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Contents : HIGHLIGHTS It happened this academic year 4 5 AFTER GRADUATION The benefits bestowed on alums 7 SCRAPBOOK A year of luminaries on campus 8 Erison Hurtault (CC'07) captured record title at Ivy League Heptagonals. VOL. 32 NO. 13 N EWS A N D I D E A S F O R T H E C O L U M B I A C O M MU N I TY M AY 1 4 2 0 0 7 Columbia's Most Senior Graduate By Bridget O'Brian any graduate students know what it feels like to be ABD--all-butdissertation. Few know the feeling as well as Max Horlick. Horlick 89 will receive his doctorate in French literature this spring more than a half century after defending his dissertation. Horlick's academic career was interrupted several times first when he was drafted into the Army during World War II. Later after his wife became ill and with children to support he abandoned his quest for a doctorate. Last year hoping to get him an honorary Ph.D. his children appealed to the University to accept the dissertation "The Literary Judgment of Michel de Montaigne." Instead University officials asked to see the original work to assess whether to grant the actual degree. Horlick who hadn't known about his children's plan was "astounded " he said. "I wished them luck but actually I was not sanguine about it." In March Pierre Force chair of the Department of French emailed the good news to Horlick's children and the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. "It's a fine piece of work on an interest- M SHAKE RATTLE AND TOSS RECORDBREAKING GRADUATION By Dan Rivero his year's Columbia commencement ceremony will confer degrees on nearly 12 000 students making this the largest group of students to graduate from the University's 18 schools in its 253year history. Over the past weeks the center of Columbia's campus has been turned into an arena that will seat a total of 40 000 graduates their families and guests. Students from 200 countries will receive degrees in disciplines ranging from applied mathematics to Yiddish studies. In addition to celebrating the accomplishments and promise of this year's graduates the University also will honor distinguished leaders who have shaped the world expanded the frontiers of research and teaching and supported the University's growth and development. Following Columbia tradition President Lee C. Bollinger will deliver the commencement address and bestow honorary T International Affairs graduates wave flags at Commencement 2006 12 000 Graduates Eight Honorary Degrees One Speech. degrees on eight recipients referred to as honorands' at Columbia and some other schools. They include the former president of the Israeli Supreme Court a pediatric neurosurgeon a fellow university president as well as historians scientists and professionals who stand out in their fields. Five faculty members will be recognized for excellence in teaching and 10 alumni medals will be bestowed on graduates who have worked hard on behalf of their respective schools. (A complete list of honorands and honorees are on pages six and seven.) Of this year's graduating class 1 227 come from outside the United States. China has the most of any foreign nation with 110 and South Korea isn't far behind with 104. Albania Bangladesh Bosnia Cyprus Ecuador the Ivory Coast Jamaica Jordan Norway Rwanda and the Ukraine each can claim at least one 2007 graduate. Giant television screens broadcasting the procession the speeches and everything in between will tower over the guests. For those who can't be there the ceremony will be streamed live on the university's Web site. ing topic " wrote Force who was on the committee that read Horlick's 180-page paper. "Our recommendation to Dean Pinkham is that Max Horlick be retroactively granted a 1954 Ph.D." When Columbia grants 11 706 degrees at this year's commencement Horlick class of 1954 will certainly be the oldest. The registrar's office wasn't certain if he is Columbia's oldest graduate ever. Growing up in a tiny New Jersey farming community of immigrants Horlick quickly discovered an ear for languages--he eventually learned 10 of them. After getting a degree in French from Rutgers he married and started graduate work at Columbia only to be drafted. His language skills got him into military intelligence and he served in the Battle of the Bulge questioning captured German officers. After the war Horlick taught at St. Lawrence University spending summers working on his doctorate. He wrote his dissertation and continued on page 8 miniature flags representing graduates' nationalities and the architecture school will measure up with plastic protractors. Future lawyers will brandish rubber gavels. "The Don't be surprised to see an apple core whizzing law school doesn't throw things--that might hit somethrough the air during commencement ceremonies. It's one and be a liability " said a school spokeswoman. no sign of disrespect