CONVERSATION AT ISSUE SCRAPBOOK Gregory Mosher The concept of Anniversary takes initiative | 4 the citizen-artist | 5 bashes | 8

Columbia College class president Seth Flaxman asked Václav Havel to autograph a Czech flag at the welcoming reception, Oct. 26.

VOL. 32, NO. 4 NEWS AND IDEAS FOR THE COLUMBIA COMMUNITY NOVEMBER 10, 2006 Extreme Makeover: VÁCLAV HAVEL’S Student COLUMBIA OPUS Services By Dan Rivero

nyone who walked into the personal office of Michelle Brown-Nevers this summer wouldn’t have found her Athere. Instead, they would have come across six members of her staff processing diplomas and trying to keep up their spirits despite the unexpected flooding of their build- ing, Kent Hall. On the weekend of June 23, flooding caused by renovations to Kent Plaza forced Brown-Nevers, assistant vice president for student administrative services and Václav Havel, then president of University Registrar, to displace 61 the Czech Republic, attempts people. At one point, she even vol- an unfamiliar art form at Prague unteered her own office to accom- Castle, circa 1997. modate half-a-dozen staff. Call it a baptism in disguise, but as the water seeped through the sec- TOMKI NEMEC ond floor of Kent, Brown-Nevers By Mary-Lea Cox and Dan Rivero campus while also connecting the campus to The campus, meanwhile, is gripped by a kind and Lisa Hogarty, executive vice the wider culture.” of Havelmania, with “Havel at Columbia” gigs president of student and administra- t long last, the curtain has risen on The opening act finally came on Oct. 26, happening almost daily, taking advantage of the tive services, were finalizing phase Václav Havel’s residency at Columbia— when Havel turned up at the Stone Rose, an artist-president’s presence to explore new con- a performance that has been several upscale bar in the Time Warner Center, for his nections between the arts and the world of ideas. Two years of behind-the- years in the making. CU Arts Initiative official welcome to Columbia. As Gustavo Pérez Firmat, David Feinson profes- Adirector Gregory Mosher, who is coordinating all And now we’re reaching the climax of the sor of humanities and one of Havel’s many scenes work helped cut red tape for students. the events associated with the visit of the Czech show as the former Czech president delivers the Columbia fans, put it: “Havel’s life and work playwright-turned-president, remembers when Core lecture on Contemporary Civilization to demonstrate that conduct and performance can one of their Student Services President Bollinger first floated the idea. sophomores today, the first of three scheduled go hand in hand. Even though in contemporary Transformation Initiative, which “President Bollinger suggested a Havel resi- performances during his seven-week residency, American society the citizen-artist seems to have involved tearing down many walls, dency to me in the second conversation we ever which ends on Dec. 15. The other two are a dia- been replaced by the citizen-celebrity, Havel’s both physical and bureaucratic. had,” Mosher said. “Havel is an exemplar of logue with President Clinton on Nov. 15 and a example is a powerful reminder that the arts can “In a way, the flooding helped everything the CU Arts Initiative is trying to discussion on human rights with Nigerian writer still be transformative.” accelerate the work of our renova- accomplish because he energizes the arts on and dramatist Wole Soyinka on Dec. 6. For event details, go to: havel.columbia.edu. tions,” Brown-Nevers said. A few weeks ago, with the restoration of the staff to their orig- LECTURE SERIES inal offices and a dry floor, Student and Administrative Services hosted an open house to celebrate the Bilgrami Conjures a World Re-enchanted newly transformed Student Services Center. By Mary-Lea Cox to focus on the roots of modern society’s “dis- “We wanted to cut the time that enchantment,” a term coined by German students spend here and we If last year’s Columbia-hosted panel discus- philosopher Max Weber in reference to the wanted to create an environment sion on the intelligent design controversy made process through which all aspects of the world that was warm and inviting,” one thing clear, it’s that the stakes in the debate become explainable by natural science. Brown-Nevers explained. are much higher than simply arguing about Bilgrami argued that there is a distinction To accomplish the transforma- whether the world was created in six days a few between a “thin” and “thick” notion of scientific tion, Brown-Nevers took a number thousand years ago. rationality. The former is politically and culturally of bold steps. First, she had the For Akeel Bilgrami, even though he is a secu- innocuous whereas the latter views nature in center’s navigation signs amended larist and an atheist, such spiritual yearnings are essentially predatory terms—as something that is for consistency, its walls repainted not only understandable but also supremely to be conquered with nothing but material gain as and its lighting improved. She also human. Columbia’s Johnsonian professor of phi- its end. Many of us recoil from this “thick” expanded the self-service corridor losophy has argued in many essays that in our concept, claimed Bilgrami, because it supports the from four to 10 kiosks. On the per- modern world, “religion is not primarily a matter destruction of nature and has disastrous cultural sonnel front, she arranged for the of belief and doctrine but about the sense of and political consequences. cross-training of employees who community and shared values it provides in con- Bilgrami devoted much of his talk to tracing had previously worked in the texts where other forms of solidarity—such as a the origins of “thick” rationality as well as the cri- registrar’s office and student strong labor movement—are missing.” tiques it has received over the years. He identified accounts, two separate areas. The Invited by President Bollinger and Provost the 17th century as the critical turning point, idea was that anyone at the front Alan Brinkley to deliver this semester’s when scientific theorists such as Isaac Newton desk should be able to field diverse University Lecture on Oct. 25th, Bilgrami chose and Robert Boyle put forward the idea of matter MICHAEL DAMES continued on page 8 continued on page 8

www.columbia.edu/news 2 NOVEMBER 10, 2006 TheRecord

RECENT SIGHTINGS MILESTONES

ROGER BAGNALL, professor of classics and history, is one of 10 corresponding fellows elected this year to the British Academy.

Among the 65 newly elected members to the Institute of Medicine are four from CUMC: SUZANNE BAKKEN, alumni professor of nursing; BETTY DIAMOND, chief of rheumatology; SHERRY GLIED, professor and chair of the Mailman School’s health and policy management department; and STEPHEN GOFF, Higgins professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics.

MEDHA BHALODKAR has joined CUIT in the newly cre- ated role of chief information security officer.

History professor MATTHEW CONNELLY is currently a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, doing research on the history of how people think about and prepare for the future.

RAY FISMAN, professor of finance and economics at the business school, has earned a Rising Star Award from the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program for his promising work on corporate social responsibility.

VINCENT GUILAMO-RAMOS, an associate professor at the School of Social Work, has received the 2006 Comite Noviembre “Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad” [The Best of Our Community] Award, in recognition of his work with Puerto Rican and other Latino families.

JOSEPH HARNEY has been appointed to serve in the EILEEN BARROSO new role of vice president for procurement services in the Finance Division.

