UPDATE on Shooting Near Campus

Dorms are blocked off, and MPD has swarmed campus as a suspect in a shooting that occurred near 28th and M streets. The suspect(s) were caught at 24th street. There are unconfirmed reports that dorms are being blocked off, and traffic (both foot and car) are being diverted from the scene.

At this point, almost an hour after the event, there has been no official GW Alert, Crime Alert, or Campus Alert. Stay tuned to WRGW News for more information as this story develops.

BREAKING NEWS: Suspects caught in 28th and M Shooting

BREAKING NEWS-

Unconfirmed reports that the suspects in the Georgetown shooting have been caught at 24th street in Foggy Bottom, near campus.

GW has yet to send out a Campus Alert.

Stay tuned to WRGW News for more information.

Cinematic Titanic Hits GW

Mystery Science Theater 3000 comedians reunited for a live screening and performance.

The comedian alumni of Mystery Science Theater 3000 reunited for a live performance of their famous riffs Thursday at Lisner Auditorium, taking on the notably bad 1976 film "Rattlers."

Cinematic Titanic is the new feature-length movie-riffing show from the creator and original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which earned a place on Time's list of "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time." Like MST3K, the show was created by Joel Hodgson and features the same team that first brought the Peabody award winning cult-classic series to life: Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff, and Mary Jo Pehl. Cinematic Titanic continues the tradition of riffing on the horribly great and just plain cheesy movies from the past.

In "Rattlers," a herpetologist must team up with an attractive war photographer to uncover the mystery behind a spate of killer rattlesnake attacks.

The Show began with introductions and stand up performances by the stars. Despite several technical difficulties with the movie pausing, the comedians kept the nearly packed auditorium laughing.

Joel Hodgson and the rest of the cast met with fans after the show to sign pretty much anything with a smooth surface.

Controversial Kuwaiti Filmmaker Talks Middle East and More

An event titled “Turning Motion Picture into Emotion”, sponsored by GWU’s Institute for Middle Eastern Studies, saw award-winning Kuwaiti filmmaker, Walid Al-Awadi, discuss his documentaries on 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan Wednesday. Walid’s 1995 chronicle of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait earned him the "Best International Film" award at the Houston Film Festival and his latest film, "Tora Bora," recently premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Initially trained as engineer, one of the two jobs deemed acceptable by his parents, Walid found his true inspiration through filmmaking. Inspiration, he argued, is the most important thing in life and despite facing a “red” bank account on more than one occasion, he remained  committed to the trade.

Walid spoke about his determination to cover the events of September 11th despite voiced concerns that, as a Kuwaiti national, such an undertaking would be too controversial. Despite the success of his initial project, PR reps told Walid to expect 100 people for his screening of ‘Dreams Without Sleep’ at the Lincoln Center in New York City. However, Walid played the film to a packed audience. 

Well-received in the West, Walid nevertheless faced some criticism back in Kuwait for a perceived ‘pro-American’ approach.

For Walid filmmaking is about the characters. "Dreams Without Sleep" told the stories of five people’s different experiences during the events of 9/11. Walid’s recent film ‘Tora Bora’ followed the story of two parents searching for their son who fled to Afghanistan to join a terrorist network.

More information on Walid’s latest project, ‘Tora Bora, can be found here.

GW Alum Discusses Social Change

The Inspirational Lecture Series made its debut on Wednesday with Justin Zorn, a 2008 GW alum, current Harvard scholar and founder of Banaa.org. Zorn led a discussion about sparking social change in Funger Hall with about twenty people, including GW students and faculty.

“I came to GW without ever really being at the center of a movement before,” said Zorn. His story began in 2004, when he entered GW as a freshman and the Darfur crisis began.

Zorn started a student group on campus and spoke to people who had been in different movements and grass-roots initiatives in DC. He found out that, “U.S. citizenship is the most powerful of all tools,” he said. “You can walk into a congressman’s office and ask them to co-sponsor a piece of legislation.”

The group also wrote op-eds for small local newspapers. “We held some rallies,” said Zorn, “but after all that excitement we realized there’s only so much we can do at 19 years old.”

The group's focus then shifted to targeting GW and former President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg to not provide revenue to the government of Sudan. They were able to get 36 student organizations to have a rally on campus. Zorn and his group got the president’s attention, but it was not what they expected.

“We had a good conversation, but we felt like we lost,” said Zorn. Trachtenberg offered to provide a scholarship to students of Sudan. The group agreed and decided to expand on the idea by creating a program to bring a large number of Sudanese students who can “contemplate what they can add to peace globally,”  Zorn said.

The group created a how-to kit for other campuses to establish the same scholarship program. They were able to get eight schools to provide full scholarships. The group also created a modified Common Application. They received 170 applications, “which totally blew us away,” Zorn said.

There are currently three Banaa scholars, one at GW and two at Rochester University. Makwei Mabioor Deng is the Banaa scholar at GW. He spent 16 years at a refugee camp in Kenya and wrote the first Dinka language textbook for grades 1 to 3. The first half of the book was published in 2009 when he started at GW. The second half was published this year.

“Education is one thing that can bring change,” said Deng, “and this is why this program is very important.”

Even though the Banaa program has experienced some successes, Deng and Zorn were honest about its shortcomings.

“The purpose of this program was to bring all Sudanese together as scholars because there is nothing common among us in Sudan,” said Deng. “We haven’t done as much as we need to, but at least we’ve done as much as we wanted.”

