Over 1,200 Columbia University students aren't fans of modernist art, but big supporters of crisp lawns.

Henry Moore was a famed English-born sculptor. Maybe you're not well-versed in famous 20th century sculptors because you have an active social life outside the realm of scultping or don't dabble in multimillion dollar lawn art.

But Moore's sculptures are found around the world. How "around the world" are we talking?

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Piazza San Marco, Prato, Italy
Toronto City Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kenwood House Grounds, London, England
Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong
Zürichhorn, Zürich-Seefeld, Switzerland
Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Bouwcentrum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
--and on--
--and on--
--countless international locations--
And the list continues on around the world until you eventually include:
Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA

And what would be the point of stating how worldly accepted Moore's work is?

Over 1,200 students have signed a petition published in the school's newspaper arguing against the placement of Moore's Reclining Figure (1969-70) in front of the school's library simply because they think it's ugly. Thank goodness, too, because in a world of chaos, violence, and injustice, I'd hate to see so many people get behind something trivial.

The petition is passionate in its plea (my thoughts/sarcasm in parentheses):

As both inheritors and wards (ooh, they went big time and dropped a "wards" in there) of our beautiful campus ('beautiful'--funny word to use when you're arguing against art), we object to this desecration of our home. ('Desecrate' means a violation of something nearly sacred, like knocking over tombstones. In other words, Columbia is old and forgotten?) Whatever its artistic merits (said with a dismissive hand wave/finger snap), the sculpture in front of Butler Library will disrupt an otherwise crisp, geometric, and symmetrical landscape. ('Crisp' should only reference salads and January mornings.) Further, Moore’s modernist figure clashes with the neoclassical aesthetic instantly recognizable to generations of Columbians. (My long-deceased great-great-great-great grandfather will never recognize the place now.) It will also rob the the community of some of the few precious square yards of grass open to the public. (Yes, come gather, all of New York City, on yards on grass.)

The snow is hiding all the yards of crispness!!

The petition won't hold. Moore's Reclining Figure already has a base constructed outside of Butler Library and is soon to be set, ready to assault the tender sensibilities of Columbia's huddled, frightened masses.

This is Columbia University, not Canada. Toronto's City Hall might slum it with a Moore sculpture and amuse that hoi polloi, but they elected a mayor high on crack after all. Columbia students would suggest that explains Toronto's choice in art.



photos: Columbia and Wiki Commons

Five college and university presidents made over $2 million last year

He suddenly feels motivated, too!

The big winner was Columbia University's Lee Bollinger, who pocketed $4.6 million. He has been the president at the school since 2002, when he came over from the University of Michigan after he primed his skills as--you guessed it--president there as well for six years.

The four other presidents to earn at least $2 million?

Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania:   $3 million

Nido Qubein, High Point University:   $2.9 million

Richard Joel, Yeshiva University:   $2.5 million

Nicholas Zeppos, Vanderbilt University:   $2.1 million

In case you're wondering, Nido Qubein isn't the name to a second rate club DJ in Miami. His Wikipedia profile says he's not only a college president, but chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company and a motivational speaker as well. Do you suddenly feel motivated to make $2.9 million at a no-name college? I know I do.

Overall, median compensation was $436,429 for a private college or university president, up from just under $400,000 for the year 2012, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education.

In other words, college presidents should know better than anyone how to motivate a salary to drastically increase.

A new college ranking says your best bet is to go to...CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College?

A ranking of 900 colleges and universities by a company called CollegeNet focused not on prestige, but on how much bang for your buck you get for attending the institution. Specifically, how well do various places of higher learning provide improvement on economic mobility and how affordable are these schools to families of disadvantaged financial means?

The top ten schools according to CollegeNet are nothing remotely close to those found in the Princeton Review or U.S. News and World Report's annual listings.

CollegeNet's ten are (with U.S. News and World Report's ranking as comparison):

And where do U.S. News and World Report's top five colleges and universities rank on CollegeNet's social mobility index?

I think we all kind of knew on some level that what's-its-face school...hold on, let me look it up again...uhh...CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College was where we all dreamed to go.


Ranking Graphs: CollegeNet, U.S. News, via Yahoo

The top-20 colleges and universities with four-year graduation rates.

On average, 41% of incoming undergraduates actually graduate on time (in four years). That number differs drastically based on a variety of factors (states, schools, etc.).

But some schools are just better at getting their students out the door on time with a diploma--which U.S. News and World Report documents in their list of colleges and universities with highest graduation rates.

Experts claim the following schools are more selective with choosing students for admission, thus bringing in a higher caliber individual who will graduate on time. Any validity to that? Meh.

I say that 17 out of the top 20 schools are all on the east or west coast. The midwest? They're bumming around.

So oceans make people graduate faster. Any validity to that? Damn right.

School	4-year graduation rate
1.) Webb Institute Glen Cove, NY	92%
2.) Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	91%
3.) Carleton College Northfield, MN	91%
4.) Williams College Williamstown, MA	91%
5.) College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	90%
6.) Columbia University New York, NY	90%
7.) Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	89%
8.) Davidson College Davidson, NC	89%
9.) Georgetown University Washington, DC	89%
10.) Haverford College Haverford, PA	89%
11.) Lafayette College Easton, PA	89%
12.) Pomona College Claremont, CA	89%
13.) University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	89%
14.) Yale University New Haven, CT	89%
15.) Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	88%
16.) Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	88%
17.) Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	88%
18.) Princeton University Princeton, NJ	88%
19.) Washington and Lee University  Lexington, VA	88%
20.) Washington University in St. Louis         St. Louis, MO	88%