Sweetgreen Presents Surprise Theophilus London Concert

Theophilus London performing outside Sweetgreen

Theophilus London stunned Foggy Bottom dwellers on Monday with an impromptu performance hosted by Sweetgreen. The up-and-coming Brooklyn native is currently on tour promoting his first official album, "Timez Are Weird These Days." On his Twitter account, London referred to his sweetgreen performance as a "pre-game" for his concert that took place later that evening at the 9:30 Club on U Street. London's growing fan base was in full force and crowded along Eye Street to catch a glimpse of his set.

In the past three years, London has released three mixtapes; "Jam!", "This Charming Mixtape" and "I Want You" in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2009 he released an unofficial album entitled "This Charming Man," and earlier this year he released the "Lovers Holiday" EP.

This is not Theophilus' first collaboration with Sweetgreen. On May 1, he appeared amongst other artists such as The Strokes, Girl Talk and Lupe Fiasco for Sweetgreen's "Sweetlife Festival" at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. 

Sweetgreen is becoming known for bringing refreshing, "genre-bending" artists to perform in-store, leaving students to wonder what artist will grace Foggy Bottom next.

Students Respond To Party Dorm Rankings

According to an online college question-answer site, two of America's biggest party dorms can be found right here on our very own Foggy Bottom Campus.

CampusSplash.com, a website aimed at answering any and all college-related questions, released its second annual list of "America's 15 Biggest Party Dorms" last week. GW's Thurston Hall and Ivory Tower both made their way into the top 10, with Ivory coming in at number eight and Thurston coming in at the number three spot.

According to Campus Splash, Thurston is "the quintessential freshman experience at GW. Partying 24/7." Thurston, commonly known as "Thirsty Thurston," has a national reputation as a huge party dorm. However, when asked to comment on Campus Splash's rating, surprisingly few Thurston residents thought they deserved it.

"Given that the top [party dorm] is located in the middle of the fraternity section and the second consists of six 5-story buildings, there's no way Thurston could reasonably be next up," said Zack Humayun, a freshman living in Thurston this year. "It couldn't be as crazy as a freshman-sophomore mixture in the center of a bunch of frats or the equivalent of three Thurstons stacked on top of each other." 

GW Housing offered space in the freshman dorm for substance-free living and honors students for the first time this school year. Some students say they have noticed a change in the overall Thurston atmosphere.

"I think that it is hyped up," said freshman Evin Feldman, another Thurston resident. "Though there are a lot of parties here, the parties are more like a dozen friends drinking together together rather than 30 people in a room with loud music. I think most people rather go to frats, clubs, or out somewhere else to drink. A lot of kids here don't want to party in Thurston because of the constant threat of UPD walking in."

In Campus Splash's 2010 rankings, Thurston came in at number twelve. The site writes that "the quality of the party scene seems to match up to the quality of the dorm itself." 


"The fact that I get in an elevator on a Sunday morning and there are beer cans everywhere and, once, vomit in the corner, and I tried to reach the door and the handle was ripped off, says something about my dorm," said Ivory Tower resident Johnny Carmona. "People party here all the time."


Ivory Tower also made Campus Splash's most recent list of "The Best Dorms in the Country," coming in at number seven. The list did not include Thurston.

WRGW Show Lets Students Speak With Administrators

WRGW District Radio's “Ask the Administrator” series provides an opportunity for dialogue among a variety of GW's administrators. In an effort to engage with the student population, GW students are encouraged to call or tweet in their questions or concerns for the guests.


Our first episode includes a conversation with the GW Dean of Students and “Ask the Administrator” co-host, Peter Konwerski, and Jorge Gadala-Maria, WRGW District Radio General Manager. Topics include an introduction about Konwerski's time at the school, an analysis regarding GW's US News & World Report rating and visible changes to the university throughout the summer. 