Zorn said the group is trying to keep GW actively engaged in the program and that University has fallen behind in its commitment.

To learn more about Banaa, visit their website.

Claiming Your NetID is Not a Trap

GW students know how to spot spam. However, for the past month, many have been confused by emails from the University seemingly asking for confidential information to secure their NetID and change their password. Some students were reluctant to make the switch.

"The password they want us to make is overly complicated," said Ben Laman-Maharg, a sophomore in the Honors Program. "And the emails they sent us to make the change seemed like spam. I had to call them to be sure that it was not spam."

According to GW's Division of Information Technology, the emails are legitimate and necessary as the university is tightening web security. The emails ask students to claim their NetID Account by accessing a linked webpage and inputting their GWid, birthday and last name. Then, students are asked to change their passwords into longer and more complicated codes that must include an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number and a symbol. This complicated password is to help prevent hackers from acquiring sensitive data, and even access to GW's servers. After creating the new password, all GW related log-ins are affected, from GWmail to Internet access through the GW1X or GWireless networks.

DIT's Rachel Belvins said in an email to WRGW News that the identity and access management program is the first part of a phase to "allow for simplified account creation and deactivation, password synchronization across IT applications and improved self service user account management services such as a reset process for forgotten passwords."

Ms. Belvins said that through GWToday articles and targeted emails towards users that have not yet switched, DIT will be able to meet the December 1 goal of first switching all students over to the new system so that they can focus on switching the staff then faculty.

DIT hopes to have the entire program finished by March, and they want to remind students that for more information on account claiming, the new identity and access management program, or other IT-related questions to please contact division of IT at 202-994-4948, email them at IThelp@gwu.edu or go to their website http://ITsupport.gwu.edu.

Huntsman Brings Campaign to GW

John Huntsman, Jr. discussed his economic and foreign policy with students.

Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman spoke before a packed Jack Morton Auditorium Tuesday night, marking the first visit by a 2012 presidential candidate to the GW campus since President Obama's in April.

The former Utah governor and ambassador to China spoke on fixing an ailing economy, reducing the "heroin-like addiction to foreign oil" and strengthening diplomatic ties with allies like Israel and India.

"All I want... is a foreign policy that says we're going to lead with economics," Huntsman said.

His plan for economic recovery would include the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act and "Obamacare," a focus on domestic natural gas production for transportation and the adoption of a flat tax like the one his "good friend Rick Perry" talked about earlier in the day. He criticized President Obama's handling of the economy, including bailing out businesses seen as too big to fail.

"Capitalism without failure is not capitalism," Huntsman said.

Huntsman vocalized his support for continued counter-terrorism initiatives, claiming, "We must remain vigilant." But he also announced that he would bring home the 100,000 troops currently serving in Afghanistan.

Looking towards the general election, Huntsman attacked President Obama's "hope" campaign as a message of style over substance.

"You can win on a mantra, that don't mean you can lead," he said.

Though critical of the current president, Huntsman made no apologies for leaving his job as Utah governor to accept President Obama's nomination for ambassador to China.

"I worked for President Reagan, I worked for President Bush, I worked for President Bush," he said. "I'm of the firm belief that when your president asks you to step up and serve in a time of war, during a time of economic hardship, you stand up and put your country first."

Jack Morton quickly reached its 260 person capacity for the College Republicans-sponsored event. CR members could RSVP for priority seating prior to the event, while coordinators granted non dues-paying members entry on a first-come, first-served basis.

Huntsman spokesman and GW alumnus Tim Miller said his candidate does well with youth voters because of the sense that he includes them in the debate on topics such as the national debt.

"He's doing a lot of college visits," Miller said. "He has a positive message that resonates with young people."

Following the speech, students swarmed to the front of the auditorium, clamoring for a picture with the presidential candidate.

"I liked how moderate he was," GW senior Veronica Brown said. "He really spoke to me as a less right-wing Republican."

Despite polling below 2 percent in most national Republican primary studies, Huntsman maintains a focus on youth voters. He appeared on the popular Colbert Report Monday and jokingly requested that Stephen Colbert join him as his vice presidential running mate.

Huntsman is the second 2012 presidential candidate to campaign at GW this year. President Obama revealed his budget deficit reduction plan in the Jack Morton Auditorium shortly after announcing his candidacy in April. Republican candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich both came to campus in February, several months prior to officially announcing their runs for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I don't think this is his year," GW sophomore Daniel Ceisler said, "but I don't think this is the last we'll see of Jon Huntsman."

- Joseph Rabinowitz

Restaurant Review: An Asian Chipotle?

When I went to visit the new Asian Chipotle restaurant in Dupont Circle, I ended up walking right past it. Like an idiot.

That's, of course, because its name isn't actually "Asian Chipotle" (although I still intend to refer to it as such). No, the restaurant's real name is "ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen," and it's a brand-new spin-off restaurant owned by Chipotle. If you're worried that a restaurant whose specialty lies in delicious, gut-busting, assembly-line burritos couldn't possibly deliver good Asian food, think again, for I have been to the top of the mountain and have experienced ShopHouse firsthand.

Now, time for a quick disclaimer: ShopHouse's menu is based on cuisines from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. As I have never visited any of these countries nor tasted their food, I can't attest to ShopHouse's authenticity. What I can attest to, however, is the fact that they serve up some very tasty food.