or of boredom. Indeed it's a longThe College of Dental Medicine will likely elicit the standing Columbia ritual. biggest smiles as graduates carry five-foot-tall plastic At the University's 253rd commencement on May toothbrushes in the commencement procession. When 16 each school's blue-robed graduates will liven up the it comes time to throw however they will hurl regulartwo-hour-long proceedings with fervent shaking and sized toothbrushes and floss "since we're all about pretossing of objects representing their respective acavention of disease " said Dr. demic programs. The apple Martin Davis associate dean cores hurled by Columbia Graduates toss newspapers dental for student and alumni College graduates who have affairs at the dental school. chomped through the floss apple cores and money At Columbia Business apples they bring to the cerSchool M.B.A. students typiemony represent the Core cally wave Monopoly money or fistfuls of cash. That Curriculum which requires all of the college's students didn't go over well last year as the crowd unleashed a to take a battery of courses in art literature philosophy chorus of boos said Rob Torti president of the history music and science. Graduate Business Association. This year B-schoolers Such graduation-day hijinks are "definitely a hatched a plan to use copies of The Wall Street Journal Columbia tradition " said Karma Lowe assistant direcbut Journalism School class officers quickly emailed to tor of student services at the School of Social Work and let the business students know they'd be infringing on a Columbia College graduate. that school's longstanding tradition of lobbing shredThis year nursing students will shake Columbia blueded newspapers. It will most likely come down to cold and-white pompoms confetti and gold stars. Soon-to-be hard cash. "There was nothing we could point to that doctors will let surgical gloves fly. Students from the represented commerce more than money " Torti said. School of International and Public Affairs will wave By Candace Taylor continued on page 8 www.columbia.edu/news EILEEN BARROSO It took 50 years but Max Horlick 89 gets his Ph.D. 2 M AY 1 4 2 0 0 7 TheRecord A Grandmother Inspires Generations of Columbians By Dan Rivero In the sea of proud parents and grandparents attending commencement this spring surely Magda Hanus will stand out. The 83-year-old Holocaust survivor has four grandchildren graduating from Columbia this year three of them this month. Hanus a mother of four grandmother of 13 and greatgrandmother of two plans to attend the May 16 commencement ceremonies. She will travel from Skokie Ill. where she still runs the clothing store Rich's Britches which she started with her late husband. "I am very proud of my grandchildren " Hanus said. "They are very smart and ambitious and have received a wonderful education at Columbia. They have made brilliant accomplishments." Talk to her grandchildren and they will tell you she is the most important influence in their lives. They credit her with teaching them by her example to respect life value education and give back to society. Hanus had just completed her high school education when her life took a grim turn. It was 1941 and Hitler's storm troopers had marched into Batyu Hungary. Sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp Hanus came face to face with the horror of the Holocaust: her parents grandparents and three brothers were all killed. After the war Hanus and her youngest sister Erica--the only other surviving member of the family--moved to Humene Slovakia where an aunt took care of them. She met her husband John another Auschwitz survivor in late 1945 and they married after a three-month courtship. They moved to Prague and in 1951 found their way to Skokie to start life anew. Hanus' oldest granddaughter Edythe Hanus (BC'00 SIPA'02) will receive her doctorate from the School of Public Health and will serve as class speaker younger sister Rebecca Hanus will get her Master of Science from the School of Social Work. Julie Hanus the youngest of the sisters will be graduating from Barnard. A fourth grandchild Jonathan is scheduled to receive his Master of Science in real estate development from the School of Architecture in October. Together with Edythe's husband Jacob Kupietzky (CC'99 SIPA '00) the family will hold eight degrees from Columbia. Standing: Jonathan Hanus Rebecca Hanus Magda Hanus Barbara Hanus (Mother) and George Hanus (Father) Sitting: Julie Hanus Edy Hanus Kupietzky and Jacob Kupietzky holding their 2 year old children Joshua and Kayla. Edythe has made Columbia something of a second home spending the last 12 years at the Morningside and medical school campuses studying urban affairs and public health. Her enthusiasm drew her siblings to Columbia--Rebecca did not apply anywhere else when she decided to get a master's degree in social work. Edythe says her siblings' accomplishments