Laughter and Thereafter: The Audience Response to the Hatchet-SA Debate

As the crowd slowly filtered in into the Jack Morton Auditorium on Monday night, the tone was one of anticipation and support; an eagerness to find out more about the issues and support for friends running for the SA.

Though many students came in with little to no background information, and were at the debates to be informed about the issues and candidates, the majority of students already knew exactly what they wanted to happen in the upcoming year. Doug Arbiter, a GW student, argued that “it’s ridiculous you have to pay an initial psychiatric fee” and endorsed Jason Kaplan, whose platform concentrates on the issue. Many students supported this in addition to a range of issues from excessive stress on diversity to continuing effort in fixing Gelman.

However, much of the audience was not there about issues but rather in support of friends. Whole rows were filled with individuals seeking to endorse and cheer on a specific candidate. In addition to the large portion of the audience taken up reporters from the Hatchet and other news sources, it seemed like the general student body was poorly represented in the audience. Freshmen Ryan Huttman later said about the SA that “I have no idea what that thing is”. Many freshmen that were interviewed outside of the debate expressed similar views, having little to no recognition of what the SA is and what it does.

Elliott School Warning About Wikileaks

The Elliott School’s Graduate Student Career Development office sent out an email on Monday warning students against using Wikileaks information as citations in academic papers. Wikileaks is a site run by Julian Assange that has become well known for its release of classified intelligence information in documents, videos and more. Due to the still classified nature of the information being released by Wikileaks, the school stated that using the information could complicate any attempt to get a job or internship with security clearance.

The email cited Presidential Executive Order 13526 in saying that the documents, though released “shall not be declassified automatically as a result of any unauthorized disclosure."

The office said that it is not trying to “infringe on rights to access information,” but rather to advise students of a potential risk. Columbia University sent out a similar email on December 2nd, saying they received a call from an alumnus at the State Department. However, Columbia did not warn about citing Wikileaks, but rather posting links to the documents on social networking sites. According to Columbia's email, the belief was that such action would “call into question your ability to deal with confidential information." However, this position was later reversed when Dean Coatsworth sent out an email on Monday stating that “students have a right to discuss and debate any information in the public arena."

Wikileaks has been part of a media firestorm in recent weeks, both due to its controversial nature and the purported illegal activities of its founder. Assange, who turned himself in to London police yesterday on a Swedish arrest warrant related to sex crimes, has also been under intense scrutiny for founding the site in the first place.

Hundreds Gather for National Menorah Lighting

Hundreds of people gathered on the Ellipse this Wednesday, braving bitter cold winds to celebrate the lighting of National Chanukah Menorah. GW students were given free tickets to the event by Hillel. The ceremony did not go off without a few hitches: it started late and had many last minute schedule changes. Rabbi Shemtor introduced the United States Navy Band and talked about Chanukah around the planet, proclaiming the holiday’s history “not unlike the situation in the world today." After the speeches, Dreidelman came out to lead everyone in singing "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel.” Mayor-elect Vincent Gray also spoke, reinforcing his desire to forge a better relationship with the various religious communities in the DC area. Upon Gray’s arrival, Rabbi Shemtor also pointed out several members of congress who were in the audience.

The actual lighting of the menorah, typically scheduled for the end of the ceremony, was pushed to the start of the program because the White House's representative Jack Lew, OMB director and highest ranking Jewish member of the Obama administration, was called by the president to return as soon as possible. When Rabbi Shemtor and Jack Lew were lifted high into the air on a cherry picker to light the giant menorah, the strong winds blew the Rabbi’s hat and kippah off. Luckily, the Rabbi had a spare kippah. But the winds persisted, blowing out the menorah’s candles several times. The regular schedule of the show then resumed, with the national menorah essay contest winners reading their thoughts on the importance of the menorah. There was also a special musical performance by violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and maestro Itche Meir Helfgot. The event ended with free latkes and donuts for the audience.

Cultural Immersion Exhibition Grand Opening in Smith 102

This Tuesday students flocked to Smith 102 to see the grand opening of the Cultural Immersion Exhibition. The exhibit is a part of the deans seminar “The Art of the Exhibition”, though the art put up was brought in from all over the art department, graduate and undergraduate students alike.

As implied by the title, the exhibit seeks to highlight art capturing another culture, thus presenting the blend of cultures in DC as a blend of cultures in the art. The art displayed comes from all over the world, ranging from pictures of Honduras at midnight to the art of middle school students in India. The art form similarly broad, having watercolor, photography, film, wood carving, and more.

As students came into the premier they were given guides to the art, with the artist’s statements of their work and the declaration of purpose of the exhibit. The room quickly filled with curious patrons soon the room stuffed with students looking over the art and eating the complimentary cultural food.

Before students left, they were invited to create a small piece of art for a greater collage, titled “What does culture mean to you”. All the works are put on the wall to illustrate the range of culture at GW. The exhibit is open until November 19th and GW students are invited to go explore it.

Hundreds of Thousands Gather For "Rally to Restore Sanity"

Over two hundred thousand people gathered this Saturday at the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear", a rally hosted by John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. People came from all over the country to see the comedians put on a show in which they ribbed modern journalists and politicians while satirically arguing with each other. The show itself was apolitical, however, many political protesters demonstrated in the crowd and around the rally, especially at the Fox News truck.

Solid blocks of people stretched back along the national mall, far beyond the jumbo-trons set up for viewers. People at the back of the crowd were forced to strain their ears to try to hear the performance. GW freshmen Jim Crudele describes that he could "barely hear, from the distance and the ambulances that drove through the crowd every ten minutes". Even so, the crowd stood for hours listening to the hosts and various musical guests ranging from The Roots to Kid Rock.

The crowd, though mostly just normal audience members, was dotted with those dressed up or carrying signs. These people ranged from absurdest to political, with signs about tights not being pants and legalization of marijuana standings side by side. But as a whole, the event remained non-partisan with most costumes being just for fun.

As comical as the event was, it ended on a more serious note, with Stewart articulating the need for taking media with a grain of salt and embracing bipartisanship. After two more musical numbers, the crowd began to disperse, entertained, but sore after hours of standing crowded against each other to hear a message of sanity.

Indian Ambassador Speaks at Elliott School

Ambassador Meera Shankar, India's Ambassador to the United States, came to GW Tuesday to speak at a presentation held by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative. The event was the first collaboration of the Sigur Center, the Elliott School's Ambassadors Forum and the Distinguished Women in International Affairs series.

The ambassador's talk focused mostly on Indo-U.S. relations, particularly the strategic partnership that the nations have. She discussed everything from cooperation on trade in the context of the recent economic depression to the sharing of higher education. She emphasized the presences of 100,000 Indian students in American universities and the opportunity presented by additional programs opening up in India for Americans to study there.

Much attention was focused on stabilizing Asia, and the ambassador spoke at length about efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. The ambassador noted that Afghanistan represents a major hot zone in the area, but she stated her belief that the nation can be a hub of economic prosperity in the region. She spoke of how India already has given $1.3 billion in the effort to stabilize Afghanistan. Later in the program she elaborated on this idea, expressing that Iran should be allowed to enter the dialogue about Afghanistan. However, Shankar made clear that this does not mean that India supports Iran's nuclear programs.

The speech ended with a discussion about the need for reforming global governance, especially the United Nations Security Council. She expressed her deep hope that President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to India, the first since he came to office, will lay a course for further strategic partnership between the world's two largest democracies.