If you've ever been to a Chipotle before, ShopHouse will feel instantly familiar to you. The layout is almost identical to Chipotle's signature bare-bones, functional design. Ordering should also be a familiar process. You walk up to the counter and make one fundamental decision: do you want chicken, steak, chicken-pork meatballs or tofu? Once you've made your choice, everything else falls in place. Type of rice (or, if you prefer, rice noodles), vegetables, sauce, and crunchy toppings. And with that, you have your meal.

For my first meal, I requested grilled chicken on jasmine rice, with grilled green beans and caramelized onions, spicy red curry sauce, green papaya slaw (it's okay, I had no idea what it was, either), and crushed peanuts to top it all off. While there was something distinctly Chipotle about the food, it was also a wholly new and unique taste experience, and I enjoyed it very much. Be careful, though, the spicy red curry sauce is in fact very spicy, and unfortunately, ShopHouse doesn't sell any milk to neutralize the burning (which I feel is a major oversight). I was still feeling it on the Metro ride home ten minutes later. Be warned.

To those of you who find the idea of a simple bowl of rice and toppings boring, ShopHouse also offers sub-like sandwiches. I have yet to try one, but my roommate ordered a chicken-pork meatball sandwich and informed me that it was actually better than the bowl. I intend to order one on my next visit.

When it was all said and done, I walked away from ShopHouse with a full stomach and a very satisfied feeling, even in spite of my burning mouth. I would definitely recommend this brand new restaurant. The best part about it? The DC ShopHouse is the only one in the country (so far), so make the trip, enjoy the food and gloat about it to your friends at other schools. That's what I did, anyway.

Science and Engineering Hall Groundbreaking Ceremony

This past Thursday the University broke ground at the location for the future Science and Engineering Hall. GW President Steven Knapp, faculty, students, and neighborhood partners took part in the special ceremony that occurred in the now open lot on H and 22^nd Streets NW at the site of the old University Parking Garage.

With an expected completion date of 2015, the new building will have 400,000 square feet above grade and 290,000 square feet of space for teaching and research laboratories for faculty and students. Not only will faculty and students of the Columbian College and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) be conducting research in the new building, but so will researchers from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The Science and Engineering Hall will be the first new building the School of Engineering and Applied Science has received in more than 50 years. One reason for building this new facility is that the current classroom space for the SEAS is spread over multiple locations around campus and includes many outdated classrooms and labs.

Despite losing the University Parking Garage, GW will still maintain a minimum of 2,800 parking spaces around campus at various lots and garages. The new building will have 380 parking spaces underground, something very important in an area already lacking in parking.

At a cost of $275 million, the new building comes at a time when the cash strapped University is already more than $1 billion in debt. Fortunately, GW will avoid slipping further into debt, as the new building will be financed by lease payments from The Avenue apartment complex, research contracts, and philanthropic gifts from the GW community.


Click here to view photos from the ground breaking ceremony.

Professor Reveals Findings on Child Development

Dr. Rochelle Newman gave a lecture this past Thursday in Funger Hall on how early perceptual abilities from infants can later affect how they process language.  Newman, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, received her bachelor's in speech pathology and now studies language processing in adults.

Dr. Newman discussed how one thing infants often recognize when they are four and a half years old is their name. This serves as a sign that their auditory system is in development.


"What happens is you use a sound that an infant knows and see if they can recognize it," Newman said.  "They may not know what it means to them, but they know it's a sound pattern they hear fairly often."

When sounds are funneled down the ear canal, they strike the same area. According to Newman, this differentiates from sight because when something hits our eyes, it reaches different sensor receptors.


However, because an infant's auditory system is not as well-developed as an adult's, an infant cannot separate different sources of sound.  This is especially noticeable when infants are in noisy environments.


"We might expect that infants would have difficulty in noisy environments," Newman said.  "We know that second language learners who have less knowledge about the language have problems in noisy environments. Infants will suffer the same problem."


Newman demonstrated this with the headturn preference procedure. A child would sit in a parent's lap, a light would flash and a voice would say the infant's name, often over noise. In cases where the infant would recognize the sound as familiar, they would pay more attention to it.


"When testing with older infants around nine months to 13 months, the amount of time they spent looking at the source saying their name increased," Newman said.


The results of this experiment, Newman explained, showed that infants younger than nine months may not be able to acquire useful speech information in real world settings. By developing perceptual skills over time, they can better develop their language skills.


One of these particular skills is segmentation, which is an infant's ability to separate streams of speech into individual words.


"This is important because parents don't just talk to babies," Newman said.  "There aren't pauses in the words when speaking the same way there are breaks when typing a sentence."


The other skill is statistical learning: an infant's ability to recognize consistent patterns in what they hear.


Newman's ongoing work includes a large, longitudinal study with infants that critically examines what skills that develop during infancy are particularly important and how they correlate with sound.

White House Opens Gates for Garden Tours

On any given day in Washington, one can see crowds of sightseers gather outside the White House’s age-old gates for a glimpse of what lies beyond. This past weekend, however, those gates were opened for the Executive Mansion's 39th annual fall garden tour.

The event, which has been a little-known staple in Washington, was started in 1972 by First Lady Patricia Nixon as a way to showcase the White House grounds to the nation and the world.

Visitors strolled around the South Lawn driveway, passing by magnolia trees planted by President Andrew Jackson, the Kennedy and Rose Gardens and informational placards telling the tale of the ever-evolving White House landscape.