FIDDLER ON THE STEPS JACQUELINE VAN GORKOM, professor of astronomy and Busking on the steps of Low may not make Rob Hecht a rich man, but the Illinois native, now a resident of Brooklyn, found it a pleasant way to an expert on the evolution of galaxies, has been elect- while away his time after the piano lesson he was supposed to teach got cancelled. “Usually I busk on the subway platforms,” he said, “but it ed as a corresponding member of the Royal Dutch was such a beautiful day, I decided to sit outside and fiddle. I enjoyed the sun and watching little kids dance.”Asked about his Columbia con- Academy of Sciences. nections, he reported that Barnard music student Hannah Kreiger-Benson is the vocalist for his band, House of Isness. But could he have also been drawn by the spirit of Jack Kerouac (CC’44), whose memory is being celebrated on campus this month? The band’s Web site lists the Phi Beta Kappa has honored CHARLES TILLY, Joseph L. famed beat poet as one of its influences. Buttenwieser professor of social science, with its 2006 Sidney Hook Memorial Award.

FRANCES VAVRUS, associate professor of education at Is Bard Hall a musical Teachers College, has received a Fulbright scholarship to lecture and conduct research in Tanzania.

USPS 090-710 ISSN 0747-4504 oasis for medical Vol. 32, No. 4, November 10, 2006 GRANTS & GIFTS

Published by the students? Major Investment in Clinical Science Office of Communications and Public Affairs WHO GAVE IT: National Institutes of Health (NIH) HOW MUCH: $54 million Dear Alma’s Owl, WHO GOT IT: Columbia University Medical Center t: 212-854-5573 WHAT FOR: To improve medical care by developing new f: 212-678-4817 I was in Bard Hall the other day and heard piano music—what’s that about? approaches to reaching underserved populations. — Music to My Ears Columbia is one of 12 initial academic participants. Columbia Record Staff HOW IT WILL BE USED: To establish an Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Editor: Mary-Lea Cox Dear Music Appreciator, Graphic Designer: Scott Hug Staff Writer: Dan Rivero You might think that I never leave Aid for Africa University Photographer: Eileen Barroso the comfort of Alma’s gown, but I do fly WHO GAVE IT: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, uptown from time to time, and one of ASK ALMA’S OWL Contact The Record: Global Development Program t: 212-854-3283 my favorite perches is the balcony of HOW MUCH: $15 million f: 212-678-4817 the P&S Club lounge in Bard Hall. I e: [email protected] WHO GOT IT: Earth Institute love that view. If the undergrads in No, medical students don’t spend all their time in operating theaters. Many WHAT FOR: To advance scientific research and efforts to The Record is published twice a month during Morningside Heights knew about it, end poverty, disease and hunger in Africa. the academic year, except for holiday and they might stop bragging about the of the uptown students can act, sing vacation periods. Permission is given to use HOW IT WILL BE USED: To help ramp up the Earth view from East Campus. and dance. They also have the good for- Record material in other media. Institute’s efforts dedicated to achieving the Bard Hall is a superb Art Deco struc- tune to be able to practice on a piano Millennium Development Goals. ture designed by James Gamble Rogers, once owned, according to Bard Hall David M. Stone oral history, by Russian composer Sergei Executive Vice President who took full advantage of its cliffside for Communications location to provide sweeping views of Rachmaninoff. Fostering Science Careers the Hudson River and the newly com- It helps that several Medical Center faculty have taken an active interest in WHO GAVE IT: Amgen Foundation Correspondence/Subscriptions pleted George Washington Bridge. Both HOW MUCH: Anyone may subscribe to The Record for $27 cultivating students’ artistic bents. After $4 million per year. The amount is payable in advance to bridge and hall are 75 years old this year. WHO GOT IT: Guys and Dolls closes, the actress Columbia University/Barnard College Columbia University, at the address below. But I digress. You were asking about WHAT FOR: To provide research experience for students Allow 6 to 8 weeks for address changes. music. Just the other day, while perched Angela Lansbury is scheduled to talk to medical students about her craft. She is interested in pursuing a career in science. Columbia/ on my preferred balcony, I heard a Barnard is one of 10 initial program partners. Postmaster/Address Changes speaking at the special invitation of Jay young medical student singing: HOW IT WILL BE USED: To fund a science research pro- Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and “Chronic organic symptoms/Toxic or Lefkowitch, a professor of clinical additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send pathology who is also a P&S graduate gram for undergrads from Columbia/Barnard as well as address changes to The Record, 535 W. hypertense/Involving the eye, the ear, other colleges and universities, to be held every sum- 116th St., 402 Low Library, Mail Code 4321, the nose and throat.” and a former Bard Hall player. New York, NY 10027. mer for four years. At first, I thought she was studying for For more information on Bard Hall, an exam—is singing a new mnemonic the Rachmaninoff piano, the Bard Hall Front-page photo of Seth Flaxman Players, and Ms. Lansbury’s upcoming Another Boost for Diversity by Elena Lagoutova (BC’07) device for weary medical students? But then I caught the refrain: “In other visit, go to: www.cumc.columbia.edu. HOW MUCH: $2 million words, just from worrying if the wedding WHO GOT IT: Diversity Council for Professional Schools, is on or off/A person can develop a chaired by Jean Howard The Record welcomes your input for news cough”—at which point I realized that Columbians sometimes ask Alma Mater for WHAT FOR: To encourage the creation of a more inclu- guidance, but to whom does she turn when items, calendar entries, and staff profiles. she must be practicing “Adelaide’s sive faculty at Columbia’s professional schools. she needs information? Minerva’s familiar is You can submit your suggestions at: Lament” for the Bard Hall Players’ HOW IT WILL BE USED: To fund 10 short-term visits by www.columbia.edu/cu/news/ the wise owl, hidden within the folds of her upcoming production of Guys and Dolls gown. Send your questions for the owl to potential candidates for hire, three semester-long visit- newcontent.html. (to be held in the Alumni Auditorium, [email protected]. Authors of let- ing faculty positions and 10 research fellowships per 650 W. 168th St., Nov. 16-19). ters we publish receive a Record mug. year for three years. TheRecord NOVEMBER 10, 2006 3

