There might have been midterms this week, but that doesn’t mean the world stopped turning (or that Spec News stopped reporting). In case you missed it, here’s what happened while you were cramming:

In the week’s biggest on-campus news, we now know the 13 student groups vying for three 114th Street brownstones. But while only three groups can go home with their very own building, everyone’s a winner when it comes to John Jay Dining Hall, which will be converted to an after-dinner study space starting this week. In other potentially groundbreaking space news, student councils and administrators are working to repurpose unused or underused spaces, like the sketchy basement in Ruggles.

In the world of finance, Columbia reported that its endowment earned a run-of-the-mill 2.3 percent last year, and a Barnard employees’ union reached a tentative labor agreement with administrators. Meanwhile, the Columbia Democrats pointed out that while the Student Health Insurance Plan fee went down this year, the fee no longer covers abortions.

What would make undergraduate life easier to handle? Columbia College Dean James Valentini had an idea, proposing that all CC juniors and seniors be paired with an alumni mentor. At a more basic level, perhaps we could all just be nice to each other regardless of what school we’re in, as suggested by students at an undergraduate unity forum/Obamanard post-mortem Monday night.

Let’s shift gears abruptly and talk about getting a good education. If you’re an adult looking for high school skills, you might check out Community Impact’s GED program, which is one of the best around. If you’re a parent choosing from the city’s myriad elementary schools, be sure to think about charters, magnets, and schools for the gifted. You might also listen to the ideas of City Council candidate Thomas Lopez-Pierre; he has a lot of interesting thoughts on the benefits of charter schools, but he also makes the not-so-occasional racist or sexist remark. We report, you decide.

And last but not least, you know that stretch of 121st Street between Manhattan Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard? OK, maybe you don’t. Either way, it might soon be named after the late George Carlin, who grew up nearby.

Tweet @ColumbiaSpec with the hashtag #icymi to let us know what stories caught your attention this week.