belong to their grandmother as well. Rebecca thanks Edythe and Magda for inspiring her and calls Magda the rock that holds the family together. "She makes people want to become better just by knowing her " she said. USPS 090-710 ISSN 0747-4504 Vol. 32 No. 13 May 14 2007 Pomp and Circumstance on Low Plaza Dear Alma's Owl I've been watching Low Plaza and South Lawn get set up for commencement and I marvel at the number of seats. Has the ceremony always been held there -- Curious About Commencement Published by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs TheRecord Staff: Interim Editor: Bridget O'Brian Graphic Designer: Scott Hug Staff Writer: Dan Rivero University Photographer: Eileen Barroso Contact The Record: t: 212-854-3282 f: 212-678-4817 e: curecord@columbia.edu The Record is published twice a month during the academic year except for holiday and vacation periods. Permission is given to use Record material in other media. Dear Graduation Groupie I love commencement after all I have one of the best views--at least when the ceremony is held on South Lawn. The gorgeously landscaped Morningside campus awarded four honorary degrees in St. George's Chapel on Beekman Place. There have even been years in which there was no commencement at all. The class of 1759 had only one graduate he didn't get a ceremony. Since classes were suspended during the Revolutionary War there were no commencements from 1775 to 1785. And the War of 1812 was the reason for the lack of ceremony that year. Disease took its toll too--the cholera epidemic in 1832 required another cancellation. ASK ALMA'S OWL and Carnegie Music Hall found themselves host to Columbia's graduation exercises including Class Day. Some people confuse Class Day and commencement. It's an understandable mistake. Once the College became the University there was a need for each school to recognize its own students so Class Day was created. Tradition dictates that on Class Day each graduating senior walk across the stage to receive an empty envelope. Each of the 16 schools calls the names of its degree candidates on Class Day but diplomas are only handed out after commencement. This year marks the first time that the School of General Studies will hold its Class Day on South Lawn along with Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Here on the Morningside campus commencement was originally held in the gymnasium. In the past few decades however that location has proven too small. This year's 11 706 degree candidates along with an estimated 28 000 guests will take part in commencement festivities on Low Plaza and the South Lawn come rain or shine under my watchful gaze. Columbians sometimes ask Alma Mater for guidance but to whom does she turn when she needs information Minerva's familiar is the wise owl hidden within the folds of her gown. Send your questions for the owl to curecord@columbia.edu. Authors of letters we publish receive a Record mug. David M. Stone Executive Vice President for Communications Correspondence/Subscriptions Anyone may subscribe to The Record for $27 per year. The amount is payable in advance to Columbia University at the address below. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for address changes. Postmaster/Address Changes Periodicals postage paid at New York NY and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Record 535 W. 116th St. 402 Low Library Mail Code 4321 New York NY 10027. Dr. Butler's Last Commencement by Professor Frank Calcott professor of Spanish June 5 1945. TheRecord welcomes your input for news items calendar entries and staff profiles. You can submit your suggestions to: curecord@columbia.edu lays out a welcome mat of spring blooms to dazzle thousands of attendees--I counted 40 000 of them last year. However commencement hasn't always been such a big production. In its first commencement ceremony on June 21 1758 King's College granted just seven students bachelor's degrees and There have been several changes in venue over Columbia's history. Before the campus moved to 49th Street commencement was usually held in chapels or on one of the properties of Trinity Church. But the 49th Street campus was also without facilities appropriate for commencement so venues such as the old Metropolitan Opera House COURTESY OF THE HANUS FAMILY TheRecord M AY 1 4 2 0 0 7 3 2006 2007 COLUMBIA T wo Nobel prizes. Life-saving scientific discoveries. Athletic records set artistic breakthroughs scholarly advances groundbreaking research and munificent donations. In short it was a year like any other at Columbia yet utterly unique. Here is a summary of some of the most notable events at the University in its 2006 2007 academic year. The Year at TWO NOBELS Two members of Columbia's faculty received Nobel Prizes in Stockholm last year bringing to 75 the number of Columbia alumni and faculty who have won the world's most prestigious