Wednesday, December 4, 2013

WRGW News at 6: Wednesday, December 4, 2013


Mixed Reaction to GW Admissions Controversy from Prospective Students and Parents

By Sara Schaeffer

The GW Office of Undergraduate Admissions was criticized in October over new information that the University had placed hundreds of undergraduate applicants on the waitlist each year due to personal financial constraints, which clashed with the University's self-description that it was "need blind."

The controversy has spread beyond the borders of Foggy Bottom. A  On the message-board, College Confidential, a NationalPublic Radio article regarding the university’s admissions practices has generated significant attention from prospective students and parents. WRGW reached out to some prospective students and parents to gauge their reaction through the college message board College Confidential. The NPR article generated mixed reactions ranging from outrage to jaded indifference.

 I saw that article,” wrote one responder. “[It is] So wrong to claim to be need blind and then not be. [This] Sets students up who otherwise may not have even applied.”

Another person noted that such practices are not uncommon at other universities. “The admissions officers at some other schools have done the same and I've jumped on a few of them for this.”

However, some interpreted the situation differently. 

“There's not a school in the country that is ‘need-blind’,” said one responder. “The only question is how they make use of the information.”

Karen Felton, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions, through a University spokesman, said Admissions is working to improve communication with prospective students and their families about how financial circumstances impact admissions decisions.

It is our goal to make sure that all of our admissions practices and policies, including how we factor need into the final admissions decisions, are communicated clearly to prospective students and parents,” Felton said.

To many parents, the article came as no surprise in today’s college market. One responder noted that, “Even the need blind colleges manage to accept the same (small) number of needy kids year after year after year… Most schools will accept some needy students and there's no way to predict if you will be one of them. They just have to like you enough.”

When asked about the impact the story had on a family’s decision to apply to GW, a parent bluntly said, “Lying about being need-blind is just stupid, but did not impact much our opinion of the college.”

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, provided WRGW with a detailed account of her son’s confusing admissions experience with GW.

He applied RD to GW for the 2008 year.  On that fateful day when decisions were posted online, he found that he was accepted.  Five days later, a skinny envelope came from GW…The letter said he was waitlisted.  I emailed him at school, suggesting he see his counselor about this.  Before he met with his counselor, he checked his online status which still said he was accepted.  It took his counselor days to get a firm answer on what his admissions status was since his GW [admissions representative] was not in the office.  His counselor was eventually able to get the [admissions representative’s] cell number to find out that he was in fact accepted.  It still took weeks after that, and many frustrating phone calls by both me and his counselor, to actually get his admissions packet.”

In light of GW’s revelation, the woman suspects that her son was originally waitlisted but then later was admitted to take the spot of someone who wasn’t admitted due to their financial need.  The woman says her son did not apply for financial aid.

“When I heard last month about GW being need-aware, my son's experience made more sense than just getting caught up in an administrative snafu,” she said. 

Felton, through a University Spokesman, explained what has not changed about the Admissions process following the University’s revelation. 

The admissions practices at GW have not changed with regard to how financial aid requests are factored in,” Felton said. 

Numerous attempts to contact Laurie Koehler, Senior Associate Provost of Enrollment Management, who is in charge of Admissions and originally clarified Admissions’ policy, went unanswered.


Jackson Richman contributed to this report.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Dan Rather Speaks on the 50th Anniversary of His Most Important Story


BY EMMA THOMSON

Fifty years after he broke the news that President John F. Kennedy had been killed, Dan Rather joined The Kalb Report at the National Press Club to talk about his experiences as a journalist covering the president’s assassination from Dallas. The former anchor of the CBS Evening News sat down with Marvin Kalb to give his firsthand account of the events surrounding Kennedy’s death.

His Story
On Nov. 22, 1963, CBS assigned the Texas native to coordinate media coverage for a “routine political visit”. Rather was stationed at the underpass where the president’s motorcade was scheduled to culminate when he saw what he believed to be Kennedy’s limousine speed by him.

It was not until Rather rushed to the local CBS station to complete a film drop that he heard Kennedy had been shot. The wires at the station began to run as the news broke.

“Every reporter’s emotions just kicked in,” he said.

Knowing the phone lines would soon be busy, Rather placed three calls to the hospital where Kennedy had been taken. Although a nurse hung up on him the first time he called, Rather eventually was able to speak to a doctor and a priest, who both confirmed the president indeed had been shot and was dead.

