[October 29, 2009] Nami Mun, assistant professor of Fiction Writing at Columbia College Chicago, has been awarded the prestigious Whiting Writers’ Award for her 2009 novel Miles from Nowhere. The award, which includes a $50,000 stipend, has been given annually since 1985 to 10 writers of exceptional talent and promise early in their careers. The program marks its twenty-fifth anniversary this year.
The 2009 recipients were announced at a ceremony at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York on Wednesday, October 28, featuring a keynote address by Margaret Atwood. Dr. Robert L. Belknap, president of the foundation, and trustee Kate Douglas Torrey presented the awards.
In addition to the Whiting Award, the widely acclaimed Miles from Nowhere was shortlisted for the U.K.’s Orange Award for New Writers. The novel follows Joon, a 13-year-old runaway, through the streets of New York as she struggles with addiction, exploitation, and her own past. Mun spent several years creating the manuscript.
“I’m no good at letting things go, which is probably why I worked on the book for eight years and revised each chapter roughly 30 times—the book as a whole maybe five times,” she explains. “I knew the manuscript was ready, at least ready to leave my house, because one day I woke up and had nothing to do.”
Mun is in her second year on faculty at Columbia. When asked what has struck her most about the college, she answers, “The students, hands down. They seem to live and work and study and dress and talk and walk creatively.” She adds, “I was never that cool in college.”
As for what’s next for Mun, she says, “I’m always, always looking forward to my next day of writing. Which at the moment involves a book about crime.”
About Nami Mun
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Nami Mun grew up there and in the Bronx, New York. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Granta, The Iowa Review, Tin House, 2007 Pushcart Prize anthology, and other journals. Mun has worked as a street vendor, an Avon Lady, a photojournalist, a bartender, and a criminal defense investigator. She graduated from UC Berkeley, and has an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan. Miles from Nowhere is her first novel.
[Oct. 28, 2009] Columbia College Chicago President Warrick L. Carter has signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), thereby adding Columbia to a list of more than 650 higher education institutions to make this pledge. By signing the ACUPCC, Columbia commits to strive for climate neutrality by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and staying current with new technologies to help us achieve this goal.
Among the benefits of institutions joining forces under this commitment are increased government lobbying power, information sharing about successful initiatives, and creating a general feeling of community around sustainability in higher education. Colleges and universities are well positioned to leverage their educational influence to help establish a culture of sustainability for future generations.
On October 24, Columbia participated in 350: the International Day of Climate Action. According to leading scientists, 350 is the safe number of parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to sustain life on earth for future generations. Currently we are at around 390 and rising. The college joined thousands of others around the world to participate in the event.
[Oct. 16, 2009] VIDEO — Friends of Columbia got a sneak preview of Chicago Overcoat, the first feature film from Beverly Ridge Pictures, a Chicago-based company started by several young Columbia College Chicago alumni. The film saw its world premier at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival, running October 8 – 22 at the AMC River East 21 Theaters.
Chicago Overcoat is a gangster story about an aging Outfit hitman with a chance to reclaim his lost glory. The film stars Frank Vincent, Kathrine Narducci, Mike Starr, Danny Goldring, Stacy Keach, and Armand Assante.
Appearing at Columbia Night’s reception and screening were several of the film's stars, along with Beverly Ridge principals Kevin Moss, co-chairman/CEO (and the film’s cinematographer/co-producer); Brian Caunter, VP of content (director/co-writer); John Bosher, chief of operations/president (co-writer/co-producer); Chris Charles, VP of marketing (co-producer); and Philip Plowden, VP of operations (production designer/co-producer). Following the screening, several of the filmmakers shared a Q & A panel with Vincent, Narducci, Starr, and Goldring.
Video by Collin Schiffli (B.A. '09)
A sci-fi short, Burden, was also shown at Columbia Night. The film, a special-effects-rich story about an invader from outer space who has a change of heart, shares several of the same alumni production team members as Chicago Overcoat.
[Oct. 16, 2009] VIDEO — Columbia College Chicago students joined their peers from colleges and universities throughout Illinois at a rally in Springfield intended to urge lawmakers to vote for reinstatement of funding for the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grant, that provides need-based tuition assistance for nearly 140,000 Illinois students.
The House and Senate voted Thursday to allocate $205 million to the Monetary Award Program, securing grants already promised to tens of thousands of students for the spring 2010 semester. It remains unclear, however how the program will be funded in future years.
Members of Columbia Student Government Association organized a letter-writing campaign and worked diligently to raise awareness among students, faculty, staff, and the larger community about the importance of the MAP grants to Columbia students, and organized the bus trip to Springfield.
Another group of Columbia faculty, staff, and students created a music video, including an original score, in just 24 hours to help raise awareness of the issue.
[Oct. 14, 2009] VIDEO — The Illinois budget shortfall has left 2,600 Columbia students without expected funding from the Monetary Aid Program (MAP). True to Columbia form, they're taking a creative approach to the problem. Watch the video they made in just 24 hours.