TALK OF THE CAMPUS Compiled by Mary-Lea Cox Jupiter-Like Planet Makes a Hot and Cold Sensation Call it an out-of-this-world thermometer. An international team of scientists working on NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has made the first measure- ments of the day and night temperatures of a planet 40 light years away from Earth.The team, which includ- ed Columbia astronomer Kristen Menou, used infrared data from Spitzer to reveal that a gaseous Jupiter- like planet (Upsilon Andromeda b) circling very close to its sun (Upsilon Andromeda) is always as hot as fire on one side and potentially as cold as ice on the other. Menou, whose research at Columbia focuses on how wind affects planetary temperature, is interpreting data from the Spitzer telescope showing the extrasolar planet’s “phase curve” (plotting of the amount of light emitted by the planet as it orbits its sun). Menou believes the telescope’s findings offer hope that it can be used to study the diversity of a IN SEARCH OF JUSTICE whole new class of planets. áclav Havel became one of the transformational figures of For the online version of the paper published in the journal Science, our time for his victorious David-and-Goliath battle against go to: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/314/5799/623. communism. His example has special meaning for filmmaker Milena Kaneva, who recalls growing up in her Vnative Bulgaria dreaming of living in a democracy and feeling inspired by Havel’s courage and creativity. What Kaneva didn’t realize was that she would one day earn the admiration of her childhood hero for her own work in promoting human rights. That moment arrived earlier this year when Havel himself presented her with a special human rights award at the One World Film Festival in Prague for her docu- mentary drama Total Denial: Doe v. UNOCAL. Now Kaneva will be linked with Havel again, as Columbia Law School has partnered with the CU Arts Initiative in sponsoring a screening and dis- cussion of her film as part of the “Havel at Columbia” residency. The film, which was also fea- tured at this year’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Lincoln Center, tells the story of human rights activist Ka Hsaw Wa and the historic lawsuit he helped a group of Burmese villagers bring all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004, under our country’s Alien Tort Claims Act. The villagers claimed that human rights abuses were committed by the Burmese army when two multinational energy companies, California-based UNOCAL and the French-owned TOTAL (hence the “Total” of the film’s title), built a natural gas pipeline through the Burmese jungle. The vil- lagers provided compelling evidence that the army burned their homes, Blue Goes Green forced them into slave labor, and even Anti-pollutant agents infiltrated Low Plaza on Oct. 25.They were there to take part in Campus raped and killed their relatives. In this glob- Sustainability Day, part of the nationwide effort to celebrate the work being done by college alized version of A Civil Action, Ka Hsaw communities across the country to advance sustainability. Columbia marked the occasion Wa and the “John Doe” plaintiffs, whose with a five-hour-long event, which also signaled the official launch of the Office of identities remained confidential in order Environmental Stewardship under Nilda Mesa, a former Washington environmental official. to protect them from reprisals in Burma, claimed that UNOCAL knew about and Participants visited information tables for tips on reducing energy and water consumption and tolerated these offenses. recycling waste, while case studies showing how various campuses have achieved their envi- While the event is open to the entire ronmental objectives were projected on a jumbo TV screen situated on College Walk. University community, Kaneva said, “It’s very important to me to have the film Meanwhile, Columbia’s sustainability efforts are extending beyond its campus into greater screened in front of law students, who New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that the Earth Institute will advise will one day be the defenders of the values his new Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, and that he’d asked SIPA’s Ester it presents.” Fuchs to serve on his Sustainability Advisory Board. The Beginnings of Global Trade

hose who were avid viewers of the recent PBS commodities like tea and spices. series To the Ends of the Earth, based on the best- While this finding in and of itself might seem unre- selling sea trilogy by William Golding, may be in markable, Erickson and Bearman went the further step of the mood for another salty tale of high jinx on showing that the personal trading undertaken by these Tthe high seas—a tale brought to us via a doctoral thesis by rogue sea captains marked an important step in the for- Emily Erickson, GSAS’06, which recently took the form of mation of a global free market. They credit the enterpris- an article in the Journal of Sociology, co-authored with ing seamen for having driven the changes that led to the Columbia sociologist Peter Bearman, director of the Industrial Revolution, giving individual entrepreneurs the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy. opportunity to accumulate wealth. Erickson and Bearman plumbed a treasure-trove of The pair of sociologists were able to reach these con- data from the 4,572 voyages commissioned by the East clusions using social network analysis. As they wrote in India Company between 1601 and 1833, totaling over their journal article: “By focusing on the micro level, we 28,000 port-to-port journeys. They discovered that are able to observe the development of complex multilat- many of the sea captains in command of these trips eral exchange circuits that give rise to densely integrated took advantage of the company’s resources to engage in network components.” illicit trading for their own personal gain—smuggling Next, perhaps they should pitch a new PBS series: The goods such as liquor and guns and trading them for Ends of the Earth, The Beginnings of Global Trade. 4 NOVEMBER 10, 2006 TheRecord IN CONVERSATION WITH...

AS DIRECTOR OF COLUMBIA’S ARTS INITIATIVE, THIS THEATER DIRECTOR IS NOW STAGE MANAGING VÁCLAV HAVEL’S REPRISAL OF HIS ROLE AS CITIZEN-ARTIST.

