The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

Go Ask Alice!, a leading Internet resource supported by Columbia University that answers reader-generated questions ranging from acne to x-rays, debuts an updated website on January 17, 2012 at www.goaskalice.columbia.edu. Site enhancements enable readers to find information easily and quickly, and be a part of the conversation. Launched in 1993, Go Ask Alice! is one of the oldest Web sites to provide systematically researched, reliable, and culturally sensitive health information.

Among new features of the site are a redesigned navigation system and page layout, an expansion of site capabilities to allow more flexibility and engagement with readers, as well as an evolution of the site’s technology to meet current and future Web standards for disability access. In addition to maintaining our core anonymous health Q&A content, we are please to introduce new features, including:
• Mobile friendly version for smart phone users;
• Interactive quizzes;
• Robust social media integration;
• Rate this question;
• A new Health Information section to better present alerts, recalls, health in the news, and other core information; and
• Easier mechanisms for submitting questions, reader responses, comments, corrections, and rants & raves.

With intensive reader feedback, Go Ask Alice! was redesigned to streamline the way visitors navigate to new or archived health questions and answers and other related content. Information is now categorized in four sections: 1) browsing for questions by health topic; 2) directly receiving new Go Ask Alice! questions; 3) participating in health quizzes, polls, and other features; and 4) accessing health information and resources in one convenient location. The page layout and color palette were also upgraded for a cleaner and more approachable site that highlights Go Ask Alice!’s 18-year digital presence combined with contemporary branding.

Go Ask Alice! maintains its format as an anonymous question and answer site, but further engages users by enabling readers to rate or comment on any of the thousands of questions found in six broad health categories: alcohol & other drugs; emotional health; general health; nutrition and physical activity; relationships; and sexual and reproductive health.

Leveraging current technologies for social networking and sharing, readers can distribute Go Ask Alice! content on any of their preferred social platforms. The redesign incorporates a “Share” button listing social communities, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, among others, and allows the site to expand into newer technologies further down the pipeline. Additionally, the site is redesigned to provide full Web accessibility to visitors with visual impairments.

Go Ask Alice! has more than 1.5 million visitors each month and contains thousands of health-related questions produced by Columbia Health, Alice! Health Promotion. This is the third major enhancement of the site. Go Ask Alice! is supported entirely by Columbia University and does not receive funding to promote specific products, nor does it accept advertising of any sort.

Greetings from Alice!

The rumors are true. The new expanded version of Go Ask Alice! is scheduled to launch with the start of the new academic term in January.
If you are not familiar with the site, please visit www.goaskalice.columbia.edu to learn about our efforts.

We are reaching out to see if you, as a student leader, are willing to be part of our initial launch promotion. Here are the details:

Each student leader will be provided with a Go Ask Alice! t-shirt (two designs, three color options). S/he will be expected to wear the shirt on January 17, 2012 (first day of classes). S/he will also be expected to wear the shirt up to 4 more times in the semester, with notes from us as to which are the preferred days. Each student will also be given a pair of the stylish Go Ask Alice! sunglasses (8 color choices).

If you are interested, please e-mail your name & uni to alice@columbia.edu .

On behalf of the team, thanks for your ongoing support and working with us to make Columbia a healthier place to live, work, and learn.

In health,
Alice!

Special Book Event sponsored by:
SAJA, AMEJA, Columbia Journalism School, CUNY Journalism School and Women for Afghan Women

FARIBA NAWA, distinguished Afghan-American journalist and author of the
highly-acclaimed book, “Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords and One
Womans Journey Through Afghanistan.” The book is the first to offer a
revealing look inside men’s and womens lives involved in Afghanistans
drug trade. From the farmer to the smuggler and child bride, Nawa discovers the underworld of the
multi-billion dollar narcotics industry while she revisits her own family’s
deep roots to the land. (see blurb below from Khaled Hosseini, author of “The
Kite Runner”)

Friday, Jan 6, 2012
5-6:30 pm
Columbia Journalism School
Stabile Student Center

Please join us and feel free to spread the word.

No charge; RSVP: dos.events.rsvp@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/cujnawa
#cjnawa #cuj12

You have been invited to an informal talk with Keith Hall, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics

When: Friday, December 16, 2012 - 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: Stabile Student Center, Journalism School

The BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics, operating over two dozen surveys and programs that measure employment and unemployment, compensation, worker safety, productivity, and consumer and producer price movements.

Dr. Hall has over 20 years of federal service with the Department of the Treasury, the International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, the Executive Office of the President and BLS. Most recently, he served as Chief Economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers where he analyzed a broad range of fiscal, regulatory and macroeconomic policies and directed a team that monitored the state of the economy and developed economic forecasts. Dr. Hall also served as the Chief Economist for the U.S. Department of Commerce for four years. In that role, he was the principal economic advisor to the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, and served as a special adviser to the Secretary of Commerce and as a member of the Secretary’s principal management team.

For more information on Keith Hall and the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/bls/commissionerscorner.htm

The award-winning documentary film SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL is coming to New York’s Stranger Than Fiction series. The film tells the story of the water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and chronicles the efforts of Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger to bring the situation to light.

The film is showing on Wednesday, December 14 at 8pm at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue @ 3rd St.)

Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger and director Rachel Libert will be at the screening and participating in the post film discussion.

