Urbanite

A black shroud covers Columbia's alma mater statue via The Bwog

Hundreds of Columbia University students marked the five-year anniversary of the Iraq war (and the gorgeous spring weather) with an old-fashioned walkout today.

Student groups invited people to leave their classes at noon, convene at the Low Plaza and listen to speakers like Hamid Dabashi and Bruce Robbins. Five Years of War, Five Days of Action was the host, according to a Facebook invitation that more than 230 people had accepted. The crowd was at least that large.

A huge pink “Stop War” banner was displayed from a building and protesters even draped the alma mater statue with a black shroud. Columbia officials declined to comment.

Who says this generation isn’t passionate about protesting? Now, how about arranging some demonstrations on days that aren’t 70 degrees?

— Emily Ngo

Calling all closet bards!

Today is the sixth annual Poem in Your Pocket day , so if you've got a few eloquent stanzas stashed away, head to Bryant Park this morning for a reading at 11 a.m.

"Poem in Your Pocket Day" is part of the city's April National Poetry Month.

For full poetry event listings, click: [HERE]

- Lauren Johnston

The campus lighthouse at Kingsborough Community College. (Photo via Megapickle on Flickr)

John Kostick arrived at Kingsborough Community College Tuesday expecting to take a campus tour. Instead, the prospective student wound up spending two hours on a boat observing the hands-on training of 24 students in the school’s maritime technology program who were recreating a rescue mission with the help of a Coast Guard helicopter.

“I came to see the college, to check out courses,” said Kostick, who wore an orange life vest as he stood on board of a boat floating in quiet waters between Manhattan Beach and Rockaway Point. “They asked if I wanted to see their hands-on training.”

Kostik, 48, of Manhattan, is one of many people turning to the maritime technology program for what he hopes will be a career change. He said he drove trucks for 16 years and now works as a tour guide on a double-deck bus.

“I’ve always worked a lot,” Kostick said. “I pushed my education behind.” He said he likes outside work and believes there are good paying jobs in maritime trade.

Masterpieces by Picasso, van Gogh, and Degas hang in New York City museums; world-renowned ballerinas grace the stage at Lincoln Center, and groundbreaking artists sing in the Apollo Theater. But children growing up in this city won’t have the opportunity to contribute anything to its cultural scene if their schools are artistic wastelands.

That was the message that actress Phylicia Rashad delivered Tuesday at a City Council committee hearing on the state of the arts in city schools.

“What a lot of people don’t get is that music and dance class is what keeps kids in school and wanting to learn,” Rashad told the education committee.

Rashad, who is best known for playing Clair Huxtable on 1980s television sitcom "The Cosby Show," said that even while attending a segregated black school in Texas she checked out music instruments every day after school. “Carrying that clarinet home was a badge of honor,” she said.

Education committee co-chair Domenic Recchia Jr. (D-Brooklyn), asked Rashad why art is important.

“Arts at the very least are humanizing,” said Rashad, who began her acting career on the Broadway stage. “When we hear a beautiful song, we experience the human heart, soul, and mind.”

Last month, the education department released its first annual Arts in Schools Report, which looked at the prevalence of dance, theater, music and visual-arts classes in city schools, as well as the level of student participation in each. It found that while some schools are doing an “outstanding” job in educating students in the arts, others had a long way to go.