regory Mosher knows the mean- Did you also work with other groups ing of “You’re only as good as your Q.on campus? last performance.” He has fol- Perhaps the most important lesson lowed this directive religiously A.I’ve learned in the past nearly three Gduring his 30-year involvement with the years is the need to work with faculty and theater world, where he now has nearly 200 students in the existing and already incredi- acclaimed productions to his name. His man- EILEEN BARROSO bly rich programs here on campus. When telpiece boasts nearly every major theater planning the Havel residency, we started award, including two Tonys, and he can dine with the faculty and administration in the out on stories of having directed and pro- GREGORY MOSHER Core Curriculum. The students in Literary duced the works of countless theater greats, Humanities are reading Havel’s first major from Samuel Beckett and Tennessee Williams Interviewed by Anne Burt full-length play, The Garden Party. The to Mike Nichols and David Mamet. Contemporary Civilizations students are At Columbia, Mosher is performing in a reading his hugely influential essay, “The new role both for him and for the University: “We want to see incoming students arrive on Power of the Powerless.” Havel will deliver that of arts coordinator. Nearly three years ago, the Core lecture on Nov. 10, followed by a President Bollinger invited him to campus to question-and-answer period for the students. jumpstart a new arts initiative. Thanks to campus and feel as though they’ve enrolled not This event puts Havel’s work right in the cen- Mosher’s efforts, Columbia students can now ter of a Columbia academic experience. visit major museums for free, take guided tours only in the curriculum of Columbia University of the city’s trendiest galleries, and learn about Besides the Core lecture, there are myr- the latest arts events on and off campus but in the culture of New York City.” Q.iad other “Havel at Columbia” events. through an online portal, cuarts.com. How do you connect them all thematically? In addition, Mosher has been arranging The Arts Initiative invited groups all residencies on campus for legendary artists. A.over campus and around the city to The director Peter Brook spent four weeks in on campus, and we wanted to contact all of $15. We’ll do the rest.” Then we go to the stu- put on events that reflect the ongoing con- 2005 producing a play at Columbia, and this them to offer our support. Second, we dents—we reach many of them through our cerns of Havel’s life, which are moral, philo- year the campus is hosting playwright and looked for innovative ways to connect the Web site, cuarts.com—and show them how sophical, political, civic and creative. The former Czech Republic president Václav campus to the city’s culture. We know that to access these groups. response was tremendous—not because we Havel for a series exploring the connection students come to Columbia because it’s in gave anyone an assignment but because Lee between the arts and citizenship. New York. And yet you can spend four years How do you meet the challenge of Bollinger, by inviting Havel, floated an idea, at this university and never get any closer to Q.reaching the students who otherwise one that struck a chord with so many people. What did President Bollinger have in the arts scene in the city than if you’d gone wouldn’t think of going to galleries and plays? Our responsibility has been to stage manage Q.mind when he asked you to start an to Stanford. One of the main CU Arts pro- Your question speaks to the Arts the residency, not direct it. We remain at the arts initiative? grams is “Passport to the Arts.” Thirty A.Initiative’s third—and broadest—imper- service of students, faculty, staff and the He posed a provocative question: museums, including every major institution ative: we try to show Columbia students how wider community. A.“Would it be possible to make the arts a in the city, have agreed to admit Columbia art can give you other ways of looking at the part of the experience of attending Columbia?” students for free, no strings attached. We also world. Bringing Václav Havel to campus—a How close have you come to answering He didn’t mean the students who intended to have something called the “art train” to take man who is not only a brilliant playwright and Q.President Bollinger’s question of three become painters, actors or filmmakers; he students around to galleries with guides from artist but also the former president of the years ago? meant the historians, the diplomats, the the School of the Arts. Galleries can be very Czech Republic, an activist who was jailed I don’t think that the day the Havel res- bankers, the French majors and so on. To the intimidating, and I thought it would be great repeatedly in the 1970s and 1980s for his A.idency is over, on December 15, we’re best of my knowledge, no one had ever asked to try to demystify them. ideas—embodies all the connections the CU suddenly going to say: “That’s it! We now that question in the context of a major Arts Initiative is trying to make. know how to integrate the arts into the American university before. I told him I didn’t Do you also offer discounts to theater Columbia experience.” Still, I sense that we’re know the answer but would be pleased to try. Q.performances? What went into planning Havel’s resi- coming closer to one of our goals. By the time Performing arts people are a harder Q.dency? the Arts Initiative hits its five-year mark, I What did launching an arts initiative A.sell when it comes to student dis- Following up on conversations Presi- hope to see incoming students arrive on cam- Q.mean in practical terms? counts. I come from that world, so I know. A.dent Bollinger had been having with pus and feel as though they’ve enrolled not First, we had to identify all the arts Whether it’s Broadway or not-for-profit, the- Havel, I met with him in Prague last January only in the curriculum of Columbia University A.groups at Columbia—not just those ater people assume: “Students don’t come. and told him I would like his visit to be but in the culture of New York City. everyone knows about, like the Miller They’re too busy. They have their heads informal and not a series of state dinners— Theatre and the School of the Arts, but stu- buried under their iPods.” But the reason stu- something refreshing for him, a change of dent art groups made up of future bankers, dents don’t come is that the theaters don’t pace. I told him what I hoped the students For more on Gregory Mosher’s views on historians, dentists, social workers and physi- invite them and the tickets are too expen- might get out of it: the opportunity to examine Václav Havel as citizen, go to: havel.colum- cists. There are more than 150 such groups sive. We keep telling them: “Offer tickets for his life and feel inspired by his example. bia.edu/gregory_mosher. html TheRecord NOVEMBER 10, 2006 5

AT ISSUE VÁCLAV HAVEL’S “CITIZEN-ARTIST”