For more information or to purchase tickets, go to:

http://stfdocs.com/films/semper_fi_always_faithful/

For more information about the film go to:

www.semperfialwaysfaithful.com

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery presents

“Documentary in Contemporary Art: The Legacy of the Progressive Era”

Trevor Paglen, Lucy Raven, and Martha Rosler discuss their work in
relation to the origins of social documentary photography and
progressive politics.

When: Saturday, 10 December, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Wallach Art Gallery, 8th Floor Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University

www.columbia.edu/cu/wallach

For more information please call 212-854-2877.

Panelists:

Trevor Paglen’s work deliberately blurs lines between science,
contemporary art, journalism, and other disciplines to construct
unfamiliar, yet meticulously researched ways to see and interpret the
world. Paglen lives in New York, and currently is an
artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at MIT.
Paglen?s visual work has been shown internationally in solo and group
exhibitions, most notably at MoMA, Tate Modern, and the Walker Arts Center.

Lucy Raven works with film, video and animation, and also the live
format of the illustrated lecture, to present detailed accounts of
global economic and social infrastructures. Raven is currently an
artist in residence at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, while teaching
at USC in the Art/Curatorial Practice in the Public Sphere program.
Raven?s work has been exhibited at art and film spaces internationally,
including MoMA, Mass MoCA, and the Wexler Museum of Art. She is a
Contributing Editor to BOMB Magazine where she writes about art and film.

Martha Rosler works in video, photo-text, installation, and performance,
and writes criticism. Her work in the public sphere ranges from everyday
life and the media ? often with an eye to women’s experience ? to
architecture and the built environment. Rossler has been exhibited in
the “Documenta” exhibition in Kassel, Germany; several Whitney
biennials; at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London; the Museum
of Modern Art in New York; the Dia Center for the Arts in New York; and
many other international venues. She has published ten books of
photographs, texts, and commentary on public space.

This event is presented in conjunction with the concurrent exhibition
“Social Forces Visualized: Photography and Scientific Charity,
1900-1920″ on view at the Wallach Art Gallery through December 17.

Dear Journalism Students,

The evaluation system (https://courseworks.columbia.edu/) for students to provide feedback about their classes will be live for the Fall 2011 semester on Monday, December 5, 2011.

M.A. Seminar in Discipline and M.S. RWI professors will be scheduling lab time for you to complete these. If you are not enrolled in any of these courses, please complete all your evaluations on your own. The deadline for completion is Friday, December 30.

Your role in providing feedback via course evaluations is of vital importance to the Journalism School. The information is used by faculty to evaluate their syllabi and to refine their practices and by the administration to make curriculum decisions and assess professor performance.

Course evaluations are one element in tenure, promotion and contract decisions; they can affect professors’ careers at Columbia.

Future students also use the information to make informed balloting choices.

We ask that you take your time and seriously reflect on your learning experience as you provide an honest answer to each question. You do not have to complete all the forms in one sitting. However, once you begin working on the form for a given class you must complete and submit it before exiting the system. Partially completed forms are not stored.

Please be aware that professors won’t have access to your evaluations of them until after they have submitted their evaluations of your performance.

Please note, we have no control over the system once the deadline has passed. Every semester students contact us after the deadline asking to fill in the form or to make edits to their evaluations, and there is nothing we can about those situations. Please be certain to complete all evaluations by the Friday, December 30 deadline.

Between Monday, December 5 and Friday, December 30, you will receive reminders every day for each evaluation that you have yet to complete. These automatic reminders are generated by the CourseWorks system.

Thank you for your assistance.

Questions to dos@jrn.columbia.edu

Mark your calendar for an expert panel tackling the very current issue of citizen journalism. Here are the details:

Panel: Citizen Journalism, December 1, 2011

As police arrested credentialed journalists trying to cover sweeps against Occupy Wall Street protestors, “citizen journalists” stepped in to fill the gap, posting their accounts on websites like Storify. From covering OWS to Hurricane Irene to an impromptu striptease on the L train, “citizen journalists” are documenting their everyday experiences. But is it journalism? If not, what is it? Join us for a lively discussion with Anjali Mullany, social media manager at the New York Daily News; Mayhill Fowler, author of Notes From a Clueless Journalist; and Paolo Mastrangelo, curator of NYC the Blog. Moderated by Latrice Davis, chairwoman of the club’s social media and newsroom technology committee.

When: December 1, 2011, 7-9 p.m.

Where: The NYC Seminar and Conference Center, 71 West 23rd St., btw 5th & 6th

How much: $5 members; $15 nonmembers; $10 students

RSVP: to reserve a spot, please visit www.newswomensclubnewyork.com/panels

Panelists:

— Paolo Mastrangelo is the founder and curator of NYC The Blog, which attracted 50,000 monthly page views at its peak. Its original content was frequently cited by major media outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, Gawker, The Huffington Post, The London Telegraph, and numerous TV outlets. Currently on hiatus from blogging, he remains active on Twitter, where he reports on daily life in the city. Prior to creating NYC The Blog, Mastrangelo co-hosted a weekly radio show on community affairs in Northampton, Mass., where he also wrote a monthly column on politics, arts, and current affairs for a local alternative newspaper. Also, he’s since launched the @Newyorkist Twitter account.

