Happy Holidays from WRGW News!

GW Nears Halfway Mark of Michelle Obama's Service Challenge

BREAKING: The George Washington University has obtained 46,008 hours of community service and is 53,992 hours away from securing First Lady Michelle Obama as the 2010 Commencement speaker, according to the GW Office of Community Service. The GW community has maintained a breakneck service pace since September, when the First Lady first challenged students to complete 100,000 hours of community service by the end of the academic year. When classes reconvene in January, the university will commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a service project at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Office of Community Service and the Multicultural Student Services Center are sponsoring this event and GW volunteers join and assist teachers and staff of the school by refurbishing parts of the building. Volunteers will paint, clean, landscape and complete other tasks to restore and enhance its environment. Those interested in participating in the service project can go to http://serve.gwu.edu for more information.

Housing to Remain Open Until Monday

GW Housing was slated to close tomorrow, Sunday December 20 at noon when G-World cards would be deactivated.


WRGW News is confirming that housing will now be open until Monday the 21st until 5pm due to the blizzard that may dump upwards of 20 inches on the region.


If you need to stay past then due to weather-related travel issues, email gwhouse@gwu.edu.  Include your name, room number and your new expected departure date and time. 

Battleground Poll Favors Republicans in 2010 Election, Obama Approval at 50%

The latest edition of The George Washington University Battleground Poll finds a majority of voters (56%) believing that the country is on the wrong track. Their top areas of concern are the economy and jobs, health care costs, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the federal budget deficit. "Voters are very anxious about the economy and looking for solutions that will put people back to work," Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners, said. "Democrats can point to a number of successes, yet will ultimately be judged on whether Americans see and feel the recovery in their own communities." First conducted in 1991, this poll claims to have accurately portrayed the political climate through four presidential and three mid-term election cycles. This series of scientific surveys is unique to the industry in that it offers the distinct perspectives of two pollsters from different sides of the aisle. Looking ahead to the 2010 Congressional Elections, the Republican Party now enjoys a two point advantage (42%-40%) on the Congressional generic ballot.

 However, voters are closely divided on their preference for a divided government (41%) or for a unified government (38%). In addition, a majority (68%) of voters disapprove of the job performance of Congress. This is an eleven point increase in Congressional job disapproval since the last Battleground survey was conducted in July. President Obama has a job approval rating at 50%, while his personal approval rating is 67%, and he has a 56% favorable rating on name identification. On other name identification scores, Republicans in Congress (41% favorable/46% unfavorable) trail the Democrats in Congress (43% favorable/49% unfavorable).

 Among other figures tested, Joe Biden is nine points net positive (49% favorable/40% unfavorable) while Sarah Palin is one point net negative (45% favorable/46% unfavorable). A split sample series of questions asked the public to rate how well the Republicans in Congress and President Obama were handling a variety of policy issues. President Obama has an advantage on being honest and trustworthy (+15), promoting energy independence (+9), reforming health care (+8), turning the economy around (+6) and sharing your values (+1). Republicans in Congress enjoy an advantage over President Obama on controlling wasteful spending (+7), promoting a strong national defense (+15) and holding down taxes (+18). Another split sample series of questions asked the public to rate how well the two parties in Congress were handling a variety of policy issues. Republicans in Congress have an advantage on holding down taxes (+27), promoting a strong national defense (+25), controlling wasteful spending (+12) and are tied in sharing your values. Democrats in Congress have an advantage on reforming health care (+14), promoting energy independence (+12), being honest and trustworthy (+7), and turning the economy around (+4). On a series of health care questions, sixty percent (60%) indicate that they currently have private health care insurance, while thirty-one percent (31%) have government health insurance and seven percent (7%) do not have health insurance. Among those who have private insurance, ninety-one percent (91%) indicate that they are “satisfied” with the quality of health care they and their family receive.

"The latest GW-Battleground poll shows that 2010 Congressional Elections are shaping up to be pivotal for Democrats and Republicans.” - Christopher Arterton, Dean of the Graduate School of Political Management

