Hail to the Buff & Blue!

It’s back! After a one-year hiatus, the popular event Colonial Invasion is making a return to the GW campus. The event, which was cut last year due to the over $900,000 in budget cuts, will be returning thanks in part to the successful lobbying of the SA.

The event will take place on October 26th and will feature New York rapper Fabolous, according to Tuesday’s WRGW interview with SA President Nicole Capp.

Colonial Invasion will be a part of a week long celebration called spirit week. Although basketball is the primary focus, the week will feature events that will be promoting all athletics at GW. The week will also feature contests, prizes and other activities to involve students.

In years past, Colonial Invasion has been the first practice of the year where people could view the teams in action. This year, however, the format will be similar to that of watching the teams in a game-type setting.

The event will take place on Friday, October 26th, with doors opening at 8PM. Admission is free with a GWorld and it is expected to run nearly two hours.

- Taylor Barnes

Friday Night Live!

Hey you! You’d better come to the Mitchell Theater on Friday. Why? Because we’re hosting a monthly concert series with Program Board.

Tomorrow will be the first Friday Night Live of the semester with popular headliner, Jukebox the Ghost. Jukebox is a local DC band made up of GW grads. According to their Myspace, the band “writes a fresh breed of melodic pop tunes driven by fiery rock momentum” and is characterized by their “quirky lyrics and inventive songwriting.” Jukebox is currently touring in promotion of their new E.P.

Also appearing this Friday will be the South Carolina based group, The Winter Sounds and hailing from New York City, Porter Block.

The show will be held in the Mitchell Hall Theater (yes, it DOES exist) at 8pm and is now FREE! All ages are welcome to attend.

- Jason Levin

A Conversation with Capp

Student Association President Nicole Capp joined the news team last Tuesday afternoon to update GW about the progress of the organization. Capp spoke about the newfound advocacy of the Student Association, as well as events around campus.

Capp shed light on the recent controversy regarding the GW FEED program and the legislation that she vetoed that would fund the program because some rules may have been circumvented. Capp emphasized the need to maintain the SA rules for passing legislation even in extenuating circumstances.

The new SA President also talked about the upcoming Colonial Invasions, the pep event that traditionally introduces the GW Basketball season. The event was cancelled last year due to nearly $900,000 in budget cuts to the student and academic support services, according to the Hatchet. During the show, Capp also announced that the special musical guest will be New York rapper, Fabolous.

The SA Senate is currently experiencing a rebuilding period, following the resignation of senators Nina Perdad and Richard Fowler. Eight seats are currently up for grabs.

To fill the vacancies, the SA rules committee will consider applications and nominate one applicant for each seat. The nominees will then be voted on by the entire senate.

- Jesse Regis

Couric Packs Crowd at Kalb Report

They may have sold out in only five hours, but for those lucky enough to get a ticket, Katie Couric joined Marvin Kalb on Tuesday night for a discussion on democracy and the press.

Kalb focused their conversation on Couric’s recent trip to Iraq. The CBS anchor was able to share her opinions on the war, something that is traditionally discouraged in journalism.

“I’m frustrated most of the time because the fact of the matter is that the U.S. invaded,” she said.

Couric admitted that since her trip, she has gained a better feel for the area, but she says, she’s still no expert. “I don’t think that spending five or six days in Iraq will give you the answers to all of the questions,” she said.

Couric stressed that she felt skeptical at times of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but that the criticism of the press coverage isn’t always fair. She said, “I think that sometime we forget that the press is made up of human beings.”

Kalb also asked Couric about her opinion of her predecessor, Dan Rather, and how she felt about his recent lawsuit filed against CBS. “There were things in there that were quite egregious in terms of how it was reported,” she said. “And sloppy work is sloppy work…They did not dot their I's and cross their T's when it came to that story…And our job is to get right."

As the evening concluded, Couric’s final comments focused on how journalism is changing - from the atmosphere to the technology. On stage, she embodied some of the new change, and Kalb represented some of the old as he ended the program with Edward R. Murrow’s classic sign off, “Good night and good luck.”

- Mallory Thompson

SA Student Fee Referendum Fails

Yesterday, the SA held a special election in hopes of giving student orgs more money by increasing the student fee. The proposed referendum failed by a small margin - 51.85% opposed and 48.14% were in favor with only 7.3% of the student body voting.

The current fee was established around 1990 when GW still had a large commuter population. As GW has evolved and its student population has grown, many felt that the student body had outgrown the fee of $1 per credit per semester for all undergraduate, graduate, and summer students. The SA proposed to increase the fee for all future students with undergraduates paying $30 a semester, graduate students paying $20 a semester and summer students paying $12 for the summer semester.

The bill was sponsored by Nathan Brill, GWSB-U, Finance Committee member during Former SA President Lamar Thorpe’s term. There is hope among the Senate that the bill could be restructured and voted on again in the future.

- Jared Fox