— Mayhill Fowler is a freelance journalist whose previous career was being a stay-at-home mother to two now-adult daughters. She is the author of Notes From a Clueless Journalist: Media, Bias, and the Great Election of 2008, which detailed her experience covering the aforementioned presidential campaign for the Huffington Post. Fowler, who holds degrees from Vassar College and the University of California at Berkeley, served as a Knight Journalism Fellow at the University of Maryland.

— Anjali Mullany is the social media editor at the New York Daily News. She received her master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

— Latrice Davis is a freelance multimedia journalist and had been an online editor at the Associated Press from 2000 to 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication from New York University.

Tue, November 22, 4:30pm – 5:30pm, Stabile Student Center, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 116th & Broadway, NYC.

Come hear from Ahmed Herzenni about how Morocco is being transformed.

Hezenni, who is with MoroccoTomorrow.org, was imprisoned for 12 years by King Hassan II of Morocco. The charge was treason, since he was an outspoken advocate of democracy.

King Hassan’s son, the present King Mohammed VI, granted amnesty to Mr. Herzenni and appointed him head of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council. Earlier this year, the King placed him on a panel of 19 citizens to draft a new constitution for Morocco (which would not only provide for a freely elected Parliamentary government, but for a Prime Minister who would become Head of State.

The King remains head of Islam, the state religion, but the new constitution also provides that every religion is not only tolerated but protected by constitutional law–the first such law in any Arab country. Mr. Herzenni will be speaking at a luncheon at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier in the day.

All are welcome. Questions to cr2586@columbia.edu

Welcome to Spring 2012:

Knight Bagehots will be automatically registered for the Advanced Seminar in Business Journalism with Terri Thompson.

Additionally, they may ballot for some classes at the Journalism School.

• Skills Classes: Knight Bagehots may attempt to take a skills course in the spring semester. The skills classes are described at http://bit.ly/spring12skills The skills schedule is available at http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/students/Skills_SP12.htm. To request a skills class, you must submit an online ballot before November 28 at 10 a.m.
• M.S. Electives: Knight Bagehots may ballot for an elective course in the spring semester. The spring electives are described at http://bit.ly/MSElectives To request an elective, you must submit an online ballot before November 28 at 10 a.m.
• The “Cost and Effect in Digital Journalism” course taught by Profs. Emily Bell and Duy Tu. This course is designed for MA students and Knight-Bagehot fellows. All Knight Bagehots are welcome to submit an Add/Drop form for it. Please note that these forms are processed on a first-come, first-served basis so please submit at form right at 7 a.m. on January 4 if you want to take it.

If Prof. Freedman has offered you a spot in his Book Writing seminar, please notify me by email to register you for it.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Tuesday, December 13, time TBA - Lucille’s Ball
• Late December: Students will be registered for their Spring courses.
• December 18-Jan. 16: Winter Break (Be aware that the Business School may have different dates for winter break)
• January 4-January 27: Add/Drop period
• Tuesday, January 17: Classes begin (Be aware that the Business School may have a different start date)
• Wednesday, Jan. 18, 9:30-5:00: ALL-CLASS EVENT: SPRING PREP DAY: “An annual day of academic, career and writing/reporting tips and advice, before the semester formally begins. Brought to you by Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Career Services “ - mandatory for all full-time MS students and MA students (except those MA students whose outside classes begin then); all others welcome. Presented by DOS Office and Career Services. )
• Spring Break: March 12-16 ( Be aware that the Business School may have different dates)
• GRADUATION: Tuesday, May 15 is Journalism Day; University and Journalism School graduation celebrations are on Wednesday, May 16. More details en route.

Welcome to Spring 2012

MA students will be automatically registered for their seminar in discipline (6 points) and for the thesis (6 points). Additionally you must take two additional 3 point electives.

Tali Woodward has prepared an MA Spring memo with detailed instructions on the registration process for outside classes. Please keep an eye out for it.

MA students are expected to take their spring electives OUTSIDE the J-school. This is essential to the subject-matter immersion that is the bedrock of the MA program.

There are two primary exceptions to this rule in the spring semester:

• Skills Classes: MA students may attempt to take a skills course in the spring semester. The skills classes are described at http://bit.ly/spring12skills The skills schedule is available at http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/students/Skills_SP12.htm. To request a skills class, you must submit an online ballot before November 28 at 10 a.m.

• The “Cost and Effect in Digital Journalism” course taught by Profs. Emily Bell and Duy Tu. This course is designed for MA students and Knight-Bagehot fellows. Any M.A. student is welcome to submit an Add/Drop form for it. If you get in, it’ll take the place of one of your outside courses. Please note that these forms are processed on a first-come, first-served basis so please submit at form right at 7 a.m. on January 4 if you want to take it.

MA students are generally not eligible for J-school courses designed for MS students. (There are two reasons for this: 1. They won’t boost your subject-matter expertise, and 2. They were created for a different set of students.)

In very rare cases, an MA student may receive permission to take one of the 3-credit MS electives. But this only happens when a seminar professor recognizes a hole in a MA student’s journalism training or experience, and asks the Dean of Students office to let the student take a specific J-School elective. In that situation, the student may try to add the course during the Add/Drop period. However, many of the MS electives are full before Add/Drop begins, so you should develop a backup plan.

Lastly, MA students cannot take the 6-credit MS seminars or workshops like next semester’s Investigative Reporting class. (As you may have noticed, MS students can’t take MA seminars either.)

