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AROUND THE QUADSCampus NewsSENATE SAYS NO TO ROTC: The University Senate voted by a 53–10 margin on May 6 to reject a nonbinding resolution calling for the reinstatement of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on campus. Although support for reinstating ROTC seems to have increased in recent years, opponents argued before the Senate that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning gay and lesbian soldiers was inconsistent with Columbia’s nondiscrimination policy. ROTC has been banned from the Morningside Heights campus since 1969, a time of student unrest and war protests. Columbia students who want to enroll in ROTC may do so at nearby schools, such as Fordham or Manhattan. In a letter in response to a New York Daily News editorial that criticized the Senate’s decision, President Lee C. Bollinger wrote, “Columbia’s deeply held belief is that discrimination is invidious and runs counter to our core values as an academic institution. Our nondiscrimination policy forbids any form of discrimination based on a person’s race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. In issuing its decision, the Senate chose to uphold the right of every member of our community to live and learn in an environment free of discrimination. I believe that the men and women serving in our armed forces deserve our utmost respect and support. I also believe that the military, like all American institutions, ought to be free of discriminatory practices that unfairly limit its membership.” GRAD STUDENTS STRIKE: Graduate teaching and research assistants conducted a week-long strike during the spring semester for the second consecutive year in their ongoing effort to unionize. Some Core Curriculum classes were cancelled and others were moved off-campus. No formal action was taken against the strikers. Although a majority of Columbia’s graduate assistants signed authorization cards last December to join the UAW and their vote was certified by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the administration contends they are primarily students and not employees, and that teaching responsibilities are part of their educational training. The National Labor Relations Board ruled last year against a similar effort to form a graduate student union at Brown, declaring, “There is a significant risk, and indeed a strong likelihood, that the collective bargaining process will be detrimental to the educational process. We declare federal law to be that graduate assistants are not employees.” FRONTIERS + CCNMTL: The faculty of Frontiers of Science, the newest component of the Core Curriculum, worked with the Center for New Media Teaching & Learning (CCNMTL) to create a PDA-based field experiment activity in New York City parks. During the fall 2004 semester, approximately 550 students participated in the experiment to document the impact of urban factors, such as pavement and people, on biodiversity. Working in groups, students were assigned to identify and collect plant and ant species for biodiversity analysis in Manhattan parks. The data was collected using Pocket PCs running customized software and compiled into a database for quick distribution and analysis. The results were analyzed by the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, incorporated into Professor Don Melnick’s lectures about biodiversity and reviewed in the weekly course discussions. Finally, the results were shared with local agencies including the NYC Parks Commission, Brooklyn Botanical Garden and International Wildlife Trust. In addition, CCNMTL produced the online course text written and annotated for Frontiers of Science by Professor David Helfand. CCNMTL also works with the Frontiers of Science faculty to coordinate course websites for all of the sections and to and implement course evaluations.
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