The newest addition to the grounds, the Kitchen Garden, was prominently showcased. Planted by First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009, the garden now supplies the vegetables for all of the Obamas family dinners as well as for meals at Miriam's Kitchen in Foggy Bottom, an organization devoted to feeding the Districts homeless.

The President’s Own Marine Band provided the public with an assortment of music to add an air of officialness to the event that only the White House can provide.

Although no numbers are available for how many people actually attended the tours, press liaisons noted that they expected bolstered attendance compared to previous years because of people in town for the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, as well as the George Washington and Georgetown Universities parents weekends.

For those who missed the tours, The White House will open it’s gates again for its annual spring tours in April.

Ex-Democratic Congressman Critical of Obama at SMPA Event

A few notable politicians, journalists, and a political scientist sat down for a discussion as a part of the Center for Innovation Media’s Conversation Series at Jack Morton Auditorium Monday evening. The discussion, entitled “Broken Politics, Mixed-up Media: Can This Be Fixed?," focused on the current divided government and its coverage by the media. 

Moderated by SMPA Director Frank Sesno, the panel included CNN’s senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash, former Utah Republican Senator and SMPA Distinguished Professional Fellow Bob Bennett, former Tennessee Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and GW political science professor John Sides. 

During the opening questions, Sesno asked Bennett and Ford about the health of our government. 

“[Government is] broken. The people are not happy,” Bennett said. 

 Sesno pressed the question on Ford: “Do you think this president is leading?” 

“I don’t think he’s leading. I don’t think he’s been an effective [leader],” Ford replied. 

Dana Bash, a journalist covering the day-to-day Congressional activities, commented that “adults” are hard to find in Congress. 

Bennett commented that his father, Wallace Bennett, a former Utah senator, would have fellow legislators at his apartment during his tenure in the Untied States Senate. Nowadays, Bennett says legislators are too busy to get to know each other. 

At the heart of the problem, Professor Sides said that the “[political parties] have become further apart than before,” noting the increased polarization. To have success in the polarized political environment, Sides suggested, “Get your brand of crazy on the ballot.” 

While Bennett sees the root of the problem as being the congressional redistricting process every decade, Ford claims that legislators are learning more about electioneering than policy. 

Bennett says it is a “reaffirmation of what the Republican Party was founded on,” but called the Tea Party a movement without any “real solutions.” Ford said the Tea Party has a “manifesto that isn’t all that bad.” 


Bennett was defeated by now Senator Mike Lee at the Utah Republican convention in 2010. He claims he ran a traditional campaign, but recognizes the lack of a social media aspect that led Lee to win the Republican nomination for Bennett’s senate seat. In order to fix our broken government, Ford says, “Obama has to be more of a leader. The best time to solve big issues is when government is divided.”

Local Independent Theater Strives for Younger Audience (video)

West End cinema, on 23rd and M, shows independent films, shorts and documentaries. The local community has embraced the theater, but the ownership claims many GW students don't even know it's there. Recently, the theater has tried to draw in college students with special promotions and online advertising. To see a list of show times and special offers visit their website.

Created by Joseph Rabinowitz and Bridgett Lynn

Thousands Gather on Mall for MLK Memorial Dedication

Spectators enjoyed performances from artists like Stevie Wonder.

As of recently, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has been the talk of the town. Standing 30 feet tall and surviving an earthquake and a hurricane, the dedication ceremony on Sunday had even more to celebrate.

Thousands gathered at West Potomac Park to attend the ceremony, filled with numerous speakers and performances. Many of the speakers mentioned that the initial date for the 

ceremony would have fallen on the 50th anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech.

Notable speakers, including President Barack Obama, Rev. Bernice King, U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA) and Rev. Al Sharpton, emphasized the importance of commemorating Dr. King not only as an icon, but also focusing on his ideals.

Rev. Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, considered the rescheduling of the event to be more than weather interruptions. 

“Could it be perhaps that the dedication not taken place on the anniversary of that great speech is indicative of God wanting us to move forward to look at the rest of King,” she said. “Perhaps the postponement was a divine interruption to remind us of the King that moved us beyond the dream of racial justice to the action and work of economic justice."

Some drew parallels between Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the election of Barack Obama. U.S. Represetative John Lewis of Gerogia said Obama’s election was just a “down payment” on King’s dream. 

“We’re not there yet,” he said.

The Obamas and the Kings had a private tour of the monument before President Obama made his speech. 

“Change has never been simple, or without controversy,” Obama said. “Change depends on persistence. Change requires determination.”

Many performances throughout the program stayed on message and kept the audience engaged, including the Ebenezer Baptist Church choir, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and Sweet Honey and the Rock.

“The ceremony was inspiring to me because as we were honoring and celebrating an individual whose ideals transformed a nation," said Zahara Naki, a junior at GW who woke up at 5:00am to go to the ceremony. 

"I couldn’t help but think of how far America has come, but also how far we need to go. What I got from it is really to take action against injustices and to speak up against what is wrong in society.”

To learn more about the memorial and the story behind its creation, visit the MLK memorial website

President Knapp Plays Surprise Drum Solo (audio)

President Knapp playing drums on stage with the Jazz All Stars

President Steven Knapp took the stage at WRGW's annual jazz brunch Sunday morning with the GW Jazz All Stars in front of an audience of students, faculty and administrators including Provost Steven Lermen and Global Media Institute Director Michael Freedman.

Veteran radio host and GW special assistant Dick Golden asked Knapp to stay on stage following a brief speech to join the jazz ensemble on drums. Not only did the University president help anchor the rhythm section, bassist Dominic Martinez, senior, passed off to Knapp for a lively solo. Check out the performance below.

