Dean Peña-Mora Visits ESC

Sean Zimmermann reports from Monday’s meeting of the ESC.

SEAS Dean Feniosky Peña-Mora came to tonight’s Engineering Student Council meeting. President Christopher Elizondo introduced Dean Peña-Mora as “the greatest champion for engineering students that we have on campus.”

The Dean opened by explaining that he had “no particular agenda,” for the meeting, but he wanted to observe how a normal council meeting worked. The council then moved into a Q&A session for council members to discuss issues with the Dean.

When asked how the school could develop a better sense of community with the surrounding Morningside residents, the Dean explained that he had been focusing on developing the engineering school’s own community rather than working on relations with the outside community. The Dean cited his office’s work in developing SEAS pride, such as the SEAS scarves and ties given to seniors, as well as the planned student carnival next year. He explained that the engineering school “may have small numbers,” but should have “a strong presence.”

The Dean also spoke about the Manhattanville expansion during the meeting. Peña-Mora explained that the cost of building into Manhattanvile will be “significant,” and though there is a place in the Manhattanvile expansion reserved for the engineering school, he explained that any development is at least 10 years away. The Dean explained that the engineering school is hoping to acquire space in Uris Hall (currently occupied by Columbia Business School) when the Business School moves into Manhattanville in 7 years, but there are “many others vying for the space.”

Additionally, the Dean explained, in today’s world, an undergraduate degree in engineering is not enough. Therefore, a committee of professors tasked with investigating the undergraduate curriculum has recommended that all departments develop integrated BS/MS programs, similar to the ones already in place in the Electrical and Mechanical departments. The programs allow student to begin taking Masters courses in their senior year, so they could receive their undergraduate and graduate degrees in 5 years.

Also in Peña-Mora news, Columbia General Council was “not thrilled” with the idea of the Dean going skydiving. Therefore, after consulting with Columbia’s lawyers, it has been decided that the skydiving with Dean Peña-Mora event will not take place due to liability issues.

Meet Nick Sprayregen — that’s him over there on the right, alongside anti-Columbia propaganda. For three years, he’s upheld a solemn vow to rally against the University’s expected use of eminent domain by holding onto his Manhattanville storage company, Tuck-It-Away Storage. He’s also the subject of an Observer profile from earlier this week (and one from the Times earlier this year), which chronicles his Sisyphean battle against Columbia. 

Specifically, Sprayregen’s opposed to the University’s imminent use of eminent domain, and in the past has tried to make a deal with Columbia in hopes of convincing them to drop it from their game plan. But Bollinger and his Legal All Stars wooed Harlem politicians with promises of low-income housing and an increase of jobs, so Columbia’s plan was approved by the state, Manhattanville was deemed “blighted”, and Sprayregen’s hopes of warding off eminent domain looked bleak.

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Meet Graciela Chichilnisky, an econ professor who was just awarded a $200,000 settlement from Columbia, which is roughly the amount of your tuition or any one product from Nussbaum & Wu. She has been suing Columbia on and off since 1990 (back when some of you Terrible 12s weren’t even born!), claiming gender discrimination and unequal pay, claims that were also previously settled in 1995 for $500,000. As a result of the earlier suit, Chichilnisky’s salary was raised from $60,000 to $110,000.

So then, in 2000, Chichilnisky stopped teaching math and started working exclusively in the econ. department because Columbia was terminating the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization, which she had chaired. She found that her office in the Mathemetics building was hers no longer. “It’s almost impossible to believe this is happening,” she told Spec. “The destruction and removal of one’s office space, without notice is like a violation of one’s physical space.” Columbia repsponded that the school is crunched for space and that Chichilnisky wasn’t making full use of her math office.

She filed another lawsuit claiming that her pay was less than that of her male counterparts, and that in dismantling her office, Columbia “has retaliated against her by breaching the terms of the settlement.” In turn, Columbia filed counterclaims, charging that Chichilnisky had a secret second job — she was the founder and CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation — and that she never disclosed that to anyone in Low. According to CU, this was a breach of the previous settlement agreement.

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Other than the economy and the presidential candidates and of course, IvyGate’s triumphant return, the big news story of the week was the Supreme Court, which handed down a number of controversial decisions, from issues concerning the death penalty to the Second Amendment. For those of you want more of a judiciary fix, here are some weekend rentals from Film Rental Correspondent Brandon Hammer to satisfy your palate.  

The History Buffs: Inherit the Wind (1960) 

Based on the play of the same title, Inherit the Wind is the dramatized story of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, in which John Thomas Scopes was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution. The case created such hype that it drew two of the most famous lawyers of the time, three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Though all of the names are changed (Bryan becomes Matthew Harrison Brady while Darrow is changed to Drummond), the story is nonetheless an interesting examination of the conflict between those who have very different views of the governing principles of the United States. Moreover, despite the film’s age, its subject matter — from what it is acceptable to teach in school, to how two friends can maintain their relationship amid social and political competition, to the battle between urban and rural — is still quite relevant.

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After the reform Kol Nidre service at Hillel, everyone wishing each other a good year:

 

(Jewish) Law Student 1: Rosenblum?  Yale ’02?  Seligman?  We graduated in the same class!

 

(Jewish) Law Student 2: Yeah, yeah, you’re in my litigation class now right?

 

(Jewish) Bystander (muttering): Bunch of Jews.

Happy atoning!

Heard outside Butler, Saturday night

“It’s amazing what religion will do to a person.”

CC Instructor Ivan Savic, to his 9:00 AM class:

“Not holding the door for people is just one step away from chaos and cannabalism, which is just inconvenient.”

After a Blue and White meeting, Monday night:

A bearded man standing in front of St. Paul’s chapel, with arms held out à la Jesus-on-the-crucifix. A few minutes later, he lowered his arms, and left soon after.

Thanks to CML, Nick Frisch, and Grace Duffy for their observance.