award. Professor Edmund Phelps McVickar Professor of Political Economy and director of the Center on Capitalism and Society at the Earth Institute won in economics. Phelps first joined Columbia in 1971 and is best known for his research exploring the relationship between inflation and unemployment. Phelps challenged what had long been the conventional wisdom in economics--that inflation would always follow a dip in unemployment-- and argued for a more complex view. Phelps "recognized that inflation does not only depend on unemployment but also on the expectations of firms and employees about price and wage increases " the Swedish Academy stated in announcing the award. " Phelps has deepened our understanding of the relation between short-run and long-run effects of economic policy." The academy went on to say that he has had a decisive "impact on economic research as well as policy." Orhan Pamuk the acclaimed Turkish novelist won the Nobel Prize in literature. The Istanbul native was a fellow with Columbia's Committee on Global Thought and currently holds a joint faculty appointment in the writing division of the School of the Arts and the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures. Pamuk who has been publishing since 1972 "has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures " the Swedish Academy said. His novels include The Black Book The White Castle My Name is Red and Snow among others and have been translated into more than 40 languages. Adam Piore GIFT OF A LIFETIME John W. Kluge knows the value of financial aid. In 1933 he got it from Columbia--without it he says he never would have gone to college. In April the man whom the Forbes 400 listed last year as the 25th wealthiest American wanted to return the favor. Kluge (CC'37) pledged $400 million to Columbia with all funds designated for financial aid to undergraduate and graduate students. It was the largest gift ever devoted exclusively to student aid and the fourth largest to any single institution of higher education according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Kluge's gift brings the University one step closer to meeting its fundraising goal. The University has raised over $2.25 billion so far toward an overall goal of $4 billion for the Columbia Campaign which launched publicly on Sept. 29 2006. At the time of the announcement it was the largest fundraising campaign in the history of higher education. (Stanford unveiled a $4.3 billion campaign 12 days later.) The campaign seeks to add $1.6 billion to Columbia's endowment with special emphasis on financial aid and faculty support. Also sought is $1 billion for new and renovated facilities and $1.4 billion for academic programs throughout the University. Dan Rivero CITIZEN ARTIST Columbia's 21st century undergrads were toddlers when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 ushering in the end of the Cold War. But after spending seven weeks on campus with former Czech president and renowned playwright V clav Havel they won't wonder who he is again. Born in Prague in 1936 Havel began his career as a writer and dramatist emerging as a leading voice of opposition to the communist regime. He helped mastermind the bloodless overthrow of the government known as the Velvet Revolution serving as the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first of the Czech Republic. As another more familiar former president Bill Clinton said when he shared the stage with his longtime friend last November Havel's legacy of peaceful democratic regime change is matched by only two others in recent memory: those of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The theme of Havel's residency sponsored by the Columbia University Arts Initiative was citizenship and the arts. Students read his play "The Garden Party" and were treated to a reading by surprise guest Dustin Hoffman. Havel delivered a lecture for students who read his seminal essay "The Power of the Powerless " and a host of panels concerts and screenings on campus and throughout the city honored his legacy as an artist-citizen. Anne Burt PHOTOS BY EILEEN BARROSO 4 M AY 1 4 2 0 0 7 s TheR 2006 2007 AIR FRESHENER When Dr. Klaus Lackner decided to do something about global warming he was inspired by the one thing in nature that can suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere--a tree. Lackner the Ewing Worzel Professor of Geophysics at the Earth Institute and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences worked on the prototype for what he calls a synthetic tree with Arizona-based Global Research Technologies LLC. The prototype was unveiled this year. The device which looks something like a football goal post soaks up CO2 molecules from the air and funnels them into underground chambers. High levels of the greenhouse gas have been linked to global warming. Some CO2 scrubbing technology already exists--bulky