Associate Dean of Students Tim Miller and Student Association President John Richardson joined Gadala-Maria and Konwerski for the second episode to discuss housing issues and student org allocations and collaboration.


Both episodes covered an overarching theme of student outreach. In addressing the noise issue of the parking garage demolition at the future site of the Science and Engineering complex, Konwerski mentioned a little-known fact about the university.


“Every morning this week, there was a crew of staff and students out on the worksite monitoring the work that was happening, not only listening to what was the noise level, but advocating for 'think if this was happening and it was too loud, we're going to intercede,'” he said.


Moreover, Tim Miller continued to reassure students of the “power of their voices.” He went on to tell them that they “really do have the ability to make change not just here, but in the world...use that voice.”


This is a live and interactive talk show that will air every other Wednesday from 3:30pm-4:30pm (10/12, 10/26, 11/9, 11/30) . The easiest way to listen is at www.gwradio.com, and click the “Listen Live” icon for a pop-up player for your browser. Moreover, WRGW District Radio is also available in the iTunes Radio Directory under the “College” tab.


Click below to download the first two episodes:


Ask the Administrator - September 14th, 2011:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1agjompm3mrl36p


Ask the Administrator - September 21th, 2011
http://www.mediafire.com/?4iokawisfv9axi2


Some Twitter personalities for you to follow:
Hosts:
@porquejorge – Jorge Gadala-Maria & @GWPeterK – Peter Konwerski


Guests (so far):
@JRforGW – John Richardson, @GWTimMiller – Tim Miller




-- Jorge Gadala-Maria

GW Student to Play Rock and Roll Hotel (video)

Is And Of The, a band led by GW student Drew Bandos, will perform at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight at 9:00 pm. Click here for more info and watch the video below.

Le Pain Quotidien (Restaurant Review)

An authentic French patisserie in the heart of Dupont Circle? This might sound too good to be true, but it's exactly what Le Pain Quotidien brings to the table. With a wide variety of organic choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner Le Pain Quotidien is about as authentic as they come. The friendly wait staff provides good advice and suggestions for any meal of the day.


For those of you who are probably more familiar with Founding Farmers when it comes to organic options, I would absolutely recommend making the short fifteen minute walk to Dupont Circle for Le Pain Quotidien. Although there is a slightly narrower choice of selection, the prices are more reasonable.

Allen Blasts Dems and GOP for Broken Government

George Allen speaking at the CRs kickoff event

Former Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senator George Allen spoke to approximately forty students at the GW College Republicans kickoff. 

“Is America on the track to greatness? No,” Allen told students at the Grand Ballroom of the Marvin Center. “It’s time for an American comeback.”

Allen, a Republican seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2012, emphasized the need for America to reinvigorate its international business prospects. 

“No more time for boon doggling, no more time for delay. Let’s send a message to the world that America is open for business again,” he said.

 Allen hopes to achieve this by reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, less than the 35 percent corporate profits are taxed today.

“The government does not create jobs. Jobs are created by the private sector,” Allen said to applause.

Allen praised states for being able to achieve objectives that the federal government cannot perform efficiently. 

“States are the laboratories of democracy,” he said. 

If elected, Allen promises to introduce a bill withholding congressional paychecks if appropriation bills and requests are not submitted on time.

Addressing the discontent of the American people, Allen says the people want solutions. 

“Folks are disgusted by Washington,” Allen said. 

In addition to reforming America’s corporate tax code, Allen says he hopes to bring about energy reform and rein in government spending. 

“I’ll be like a dog on a bone for energy [reform].”

Early this week, leaders in the United States Senate came to an agreement to fund the government for six weeks until November 18. This is the third short-term continuing resolution regarding government spending to come before Congress this year. Allen said the short-term solutions are worse now than they were several years ago when he served as a United States senator. Calling these short-term continuing resolutions a dilatory process, Allen blasted both Republicans and Democrats for the state of government. 

“These [resolutions] are symptomatic of a broken government,” Allen said.