iving at a time when “regime change” Iraq needs the arts more than ever. Art will be has become an official tool for pro- its only source of light for years to come. moting democracy and when many artists have become obscenely rich, Is the citizen-artist being supplanted by the weL can perhaps be forgiven for wondering: “citizen-celebrity” in the United States? was a “velvet revolution” perpetrated by “citi- zen-artists” something unique to Václav BOULLOSA: Writers have always been associ- Havel’s own time and place or can these con- ated with power (ask Virgil) as much as with cepts be generalized across time and cultures? rebellion (ask Havel). The issue gets more com- The Record posed this and several related plicated in our era, where there is a new tyrant: questions to the following participants: King Market, or the global arts industry. Writers • CARMEN BOULLOSA, Mexican poet, novel- and artists worldwide face a new situation: how ist and playwright, and former visiting pro- can they do art that’s not intended to give easy fessor. Her work focuses on issues of femi- pleasure and immediate gratification; that’s not nism within a Latin American context. a hired servant but an inquisitor; and that ques- • GIL EYAL, associate professor of sociology. He tions all you are, think and feel? has written on the transformation of Eastern Europe from communism to capitalism. EYAL: Havel himself wrote that there were • JOHN FRANKFURT, educational technolo- important similarities between post-totali- gist, Columbia Center for New Media tarian socialism and advanced capitalist soci- Teaching and Learning, and adjunct assistant eties. The main pressure on the artist in both professor, Film Division, School of the Arts. kinds of societies is not repression and cen- Frankfurt is project manager for the “Havel sorship, but the pressure to “sell out,” namely at Columbia” Web site: havel.columbia.edu. to please—the party, the public, the founda- • CATHARINE NEPOMNYASHCHY, Ann Whitney tions, the TV ratings. Olin professor of Russian literature, chair of the Slavic department, Barnard College, and direc- NEPOMNYASHCHY: In the “mature tor, Harriman Institute. democracies,” the majority of writers and • RICHARD PEÑA, associate professor of film at artists may indeed write to sell, but the cru- Columbia and program director, Film Society cial question is not whether artists have “sold of Lincoln Center. He is moderating a panel on out” but whether they are being drowned film and citizenship in honor of Havel’s visit. out in a marketplace supersaturated with all • PETER ROSENBLUM, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann SCOTT HUG manner of entertainment and celebrities. & Bernstein clinical professorship of human sign “Proletarians of the world unite!” Artists expression had to do with the requirement The market sends the message that conform- rights law. He is hosting the screening of Total had to make similar concessions to ideologi- that art must support the regime’s ideology. ity as opposed to invention is more likely to Denial, which received Havel’s human rights cal cliché if their works were to reach the succeed. Hence the age-old paradox that film award earlier this year (see page 3). public. But even though the ways and means PEÑA: In Iraq the problem is not the gov- censorship may promote free thinking and • MARCELA RYDLOVA-EHRLICH, adjunct lec- of censorship differ across time and cultures, ernment but religion. A certain religious posi- creativity, while freedom may inhibit them. turer in the Czech language. I personally believe that the impulse to resist tion forbids dancing, and the government in censorship—and to do so by exercising the Iraq either refuses to challenge the religious PEÑA: We have placed such a premium on The New York Times recently reported that very creativity it seeks to curb—is universal, as authorities or actively sides with them. art as self-expression that the idea of artists dancing is now a courageous act in Iraq, demonstrated by the women who continue being actively engaged in a dialogue with their particularly for women. Do you think that to dance in Iraq despite being deprived of an ROSENBLUM: Popular art forms can chal- society is often frowned upon. Certainly there Havel’s landmark essay, “The Power of the audience and the Iranian women who find lenge the dogma of a regime, even inadver- are many artists who engage with American Powerless,” speaks to the dancers’ situation, freedom of thought through reading litera- tently. Havel reminds us that it was the crack- society, but their work gets relegated to the especially his concept of the citizen-artist? ture (see Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in down on a rock band that precipitated the category of “political art.” Tehran: A Memoir in Books). creation of Charter 77, which led to the EYAL: Havel’s concept of the citizen-artist was unraveling of the communist regime. But this What is the most important lesson students premised on the initial valorization of art by FRANKFURT: Havel’s essay was written similarity shouldn’t blot out the tremendous can learn from Havel during his residency? the communist regime. More importantly, the under very different political conditions than differences between artists’ courageous acts real target of Havel’s art was not repression those of today, but one of its central ideas, in the “post-totalitarian” state described by EYAL: Havel is a dissident-become-presi- and censorship but the silent compromises “living in truth,” remains quite relevant as Havel in 1978—where disingenuous unifor- dent, so he can teach us all about the para- and unspoken deals between the regime and well as universal. In many societies today, it mity was the rule and state violence largely doxes and ironies of, also the responsibilities its citizens—the greengrocer who puts the sign can be very dangerous for an individual to invisible—as compared to today’s Iraq. Nor that come with resistance. “Workers of the world unite!” in his shop win- live in the truth, as Havel himself found out should we ignore how much the new battles dow even though he could care less about it. when he landed in jail. But as he writes in of fundamentalism are fought over women’s FRANKFURT: While project managing the Neither the prior valorization of art nor the “The Power of the Powerless,” such a life is bodies. The Iraqi folk dancer may be the “Havel at Columbia” Web site, I had the tacit compromises of the post-revolutionary more fulfilling and, more importantly, con- most courageous dissident of them all. opportunity to learn about Havel’s life from phase obtains in contemporary Iraq. tributes to the greater public good. Societies his friends, all of whom said that the core of are stronger when their citizens are actively BOULLOSA: Iraq is going through a uniquely his appeal is the courage he’s shown in NEPOMNYASHCHY: I am currently work- engaged in the world around them. hellish situation. Though I’m normally opti- standing up to intolerance, many times at ing on a book on how censorship in literature mistic, I’m left only with a hope that comes great personal risk. and the arts differs across geographical and RYDLOVA-EHRLICH: The repression of from my memory of the Mexican Revolution, temporal boundaries. As Gil points out, cen- women’s artistic expression in Iraq is a result where art played a key role in reconstruction. I NEPOMNYASHCHY: Havel can remind us, sorship in Czechoslovakia, as in the rest of the of the growing power of conservative religious hope that somewhere in Iraq artists are at work through his art and his example, that litera- Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, was par- groups. This kind of repression differs from fashioning new voices and constructing new ture—the art of putting fictions into words— ticularly invasive. Indeed, one of the most what we experienced in communist images of a more hopeful future—maybe in iso- is dangerous. Perhaps he can help us reclaim powerful images in Havel’s essay is that of the Czechoslovakia, where women were never tar- lation, without an audience, but, we hope, sur- the magic of words and pass it on to a new simple greengrocer who daily displays the geted as a group and where limits on artistic rounded by an underground art community. generation. Compiled and edited by Mary-Lea Cox VIEWS ON THE NEWS

anticipate a pause in the Republicans’ push to pass a conserva- The Amazing Race: Election 2006 tive agenda: bans on gay marriage, stem cell research and abor- tion rights all faced defeat. From now, to entice a broad-based Lincoln Mitchell, professor of international affairs: electoral coalition, Democrats will need to address issues of Tuesday’s election was the beginning of the end of the Bush national security, income disparity, economic competitiveness, era. Smart Republican operatives, in addition to trying to workforce displacement and environmental degradation— determine who to blame for their defeat, are already looking macro trends that are all exacerbated by globalization. towards 2008. It is in this context that Rumsfeld’s resignation makes the most sense. The Bush team is looking for a pro-war Dorian T. Warren, assistant professor of political science: In candidate who can win in 2008. Their best hope is Senator terms of African American politics, I didn’t expect Harold Ford, John McCain. McCain has worked to create a pro-war anti- Jr., to win in Tennessee, though I thought it would be very Rumsfeld niche in the Senate. It is therefore easier for McCain close. Black Republicans running in Maryland (Steele for U.S. to campaign as a more thoughtful pro-war candidate. Senate) and Ohio (Blackwell for governor) lost, just as I’d anticipated—though Steele was able to get a larger share of the Sharyn Lee O’Halloran, George Blumenthal professor of African American vote than most pundits predicted (about 25 international and public affairs: The election results should be percent, according to exit polls). Deval Patrick made history in viewed as a referendum on the Republican Party, not as an Massachusetts as only the second black governor to be elected endorsement of the Democratic platform. We should since Reconstruction. 6 NOVEMBER 10, 2006 TheRecord

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS NOVEMBER 13–24 ARTS TALKS CAMPUS SPORTS SCIENCES

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY November 13 November 14 November 15 November 16 November 17 November 18 November 19