filtering devices capture and store the CO2 emitted at power plants for instance. But such devices are too large to use on motor vehicles which cause one fifth of global CO2 emissions. Lackner's devices could be set up in a field anywhere in the world--somewhat like a windmill farm-- capture CO2 regardless of its point of origin. One "tree" could vacuum up the annual emissions equivalent of 15 000 cars. Lackner estimates that it would cost about $10 million to produce one of the devices commercially. Adam Piore and better treatments in the future. Columbia's Dr. Richard Mayeux led the study along with researchers from the University of Toronto and Boston University. Examining DNA from Alzheimer's patients and a control group in the Dominican Republic Mayeux and his team discovered a new gene they dubbed "SORL1." They then replicated their findings in groups of white Americans African Americans and Israeli Arabs testing about 6 000 subjects overall in the study. Researchers believe that Alzheimer's is caused by the buildup of a toxic substance in the brain called amyloid beta peptides which are produced when enzymes cut up a protein called APP. SORL1 helps to shield APP from the attacking enzymes by transporting them into "safe" compartments within a cell. Mayeux's team found that Alzheimer's patients more often had a genetic variation causing them to produce less SORL1 than normal. That left more APP unprotected against the destructive enzymes and led to a build-up of more amyloid beta peptides and an increased risk of Alzheimer's. "Identifying genes that raise the risk of Alzheimer's helps us diversify our portfolio for ways to treat the disease " Mayeux explained this year."We can't predict if this one will lead to a treatment but it is best to identify as many pathogenic pathways as possible to generate as many ideas for treatment as possible." Adam Piore GreeneChip a new medical tool that will allow quick diagnosis of disease outbreaks in the developing world empowering aid workers to stop epidemics in their tracks.The GreeneChip is a lab diagnostic tool that tests for thousands of possible disease agents simultaneously instead of one at a time or in small groups. The chip consists of a glass slide with more than 30 000 miniscule DNA and RNA samples of known viruses bacteria fungi and parasites aligned in neat rows on its surface. When a technician applies tissue blood urine or stool to the slide probes from any closely related genetic material stick to the sample--allowing a fast and accurate diagnosis of any number of diseases with a single test. The GreeneChip is expected to have a major impact on public health efforts around the globe. Researchers cited a 2004 Marburg outbreak in Angola that caused 252 cases of hemorrhagic fever 90 percent of them fatal. A GreeneChip later identified traces of malaria in the blood of one healthcare worker who died suggesting he could have been saved had a correct diagnosis been available earlier. Adam Piore nonprofit arts organization. Over the course of two years the Columbia/ Harlem Jazz Project will hold a total of 14 jazz events and post-performance talks at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture the Studio Museum in Harlem Minton's Playhouse and venues on campus all thanks to a $300 000 grant from the New York State Music Fund. "I think it's important to remind ourselves that we are 'Columbia University in the City of New York'--in the village of Harlem " said Robert O'Meally director of the Center of Jazz Studies and the Zora Neale Hurston professor of English and comparative literature."I like to add that part because once a group of us decided to form a center for jazz studies it was very important that we not wall ourselves in as an ivory tower entity but that we take advantage of this rich history that we share with our neighbors." Dan Rivero Arts. Most of these shorts premiered at the 2006 Columbia University Film Festival the year-end showcase for graduating M.F.A. students. The 2007 CU Film Festival wrapped on May 10--and this year's films are stronger than ever. Can "Sundance: the Sequel" be far behind Anne Burt CAFE SCIENCE Chemistry and mixology are similar concepts that rarely go together but that's what is happening at Caf Science a new quasi-academic program started last year whose popularity has taken off by bringing together Columbia professors and the general public in a casual salon-like atmosphere where they can discuss scientific topics. For $10 a head attendees get one drink and the chance to hear world-class acknowledged experts in their field. Subjects have included "Intelligent Life in the Universe " by astronomer David Helfand "How Your Brain Works...Or Not " by biologist Darcy B. Kelly and on June 11th "Singing in the Brain: What Songbirds Teach Us About the Brain and Communication " with behavioral neuroscientist Sarah Woolley. Bridget