Funding for the MAP program fell victim to cuts as the Illinois legislature slashed programs to curtail a huge state budget shortfall. About a quarter of Illinois students rely on MAP funding to help pay their tuition, and unless funding is restored, most colleges and universities in the state, both public and private, will face the possibility of thousands of students being forced to drop out or stop out. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission estimates Columbia College students who rely on MAP funding will lose an average of $1,940 each if funding is not restored.
Our students are not standing by and waiting for history to take its course. They're taking matters into their own hands, organizing a letter-writing campaign and trip to Springfield to lobby the legislature for reinstatement of MAP funds. The efforts are being spearheaded by the Student Government Association.
For more information and ways you can help, visit saveillinoismapgrants.org
UPDATE: Thursday, October 15
The Quincy Herald-Whig reports that Illinois lawmakers agreed late Wednesday to come up with the necessary $200 million to fund the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for spring semester. But they had not yet figured out where to get the money.
According to the Herald-Whig, Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, called MAP funding "the No. 1 priority" coming into the veto session.
A vote is expected today.
From NBCChicago.com: Students to Springfield: "Give Us Our Future Back"
Hundreds of students protest funding cuts to Monetary Award Program
[Oct. 14, 2009] VIDEO — If you’ve just graduated from film school, you don’t usually expect to attract names like Frank Vincent, Stacy Keach, and Armand Assante to your first feature effort. But 2006 Columbia grads Brian Caunter and John Bosher did just that, casting the veteran actors, whose credits run from The Sopranos to Goodfellas, in Chicago Overcoat, which premiered October 9 at the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival.
Produced by Beverly Ridge Pictures, the independent Chicago-based production company Caunter and Bosher founded with a team of fellow Columbia alumni, Chicago Overcoat captures a story based on the Chicago Outfit and delves into the life of an aging mobster whose moral struggle with the life he has led gives voice to a complex and rich character that resonated with Hollywood’s artistic elite.
Armand Assante remarked that he did Chicago Overcoat "Because I was so impressed by the level of the writing. I was surprised such young people could create such an unconventional script from a genre that has been done to death!"
The entire film was shot on location in Chicago, in neighborhoods ranging from the Loop, Pilsen, Chinatown, Beverly, and Bridgeport to Logan Square and Cicero. The Green Mill, Italian Village, and the famous Rosa's Lounge on Armitage are also featured in the film.
“This is not the Chicago that you’ll see in tourism brochures,” says Chris Charles, who graduated from Columbia in 2007 and is the film’s associate producer and casting director. “Chicago Overcoat is a tribute to the gritty neighborhoods, dives, and places where real Chicagoans play out the cards they’ve been dealt.”
Chicago Overcoat made its world premiere October 9 at the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, of which Columbia College Chicago is presenting sponsor.
(October 8, 2009) Columbia's renovation of the fifth floor of 33 East Congress has received a Silver LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first campus building to be certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.
The nonprofit organization that developed the rating system awarded the fifth floor of Columbia's 33 East Congress a Silver Certification under the LEED Commercial Interiors category. This is the first Columbia project to receive LEED certification.
The project, designed by Gensler, was awarded in the Commercial Interiors category. LEED for Commercial Interiors is the system used for major interior renovations. A rating of Silver is given to projects earning between 27-31 of a possible 57 points. Columbia's original goal was to simply achieve certification, a goal the Silver rating exceeds. All college building projects are conducted in the spirit of the LEED standards, whether or not certification is sought.
The project consisted of a full renovation of classrooms, offices, lighting, restrooms, and more in the floor’s 20,000 square feet of space. It also included a “green roof” (roof space covered with plants) in several areas. Green roofs reduce pollutant run-off and urban heat-island effect, and provide a high level of insulation, cutting energy costs.
The project’s overall rating was calculated across six prerequisite categories.
• Three points were awarded in the Sustainable Sites Category since the project site is located within half a mile of a minimum of 10 community services, served by 8 rail lines and 20 bus lines.
• No parking space was included, thereby encouraging public transportation and bicycle use.
• An additional 2 points were gained in Water Efficiency for a reduction in potable water use by 40.73 percent of typical usage.
• The Energy and Atmosphere category received 2 points for reducing lighting power by 29.98 percent below typical usage.
• Six points were earned for Materials and Resources by utilizing "green" building materials and incorporating the practice of recycling waste.
• Nine points (the highest rating) were given for Indoor Environmental Quality.
• Four points were awarded for Innovation in Design.
The Silver LEED Certification was the result of cooperation between Columbia College, construction contractors, and the USGBC as part of the college’s continued dedication to sustainable facilities and practices.
A Few Green Facts:
84.63% of on-site-generated construction waste was diverted from landfill by recycling the waste.
20.19% of total building materials content were manufactured using recycled materials.
69.43% of the total building materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.