WRGW Jazz Brunch - Pres. Steven Knapp on the Drums 10/16/2011 by jorge-a-gadala-maria


-Joseph Rabinowitz

Saving School Lunch

Students who attended a public school that provided meals might have a vivid memory of their school's cafeteria at lunch time. Along with meeting friends, sharing gossip and doing the homework due next period, food was the back drop. For some, the lunch tray included tater tots, buffalo wings and chocolate milk.

But with 17% (12.5 million) of children in America suffering from obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, school systems across the nation have tried to reduce that percentage with extracurricular activities, physical education programs and menu changes.

In Washington, DC, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010 is doing just that.

On Wednesday, GW's Urban Food Task Force, an organization of GW faculty, students, staff and volunteers that promotes healthy eating, sustainable food production and food policy, held the first of three University Seminars on Food. Jill Sankey hosted a panel, including Council Member and GW law professor, Mary Cheh, Director of Food Services of DC Public Schools, Jeffrey Mills, and Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy at GW, Janet Phoenix, to discuss the components of the Healthy Schools Act, how much has been implemented and what changes have been made.

Mary Cheh explained why she wrote and passed this piece of legislation.

"Half of the children in DC are either overweight or obese," said Cheh. "Unless we get obesity under control, we may face the first generation that lives a shorter time than the previous generation."

She discussed how this Act does not only focus on changing the food schools serve, but also seeks to educate children on healthy lifestyles.

"When a child comes into a school system we are responsible for the whole child," Cheh said. "They learn about what good food is, they learn where good food comes from, its an education in itself."

To illustrate this, Cheh told a story of how some schools now have gardens where students help harvest fruits and vegetables. One particular school introduced a class to squash soup by displaying a whole squash to the students, some for the first time, and teaching how the soup is prepared.

Jeffrey Mills, who was a top chef in New York City before taking the director position two years ago, described the process of adapting the act and the issues with the transition.

To create the new menu, Mills and his team had to try a lot of different food from many vendors.

"We tried many different chicken and were clucking exhausted afterwards," he joked.

According to Mills, the transition was difficult at first due to product shortages and lack of employee training.

"They couldn't explain what hummus was and why they should eat it," he said, "so what was on the menu wasn't being served."

Thanks to the Act and Mills, DCPS serves three meals a day to its students. Breakfast in the classroom has prepared students to learn and reduced tardiness. They also created the Breakfast Helper Program, where students volunteer to help prepare and serve breakfast. In 2010 DCPS was voted as the country's largest after-school dinner program, which has increased after school enrollment, according to Mills.

Mills said there is still much to do. This year DCPS will host four international food days to "promote children to learn about food and culture," he said. "It's critical to help children adapt healthy habits."

Janet Phoenix gave a presentation for the implementation analysis of the Healthy Schools Act. She discussed what it would take for this Act to succeed, such as inter-agency cooperation.

The audience of approximately fifty people comprised largely of GW graduate students.

"I really thought it was informative," said Ashley Cheung, Public Policy graduate student at GW. "It is good to see people talk about these challenges in school."

Public Policy graduate student Alicia Mazzara agreed. "I thought it was really well put together," she said. "It's really good GW is focusing on this issue because we don't get much of this in class."

Find out more about the University Seminar on Food here. And click here to learn about GW's Urban Food Task Force.

DHS Secretaries See National Security As An Enterprise

Secretaries Ridge, Chertoff and Napolitano spoke before an SMPA audience

The three recent secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security met for a panel discussion about the department’s evolution and future at SMPA’s Jack Morton Auditorium Tuesday evening. 

The panel included the first, second and current secretaries of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano, respectively, marking the first time the institute had all three secretaries at GW on the same panel. Admiral Thad Allen, distinguished professor of practice at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, moderated the panel.

“I saw a decade of my life collide simultaneously,” said GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute Director Frank Cilluffo.

Tom Ridge viewed the DHS like a “holding company.” As the first secretary of the department, Ridge saw infrastructure and integration as key components to building DHS. Ridge said the current challenge is consistency with other cabinet departments.

Chertoff claims there are several challenges that the department faces today. Some of these challenges include joint culture and the ability to share information, lack of a finite leadership structure laying out who exactly is in charge and overall expectations.

“The need to bring together a department that embodies a new doctrine and one that spans across several departments was a challenge in and of itself,” said Chertoff.

Napolitano says DHS is all about building the department, adaptation to the cabinet, and identifying threats. Napolitano claims the creation of DHS was the largest reorganization since Department of Defense and other departments are still accommodating the creation of DHS.

Looking into the future, Napolitano commented on the budget and how it has strained the development of the department.

“The budget has put a premium on what [DHS] can do,” Napolitano said.

When determining budget priorities, Napolitano often finds herself asking, “What is the right mix between manpower and technology?”

In response to whether a divided government negatively impacts national security, Chertoff said the situation is twofold. Divided government does not negatively impact national security, “But it presents challenges [in which] surprise agreement happens on the basis of security,” Chertoff said.

The other secretaries offered more criticism of government polarization.

“Separation of powers has created a problem with the creation of the department,” said Napolitano, adding that the government lacks strategic oversight for the DHS.

Ridge concluded that divided government acts as on obstacle slowing down Congress and the executive branch.

Senator John McCain Greets Students At Starbucks

John McCain posted this picture with GW students to his Twitter account.