O'Brian LIGHTS CAMERA The parka-clad audiences at January's Sundance Film Festival were treated to no fewer than 20 films made by Columbia students and alumni. In April a record 10 Columbia-affiliated films screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.Add these impressive numbers to seven gold medals in the Student Academy Awards in the past 10 years and it's clear that the movie industry is waking up to what the School of the Arts film division does best: nurture thoughtful original powerful filmmakers poised to make their mark in both Hollywood and independent cinema. This year at Sundance four top prizes went to Columbia filmmakers and 10 percent of all short films in the competition came from the School of the ALL THAT JAZZ The first official jazz collaboration between Columbia and Harlem kicked off in January with a concert by renowned singer Paula West and her quartet at Columbia's Miller Theater. The Columbia/ Harlem Jazz Project which has since held concerts by latin band leader Eddie Palmieri and blues artist Olu Dara is a two-year collaboration between the University's Center for Jazz Studies New Heritage Theatre Group in Harlem and Community Works a Manhattan-based GOING GREEN Columbia's buildings grounds activities--and most vitally its people--are vivid testimony to the University's many new efforts on behalf of the Earth. Last fall the Department of Environmental Stewardship was created as the local focal point for sustainability efforts. Two new buildings are Columbia's first to be registered for a Leadership in Energy and ALZHEIMER'S Early this year a team of CUMC scientists helped discover the first new gene linked to Alzheimer's Disease in more than 14 years a finding that could eventually lead to improved methods for early diagnosis DISEASE FIGHTER In December researchers from the Mailman School's Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory and their colleagues in the WHO Global Laboratory Network unveiled the Record M AY 1 4 2 0 0 7 5 HIGHLIGHTS Environmental Design (LEED) rating meeting the country's highest environmental construction standards. Meters throughout the University now will measure energy use leading to further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Students staff faculty and administrators continue to produce a stream of creative everyday sustainability efforts such as serving locally roasted organic fair trade coffee. And for the undergraduate EcoReps organization it means collecting what would otherwise be thrown away at semester's end and donating it to local charities through their Give + Go Green project. Barbara King Lord WINNERS Champions are wearing light blue again. By the end of the academic year Columbia had established a record for Ivy League team championships in a single year taking home five titles--women's soccer women's golf men's tennis women's fencing and men's fencing. The women's soccer and women's golf teams won their first titles and men's tennis won its first Ivy League title since 2001. Success began in the fall when under the leadership of first-year head coach Norries Wilson the football team posted its best season since 1996 with a 5-5 record. Men's basketball followed in the winter with its best record since 1992 93 at 16-12. Several individuals also had banner years. Runner Erison Hurtault became the first-ever Ivy League male student-athlete to win the championship at the Ivy League Heptagonals eight times in a career. On the women's side Osamuede Iyoha won the 400meter hurdles in 1.71 minutes. Iyoha also took second in the 100-meter hurdles finishing in 14.12 seconds for a school record. A few days earlier at the storied Penn Relays the Lions won the 4x800-meter relay with Hurtault running the third leg. It was Columbia's first victory in a Championship of America heat at the Penn Relays since 1938 and the first triumph for an Ivy League school since 1974. In other highlights Matt Palmer (CC'07) became the first wrestler in more than 100 years of Columbian wrestling to earn All-American a second time from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In fencing Daria Schneider (CC'09) won an NCAA title in women's sabre in women's soccer Shannon Munoz (CC '07) was named Ivy League Player of the Year. Darren Schmidt (CC'07) won an Athletics Directors Association Scholarship in Division I-AA football. The NCAA awarded a postgraduate scholarship to Greg Cass (CC'07) of the men's soccer team. Dan Rivero Human Rights Documentation and Research an international center that preserves materials from the global human rights movement. It is the official repository for the newly acquired Amnesty International USA archive of country and mission reports case files and oral histories among other materials. Magier the librarian for the South & Southeast Asian Studies concentration also serves as the director of area studies at the University