The word of doctors and a priest was enough evidence for Rather. 

“When you’ve got a dead man, you’ve got a dead man,” Rather said.

Although television broadcasts would wait until the official White House announcement to break the news to the American people, CBS immediately played the Star Spangled Banner and announced that Kennedy had been assassinated.

During the four-day ordeal, Rather relied on his journalism fundamentals to report the facts to the American people. This allowed him to calmly break the tragic news during one of the most emotional experiences of his life.

“When a sledgehammer hits your heart, your instincts kick in,” he said.  “You’re a reporter…and you’ve got a dead man.”

Rather attributes his news instincts to helping him avoid a potential disaster as he covered Kennedy’s death. When Kalb mentioned that he would have been terrified to break such immense news without official confirmation, Rather reminded him that when things are in chaos, simply reporting was more important than anything else. 

“If you had been there, you or any reporter, your instincts would have kicked in,” he said.

Kalb and Rather discussed the role of journalism in the Kennedy coverage. Both pointed out that the assassination was the beginning of the, “TV age as we knew it.” Comparing earlier work to modern journalism, Rather said past journalism had been less bias and more honest.

“[The coverage of Kennedy’s death] was the spine of American journalism,” he said. “Most journalists were honest brokers of information.”

Rather related the Kennedy assassination news reporting to the coverage of 9/11. He called the two national tragedies, “bookends of the television news era.” According to him, TV news came of age during the four day programming following the Kennedy assassination and lost headway in the digital era following 9/11.  

Conspiracy Theories
Rather is for the most part quick to dismiss potential conspiracies surrounding Kennedy’s death. He believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and Jack Ruby was the person who killed Oswald.

“An assassin assassinated in the police station, you can’t make this stuff up!” Rather said.

He emphasized the necessity to analyze the Kennedy assassination with facts and not emotion.

“We’re entitled to our own opinions,” he said. “But we’re not entitled to our own facts.”

GW connection
Many members of the GW community attended Friday’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) sponsored event.

Steve Mukherjee, who earned an engineering management degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) in 1979, said he was thrilled to see Rather that evening. Although Mukherjee was in a small Indian town when he heard that Kennedy had been shot, he still values the veteran journalist’s work surrounding the assassination.

Rather is, “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,” he said. 

Other attendees included Provost Steven Lerman and SMPA Director Frank Sesno. Lerman, who was in his seventh grade gym class when he heard that Kennedy was dead, said that the opportunity to attend the Kalb Report was an educational and exciting opportunity for GW students. As a broadcast journalism veteran, Sesno emphasized the importance of television reporting during the coverage surrounding the assassination. 

Several GW students had the opportunity to ask Kalb and Rather questions following the program. Junior Omeed Firouzi asked Rather how President Lyndon Johnson was affected by the Kennedy assassination. After the event, Firouzi said he was excited to hear Rather’s “unique vantage” of the events surrounding Kennedy’s death.

“Rather lived through the events,” Firouzi said. “He is a primary source.”  

However, the man of the hour did not try to venture into the unknown. On Kennedy’s legacy and the what-ifs surrounding his administration cut short, Rather does not speculate on the “would have beens.”

“We’ll never know,” he said. “It ended too soon to judge.” 

The accomplished journalist still considers the story the biggest of his career. When he was asked which network had the best coverage of the assassination and following events, Rather replied with a sheepish grin.

“CBS,” he said. As if he had any other option. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Former Ambassador to Yemen Tells GW Students She's Optimistic for the Country

by Eleanor Dickinson
 
On Wednesday evening, Barbara Bodine, the former Ambassador to Yemen (1997-2001) spoke at the Elliot School to GW students and other interested members of the community as a part of the “Distinguished Women in International Affairs Series,”co-sponsored by the Institute for Global and International Studies, Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Sorority, Sigma Iota Rho, The Honors Fraternity for International Affairs, and Women in International Security at GWU.
She was introduced by another former ambassador and professor at GWU, Ambassador Edward “Skip” Gnehm, a self-proclaimed “old friend” of Bodine's.
Bodine spoke at length about her views on the Arab Awakening, progress in women’s rights in Yemen, and her time in the foreign service, which included tours in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Baghdad and Kuwait as well as her ambassadorship in Yemen.
 
In regard to Yemen’s Arab Awakening, Bodine was very optimistic.  
 