John McCain apparently likes his coffee from the Gelman Starbucks.

Senator McCain (R-Ariz.) was featured on the Oct. 2 edition of the CBS Sunday morning news program "Face the Nation." The show is broadcast from a studio at 2020 M St. NW, approximately seven blocks north of Gelman Library.

Following his interview with host Bob Schieffer, McCain passed through the George Washington University campus and decided to stop at the Starbucks in the ground floor of Gelman. Students recognized the former presidential candidate, and many requested to take photos with him.

McCain was on "Face the Nation" to speak about the ongoing conflict in Libya and the nature of a continued U.S. involvement. McCain recently returned from a visit to the North African country, in which he met with revolutionary and NATO leaders to assess the situation on the ground.

Asked about his thoughts on the nature of NATO's role now that the conflict is winding down, McCain was quick to point out the "enormous challenges" still facing the Libyan people.

"There's significant areas where they haven't gained control," he told Schieffer. "They have no national army... they've got thousands and thousands of wounded. They say that they've lost 25,000 killed, 3,000 that have been maimed, 60,000 injured."

McCain stressed that while he agreed that NATO's military role in the conflict was coming to an end, he believed they could help the Libyan people in other ways.

"They don't have the medical expertise and talent to take care of these people," he said. "We should be either helping them by sending some of them to Landstuhl, our hospital in Germany, maybe even thinking about sending a hospital ship to Tripoli. If that's too dangerous, maybe to Malta. But we can help them."

Schieffer also asked the senator about his thoughts on the current selection of Republican presidential candidates. Specifically, they discussed the potential for Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) to enter the race. Speaking from experience, McCain warned that "the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. The water may not be quite as warm as you think." Christie has since announced that he will not be running for president.

McCain later shared tweeted about his visit to the GW campus: "After @facethenation I met these awesome GW students at the Starbucks." He included a photo of himself surrounded by students outside Gelman.

A World Without Steve Jobs

As the world mourns the passing of Steve Jobs, former chairman and CEO at Apple, Inc, his influence on technology, social connections and pop culture frame his legacy.

According to CNNMoney, in 2010 70% of incoming University freshmen owned a Mac. Between iPhones, iPods and Macbooks, one can usually find multiple apple product users on campus at any given time.

Following the news of his death, members of the GW community reflected on how Jobs impacted their lives.

"He capitalized on how products have to be aesthetically appealing and technologically sound," said Carl Dickler, second year GW medical student. "He created the cool factor in products."

"I think Apple iPhone hands down impacted the way we interact with each other and the interface with the world," said Lawrence Mann, AV specialist at GW, "I think Steve Jobs set us on a trajectory that will forever change the world that is far better than it would have been if he had never existed."

Jobs was also the former CEO of Pixar Animation Studios and served on The Walt Disney Company's board of directors starting in 2006. In particular to the generation that is currently pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees, Pixar movies bring back many memories

"Toy Story was a very moving force in my life," said David Grabski, second year GW medical student, "It reminds me of Billy Collins' poem 'On Turning 10' and brought me back to my childhood."

Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO in August after years of battling pancreatic cancer. He died from the disease Wednesday at age 56.

Free Depression Screenings Promote Mental Health

The University held free screenings Thursday to educate and increase the public's knowledge of depression and mental health treatment. As part of National Depression Screening Day, the the Community Counseling Services Center at GW's Graduate School of Education and Human Development allowed students to talk privately with mental health professionals.

Dr. Monica Megivern, the director of Community Counseling Services, said that the center is a place where students do not have to feel afraid to speak openly about their feelings.  She said that she sees herself as a mentor to the graduate students who work at the center.

"Counseling is not a stigma," Megivern said. "This is a place where you can be safe.  You don't have to feel like you're going crazy just to come here."

The CCSC is a training clinic for grad students in the Department of Counseling and Human Development. Student counselors serve D.C. metro area clients under faculty supervision.

Megivern said that the clinic takes cases from individuals ranging as young as high school students with their parents to people in their 80s and even returning war veterans. Despite the taxing, emotionally draining nature of the job, Megivern said she still enjoys her work.

"We practice compassion fatigue," Megivern said. "Through that, we educate the grad students here to take care of themselves when dealing with clients."

Since the 1990s, there has been a growing trend of students seeking help for mental health problems at campus counseling centers. With the many hurdles college students face, such as freshmen being away from their parents or seniors about to head into the competitive job market, symptoms such as depression, anxiety or suicidal tendencies have made it difficult for some students to function.

Megivern noted that there is a huge gender gap in the amount of females that come in for counseling compared to men; about 70 percent are female compared to 30 percent male.

"Raising kids is still very gender specific," Megivern said. "Men are still being raised to not be very open about their feelings, almost as if they have to be given permission to open up."

Andrew Campbell, a counselor involved in the two-year program at the Center, said that there have been plenty of intense and stressful situations, especially for new students, but the job is still rewarding.

"I've had a great learning experience working here," Campbell said.  "There are lot more positives among the negatives."

Campbell, who used to teach high school and will soon be working on his dissertation, said it helps to be used to interacting with people with certain circumstances.

"I think that GW has done a good job raising awareness of this issue," Campbell said. "It helps dispel the notion that counseling is weird."

Tana Schywstell, an intern who received her bachelor's in Family Development and Human Studies, also called the job challenging and draining, but still gratifying. The screenings are a good way to get the Center's name out there, she noted.

