10, 2014

Despite calls for tuition freezes, full-time Columbia students will have to pay approximately $752 more for the 2014–2015 academic year. The college’s board of trustees voted to increase tu...

Student loans mean windfall for government

February 10, 2014

While U.S. students drown in a collective $1 trillion in loan debt, the federal government reaped $66 billion in profits between 2007 and 2012 from student loans, according to a Jan. 31 report from the Government Accountability Office.While all loan programs generate some profit for lenders, the government should not fill its pockets by benefiting from student debt. The current system is operating on antiquated assumptions—nam...

Colleges contend with social media

February 3, 2014

After pictures of a “black-themed” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day party thrown by an Arizona State University fraternity surfaced on Instagram, university administrators announced the frat would permanently lose its charter because of its inappropriate behavior, according to a Jan. 24 statement from ASU.Although the party was hosted in an off-campus apartment unaffiliated with the university and unendorsed by the fratern...

Institute director resigns to start arts organization

By Campus Editor

January 27, 2014

Jane Saks, executive director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media, has resigned after nine years.Saks said she felt it was time to leave and develop an entity that is focused on arts, culture and social change.Saks said she will miss the relationships she formed with her colleagues at Columbia.“I was happy [about] my years of experience and wonderful work at the...

International Conflict stirred up on campus

By Tyler Eagle

April 25, 2013

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict came to Columbia last week when a documentary detailing the life of people in a West Bank village under Israeli occupation was screened a month after a presentation from the Israeli perspective wasindefinitely postponed.Several groups, including the International Student Organization and The Ellen Stone Belic Institute of Women & Gender in the Arts and Media, sponsored an April 23 screening of �...

Programming boot camp uses retroactive payments to motivate instructors

By Hallie Zolkower-Kutz

March 22, 2013

Near the coast in San Francisco, a class of 30 twenty-somethings hunch over fully-loaded Mac computers, completing assignments for their free nine-week programming boot camp called App Academy.The program, which started in summer 2012, doesn't remain free, however. The students may complete an App Academy session for a $3,000 refundable placeholder fee, provided they pay 15 percent of their first year's salary once they get a job i...

Columbia helps Bob’s move trees

By Senah Yeboah-Sampong

December 10, 2012

The bicycles and garden boxes that sit in the Columbia-owned lot at the corner of South Wabash Avenue and East Eighth Street have a new roommate, and his name is Bob.Bob’s Christmas Trees has set up shop in Columbia Papermakers’ Garden and bike lot and will be open until Dec. 24. After being forced to relocate from the lot on the corner of Dearborn and Polk streets, co-owner Bob Levy was desperate to find a new home i...

First-year film students ‘Take 1’

By Ivana Hester

November 12, 2012

From a story about the life of a mortician to one about an obsessive-compulsive young man, the 23rd semiannual Take 1 Student Film Festival had it all.The festival celebrates the work of students in Moving Image Production I and II courses, according to Jill Sultz, an adjunct faculty member in the Film & Video Department and coordinator of the festival. Of the 40 films submitted last semester, 11 were selected to be sho...

Spartans win men’s Big Ten soccer championship

By Nader Ihmoud

November 12, 2012

Contributing Writer: Doug PitorakThe Michigan State University Spartans men’s soccer team defeated the University of Michigan Wolverines 2-1 in overtime to win the Big Ten Tournament title for the third time in program history on Nov. 11.Freshman midfielder Sean Conerty rescued his team from disaster by delivering the golden goal eight minutes into the first overtime period. He ended the game by rifling a shot past Mich...