Columbia University won approval for a seven billion dollar expansion of its campus into West Harlem last month, according to The New York Times. Warehouses and autobody shops will be converted into state-of-the-art science and research laboratories for the university. The plan is one of the largest real estate development projects in New York City in recent memory, and is expected to last 25 years. It has met with significant opposition from local Harlem residents who fear that Columbia, with the help of the municipal government, will take over their commercial property. Columbia's campus expansion coincides with similar plans at Harvard University, Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Harvard University announced that it will expand its financial aid package to middle and upper-middle class students this past December, according to The New York Times. Families making up to $180,000 a year will see their tuition drop from $30,000 to $18,000. The college sees their new plan as a way to help middle class families cope with rapidly rising tuition costs. In addition, the university will replace all student loans it offers with outright grants. The article mentioned that the change could put pressure on other universities to expand their financial aid.
Poet Robert Frost, a member of the Class of 1896, is likely rolling in his grave after his summer house was vandalized last week during what police believe to be an underage "keg party," according to The Barre Montpelier Times Argus. The Homer Noble Farm House is a registered historic landmark, and Middlebury College had just finished renovations to the house. The vandals smashed and burned the house's antique furniture and portraits, and littered the floor with empty alcohol containers, fire extinguisher discharge, and vomit. In addition, they graffitied the phrase, "this the party," along with an obscene picture on a wall. Damages are currently estimated to be at $10,000, but could go higher.