SA Senator Komo Pushes for Gender-Neutral Housing

Michael Komo, President of Allied and Pride and Undergraduate-At-Large Senator in the GW Student Association, is on a mission to bring gender-neutral housing to GW through his new organization, Colonials for Gender-Neutral Housing. “We have two problems with housing,” said Komo, who is Chairman of the SA Senate Student Life Committee, when asked why he supports gender-neutral housing for GW. “First, transgender students do not have proper housing. There are only ‘male’ and ‘female’ boxes on the housing application, and transgender students are not recognized or placed properly in housing. Second, several students would feel more comfortable living with the opposite sex. Our current housing program does not address the needs of students who are not comfortable living with members of the same sex. [Gender-neutral housing] would alleviate those problems and would make our housing as close to perfection as possible.” With gender-neutral housing, male and female students would be able to request living with one another, though Komo said it “would never be random.” “Gender-neutral housing would be a completely voluntary program that would be another option in housing,” said Komo. “Men would not be able to randomly request to live with women. The same is for women. Students would have to specifically request to live with one another. They would be mixed in with the rest of the students on campus. For example, Ivory 201 would be men, Ivory 202 would be women, Ivory 203 would be gender-neutral.”


Komo’s Living and Learning Cohort, “Escaping Gender,” is a test-run for gender-neutral housing on the GW campus; now in its second year, the LLC includes men, women, and transgendered students participating in gender-neutral housing. Komo says the LLC “has been extremely successful. Now, we want to implement gender-neutral housing on a larger basis.” The LLC will be publishing a “comprehensive report detailing what colleges participate in this program and how they did it,” said Komo. “It will also include why GW needs it, and a plan to implement it.” This report is set to be published the week of January 10. The SA is expected to vote on the gender-neutral housing bill the following week.

Colonials Fall to Friars – 110-97

The Providence College Friars narrowly defeated the GW Colonials 110-97 tonight at the Charles E. Smith Center. This game marked the first match-up between the two teams in 10 years.

Footage of Justin Pierre’s WRGW Visit / Kogan Performance Hits Web

Motion City Soundtrack's Justin Pierre alongside WRGW's Jill Plevinsky. Photograph from www.mydinosaurlife.com.

Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Pierre stopped by WRGW Studios early last month. The footage of his trip, recorded and edited by his crew, was recently posted on his website http://www.mydinosaurlife.com

Check out a part of his interview with WRGW’s Jill Plevinsky and his performance in Kogan Plaza:

Lady Gaga’s “Fame Monster” Leaves Us “Speechless”

A Track-by-Track of Gaga’s Newest Album

Lady Gaga’s new album, “The Fame Monster,” has the pop icon delving into her inner “monsters:” that which she fears the most, and that which she has discovered about herself while travelling across Eastern Europe after the release of her breakout album, “The Fame.” An anemic eight tracks in length, Gaga’s sophomore effort, which has already sold over 350,000 copies since its debut last week, pulls no punches, giving us some creative, catchy, and occasionally creepy tunes. With roots in electronic dance music akin to what you would hear in nightclubs across the pond, “The Fame Monster” gives us a fiery and fascinating blend of tracks that are as vibrant as they are vicious. Let’s dissect this monster:

GW Student Veteran Brian Hawthorne to testify in front of House Committee today

NEWS ALERT: GW Student Veteran Brian Hawthorne to testify in front of House Committee on Veterans Affairs GW Student Veteran Brian Hawthorne will testify in front of House Committee on Veterans Affairs House Committee on Veterans Affairs at the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity’s Education Roundtable at 1pm today, December 3.

The meeting will be at 334 Cannon House Office Building Audio of the hearing will be available live at http://veterans.house.gov/.

A paratrooper in the U.S. Army Reserves, Hawthorne has served two tours of duty in Iraq as a medic, most recently during the Surge in Baghdad where he earned a Bronze Star. He also serves as the legislative director for Student Veterans of America.

Hawthorne was among the guests on a past edition of WRGW's News in Depth. Check out the conversation here: A Veterans Roundtable on Sunday Sept 20ths News in Depth Please be patient as the file loads.

EDITORIAL: Vote “NO” on the new SA Constitution

EDITORIAL: The Student Association has attempted to drastically change the overall structure of the body by proposing a new SA Constitution to be ratified by a majority of the student body. The new changes include making the executive vice president part of the executive branch (to run on a slate with the presidential candidate), creating a new “speaker of the Senate” position to replace the former duties of the EVP, and creating a new “Freshman Caucus” to replace the three non-voting freshman senators appointed by the SA every year. The SA Constitution, as a whole, will become 30% shorter, and aims to be more understandable to the average GW student.


Some of the proposals, like making the bylaw process simpler, abolishing secretive executive sessions, and generally streamlining and hastening many processes in both the SA Senate and the SA Student Court, have the potential to make the SA more transparent and efficient. However, these simply do not go far enough in achieving drastic reforms, and judged as a whole, the proposed new structure of the SA is eerily similar to the current. Also, one of the justifications given for incorporating the EVP into the executive branch was that they can “focus on advocacy.” Every member of the SA should be constantly advocating on behalf of students, whether or not advocating is part of their job description.