Libraries. The next big project will be the library in the Northwest Science Building which broke ground in May and which will house the University's first interdisciplinary library devoted solely to science containing material from the astronomy chemistry physics and biology departments. Columbia currently ranks as the sixth-largest academic library in North America having added an average of 150 000 volumes each year. Dan Rivero without ever holding an elected office (although he held as many as 12 appointed offices simultaneously). Ballon's detailed re-examination of Moses' impact on New York--along with a companion book of essays Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York (co-edited by Ballon and Kenneth Jackson Columbia's Jacques Barzun Professor of History and the Social Sciences)--continues to make national headlines months after the exhibitions opened. Her work undoubtedly will influence urban planning scholars and New York City historians for years to come. Anne Burt of homeless people counted by DHS volunteers adjusted by the proportion of the decoys who were missed by the counters. Still all parties agree that the total number of unsheltered homeless in the city is likely much larger. Melanie A. Farmer CLEAN WATER Columbia Law School scored a big win in January when a federal appeals court ruling in favor of environmentalists declared that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must change the way it interprets the Clean Water Act. The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also found that the EPA violated the law by placing the profits of power companies ahead of the protection of the nation's fisheries. The lawsuit was filed by Columbia Law School's Environmental Law Clinic acting pro bono on behalf of a coalition of more than a dozen environmental organizations including Riverkeeper the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Conservation Law Foundation. Ten law students worked with clinic director Edward Lloyd and Reed Super the clinic's senior staff attorney on the case. Super who is also a lecturer at the Law School argued the case last June. The plaintiffs claimed that the EPA was allowing the killing of trillions of fish per year because power plants were improperly using river lake and coastal water to cool power plant machinery. The court found that regulations issued by the EPA in 2004 improperly rejected a technology called "closed cycle cooling " which would have minimized the danger to fish. Melanie A. Farmer SHADOW COUNT New York City has been battling chronic homelessness for decades. But how many homeless people live in the city That was the focus of a study this year by Professor Julien Teitler of the School of Social Work. On the night of January 29 more than 200 volunteers--including Columbia students--fanned out across the city as decoy homeless people in a project aimed at improving the accuracy of the city's homeless count. Dubbed Operation Shadow Count the study helped to statistically adjust the figures of the unsheltered homeless for the 2007 Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) survey an annual count done in conjunction with the city's Department of Homeless Services (DHS). The survey isn't just academic an accurate count means that programs and initiatives for the homeless can be focused better on those who need them. An estimated 4 039 visible unsheltered homeless people were tallied that night Teitler said almost identical to a year ago.The total is based on the number ROBERT MOSES It's an academic's dream to see years of research and scholarship reach the widest possible audience even change the course of public discourse. That happened for art history professor and director of art humanities Hilary Ballon this spring. Three related exhibitions she curated on the legacy of long-time New York City builder Robert Moses sparked headlines and were recognized as major contributions to the understanding of New York City's recent past they also stirred passionate debate about its future. Ballon picked a rich topic. From 1924 to 1968 Moses oversaw the construction of bridges tunnels highways parks housing beaches and more throughout New York City and state--all LIBRARIES Columbia's libraries are bursting at the seams. Recent acquisitions include the digital archives of the now defunct leftwing progressive magazine The New Leader materials chronicling the history of Japanese and East Asian film from documentary filmmaker Mamoru Makino and the archive of Robert College of Istanbul the oldest American school outside the United States. This year also saw the creation of the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship which uses new media and digital technology for research and other scholarly purposes. In April librarian David Magier was appointed director of the Center for

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