After shedding countless tears while staring at the SSOL screen and sitting through monotonous read throughs of syllabi, you’ve finally made it through the first week of school. (Or almost, if you have Friday classes.)

Read this: The drafts for the proposed new council districts would split Columbia’s campus in Morningside Heights into two if approved next year. Many local officials claim that minority representation will be hurt by the new district lines, in what may be the “biggest change in Manhattan politics in 20 years.”

Know this: The Student Space Initiative, which was begun last semester with the goal to increase room on campus for students, has been stalled due to several of the group’s founding members graduating last semester. The initiative is currently looking to recruit new members for a committee to advise administrators.

Here’s more: Local Democrats, members of the Barack Obama Democratic Club, and Obama supporters gathered at the Buddha Beer Bar to watch the Democratic Convention last night. State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who is running for re-election after losing in the congressional primaries to Charles Rangel, is hoping for a presidential bump after Thursday night’s speeches.

And one more thing: Joan Kaufman, a professor at Brandeis University, has just been named the new director of Columbia’s Beijing global center. A specialist in gender equality and public health in China, Kaufman is the first permanent director in two years.