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Monday, November 21: 1,000-word thesis proposal due to primary adviser and to Tali Woodward. If you wish to apply for second-round thesis grants, submit your application at the same time. [Business students can submit a revised budget up until Nov. 28]
• Tuesday, December 13, time TBA - Lucille’s Ball
• Late December: Students will be registered for their Spring courses.
• December 18-Jan. 16: Winter Break (Please note that outside departments may be working with different dates so please check the schedule of the school hosting your outside class as well)
• January 4-January 27: Add/Drop period
• Tuesday, January 17: M.A. classes begin
• Wednesday, Jan. 18, 9:30-5:00: ALL-CLASS EVENT: SPRING PREP DAY: “An annual day of academic, career and writing/reporting tips and advice, before the semester formally begins. Brought to you by Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Career Services “ - mandatory for all full-time MS students and MA students (except those MA students whose outside classes begin then); all others welcome. Presented by DOS Office and Career Services.
• Monday, January 30: MA THESIS - First Draft due. Talk to your adviser about what the “first draft” should entail. Some will want full drafts; others may prefer a detailed outline and a section of the story or a progress report. This draft can be shared with the outside adviser when appropriate (and at the discretion of the primary adviser). All drafts should be emailed to Tali Woodward.
• Monday, February 27: MA THESIS - Second Draft due to both advisers. This should be a reasonable facsimile of the thesis—outlines no longer suffice. Send a copy to Tali Woodward.
• Spring Break: March 12-16.
• Monday, April 16, noon: FINAL THESIS DUE. Hand in your hard copies. You must also email an electronic copy to Tali Woodward and to your adviser.
• GRADUATION: Tuesday, May 15 is Journalism Day; University and Journalism School graduation celebrations are on Wednesday, May 16. More details en route.

Welcome to the Spring Ballot for M.S., M.A., Knight Bagehot and JN/SEAS Students:

Please carefully follow the instructions below.

First, M.S. students please read the Spring curriculum thoroughly. Some information has been added and some changed since the document became available.

You may read students’ evaluations of many of the classes and professors at http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/students/view_evaluations.htm. You will have to log in using your UNI and password. Please note that some courses are being taught for the first time this spring. If you cannot find evaluations for a particular course, look instead for evaluations of other courses that professor has taught.

Please select the appropriate ballot for concentration/program. If you complete a ballot for a concentration/program other than your own, you will have your classes assigned randomly in the correct concentration/program.

Please note that if you began the program as a part-time student, you must ALWAYS use the part-time ballot even if you plan on accelerating to a full-time course load.

To complete the ballot you will need your Columbia e-mail address and PID (If you have lost your PID, please refer to http://deanstudents.blogsome.com/2005/11/14/faq-how-do-i-find-my-pid/)

The ballots are NOT handled on a first-come, first-served basis. As long as you make the deadline (Monday, November 28, 10 a.m.) you have equal standing with all other students.

If you applied for an application class (Book Writing, Covering Religion, Personal & Professional Style), please do not complete your ballot until you have been notified about the results - November 25. Those accepted will not be balloting for that type of class.

NOTE: Ranking the same class as your first choice repeatedly DOES NOT increase your likelihood of getting into that class. Rather it means that we will randomly select your class if we are not able to give you your first choice.

If your ballot is received after the deadline, you will be placed in classes on a space available basis. If you made a mistake or changed your mind, please resubmit your ballot. Your most recently-submitted ballot as of the deadline (Monday, November 28, 10 a.m.) will be the one processed.

All students who began the Master’s Project in the fall will be automatically registered for it in the spring. FT Stabile students will automatically be enrolled for the Stabile seminar and the Stabile elective.

If you experience any problems using the ballot, please send e-mail to dos@jrn.columbia.edu Please note we cannot promise students they will gain a seat in any specific class.

Please note that you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the ballot information you submitted. You will have to look through it carefully to find what you entered as the response includes both the pages you were required to complete and those you weren’t based on type of ballot.

Please answer all questions carefully.

Spring 2012 Ballot

You have been cordially invited to TEDx event hosted by Columbia Engineering.

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

Registration for TEDxColumbiaEngineering on November 29, 2011 is now open.

Find us on College Walk this Thursday from 11am-3pm for giveaways to early registrants, including free TEDxColumbiaEngineering T-shirts. Later on Thursday night, meet us at Pourhouse (982 Amsterdam Ave.) from 6-8pm for the official TEDx social gathering.

Register now before it’s too late!

Register for all three sessions.
Register for individual sessions.

Dear M.S. Students:

The Spring 2012 curriculum for M.S. students is now available at http://bit.ly/MS_Spring12

Please review it carefully. The deans will be will be available throughout November to discuss your options and help you plan for the Spring, as are your RWI professors, who serve as your advisers the rest of your time here.

*MA Students will receive a Spring briefing next Thursday, November 17, following E&I.