Blake Gober, an attendee, recalled Allen’s 2006 loss to now Senator Jim Webb and reflects on it as a humbling experience for Allen. 

“[Allen] has grown and learned from that experience," Gober said. "I believe that he is a much stronger candidate. His policy on withholding paychecks is spot-on and exactly what we need done in Washington.”

J Street Ribbon Cutting Celebrates Dining Changes

GW Dining Services officially celebrated J-Street's over-the-summer renovations with a ribbon-cutting celebration Tuesday night, complete with GW cheer team pep and an appearance by school mascot George the Colonial. President Steven Knapp cut the ceremonial purple ribbon while students snacked on samples from various J Street venues.

Over the summer, Sodexo, who is contracted out by the University to provide on-campus food, made several changes to the J Street facility, including removing the monument and staircase to create more open space and closing down fast-food restaurants Wendy's and Chick-fil-A. New venues include The Metro Diner and Thyme, serving homestyle, full-course lunches and dinners. Sodexo also renamed the returning venues.

GW administrators view the changes as an upgrade, answering students' need for healthier dining options.

"The challenge that we had before us was to bring fresh, nutritious food into J -Street," Nancy Haaga, Managing Director of Campus Support Services, explained.

Sodexo, though, knows there is still work to be done.

"We are still working, still changing, and evolving everyday," Katy Kash, the Marketing Director for GW Campus Dining, said.

One of the early issues for J-Street is the struggle for Thyme to receive business. Administrators, students and Sodexo all seem to notice that students prefer made-to-order options more than the sit-down meals Thyme offers. In the next few weeks, administrators and Sodexo plan to unveil some changes to Thyme, including adding made-to-order paninis and quesadillas to the menu.

Student Dining Board Chairman Ben Leighton is especially pleased with the new Metro Diner, which has a grill for made-to-order items.

"One of the things I've been pushing for is a grill," Leighton said. "The grill has been serving far more people than they've been expecting to everyday."

Now, one of Leighton's top priorities is to make J Street a central meeting place for special events like El Clasico, the highly popular soccer match between major Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Leighton says J Street can turn into a viewing party for such events in the future.

Caroline Kennedy Talks Jackie

A quiet rumble began to fill Lisner Auditorium on Monday night as people began to arrive almost an hour in advance to hear the main event, "A Conversation with Caroline Kennedy," presented by the Politics and Prose bookstore in conjunction with GW. Mrs. Kennedy visited GW, her mother's alma mater, to discuss the newly released, nearly eight-and-a-half hour recordings of her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the accompanying book for which she wrote a foreword.

Michael Beschloss, a historian who specializes in presidential history, started the discussion and talked about Jacqueline's uninhibited interview with Arthur Schlesinger and her interest in historic preservation. Schlesinger, a historian and special assistant to President Kennedy, decided after his assassination that it was important to capture history on tape.

Schlesinger began the extensive process of interviewing nearly a thousand people who knew Mr. Kennedy in an attempt to create an oral history of the Kennedy administration. The centerpiece of this project was of course, Jacqueline Kennedy herself. Caroline kept the interviews sealed for decades until she decided they were fit to be released. This year was right time, she decided, as it is the 50th anniversary of her father's inauguration.

Caroline noted that her father's presidency is quickly "becoming a part of history rather than living memory" but that his ideals and words remain "as vital as ever." Returning to her mother, Caroline said that once Jacqueline finished the seven interviews, she "sealed the audio tapes in the Kennedy library and put the transcripts in a safety deposit vault in New York." Apart from Caroline and her brother John, few people knew of the tapes existence.

Caroline said she worried that listening to her mother's interviews would be upsetting. When she did listen to the tapes, she was surprised by "how much they revealed that wasn't on the page." She could tell when her mother was getting tired, annoyed, or when she decided not to talk about something.

In response to some of the criticisms that the tapes drew, Caroline stated that her mother broke the mold by giving such a candid interview. 