Equity CERC Seminar Memorial Service Boit Lecture “Science of Jazz Series Havel Panel Campaign’s 2006 Juan Armesto on A celebration of Van Mow, chair of Diversity” With trumpeter Film professor Symposium Chile’s rainforest the life of biomedical engi- All-day symposium Nicholas Payton Richard Peña Two-day event on strategies islands. 4:00–5:00 p.m. Geoffrey Howe, a renowned neering, on “The Role of on advances in the study of and his newest quintet. moderates a discussion of film for closing achievement gaps. Schermerhorn Extension, cancer epidemiologist at the Biomechanics in Cartilage inclusive environments. 8:00–10:00 p.m. Miller and citizenship. Cosponsored Sponsored by the Campaign Room 1015. kl2020@colum- Mailman School of Public Tissue Engineering.” Sponsored by the the Vice Theatre. 212-854-7799. by the Film Society of Lincoln for Educational Equity. bia.edu Health. 2:00 p.m. Pauline A. 2:30–3:30 p.m. Schapiro Provost for Diversity Initiatives, Center, where Peña is program Teachers College, Cowin Hartford Memorial Chapel. CEPSR, Inter-school Lab. the Earth Institute’s ADVANCE Men’s Basketball director. 6:30 p.m. Lincoln Center. Town Hall [email protected]. Program and others. 501 vs.TBA Center,Walter Reade Theater. [email protected]. Meeting Kraft Program Schermerhorn Hall, 5th Floor. Round two of the [email protected]. Annual meeting of Series: Havel IGERT Fall [email protected] Tyler Ugolyn Classic. 5:00 or World Premiere: the University’s Advisory Václav Havel and Colloquium 7:00 p.m. Levien Gymnasium, 3 Lbs. Committee on Socially Bill Clinton discuss chal- Alexey Fedorov of LASA Inaugural Dodge Fitness Center. New CBS drama Responsible Investing, open lenges faced by new democ- Yale on global warming. Conference on neurosurgeons, followed to the entire CU community. racies. 3:00–5:00 p.m. Alfred 2:45–3:45 p.m. Seeley W. “Latin America at Metamorphoses— by panel discussion. To speak, register a day in Lerner Hall. cnnmtl- Mudd Building, Room 214. the Crossroads.” 8:00 Tales from Ovid 8:30–10:00 p.m. Hammer advance. 6:00 p.m. Schapiro [email protected]. [email protected]. a.m.–4:30 p.m. International Starring the 2007 Health Sciences Center, CESPR, Davis Auditorium. Affairs Bldg., Room 1501. M.F.A. acting class. 8:00 p.m. Room 401. 212-304-7216. [email protected]. Film Screening Buddhist Studies 212-365-4886. Theatre of Riverside Church. Pilots (1935, Seminar [email protected]. Café Science Women’s USSR), directed With Columbia’s Ancient Eat, drink and talk Basketball vs. by Iulii Raizman. Introduced Kao professor in Japanese Mediterranean climate change Bucknell by Scott Palmer. 6:30–9:00 religion, Bernard Faure. Studies Seminar with paleoceanographer Peter 6:00–8:00 p.m. Levien p.m. International Affairs 5:30–7:30 p.m. Faculty Shadi Bartsch of U. Chicago DeMenocal. 5:00–7:00 p.m. Gymnasium, Dodge Fitness Bldg., Room 1219. House. on “Persius, the Cannibal PicNic Café, 2665 Broadway. Center. [email protected]. [email protected]. Satirist.” 11:00 a.m.–1:00 [email protected]. p.m. Casa Italiana. “Bach in Book Talk Sumner Rosen [email protected]. Havel Panel Context” Series Edward Memorial George Lewis With Kristian Mendelson reads Lecture Men’s Basketball moderates a Bezuidenhout, harpsichord from his new book, The Things Roberto Pollin of U. Mass.- vs. NJIT debate on music and citizen- and fortepiano. 8:00–10:00 That Matter. 7:00–8:30 p.m. Amherst on full employment in First round, Tyler ship. 7:00 p.m. Sound Stage p.m. Miller Theatre. Tickets: Labyrinth Books, 536 W. an era of globalization. Ugolyn Columbia Classic. at the Apollo Theater, 253 W. $35. 212-854-7799. 112th St. Free and open to 7:00–9:00 p.m. Faculty 7:00 p.m. Levien Gymnasium, 125th St. 212-851-1872. the public. 212-865-1588. House. [email protected]. Dodge Fitness Center.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY November 20 November 21 November 22 November 23 November 24

Computer Film Screening Report on Science Lecture The Third Man Gendered Thanksgiving Paul Debevec of (1949, UK). Violence Break Thanks- World Premiere: 3 Lbs. USC on virtual cinematography. 6:30–9:00 p.m. International With Mexican women 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Affairs Bldg., Room 1219. activists Andrea De La Holiday giving Columbia Medical Center will host the premiere of Schapiro Center, Davis [email protected]. Barerra Montppellier, Mirian the new CBS drama series 3 Lbs. on Monday, Nov. 13, Auditorium. [email protected] Ruiz Mendoza and Verónica Teachers College at 8:30 p.m. The series, which will air on CBS the fol- bia.edu. Music at St. Cruz Sánchez, in residence at Thanksgiving Break lowing night, concerns two elite neurosurgeons Paul’s Columbia until December as Dinner who have different takes on how to treat their Conversation with Featuring the Lee part of the Human Rights “Traditional American” holi- patients. The title refers to the weight of an adult Angela Lansbury Ann Ledgerwood Jazz Advocates Program. day fare: roast turkey with all Holiday human brain. A panel discussion follows with cast, Jay Lefkowitch of Ensemble. 6:00–7:00 p.m. St. 12:30–1:30 p.m. School of the trimmings, mashed pota- series creator and series medical consultant. CUMC moderates a discussion Paul’s Chapel. 212-854-0480. Social Work (1255 toes, sweet potatoes, green with the legendary star of Amsterdam Avenue at 121st beans, tossed salad, cake, stage, screen and television. Havel Panel St.), Room CO3. sweet potato pie and bever- 2:00–3:30 p.m. Alumni Moderated by J- [email protected]. ages. Special activities: Auditorium, 650 W. 168th St. school Dean music and raffles. Dinner: [email protected] Nicholas Lemann. 7:00–8:30 Photography 12:00–1:30 p.m., followed by p.m. Journalism Building, Exhibition desserts. Teachers College Men’s and Lecture Hall. bf55@colum- Featuring Peggy Cafeteria. Tickets: $12 for Women’s bia.edu. Jarrell Kaplan’s portraits of adults; free for children 5 Swimming and Russian artists who were sub- and under. 212-678-4164. Diving Men’s Basketball ject to persecution under the 6:00 p.m., Uris Swim Center, vs. Long Island Soviet regime. International Dodge Fitness Center. University Affairs Bldg., 12th Floor. 7:00 p.m., Levien Gymnasium, (Closes Dec. 15.) Dodge Fitness Center.