Please make note of the following dates:

• Monday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m. Applications due for Covering Religion and Personal & Professional Style
• Tuesday, Nov. 15, 6-8 p.m., Lecture Hall: Spring Preview Session - an evening when professors who teach Spring seminars, workshops and new electives are invited to present three-minute previews of their classes. Typically, most professors present and all M.S. students gather for this session. Please note that only a handful of classes have individual briefing sessions so it is critical that you attend this large gathering.
• Wednesday, November 16, 10 a.m.: Spring Ballots go live; close Monday, November 28, 10 a.m. noon You can submit ballots any time during that period - NOT first come, first served. If you applied for an application class, please do not submit your ballot until you have heard back about your acceptance.
• Wednesday, November 23, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Pre-Thanksgiving Pies and Advice with Deans Sree & Huff
• Friday, November 25: Students notified of application results for Book Writing; Covering Religion; Personal & Professional Style
• Monday, November 28, 10 a.m. Spring Ballots close.
• Tuesday, December 13, time TBA - Lucille’s Ball
• Late December: Students will be registered for their Spring courses.
• December 18-Jan. 16: Winter Break; work on Master’s Projects for M.S. students (first draft due Tuesday, Jan. 17)
• January 4-January 27: Add/Drop period
• Wednesday, Jan. 18, 9:30-5:00: ALL-CLASS EVENT: SPRING PREP DAY: “An annual day of academic, career and writing/reporting tips and advice, before the semester formally begins. Brought to you by Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Career Services “ - mandatory for all full-time MS students and MA students (except those MA students whose outside classes begin then); all others welcome. Presented by DOS Office and Career Services.
• Tuesday, January 17: M.A., and other University classes begin.
• Thursday & Friday, Jan. 19 & 20: M.S. Workshops begin.
• Spring Break: March 12-16. Please note final submission of your completed Master’s Project is March 19.
• GRADUATION: Tuesday, May 15 is Journalism Day; University and Journalism School graduation celebrations are on Wednesday, May 16. More details en route.

Do you already have a strong foundation for your committed relationship, but want to see it get even better? This might be the workshop for you!

You have been invited to participate in the a workshop series hosted by the Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS) Department.

When: Tuesdays, 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, & 12/13/11
What time? 5:45pm to 7:15 p.m.
Where: Counseling & Psychological Services’ Conference Room, Alfred Lerner Hall, 8th Floor
For: Couples only (one member of couple must be a Columbia student who has paid the health services fee)

This hands-on, sequential 4-session workshop will provide practical tools for couples who wish to strengthen their relationship.

Topics include:

Understanding Relational Expectations and Beliefs
How to Nurture the Positives in the Relationship
How to Improve Problem Solving Ability and Communication Skills

To reserve a spot or for more information, please e-mail:
Dr. Yaniv Phillips at py2120@columbia.edu or
Dr. Aoife Villafranca-West at saw19@columbia.edu

You are cordially invited to attend….

The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture - “Religion and the Media”

When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 @ 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) - 3080 Broadway at 122nd Street, New York City

Panelist:

Juju Chang, Emmy Award–winning Correspondent for ABC News’s Nightline
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Senior Religion Editor, The Huffington Post
Brent Staples, Editorial Board Member, The New York Times

Moderator
Nicholas Lemann, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Admission is free, but reservations are required.
RSVP online at www.jtsa.edu/religion or call (212) 280-6093.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to allow sufficient time for registration, and have photo ID available.
Cosponsored by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of JTS.

About the Program

Religion increasingly affects world events. But do the media (print, television, online) truly understand each of the religions they cover? Is current religion coverage adequate to the task? Are there better ways for the media to address religion and religious issues? Hear and engage with a panel of media luminaries from The New York Times, ABC News, and The Huffington Post. The Dean of Columbia Journalism School will moderate.

American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Next Talks

Featuring: Brandon Holley, Editor-in-chief, Lucky

When: Tuesday, November 15th, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Where: The Professor’s Loft - 219 Second Ave, NYC

ASME Next Talks are a series of open bar nights for those interested in advancing their careers, learning more about magazines from industry leaders or just meeting new people. It is open to junior-level magazine and web editors, journalists and anyone interested in learning more about the magazine industry.

Please register for the event here: http://www.magazine.org/asme/asme_next/Talks.aspx.
Admission for ASME Next members is $10; admission for non-members is $20.
Payment can be made at the door, but space is not guaranteed. To secure your spot at the event,
please register.

You have been invited to the SIPA Columbia Dual Degree Information Session

When: Friday, November 11th, 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 pm.
Where: International Affairs Building, Room 1510

Please come to this information session if you are a first-year MPA or MIA student interested in pursuing a dual degree from the following Columbia schools - Business, Law, Social Work, Public Health, Journalism, Architecture/Urban Planning, GSAS for QMSS - OR if you are currently a first year student at any of these schools and want to explore doing an MIA/MPA at SIPA.

Please email Leah Gunn Barrett - leahgunn.barrett@sipa.columbia.edu – for more information

Dear M.S. Students,

There are three spring seminars for which students must submit applications to be submitted:

• Book Writing
• Covering Religion
• Personal & Professional Style

Covering Religion and Personal & Professional Style both have applications that must be submitted by November 14, at 5 p.m.

Book Writing has its own application process which will be explained at the class information session on Friday, Nov. 4, 8:15 a.m., Stabile Student Center.

Please click on the class links for instructions.

Please Note:

On November 9 at 2:00 p.m. eastern standard time, the federal government will conduct the FIRST NATIONWIDE test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The test will last up to three and a half minutes. During this period, regularly scheduled television, radio, cable, and satellite shows will be interrupted as the system is being tested. We are sharing this message so that you and your members, staff and volunteers are aware that this event will be just a test, and not a real emergency alert.

The test is being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as part of their ongoing efforts to keep the nation safe during emergencies and strengthen our resilience against all hazards.