Megivern said that for the screenings, it helps to be a genuine person and know how to sit and talk with people in need.

"You need to be able to sit with people's pain," Megivern said. "We play the part of the backseat driver at the center and make a big difference in people's lives."

Students and residents of the D.C. metro area can contact the CCSC by calling 202-994-8645 or visiting their website.

GW Hospital Raises Breast Cancer Awareness

October marks Breast Cancer Awareness month. Filled with fundraisers, marathons, and seminars, this month is dedicated to awareness of the disease and fundraising for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

George Washington University Hospital held a seminar Wednesday night to discuss its new Breast Imaging technology and the services that are available at GW's Breast Imaging Center.

Dr. Rachel Brem, director of Breast Imaging and Intervention, conversed with a group of about twenty women in GW Hospital's basement auditorium about the risk factors linked to breast cancer, truth behind mammograms and the new clincial trial study GW Hospital is conducting.

"Breast cancer is not a disease that does not impact everyone," said Dr. Brem. "One out of eight women will get it and it is the second largest cause of death among women."

Dr. Brem also spoke about the Imaging Center's clinical trial study for dense breasts. The procedure is called Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound. Compensating for the difficulty mammography has with detecting cancer in dense breasts, which is determined by the density of cells in breasts not the size of the breasts, the procedure captures multiple images within three to five minutes and reconstructs a full 3-D image on the computer.  The process is quick and pain-free with no injection or radiation, Brem said.

The trial will close in sixty days, followed by a proposal for FDA approval.

"Here at GW, 100 percent of mammograms, biopsy, and surgery are only done by physicians who do 100 percent breasts," said Dr. Brem. "My hope is that one day I won't have a job because there won't be anymore breast cancer."

According to Dr. Brem, there is no way to prevent the disease, but one can decrease the risk. "You have to be your own advocate in terms of breast cancer," she said.

Referring to the myth that leaving a water bottle in your car and drinking from it after it is heated causes breast cancer, Dr. Brem stated there is "no hard data" to prove that. On the other hand, "there is data that if you drink two glasses of wine a day you increase your risk," she said. Dr. Brem further noted that there is proof that one glass of red wine a day decreases the risk of heart disease.

She gave an additional example with birth control pills.

"Five years of taking birth control pills pre-menopause can increase the risk of breast cancer, but markedly decreases ovarian cancer," she said.

With these examples and other explainations, Dr. Brem demonstrated that avoiding risks will not prevent any disease, it depends more on what you deem important.

"Mammograms absolutely save lives," said Dr. Brem, shifting the focus of the discussion to GW Hospital's technology, "however, mammography is absolutely an imperfect examination due to the dense breast issue."

Even though the majority of the audience belonged to an older demographic, Dr. Brem mentioned the importance for young women to be informed about breast cancer for themselves and their family.

"We love the power of women," she said, "GW students have done so much for fundraising and raising awareness. We are very grateful for that."

For more information about GW's Breast Imaging Center or Dr. Rachel Brem, call 202-741-3003 or visit http://www.gwhospital.com/breastcenter

To read the article about GW surgeon Christi Teal's decision to protect herself from breast cancer, visit http://gwtoday.gwu.edu/people/asurgeonsdecision

Science and Engineering Hall Coming Soon

Construction projects are nothing new for GW students and the Foggy Bottom community. In the past decade, GW has seen the building of Duques Hall, Ivory Tower, Potomac House, West Hall and more. Now you can add another building to the long list of GW’s construction boom: Science and Engineering Hall.

Although GW has been busy building recently, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has not received new facilities in more than 50 years. Current lab and classroom space is outdated and spread across multiple locations around campus. School officials expect the new science center to boost the science and engineering program's appeal.

"Having a strong, vibrant engineering program at GW will position GW as the engineering and science hub in the heart of the nation's capital, allow us to attract the best and brightest students and faculty and help GW grow into a top tier comprehensive institution," said SEAS Dean David Dolling.

The new building will incorporate teaching labs that use new methods for hands-on learning, breakout spaces for students, as well as several highly specialized research laboratories including a three-story-tall high bay. The high bay is one of five facilities to be built in the new building and will include a crane capable of moving 20 tons of material from a loading dock throughout the building and a “strong floor and strong wall,” structures that can withstand intense material testing.

Located between 22^nd and 23^rd and H and I streets, the new building will replace the recently torn down University Parking Garage. Despite losing the parking garage, the University will not completely lose parking space as the new building will have four floors of underground parking.

In April, the University began moving UPG parkers to spaces in The Avenue’s parking garage and the Kennedy Center. The University will add 380 spaces under the Science and Engineering Hall to accompany 178 spaces under South Hall and 362 GW spaces at the Avenue. Overall the University will have a minimum of 2,800 parking spots at various locations.

Conceived in 2007, the idea for the project was approved by the University’s Board of Trustees in a unanimous vote. Before voting, the board reviewed design and cost estimates and listened to university leaders about how the complex will affect essential University functions such as recruitment, research, and learning. The demolition of the parking garage began in June of this year and will continue into the fall. When all is said and done the building should be open for use in January 2015 at a cost of $275 million. Although the University is now more than $1 billion in debt, the project will be funded by lease payments from The Avenue, contracts supporting research and various philanthropic gifts from the GW community.

Theophilus London Performance (video)

Check out this clip of Theophilus London's Sweetgreen performance shot by
Jorge Gadala-Maria:


Theophilus London Plays sweetgreen Foggy Bottom from Jorge Gadala-Maria on Vimeo.