This fails to serve the interests of the student body and ignores the plethora of issues current SA members campaigned on last February


Attending any SA meeting this semester, it is apparent the Senate has wasted time by trying to change or clarify parliamentary procedures and creating gigantic lists of unnecessary bylaws for every bill that tries to pass. This fails to serve the interests of the student body and ignores the plethora of issues current SA members campaigned on last February, including, but not limited to: reforming the dining system, reducing prices at the GW Book Store, improving the advising system, and attempting to reduce bureaucratic red tape.


Even more alarming, we believe that if the proposed SA Constitution is ratified, it only serves to mask the inaction and ineffectiveness of both the SA Senate and SA executive branch this semester and gives the SA an undeserving vote of approval.


The SA has no notable advocacy achievements this semester. There is no grand vision and agenda emanating from either the Senate or President Julie Bindelglass. The passing of the Constitution will only give the illusion that the SA is making progress, when in reality the new SA Constitution is a simple reshuffling of positions and titles, with no credible or drastic restructuring taking place which will allow the SA to function differently.


The SA has hosted two disastrous town hall meetings to discuss a new SA Constitution. Not surprisingly, both events were poorly advertised, and not a single student besides members of the campus media attended either meeting. The advertising of the referendum itself has been non-existent, with a majority of students on campus oblivious to the changes the SA is proposing. At the same time we believe that even if the event were advertised so few students would care about the proposed changes enough to appear at a town hall meeting. Instead, the meetings only give SA members the chance to say that the matter was opened up to the GW community. It’s self serving smoke and mirrors.


The most curious decision was to hold the referendum on December 3rd, in the midst of the last full week of classes when most students have a serious academic workload to complete. Holding the referendum following winter break would have been more convenient for the student body, and would have allowed the SA to properly advertise the new changes, as well as allow proper debate of the pro’s and con’s of the new document.


It seems ironic considering the dirt the Senate kicked up at the end of last semester with claims that no one had time to read that version of the proposed new Constitution (which the Senate voted to not vote on), and that the workload was so intense for Senators that they were unable to debate the merits of the bill. Now they assume that the average student has the time to deal with this nonsense? Not to mention the Senate is showing it’s narcissistic tendencies once again, assuming that the average student cares about how their body is structured.


We cannot support the ratification of the proposed Constitution. We believe that, by voting “no” on December 3rd that the SA will be sent a message that they are wasting time in office by making meaningless, trivial changes.


We hope the SA will focus almost entirely on advocacy next semester and avoid turning every SA Senate meeting into an irrelevant debate about Senate protocol and procedure. Instead, make the changes students elected you to make.

Colonials (5-1) Derail Patriots (3-4) in Battle of The Orange Line

The much-hyped “Battle of The Orange Line” turned out to be a huge success for the Colonial basketball team. Led by a career high 25 points by senior Damian Hollis and a fired up Smith Center crowd, the George Washington Colonials beat the George Mason Patriots 66-49 and improved their record to 5 and 1 on the season. Following a disappointing loss to Oregon State on Saturday, the Colonials scored the first 5 points and never lost the lead throughout the night as they clearly dominated George Mason in all facets of the game.

The Patriots were led by freshman Luke Hancock who scored a game high 15 points for the Patriots. The team was devastated by a first half injury to junior point Cam Long, who did not perform well after the injury. In addition, forward Mark Morrison was plagued by foul trouble and played just 17 minutes of the game. The Patriots only managed to shoot 36 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 43 to 30 by the Colonials

The Patriots only trailed 35-27 at the half, but the Colonials opened the half with a 22-4 run and led by as great a margin as 26 throughout the course of the game. The Colonials got a dominating performance by senior forward Damian Hollis, who scored a career high 25 points and pulled down 8 rebounds as well. Also chipping in for GW were Lasan Kromah with 8 points and Joesph Katuka, who scored 7 points in only 8 minutes of play. Senior Hermann Opoku also pulled down 8 rebounds, while Kromah and freshman guard Bryan Bynes grabbed 3 steals a a piece.

On the season, the Colonials improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the newly renovated Charles E. Smith Center. George Washington had a clear home court advantage tonight as a fired up crowd led by the Colonial Army provided the team with the energy and support needed to ensure the victory. The Colonials will next take on the Midshipmen of Navy at the Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic this Sunday at 5 p.m. As always, you can hear the game live by tuning into WRGW at www.gwradio.com