The national Emergency Alert System is an alert and warning system that can be activated by the president, if needed, to provide information to the American public during emergencies. NOAA’s National Weather Service, governors, and state and local emergency authorities also use parts of the system to issue more localized emergency alerts. The test is an important exercise in ensuring that the system is effective in communicating critical information to the public in the event of a real national emergency.

For additional information about this test please visit:

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=55722

FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test

Degrees are awarded in October, February and May. Every candidate, regardless of graduation date, is invited to participate in the May Commencement ceremony.

You must have completed all graduation requirements to participate in a May graduation ceremony.

In order to be considered for a degree or certificate, you must file a degree/certificate application form with the University.

This link will provide you with a pdf document that you may complete online, save to your computer, and then attach as an e-mail to diplomas@columbia.edu.

If you are unable to save the completed form, you may print it and fax it to 212-854-8747.

Alternately you may mail it or hand deliver it to:

Diploma Division
Office of the Registrar
Columbia University
210 Kent Hall, MC 9202
1140 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027

Application Deadlines
Graduating in - Apply by
October - August 1
February - November 1
May - December 1

Please Note The Following:

• When a deadline for application falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
• Doctoral students must deposit their dissertation at least a week before the conferral date in order to graduate.
• You may check the status of your degree application in SSOL. Please note that during peak times, it may take a week for your status to be updated in SSOL after you submit your application.

J-Schoolers,

The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion and the United Nations Alliance for Civilizations Cordially Invites You to:

Workshops on Religion and Human Rights Pragmatism: Strategies for promoting rights through dialogue across religions and cultures

When: Thursday, November 10th, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. & Friday, November 11th, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Lindsay Rogers Room, 707 International Affairs Building, Columbia University

The Center for Democracy, Toleration and Religion at Columbia University cordially invites you to the second conference in the series on Religion and Human Rights Pragmatism. This workshop, on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, will focus on strategies for promoting rights through persuasion and dialogue across cultural and religious divides. Presenters include representatives from the Open Society Institute, Human Rights Watch, and International Crisis Group as well as London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, the University of Massachusetts, NYU and Berkeley.

This workshop examines the process of articulating a pragmatic tactical position in fostering a discourse of human rights by asking: How assertive or confrontational should persuasive tactics be? Is it best to be open about real differences or avoid calling attention to them? Is it useful to look for least-common-denominator common ground, or is it better to have exploratory conversations where both sides grapple with issues and both are open to change? Or should all of these issues be kept tacit, so that norms change happens gradually, by insinuation and through practice? How do persuasive tactics need to be tailored to different target groups? How does dialogue within cultural or religious groups affect dialogue about rights between groups?

Presenters include: Lila Abu Lughod (Columbia), Thomas Kellogg (The Open Society Institute), Naz Modirzadeh (Harvard), Dorothy Q. Thomas, Ron Hassner (University of California-
Berkeley), Elizabeth Hurd (Northwestern), Daniel Philpott (University of Notre Dame), Stephen Hopgood (London- SOAS), Leslie Vinjamuri (London-SOAS), Sarah Leah Whitson (Human Rights
Watch), Liesl Gerntholtz (Human Rights Watch), Sally Merry (NYU) and Charli Carpenter (UMass-Amherst).

Dear J-Schoolers,

You have been invited to a panel hosted by the Newswomen Club of New York: Citizen Journalism.

From covering Hurricane Irene to an impromptu striptease on the L train, “citizen journalists” are documenting their everyday experiences. But is it journalism? If not, what is it? Join the Newswomen’s Club of New York for a lively discussion with Anjali Mullany, social media manager at the New York Daily News, Paolo Mastrangelo, curator of NYC the Blog, and freelance journalist Mayhill Fowler. Moderated by Latrice Davis, chairwoman of the club’s social media and newsroom technology committee.

When: December 1, 2011, 7-9 p.m.

Where: The NYC Seminar and Conference Center, 71 West 23rd St., btw 5th & 6th

How much: $5 club members; $15 nonmembers; $10 students

RSVP: visit www.newswomensclubnewyork.com/panels

— Paolo Mastrangelo is the founder and curator of NYC The Blog, which attracted 50,000 weekly page views at its peak. Its original content was frequently cited by major media outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, Gawker, The Huffington Post, The London Telegraph, and numerous TV outlets. Currently on hiatus from blogging, he remains active on Twitter, where he reports on daily life in the city. Prior to creating NYC The Blog, Mastrangelo co-hosted a weekly radio show on community affairs in Northampton, Mass., where he also wrote a monthly column on politics, arts, and current affairs for a local alternative newspaper.

— Mayhill Fowler is a freelance journalist whose previous career was being a stay-at-home mother to two now-adult daughters. She is the author of Notes From a Clueless Journalist: Media, Bias, and the Great Election of 2008, which detailed her experience covering the aforementioned presidential campaign for the Huffington Post. Fowler, who holds degrees from Vassar College and the University of California at Berkeley, served as a Knight Journalism Fellow at the University of Maryland.

— Anjali Mullany is the social media manager at the New York Daily News. She received her master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

— Latrice Davis is a freelance multimedia journalist and had been an online editor at the Associated Press from 2000 to 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication from New York University.