Green: the Original Vogue. Welcome to Eco Couture

Washington, DC designer Elizabeth St. John follows the philosophy of eco couture.

Her most recent showcase was for the Art Soiree/Nuit De La Mode event at the Hillwood Estates. With a background in environmental studies and a childhood surrounded by fashion and construction, Elizabeth St. John designs bridal and evening wear and is president of the Universal Strategic Services Foundation.

Some consider fashion as something celebrities waste money on and tween girls waste time on. However, its impact on society is undeniable. There is a deeper layer to this impact that not many are knowledgeable about. Eco couture. A design philosophy that supports environmentalism and sustainable responsibility, eco fashion has been nourishing our planet way before the current green trend.

“I like the challenge of greening a business,” St. John.

Defining her collection as “Refined. Glamorous. Green,” she tries to dispel the negative connotation of green collections.

Some people may think eco fashion is just a fad. The designer considers them to be misinformed with a limited vision of green collections as recycling old pieces to new pieces.

“Couture is French for hand dressmaking,” said St. John. “There is nothing more green than doing things by hand.” Eco fashion is based on the roots of apparel production and also moving forward due to its environmental impact, she added.

Referring to her design process, St. John considers herself unorthodox. She sources her material first, such as finding a piece of silk she really likes. Then she develops a design around that piece of material.

“I actually don’t sketch,” she said, “so I do it kind of in reverse.”

To enhance her background and interest in the environment, St. John and a few of her colleagues founded the Universal Strategic Services Foundation in Washington, DC to establish green projects for businesses in third world countries.

“I used to work for conservation organizations in the Amazon for inventory on plants and animals,” she said, “and I started to miss direct hands on work with countries overseas and other subjects that are important.”

The foundation is currently developing two initiatives. First, bringing solar energy to very remote parts of the world, such as villages in West Africa, which allows them to run schools, internet, and refrigeration for medicine. Second, establishing a vocational school for women in Afghanistan “to provide life skills they won’t have other wise to support their families,” St. John said.

They are partnering with some government organizations so that these women will be hired to guarantee employment.

As for the fashion initiative in the United States, St. John remarks that the current economic situation has moved a large part of the industry’s apparel production abroad, primarily to Asia. As of late, a lot of those companies are slowly moving back to the U.S. due to the problems with production quality and shipping from Asia, according to St. John.

“I think going forward you will see more ‘Made in the USA’ labels,” she said.

St. John is a fan of the Louis XVI of France era, claiming, “The skill involved in making those pieces is just spectacular.”

She said she also likes “the clean and feminine lines of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The tailoring is timeless.”

Looking forward, St. John is very excited about her upcoming evening collection, due to premiere October 31.

“I get to be more creative and ratchet up the sexy factor,” she said.

Visit http://www.elizabethstjohn.com/ to view her collections and learn more about her work.

Iraqi Ambassador Speaks On Rebuilding

The Iraqi Ambassador to the United States spoke to an audience of students, faculty and diplomats Monday night at the Jack Morton Auditorium. His Excellency Samir Sumaidaie spent about a half hour addressing the audience about how Iraq has arrived at this point in history and his thoughts on Iraq's continued reconstruction.

The International Affairs Society and The Elliot School's Institute for Middle East Studies cosponsored the event. Elliot School Professor and former United States Ambassador Edward Gnehm introduced the speaker of honor.

Sumaidaie's speech came just weeks before he is set to step-down-from his post. He began the speech by reflecting on the history of Iraq. He also told the audience about his own life, which included growing up in Baghdad and living in The United States for 26 years, from 1977-2003, while in exile from Iraq.

"I was not prepared for what I saw when I returned," Sumaidaie said of his 2003 return to his homeland. "I did not even recognize the people as the people when I left."

Iraq has been making progress in reconstructing the country since then, according to the ambassador.

"Iraqis are beginning to feel and exercise their power of choice," he commented.

Sumaidaie spent the second portion of his speech, and the question and answer session following his talk, describing where he thinks Iraq is today. With just a few months until the scheduled removal of the last remaining U.S. troops in the country, His Excellency said that Iraq will reach its ultimate goal of becoming a strong country, but it still has challenges. Interference from neighboring countries and internal problems like corruption, violence, ignorance, education and health care currently pose obstacles on the path to recovery.

"We have a good chance but we're not out of the woods yet," Sumaidae bluntly said.

His Excellency also discussed his vision for the future of the relationship between the United States and Iraq. He explained his belief that the United States and Iraq will reach a deal before the end of the year that will keep a small number of U.S. troops in Iraq to continue training Iraqi forces. He also feels that the relationship between the United States and Iraq won't be affected going forward, even if there is a change in US presidency.

The ambassador did emphasize that he wants to see the U.S.- Iraq relationship extend beyond a military partnership.

"We need American companies to come [to Iraq]," His Excellency commented. He suggested American companies could begin to do this by establishing business relationships with Iraqi companies as a way to become more involved in the Iraqi economy.

He explained that he wants to see continued and further engagement from United States politicians, diplomats, reconstruction experts and businesses in the country.

The Iraqi people's demand for democracy has a direct link with the Arab Spring, Sumaidaie said.

"There is a feedback loop [between Iraq and the Arab Spring]. Iraq has affected the Arab Spring and the Arab Spring has affected Iraq," he said.

Following the event, the ambassador stayed to meet audience members at a reception.