“[Yemen is] the one country that is going to be able to come out of the Arab Awakening going forward, against all odds," she said.
During the Question and Answer session at the end of the 2-hour-long event, the Ambassador discussed her role as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion, when she and her colleagues at the embassy were “virtual hostages.”She also answered questions from audience members on topics ranging from success in the foreign service as a woman to US drone policy.
 
GWU sophomore Aisha Iqbal really enjoyed the event.
 
"Ambassador Bodine is such an interesting woman," Iqbal said. "I’m so glad I got the opportunity to hear her speak, and I hope I can be as candid as she is one day.”
 
Bodine now lectures at the Woodrow Wilson School and is the director of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative at Princeton University.

Stupid People are Ruining America: Cain Speaks on Campus

BY JOHN PERRINO

The GW College Republicans and Young American’s Foundation co-hosted “A Conversation with Herman Cain” Monday evening in a packed 1957 E Street lecture hall.

The 2012 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination entered the room to a standing ovation and addressed an audience packed with both conservative and liberal students.

“Thank you for that warm welcome. Somebody told me I was going to get booed,” he said as he arrived.

Cain’s fiery vernacular language and straight forward personality were on display as he opened with a story about his upbringing and life in business before entering politics.

“Stupid people are ruining America,” Cain said. “Stay informed. Stay involved. Stay inspired. Do what you can do.”

When asked what he would do about the current Republican divide, Cain responded, “Fire all of them.”

Much of the speech focused on the topic of leadership. “Great leaders are born…leading is war and it is hell too…w-a-r,” Cain said. His much repeated mantra was, “Ask the right questions.”

He addressed the hot topic of the American health care system saying, “You don’t blow up the building to fix the leak in the roof.”

Speaking about the Affordable Care Act, Cain said, “They may not call it socialized medicine, but that’s exactly what it is.”

Cain drew some of his largest applause when talking about his 9-9-9 strategy, which brought him much initial success in the 2012 Republican primary.

He briefly remarked on the accusations of sexual harassment that he received during the 2012 Republican primary. He claimed they were false and orchestrated by opponents who began to view him as a formidable opponent.

Cain accused the media of not giving all the facts and said that the reason he started his current radio show, “The Herman Cain Show,” was to correctly inform people.

In closing, Cain told the audience that, “Nobody is a Republican or Democrat, we are all Americans first.”

Thursday, November 21, 2013

WRGW News at 6

Tough as Steel and Delicate as Magnolias

 BY DZHULETTA AVANESIAN


Generic Theater Company presents Steel Magnolias  Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 21-23 in Lisner Downstage. The show's all female cast is directed by senior Henry Morillo.

“Steel Magnolias” is about the lives of six women who live in the Natchitoches, La. area. The show’s classic title foreshadows the reality that the female characters can be both tough as steel and delicate as magnolias.

I expect the audience to have a lot of fun, that's our main goal,” says actress Samantha Gordon, who plays Ouiser. While the cast promises both laughter and tears, “Overall you are going to come out happy and glad you went,” says actress Courtney Wade who plays Annelle.

The show is rare in the sense that the audience will see an all-female cast. There are not many opportunities to see such a thing in theater. 

I wanted to do a show that had an all female cast because there are many females at GW who want to perform,” said director Henry Morillo. “Unfortunately in theatre it's traditionally hard to find good roles for women.”  

Beyond its female dominated cast, the show is memorable for its famous satirical lines and relatable plot. “The show touches so many topics that everyone has really dealt with, such as illness or losing a family member,” says stage manager Natalie Petruch.

The story also touches on many psychological themes and the audience is expected to experience a wide range of emotions while watching the show.  The story reminds the cast and crew of the importance of friendship and the basic everyday struggles we all face.

“The show is about women who are very powerful and confident of who they are,” says assistant stage manager Leah Cohen. “It’s an awesome message of women power.”

The show is set in a local 1980s Louisiana beauty salon and Generic did an amazing job emulating this. “It's a very homey atmosphere,” said assistant director David Huppert. “The set up is salon, six women and an audience that feels like they are right there with the women.”

The cast praised Morillo for his fun and engaging way of directing. From research into the time period to plenty of planning, he created a vision everyone could get on board with. “I trusted the production team and Henry,” said actress Kellianne King. “He really had a great vision.”

The show starts at 8:00 PM on Thursday and 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are five dollars and can be purchased with cash at the door.