SPRING SEMESTER PREP (updated several times a week) Here’s the schedule for Spring Semester Prep - events and dates to help you prepare for the Spring Semester. All the information will be available electronically, but you are encouraged to attend any events/briefing sessions you can. Please note we are offering events on a variety of dates and times. All this is subject to change, so please check back often.

Deans Sreenivasan and Huff will be available throughout November to discuss your options and help you plan for the Spring, as are your RWI professors, who serve as your advisers the rest of your time here.

PLEASE NOTE: Most of this is aimed at M.S. students, but others are welcome to attend. There will be a separate briefing session for M.A. students - details below.

• We expect to have the Spring 2012 M.S. curriculum available on Friday, November 11. Until then, you may refer to this link to get a sense of what we will likely be offering.
• If you want to check out evaluations of past spring classes, go to http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/students/view_evaluations.htm

All dates can be imported into your Google calendar via bit.ly/columbiajcal

• Monday, October 31, 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Spring prep meeting with the Deans: focus on Spring Semester questions and dealing with Fall RWI mid-semester and final evaluations.
• Tues., Nov. 1, 5:30-6:30 p.m., 607B: Part-time students have an opportunity to chat with Elena Cabral , Sree Sreenivasan, Melanie Huff, Laua Muha, and Bill Grueskin
• Mon., October 31, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Stabile Student Center: COVERING RELIGION SEMINAR. Preview & Application Instruction session with Prof. Ari Goldman
• Thurs., Nov. 3, , 1:30-2:30 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Spring prep meeting with the Deans: focus on Spring Semester questions and dealing with Fall RWI mid-semester and final evaluations.
• Friday, Nov. 4, 8:15 a.m., Stabile Student Center: BOOK WRITING SEMINAR - Preview & Application Instruction session with Prof. Sam Freedman.
• Monday, Nov. 7, , 5:30-6:30 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Spring prep meeting with the Deans: focus on Spring Semester questions and dealing with Fall RWI mid-semester and final evaluations.
• Thursday, Nov. 10, , 6:00-7:00 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Spring prep meeting with the Deans: focus on Spring Semester questions and dealing with Fall RWI mid-semester and final evaluations.
• Friday, November 11: Spring 2011 M.S. curriculum announced
• Monday, November 14: Applications due for Personal & Professional Style and Covering Religion
• Tuesday, Nov. 15, 6-8 p.m., Lecture Hall: Spring Preview Session - an evening when professors who teach Spring seminars, workshops and new electives are invited to present three-minute previews of their classes. Typically, most professors present and all M.S. students gather for this session. Please note that only a handful of classes have individual briefing sessions (as listed above), so it is critical that you attend this large gathering
• Wednesday, November 16, 10 a.m.: Spring Ballots go live; close Monday, November 28, 10 a.m. noon You can submit ballots any time during that period - NOT first come, first served. If you applied for an application class, please do not submit your ballot until you have heard back about your acceptance
• Thursday, November 17, 4-4:45 p.m., World Room: MA Spring prep meeting with Tali Woodward, Sreenath Sreenivasan and Melanie Huff: focus on Spring Semester questions and dealing with Fall final evaluations.
• Wednesday, November 23, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Stabile Student Center: Pre-Thanksgiving Pies and Advice with Deans Sree and Huff
• Friday, November 25: Students notified of application results for Book Writing; Covering Religion; Personal & Professional Style
• Monday, Nov 28, 10 a.m. Spring Ballots close.
• Monday, Nov 28, 10 a.m. DEADLINE to confirm your acceptance of spots in application classes
  [ And don’t forget Lucille’s Ball, the annual J-School Holiday Party & Faculty Roast - on Tuesday, December 13- you absolutely have to be there!]
• Late December: Students will be registered for their Spring courses.
• December 18-Jan. 17: Winter Break; work on Master’s Projects for M.S. students (first draft due Tuesday, Jan. 17)
• January 10-January 28: Add/Drop period
• Wednesday, Jan. 18 9:30-5:00: ALL-CLASS EVENT: SPRING PREP DAY: “An annual day of academic, career and writing/reporting tips and advice, before the semester formally begins. Brought to you by Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Career Services “ - mandatory for all full-time MS students and MA students (except those MA students whose outside classes begin then); all others welcome. Presented by Student Affairs and Career Services.
• Tuesday, January 17: M.A., and other University classes begin.
• Thursday & Friday, Jan. 19 & 20: M.S. Workshops begin

Come meet Joumana Haddad “the Oprah of Lebanon”.

TODAY, Thursday, October 19th @ 6 p.m.
Columbia University Book Store
2292 B’way, NYC

She will host a reading & signing of her new book “I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Women”.

Read Nina Burleigh’s story covering her for tmagazine here: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/sex-and-the-souk/

INFORMATION SHEET AND APPLICATION FOR COVERING RELIGION SPRING 2012

PROFESSORS ARI L. GOLDMAN & ALEXANDER STILLE
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

“Covering Religion” aims at preparing students to write about religion for secular newspapers and magazines or for broadcast and digital media outlets. In the Spring 2012 semester the class will focus on the diversity of religious faiths found in Italy. Thanks to a generous grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation, the course will include a 10-day study-tour of Italy at no cost to students.

The study-tour will take place over spring break. The first seven weeks of the course will be spent reporting on religion in the New York area. Each student is assigned a faith or a sect of a faith in which to specialize. While a major focus of the semester will be on the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican, the class will also look at minority faiths in Italy, including Jews, Protestants and Muslims. In addition to writing assignments, each student will make an oral presentation in class about the coverage of his or her assigned faith. While still in New York, students will select and begin to report on the stories that they want to cover while abroad.