AROUND TOWN Where can Václav Havel’s dog get Editor’s Pick presidential treatment in New York? OPUS 118 CONCERT Look for Opus 118 to come to Low Library on December 7th for their annual FiddleFeast benefit I’m from Poland, the country right next door to Havel’s. We don’t spoil our dinner. Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, a private, dogs like you Americans, but I do recommend a walk in Riverside Park. Havel nonprofit organization, was established in 1991 by should also be careful and wipe his dog’s paws if the streets have been salted. violin teacher Roberta Guaspari to save music pro- — Maya Haddow (dog: Ginger), Program in Economic Policy Management, grams in three East Harlem public elementary schools. School of International and Public Affairs Meryl Streep, who played the role of Guaspari in the 1999 movie Music of the Heart, will be honored at the I like to go down to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. It’s an outdoor event. For more info, call 212-831-4455. café where you can have a glass of wine and share a burger with your pet. It’s also a great place to meet other dog owners. — Maria Meade (dog: Phyllis), Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Go online! Morningside Heights is a great place for dogs, even if they are not supposed to Complete event listings: be on either the Barnard or Columbia campuses. I also take my dog to art www.calendar.columbia.edu. galleries in Chelsea. Many of them are dog friendly. — Alfred MacAdam (dog: Bill), Spanish and Latin American cultures professor, Barnard College The Record welcomes your input for news Do you have suggestions for things to do I take my dog for agility training at Andrea Arden, on Centre Street in Soho. items, calendar entries, and staff profiles. around town to share with other Record readers? It’s a lot of fun to run obstacle courses with him. You can submit your suggestions at: E-mail us at: [email protected]. www.columbia.edu/cu/news/ — Leslie Woodard (dog: Jimmy Dean), Writing Division, School of the Arts newcontent.html. TheRecord NOVEMBER 10, 2006 7 BREAK TIME STAFF Q&A Giving TAYA Thanks in MUELLER the City Interviewed by Dan Rivero By Erich Erving POSITION: Administrative Coordinator, CU Arts Initiative radition has it that the pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving feast to cele- LENGTH OF SERVICE: brate the fruits of their harvest and 1 year to thank the Indians for teaching themT survival tactics for the New World, COLUMBIA HISTORY: such as how to plant corn. School of General Studies, history and political More than 300 years have passed, but science double major, with a concentration in some of us remain as helpless as the original Spanish, Class of 2009. pilgrims. We couldn’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner if our lives depended on it, having failed to master basic culinary skills, let alone the fine art of roasting a turkey. or Taya Mueller, the best part about But the good news is, plenty of the city’s working as the administrative coor- restaurants are offering prix-fixe menus for dinator for the CU Arts Initiative is the holiday. Here are some of my top choices the chance to hook up all kinds of (a couple are outside the Heights, but we do Fpeople who might not otherwise meet. On a get the weekend off!): recent Art Train trip, for example, she intro- duced a Barnard undergrad to a journalism KITCHENETTE post-doc and his wife. The threesome subse- 1272 Amsterdam Ave. between 122nd and quently engaged in a lively conversation 123rd Sts. about the art they had seen that day. As close as you can get to dining in your In Mueller’s experience, random introduc- grandmother’s kitchen, circa 1935, tions like these can spark new ideas as well as Kitchenette receives high marks for serving the possibility for future creative partner- up comfort food in large portions. For ships. Ultimately, she sees her networking Thanksgiving you can enjoy a full turkey activities as a necessary step in cultivating meal with all the fixings, served between 3:00 more of an “arts culture” on campus. and 9:00 p.m., $48 per person. Indeed, it’s the excitement of running an arts networking hub that sustains Mueller on PICNIC MARKET AND CAFÉ her long commutes every day from Ft. 2665 Broadway between 101st and 102nd Sts. Greene, Brooklyn, to Prentis Hall in Some may know PicNic from Café Science, but Manhattanville, where CU Arts is housed. you may not have heard that this organic mar- Mueller, who grew up in Minneapolis, is of VITAMIN DEE ket will be offering both dine-in and take-out mixed Cuban, German and Korean heritage. Thanksgiving meals. The food is mostly French, She first moved to New York in May 2004 “We are constantly building relationships with which means delicious if not entirely tradition- with Music for America, a group committed al. For details, go to: www.picnicmarket.com. to working with rock bands to promote a major arts organizations in NYC, from the Studio progressive political message. A year later, she YE WAVERLY INN decided to enroll in the School of General Museum up here to the Brooklyn Art Museum.” 16 Bank Street (at Waverly Place) Studies and begged CU Arts to take her on as As one of the oldest places to eat in a part-time intern. She is now a full-time Manhattan, Ye Waverly Inn seems an appro- officer working directly with students. terrific. One of the medical students was and try to employ a diverse range of student priate setting for Thanksgiving: roaring fires, thrilled to discover that Jumel Mansion, interns every semester. Fortunately, President cozy rooms, plenty of Revolutionary charm. What is your role with CU Arts Manhattan’s oldest house (George Havel’s life story is incredibly compelling and But will it be open in time for the holiday? Q.Initiative? Washington slept there), is so close to the multi-faceted, so it’s been an easy sell. The inn closed about a year ago, but rumor I work mostly on the campus level. medical school campus. She has now applied has it that it might reopen mid-November. A.Typically, I meet with 3-4 students and to CU Arts for Sainsbury funding to co-pro- What do you do outside of work? Keep calling for updates: 212-243-7900. student representatives per week. I constant- duce a series of chamber concerts in one of Q. ly try to find ways to connect students to the their period rooms. I’d say she has a pretty I’m part of a team of writers, teachers, CHUMLEYS arts, and to each other through the arts. good shot at getting approved. A.and artists who produce an online 86 Bedford St. (at Barrow St. in the West Village) publication called guernicamag.com. As A onetime Village speakeasy and literary Upper Manhattan, where you work With Havel’s arrival, how have you Howard Zinn said recently, it’s a “bouquet” of hangout, Chumleys may not feel like much of Q.now, is filled with museums. How do Q.reached out to students? arts and politics—something different every an escape from Columbia—its patrons have you introduce Columbia students to arts We formed a Havel Student Advisory week. I also book music for a venue in Tribeca included four Nobel Prize winners, 40 institutions in their own neighborhood? A.Committee earlier this semester, and called The Tank (www.thetanknyc.org), Pulitzer Prize winners and 22 Academy We brought a number of students up they provided terrific feedback on the Web another cooperatively run nonprofit. So Award winners—but I heartily recommend its A.to Studio Museum, Triple Candie, site as well as on programming. Our constant there isn’t much disconnect between my 9–5 reasonably priced ($40) Thanksgiving dinner. Classical Theatre of Harlem and the Morris- challenge is to find ways to reach beyond life and my extracurriculars—but then I Note: Look for the door with a brass “86.” Jumel Mansion this fall. Their response was “the choir,” so we host a lot of focus groups wouldn’t have it any other way!