Caroline's most difficult decision was whether to edit the interviews. She claimed some issues haven't withstood the test of time, some comments might have been embarrassing to her mother and she would no longer support some of her views. Caroline came to the conclusion that she didn't have the right to alter the historical record.

Caroline stayed afterwards to sign copies of the book, Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.

Google Donates to GOP, Enters Bipartisan Phase

Google, the perennial left-leaning search engine, has begun to recruit Republican operatives and donating funds to various GOP groups, reported the Huffington Post. 

The traditionally liberal-minded corporation is entering a bipartisan phase with the aim of supporting the causes of both the Republican and Democratic parties. 


Google's executives donated money to the D.C.-based Republican Attorneys General Association. The conglomerate also helped co-sponsor last Thursday's GOP presidential debate with Fox News. 

Among other GOP-linked organizations, Google also pledged monetary support to the Heritage Foundation, web development firm Crossroad Strategies and the Republican State Leadership Committee. Additionally, Google has hired 18 lobbying firms in the last nine months, a figure that includes consultants who are not mandated to register as lobbyists.

Google leadership also provided support to conservative think thanks like the American Enterprise Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, both based in the nation's capital.

Naturally, the megacorporation's fiscal support of GOP organizations has found approval among Republican members of Congress. 

"Bipartisanship is a positive thing," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, head of the Senate's Republican fundraising committee.  "I understand why people feel like they need to have people they can talk to on both sides." 

Google's fiscal support of the GOP is coming at a time when the company's executives are facing a major antitrust lawsuit on Capitol Hill. Eric Schmidt, Google's former chief executive, stood before the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee last Wednesday. 

Schmidt defended Google against allegations that the company is violating American antitrust legislation, which prohibits the formation of monopolies. The investigation into Google's breach of antitrust laws is ongoing.

Ever since Microsoft began funneling donations to both major parties, Google has sought to gain political interest in the same manner. As of mid-2011, Google and Microsoft are at a dead tie in terms of political donations, both corporations citing $3.5-million in lobbying expenditures.

Some GW students believe the megacorporation's donations to the GOP reflect a strategic move with regards to the policy of Net neutrality. Net neutrality, also known as Internet neutrality, is a principle that calls for all Internet content to be treated equally. 

Net neutrality proponents also advocate for no restriction by Internet Service Providers or the government on what type of sites consumers view, what kind of content they see or what modes of communication they employ.


"It seems to me that [Google] is just doing this because the GOP is against Net neutrality," noted freshman Eric Breese. "This kind of stance is better for Google."


Currently, Google handles nine out of ten global searches. 

President Obama to Address Nation's Students on Wednesday

President Obama will deliver his annual back-to-school address this Wednesday at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.  The speech will allow the president the opportunity to speak to students not just in the District, but across the nation as well.  This is the third year that the president will make a speech addressing the nation's students.

In a press release, Press Secretary Jay Carney said that in past speeches, the president encouraged students to study hard and take responsibility for their education, and urged them to set goals and be the authors of their own destinies.

Critics of the president's speech took issue with his addresses to students in the past.  In 2009, some parents threatened to remove their children from class during the speech, while others saw it as nothing more than political rhetoric.

This year, Banneker made Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools.  Ivory Sherman, a 2008 graduate of Banneker, said she is glad to see the President reaching out to public schools.


"Many have said that Obama delivering his back-to-school speech is his way of pushing his political agenda, but I disagree," Sherman said.  "President Obama should be applauded because he is reaching out to future generations, which should be done more often."

One teacher who spoke on conditions of anonymity said that lots of students are anticipating the speech.


"I'd say we're excited to have the president visit, but I think he gets more out of this- an urban public school backdrop- than we get out of it," the teacher commented.  "I think kids will remember he was here and that they saw him, but I doubt he'll encourage kids to stay in school here more than they already do anyway."