Senior Seminar, FOCA may get the council axe
June 11 vote could change core requirements

A proposal to change some of the college’s General Education Core requirements could spell the end of two of Columbia’s most widely panned classes mandatory for graduation — senior seminar and foundations of computer applications.

If passed, the proposal, created by Columbia’s Academic Affairs Committee and set for voting in College Council June 11, would not only reshape some of Columbia’s core requirements for graduation and change the first year experience of incoming freshmen, but rename the general education requirements as Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, in an attempt to make their purposes more transparent for students.
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Manifest to show work of 1,000 students
Producers hope year-end senior showcase becomes a Chicago scene

In between coordinating exhibits in the Glass Curtain and the Hokin galleries, Carol Ann Brown devotes most of her school year to getting ready for one month and, to a certain extent, one day in that month.

In three years, she’s seen the Manifest program—Columbia’s all-encompassing showcase of senior work which she produces—move from a few art walks and parades with minimal advertising to a massive monthlong celebration. Manifest now culminates in an “urban arts festival,” where the work of no less than 1,000 seniors will be exhibited in 12 galleries alongside 31 live acts on three outdoor stages—not counting the ongoing acts performed by the school’s Tic Toc project.
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Exhibit to address human rights
Downtown art show will give account of persecuted Chinese practice

Practitioners of an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline are hoping a new exhibition this month in Chicago will bring about social and political acceptance of their condemned lifestyle.

“Persecution Meets Principle,” an exhibit that combines paintings, photos and performance art to illustrate the teachings and persecution of the disciplinary practice Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), is being organized by an association of Falun Gong practitioners in Chicago to raise awareness about struggles with the Chinese government.
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Wal-Mart has groups at odds over city stores
Proposed stores could destroy jobs, experts say

Is any job that pays a wage worth taking, especially if you’re unemployed?

That seems to be the question at the heart of a controversy about the proposed arrival of two Wal-Mart stores in Chicago, one in the West Side community of Austin and the other in the South Side neighborhood of Chatham. On one side of the battle are residents of two economically-deprived communities, hungry for jobs and development, while on the other, stand a collection of community activists, union members, politicians and concerned citizens who see the world’s largest company as a danger to communities everywhere, including their own.
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So sad to see you go, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Columbia’s College Council is voting in June to decide whether or not to do away with Senior Seminar as a graduation requirement.

With any luck, there will be no more lectures on “life experience,” no sitting around in a windowless room and being asked to ponder your station in life.
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Don’t forget to neuter your deadbeat dad

If there’s one thing I can’t abide, it’s people who won’t take responsibility for their actions, like the vipers who indiscriminately father children, hopping from woman to woman and leaving their children in the dead of night to tear about their world of crime like werewolves. And don’t give me that “oh, they’re just victims of their circumstances” routine.
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Student films appear on 'big screen'
Eighth annual Columbia student film festival screens some of the best student films of the year

Look out Quentin Tarantino. Columbia students have hit the big screen—literally. Student filmmakers’ work premiered May 13 at the Film and Video Department’s eighth annual student film festival, The Big Screen. The event, which took place at the Harold Washington Library Auditorium, 400 S. State St., was kicked off by festival director Eileen Coken and Film and Video Department Chairman Bruce Sheridan.
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DVD tells Chicago River's tale
Local filmmaker's documentary project includes famed and local directors

It’s historic and polluted, beautiful yet abused, a landmark that represents a gateway through every twist and turn that is Chicago. A ride down the Chicago River tells a thousand stories. In 1996, Chicago filmmaker D.P. Carlson wanted to tell one more.
From 1996 to 1998, Carlson spent his life filming scenes for his documentary. The DVD is a collection of stories from film directors talking about the filmmaking process and the influence Chicago has had on their careers.
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