SA Senator Announces Candidacy for SA President

By Myles Goldman

Let the SA election season begin.  Student Association Senator Michael Morgan launched his candidacy for SA President Monday with the launch of his campaign website:  www.morganforpresident.com

Morgan, a sophomore in the Elliot School of International Affairs, is the first candidate to announce a run for SA President to succeed current President Ashwin Narla, who will be graduating in May.

Morgan serves as an SA Senator on the Finance Committee and is also the chair of The Student Dining Board, on the Executive Board of the College Republicans, a member of the International Affairs Society, and a brother in Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Morgan says his candidacy will be about student space, student security, and University sustainability among other issues.

"We are at a crucial point in time here at GW," Morgan told WRGW News.   "If I did not think I had the leadership experience, if I didn’t think I had the proven results working with the University, if I didn’t think I had the ideas or the know-how to make positive changes for the university with regards to these matters, I wouldn’t do it, because that would be an SA presidency wasted."

Candidates for any Student Association office, Marvin Center Governing Board, Programming Board, or Class Council will be required to register their candidacy with the Joint Elections Committee (JEC), which oversees the election process.  Candidates will have to turn in between February 13th-15th a petition with student signatures approving their candidacy.

The date of the election will be Wednesday March 20th and Thursday March 21st.

Making Campus Dining a Destination

By John Perrino

It was 3 p.m. on a weekday, well past the mad rush at J Street, and freshman Ben Kurtis headed to Metro Diner to grab a quick bite.

Ordering what he believed would be a quick-to-prepare item; Kurtis was unknowingly in for a long wait.

“It’s awful, it took twenty minutes to get a chicken caesar wrap,” the freshman said of his experiences at Metro Diner.

Kurtis is not the only student frustrated by the performance of the Sodexo run student dining.

Alongside numerous complaints about wait times, students cite lack of options and high prices as reasons they avoid J Street and instead utilize the variety of restaurants around campus, many of which accept Colonial Cash.

Freshmen such as Kurtis, however, have $700 per semester they have to spend at campus dining as part of their meal plan.

In her first couple months serving as Marketing Director for GW Campus Dining, Sarah Stevenson has started to navigate the changes that have already taken place at J Street and decide what new changes are needed.

With limited documentation of the massive changes that have taken place at J Street over the past couple years, Stevenson had to play detective and piece together the recent changes in layout and offerings.

The main focus of Stevenson’s investigation now: “What does the customer want?”

Sophomore Michael Morgan of the GW Student Association and Student Dining Board would like to take away this “iron curtain” between students and campus dining.

The “Challenge is adequate student voice,” Morgan said. “If it is a good idea, they will do it.”

Morgan believes Sodexo cares about students.  He said they respond to feedback and suggestions such as how they prepare meats, cooking them daily in house instead of using frozen types.

After a recent student suggestion on Twitter, Metro Diner offered nachos in preparation for International Day of the Nacho Stevenson said.

Despite the efforts of campus dining, there are going to be “growing pains” Morgan said. Campus dining is a business and Sodexo has to make money. 

This means students have to show a need for suggestions such as extending hours or expanding options.

Right now there are ideas in the works to bring in students focusing on special events at J Street.

“I definitely want to bring in student groups (to the dining area). That is how everyone comes together,”  Stevenson said.

Morgan would like to start a once-a-week formal dinner experience at J Street with the possibility of a surf and turf dinner and other sit-down options.

Students can make their voices heard through campus dining's online and social media platforms.  

http://gwcampusdining.com

@GWCampusDining

https://www.facebook.com/gwdining