Between stressing over midterms, procrastinating away fall break, and throwing the first snowballs of the season, you've had plenty of excuses not to pay attention to the news recently. In case you missed it, here's a quick breakdown of this week (and the week before that) in news:
After years of campaigning, billions of dollars of spending, and a few too many gaffes, the 2012 election has finally come and gone. City News Editor Finn Vigeland reported from Obama's victory party in Chicago (and later described his experience covering the historic night). Meanwhile, a little closer to home, students celebrated on Low Steps, voters braved long lines at local polling places, and Harlemites enjoyed Obama nail-painting at Rep. Charles Rangel's Election Night watch party.
While the president's re-election clearly has a big impact on the direction of the country, it will also affect Columbia on important issues like student loans, affirmative action, and research funding. In fact, the University spent more than $100,000 to lobby federal lawmakers in the months leading up to the election. (And some individual administrators have also donated big sums to Democrats around the country on their own time.) Finally, for some historical political perspective, you may not have known that Columbia was once quite conservative! Don't tell Fox News...