SENATE UPDATE Open Senate Meeting on Manhattanville The University Senate devoted its entire Oct. 27 meeting to west side of Broadway; and a rectangular open space in the cam- resentatives of various community interests, met with Columbia Manhattanville, including 40 minutes of discussion open to pus area between 130th and 131st Sts., near 12th Ave. officials in June but has needed more time to work out legal non-senators. Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin followed issues, including the role of elected officials in deliberations. To The meeting was not a special convocation or hearing, but with a warning that confusion is likely to beset public discus- get discussions started, Columbia has proposed some topics to a regularly scheduled plenary with some routine agenda items. sion of Columbia’s draft Environmental Impact Statement the LDC. Griffith said she was encouraged by the response. The plan to allow non-senators with a CUID to participate (EIS), which he hoped the city would certify soon. One chal- Griffith and Kasdin joined President Bollinger in respond- was enacted by a unanimous vote at the start of the meeting. lenge will be distinguishing what the University actually ing to 11 questions and comments from the audience, includ- The Executive Committee had decided not to send out a expects to build in Manhattanville from the worst-case scenar- ing three from non-senators (all students) about Columbia’s broadcast e-mail, preferring to have senators spread the word ios that its EIS is required to contemplate. Another will be the option to seek eminent domain, about jobs and job training among constituents. About 30 non-senators attended, includ- levels of abstraction involved in comparing Columbia’s rezon- that the University will provide in connection with ing several administrators. ing plan with Community Board 9’s 197-A Plan, which consists Manhattanville, and about the need for Columbia to own all Sen. Sharyn O’Halloran (Ten., SIPA), chair of two committees of a set of principles. To avoid apples and oranges, Columbia the private property in its 17-acre development site. studying Manhattanville, offered a 20-minute overview, touch- and CB9 officials are working together to figure out hypothet- Most Senate documents are available online. The next ple- ing on Columbia’s space constraints and the complex approval ical zoning consistent with the 197-A Plan’s principles and nary will be Thursday, Nov. 16, at 1:15 p.m. in 104 Jerome process that lies ahead and providing a “snapshot” of capital hypothetical massing implied by that zoning. Greene Hall. Anyone with a CUID can attend. projects tentatively planned for the first phase. These included Maxine Griffith, executive vice president for Government the new science high school at the southwest corner of 125th and Community Affairs, talked about the Community Benefits The above was submitted by Tom Mathewson, manager of the and Broadway on the present site of McDonald’s; a new School Agreement—separate from the zoning approval process—that University Senate. His column is editorially independent of The of the Arts to the west, making use of Prentis Hall; the new Mind, Columbia will negotiate with the West Harlem Local Record. For more information about the Senate, go to: Brain, and Behavior Building slightly north of 125th St. on the Development Corporation (LDC). The group, composed of rep- www.columbia.edu/cu/senate. TheRecord SCRAPBOOK NOVEMBER 10, 2006 8

6 7

5 8

4 9

Time Sure Does Fly!

The last weekend in October could almost have been a sec- ond Homecoming, with alumni arriving in droves for two major anniversary events. The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation celebrated 125 years with a glam- orous party in the Low Rotunda, along with several panel dis- cussions, one of which was memorably titled: “Giving a Damn: 3 Architects’ Initiatives in Response to World Crises.” 10 11 Meanwhile, the School of International and Public Affairs rang in 60 years with cocktails at the UN; panel debates on timely topics ranging from the global energy system to rogue states and terrorism; and a gala dinner honoring former World Bank President James Wolfensohn. Earlier in the month, the engineering crowd commandeered Low Rotunda to fete Mort Friedman for his 50 years of service on the faculty of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he is now vice dean. Speaker after speaker paid tribute to Friedman for his commitment to the principle that engineers should also be schooled in the liberal arts.

2 12

1. Left to right: Bernard Tschumi, former GSAPP now serving on the school’s board of advisors. dean; Mark Quigley, GSAPP dean; and Mirko Zardini, 9. SIPA professor Merit Janow moderates a panel on Canadian Centre for Architecture. international trade and finance,one of many intellec- 2.Alums and special guests toast GSAPP's 125 years. tual events held in honor of the school’s 60th. 3. GSAPP professor Karl Chu with an alum. 10. Former NYC Mayor David Dinkins, now a SIPA 4. Guests peer through a special installation creat- professor, accepts a souvenir of the occasion from ed by GSAPP students. SIPA alum David Saltzman, executive director of the 5. Dean Quigley gives a rousing toast to the school’s Robin Hood Foundation and recipient of the 60th 125 years. Anniversary Global Leadership Award. 6. GSAPP’s anniversary party in Low featured a 11. University Professor Joseph Stiglitz exchanges lighting installation by current students. views with SIPA guest of honor James Wolfensohn. 7. Dean Lisa Anderson addresses guests at SIPA’s 12. SEAS Vice Dean Mort Friedman celebrates 50 gala anniversary dinner. years surrounded by his civil engineering colleagues. 8. Vice Provost for International Relations Paul 13. Friedman’s grandsons, Chason (left) and Anderer (center) chats with SIPA alum Ralph Hellmond, Asher,play a Handel duet. 1 13 12–13: MICHAEL DAMES 1–11: DIANE BONDAREFF

Student Services Akeel Bilgrami continued from page 1 continued from page 1 requests, whether for transcripts, financial aid or and nature as “brute and inert”—as opposed to the clas- address changes. Staff were also trained in improving sical notion of nature as being “shot through with an their customer-service etiquette and on team-building inner source of dynamism, which is itself divine.” techniques. Even at the time there were many dissenters who Next, Brown-Nevers tackled the Web, making the accepted all the laws of Newtonian science but “Ask Us” Web site more user friendly and improving protested its underlying metaphysics, Bilgrami online billing. Unlike before, students now get billed explained. They were anxious about the political later in the term while receiving information on the alliances being formed between mercantile interests status of their financial aid disbursements earlier. and the metaphysical ideologues of the new science— “Our data already shows that for two schools, the anxieties echoed by the “radical enlightenment” as percentage of billing collections in receivable has well as later by Gandhi. improved dramatically,” said Brown-Nevers. “In one, According to Bilgrami, both Gandhi as well as these the percentage of billing increased 32 percent and in earlier thinkers argued that in abandoning our ancient, the other, 27 percent.” “spiritually flourishing” sense of nature we also let go Brown-Nevers hopes to build on these successes by of the moral psychology that governs human beings’ tackling online registration next. She also plans to engagement with the natural, “including the relations hold more meetings with the office’s stakeholders— and engagement among ourselves as its inhabitants.” Columbia students—to solicit their feedback. She Bilgrami expressed a certain sympathy for this dis- recently visited the University of Minnesota, ranked senting view, noting that even if we moderns cannot high in customer-service delivery, to learn about their accept the sacralized vision favored by these earlier techniques. Another model that she likes was devel- thinkers, we should still seek alternative secular forms oped by Wells Fargo for its online banking and cus- of enchantment in which the world is “suffused with tomer services. She particularly envies the quick turn- value,” even if there is no divine source for this value. around time at the company’s call center. Such “an evaluatively enchanted world” would be sus- “When I came to Columbia in 2002 and walked ceptible not just to scientific study, Bilgrami argued, but around the center, I noticed that the long lines resem- WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? would also demand an ethical engagement from us all. bled the DMV,” said Hogarty, the project sponsor. “Columbia students come to study, not deal with orga- HINT: No need to provide a hint as there’s already a clue on this page. First to To watch Akeel Bilgrami’s lecture, go to: www.colum- nizational red tape, and we’ve made it easier for them e-mail us the right answer receives a RECORD mug. bia.edu/cu/news/media/06/477_GandhiNewtonEnlig to do just that.” ANSWER TO LAST CHALLENGE: Eppendorf tube caps. WINNERS: Steven Berman, Scott Lefurgy htenment.