In past years, the class visited Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Jordan, Ireland and India. In each of these places, the group met with religious leaders and visited synagogues, mosques, churches, temples and shrines. Several days were also designated as “reporting days” for students to work on their projects.

During the 2012 trip, the class will maintain a Website that includes daily updates from our travels. Each day one student is responsible for reporting on that day’s activities and posting the story on the Web. In addition, two students serve as Webmasters and another coordinates photographs. Upon return from the study-tour students put additional stories and digital media projects on the Web. (The Websites from previous years can be found at www.coveringreligion.org.)

Here are a few additional points —

• Class size: the class is limited to 16 students.
• Dates for the trip: The trip roughly takes place over spring break, making use of the weekends before and after for travel time.
• Requirements: Full-time students accepted to the class must submit the final draft of their Master’s Project to the Dean Huff no later than March 8th, which is nearly two weeks before the regular deadline. In addition, all students must be up-to-date on deadlines for all other classes. No student on academic probation or academic warning will be allowed to go on the trip.
• Full-time and part-time students are eligible, whether concentrating in print, digital media or broadcast.
  Composition of the class: We are looking for a group of students that will reflect the diversity of the school in terms of gender, language skills, international travel experience, region of the United States and country of origin.
• Health insurance: Students are responsible to be sure that they are covered while traveling abroad.
• Cost to students: The foundation pays for airfare, hotels, transfers and at least one meal a day. Students should bring enough money for two meals a day plus money for any personal items or souvenirs they wish to purchase. Students are responsible for getting their own passports in order and for paying for any visa fees. Students will have to arrange their own travel to and from the airport in New York.

Application process: Please fill out the on-line application. It asks for a 500-word essay on why you would like to be considered for the class. It should include personal information as well as a statement about what contemporary religion story you would cover in Italy if you had the opportunity.

Good luck. We look forward to reading your application.

DEADLINE: November 14, 2011, 5 p.m.

Come meet Lisa Goldman, co-founder and writer, +972,

Date: Friday, October 21st, 2011
Time: 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Where: Room 801, Journalism

+972, an independent, progressive digital magazine that covers Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) with grassroots reporting, commentary and analysis. The site was launched in August 2010 and has since grown from a group of six contributors to a community of 20, including two reporters who are based in Ramallah. Articles published by +972 are regularly quoted and cited by major media outlets - eg, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, New York Times. The site is owned jointly by its contributors.

Goldman Bio: http://972mag.com/author/lisa/
Site Link: http://972mag.com/

Light snacks will be served.

American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Next Talks

Featuring: Esquire’s editor-in-chief, David Granger

When: Tuesday, October 25th 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Where: The Professor’s Loft - 219 Second Ave, NYC

Interested in advancing your career? Learning more about magazines from
industry leaders? Meeting new people at a 2-hour open bar? ASME Next,
the junior-editor membership of ASME, hosts a monthly a series of open
bar nights. The events are open to junior-level magazine and web
editors, journalists and anyone interested in learning more about the
magazine industry. Each talk features a top editor in the industry and
covers a variety of topics.

Please register for the event you’d like by clicking
http://www.magazine.org/asme/asme_next/Talks.aspx. Admission for ASME Next
members is $10; admission for non-members is $20. Payment can be made at
the door, but space is not guaranteed. To secure your spot at the event,
please register.

Dear M.S. Students

I am writing to notify you of some upcoming action itesms.

• Next Assessment Deadline: All full-time M.S. students in sections of Ethics that end on October 21 are to submit your final assignment via the Assessment system at http://bit.ly/CUJLearning

• First Session Essentials & Skills evaluations: Those of you who have completed sections of skills and Essentials will be sent an online link by which to evaluate those classes.

• RWI Mid-term evaluations: All full-time M.S. students taking RWI this fall will receive a written mid-term evaluation from your professors this week or next.

• Honors-in-Class or Low Pass Designations for Essentials: As you will recall from Dean Grueskin’s welcome letter (http://bit.ly/WelcomeMS ), professors in all classes except for skills have the option of awarding honors-in-class for top notch performance. Journalism Essentials professors also have the option of awarding a low pass to students who do the bare minimum of work but otherwise turn in an undistinguished performance. Those of you receiving either of these will be notified via email over the next two weeks. Please note that neither designation will appear on your official transcript but will be taken into consideration for year-end awards.

• Spring Planning: Later this week you will receive a detailed memo about spring planning dates and events.

Questions to dos@jrn.columbia.edu

Dear Public Safety Friends,

Please see the latest issue of Public Safety’s Crime Prevention News October - November 2011. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/CPNewsCurrent.pdf

In this edition:

* Smart phone APPs for getting around NYC by subway and bus.
* New Morningside evening shuttle bus.
* Theft of Unattended Property Number ONE reported crime on campus.
* New smart Phone APPS that can help the Police locate your lost / stolen phone.

Crime Prevention News can also be viewed on the CU Public Safety website:
www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety

Thank you,

Ricardo Morales
Columbia University
Department of Public Safety
Manager Crime Prevention Programs
Crime Prevention Specialist
212-854-8513
www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety
Pride-Professionalism-Service