The Columbia Chronicle

12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

By Sara Mays

April 30, 2012

Chicago hosted the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates April 23 - 25, to promote empowering youth to activism and action. The three day summit was co-chaired by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni and Mayor Rahm Emanuel served as the honorable chair.[kml_flashembed publishmethod="dynamic" fversion="10.1.8276" useexpressinstall="true" movie="https://columbiachronicle.com/soundslides/Wo...

Critical Encounters Student Showcase

By Estefania Martinez

April 30, 2012

For the second year in a row, Critical Encounters hosted an end-of-the-year student showcase in the Conaway Center. This year, over 200 student's works were featured, showing the Columbia community how this year’s Critical Encounters’ theme (Rights, Radicals & Revolutions) has enhanced their education and work.http://youtu.be/p9QVoY0evb8

Closing Chicago mental health clinics will hurt patients

By Editorial Board

April 23, 2012

Protesters in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood barricaded themselves inside a mental health clinic April 12 in vehement opposition to the citywide closings of mental health clinics, The Chronicle reported April 16. Mayor Rahm Emanuel will consolidate 12 mental health clinics across Chicago into six as part of his 2012 budget, which passed unanimously, Emanuel stated the move would save the city approximately $2.3 million per y...

Sperm banks breed dysfunction

By Alexandra Kukulka

April 16, 2012

Chicago is a busybody city with thousands of people walking its streets every day. It is impossible to notice every person who walks by, but those faces present a frightening reality for donor children who are born via artificial insemination. A stranger might be their father, or they may panic if they see a resemblance to a person they have never met.Some parents hide their use of artificial insemination from their children...

Getting down with Zebra Katz

By Sophia Coleman

April 8, 2012

From the intimacy of his bedroom to the runways of Paris Fashion Week 2012, multidisciplinary artist Ojay Morgan, better known as Zebra Katz, has seen his career transform in a matter of months.Now the Brooklyn resident will be performing at parties for the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival, an event from April 12–15 showcasing films, bands and live performers from many backgrounds and genres.This year, the fest...

Illinois should keep tuition waivers alive

By Editorial Board

March 19, 2012

Faculty and staff at universities across the nation have enjoyed a prized benefit for years: tuition waivers. Children of parents who have worked at an Illinois public university or within the university system for more than seven years pay half-price tuition at any state school.But a recently introduced bill, waiting to be considered by the Illinois House, would get rid of this benefit altogether.Bill advocates argue that the st...

Quest for Quidditch World Cup

By Sophia Coleman

March 19, 2012

Chicago may have to start planning for a new kind of summit and cast a Protego Horribilis spell, because, around this time next year, there could be tens of thousands of diehard Harry Potter fans coming together to watch the 2013 QuidditchWorld Cup.What was once a sport reserved for wizards is now a full-fledged international sport modified for Muggles.Started in 2005 by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe, two students at Middlebu...

Real estate wars

By Amanda Murphy

March 19, 2012

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood and the streets are quiet. But inside the area’s local cineplex, the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., children from North Park Elementary happily buzz around, spilling popcorn in their wake. The interior’s ornate decoration and vintage architecture call to mind the theater’s glory days in the 1920’s. But no matter the evident wear and te...

P-Fac threatens complaint

By Lisa Schulz

March 12, 2012

Columbia’s part-time faculty union, P-Fac, is threatening to file an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on grounds that the college has refused to provide bargaining dates to resume negotiations for a labor contract with the administration.The administration offered an extended contract proposal Dec. 19, 2011. P-Fac has not formally responded to the proposal but has been highly critical of ...

Vampire Pangs: Bleeding Love

By Trevor Ballanger

March 5, 2012

by Trevor BallangerAssistant Arts & Culture EditorTheir razor-sharp teeth protrude from the corners of their mouths as they breathe on the necks of their victims. They are the mythical creatures that parents tell their children aren’t real before bed. But their essence is alive and well for those who choose to see the world through the absence of sunlight.Among the many sights Chicago has to offer, one in particular g...

Columbia’s radical history fondly revisited

By Alexandra Kukulka

March 5, 2012

“F--k it, I’m going to be a writer.” That’s what Shawn Shiflett, associate professor in the Fiction Writing Department, recalls telling himself while eating a Big Mac, two large fries and a soda at a McDonalds in the early 1970s after losing the chance to follow his other passion, baseball.Shiflett, who shared this memory on Feb. 28 with Columbia students, alumni and faculty, described himself as an average student w...

Historian Beschloss talks past, future

By Alexandra Kukulka

March 5, 2012

When children are young, their parents tend to take them on trips to museums or parks to help their growth and development. As an 8-year-old, Michael Beschloss, today one of the best country's most noted presidential historians, visited the Lincoln sights in Springfield, Ill., where he discovered his passion for presidents. By age 10, he knew he wanted to write history books.Now, years later, Beschloss has written nine boo...