Rove Speaks At CR Event

Karl Rove, Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff under former President George W. Bush, told the College Republicans on Friday that this year's elections were a referendum from independent voters on current president Barack Obama's policies.

Rove spoke to the College Republicans at a private event held at the Jack Morton Auditorium about the results of Tuesday's midterm elections, and what they showed about the college-age demographic.

Rove explained the results of Tuesday’s elections by providing statistics about the voting electorate, by ideology, age, and issues. Rove claimed that in the 2008 elections, the turnout among young voters aged 18 to 24 years old was 12 percent, while this past Tuesday, turnout for the same demographic was 11 percent. He also stated that more individuals from the 18-to-24-year-old age demographic voted Republican on Tuesday than in 2008.

A VIP meet-and-greet reception with Rove was held before the event for members of the College Republicans who had campaigned for local Republican candidates and volunteered with College Republicans' events throughout the last few months.

In a question and answer session moderated by the College Republicans Vice Chairman Will Frey, Rove reminisced on his years as a College Republican. He said it was a memorable experience where he traveled the country, meeting future legislators such as Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Rove campaigned throughout the South to become National Chairman of the College Republicans.

Rove promoted his book, Courage and Consequence, at the event by signing copies and often alluding to a few chapters during his speaking engagement.

Dominic Tierney Speaks to Elliot School about the American way of War

We love to fight, but we hate to clean up. This was the message derived from keynote speaker Dominic Tierney in his lecture on American thought on war surrounding his new book “How We Fight: Crusades, Quagmires and The American Way of War.” Tierney, a political science professor at Swarthmore College, described our addiction to regime change yet our disgust of nation building conflict.

Looking back at our “great wars” such as the Civil War, and World War 2, Tierney pointed out that, though multiples more people died, and there were many more civilian deaths, the United States found huge support for the troops. He contrasted this to our “dark wars” in countries such as Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines that led to massive public rejection and disgust. Why? Because, all of the ”dark wars” consisted of the United States attempt to implement democracy or, in other words, attempting to build nations. Tierney argued that Americans need a defined enemy and a clear plan, which becomes increasingly difficult when the enemy is the diplomatic target.

Former GWU President to Serve on Gray Transition Team

After an unsurprising victory in the DC mayoral election Tuesday, Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray unveiled his transition team today and included a name familiar to many GWU Students: Stephen Joel Trachtenberg.

Trachtenberg, the predecessor to current GWU president Steven Knapp, was selected alongside the president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, Barbara Lang, to advise the Mayor-Elect on issues of economic development. The pair were instructed to immediately address the District's soaring unemployment.

Trachtenberg, now 73, was the 15th president of the university from 1988 to 2007.

The 5th Avenue Deli: ‘Clean,’ ‘High Quality’ Food from a Friendly Face

A Lifelong Businessman Faces the Challenge of his Career Operating a Kosher Deli
“I was a businessman in my retirement,” said owner Fred Boldaji, “but they called me up and offered me a challenge.”

Three years ago the George Washington University didn’t have a kosher restaurant on campus. Even today, many students still don’t know the 5th Avenue Deli exists.

“Jewish kids come by and say ‘we didn’t know you were here,’” Boldaji explained.

But things are changing for the solely certified kosher restaurant on campus.

“We started off slow, but we’re doing better and better each month,” the owner stated.

The strategy is simple: if one person has a good experience, Jewish or not, kosher or not, he or she will come back.

Hundreds of Thousands Gather For "Rally to Restore Sanity"

Over two hundred thousand people gathered this Saturday at the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear", a rally hosted by John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. People came from all over the country to see the comedians put on a show in which they ribbed modern journalists and politicians while satirically arguing with each other. The show itself was apolitical, however, many political protesters demonstrated in the crowd and around the rally, especially at the Fox News truck.

Solid blocks of people stretched back along the national mall, far beyond the jumbo-trons set up for viewers. People at the back of the crowd were forced to strain their ears to try to hear the performance. GW freshmen Jim Crudele describes that he could "barely hear, from the distance and the ambulances that drove through the crowd every ten minutes". Even so, the crowd stood for hours listening to the hosts and various musical guests ranging from The Roots to Kid Rock.

The crowd, though mostly just normal audience members, was dotted with those dressed up or carrying signs. These people ranged from absurdest to political, with signs about tights not being pants and legalization of marijuana standings side by side. But as a whole, the event remained non-partisan with most costumes being just for fun.

As comical as the event was, it ended on a more serious note, with Stewart articulating the need for taking media with a grain of salt and embracing bipartisanship. After two more musical numbers, the crowd began to disperse, entertained, but sore after hours of standing crowded against each other to hear a message of sanity.

BREAKING: Michael Bloomberg, NYC Mayor, to be Commencement Speaker

GW Today is reporting today that GW has officially announced that Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, will be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2011.

According to the press release, Mayor Bloomberg will be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service before an assembled crowd of 25,000 graduates and guests in May.

Mayor Bloomberg earned a Bachelor of Science from Johns Hopkins University and his M.B.A. from Harvard University.


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WRGW News Midterm Election Polls

On November 2^nd millions of Americans will go to the polls to cast their ballots in the 2010 Midterm Elections. For students here at the George Washington University, however, many have and will be mailing out absentee ballots. Over the course of the week beginning Sunday October 24^th, WRGW News conducted an unscientific poll of students here on campus, tabulating their opinions and how they will be voting in the upcoming election.

The surveys were dispersed among all undergraduate students, 169 in total, and of those students, 51 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 15 percent consider themselves Republicans, while 34 percent are independent, nonaligned, or none-of-the-above.

Much has been made recently about an enthusiasm gap among Democrats and Republicans. Our polling shows that 80 percent of Republicans will be voting, with the Democrats trail five points behind at 75 percent. Interestingly, only 60 percent of Independent voters will be casting ballots.

Party loyalty remains strong; 98 percent of Democrats will be casting a ballot for their party, while 95 percent of Republicans will remain loyal too.

The most telling results, however, comes from the Independent voters. While, Democrats have a modest lead, yielding 35 percent of Independent support to 27 percent for the Republican Party, 38 percent of support will go to a third party candidate.

Polling was conducted October 24-28. Of the 169 students polled, there were 51 freshman, 53 sophomores, 37 juniors, and 28 seniors. This poll was conducted by WRGW News associates Jeff Jacobson and Michael Fische, with assistance from WRGW News associate Ahna Olson, and GW Mitchell Hall resident Erika Grohoski.

Public Transit Advocate Calls for Second Foggy Bottom Metro Entrance

Source: WMATA

Highly influential DC Transit advocate David Alpert, Editor-in-chief of the popular transit blog Greater Greater Washington, has called for a second entrance to the Foggy Bottom Metro station to be built at the corner of 22nd and I Streets.

The construction of GW's new Science and Engineering Complex on the adjacent block provides GWU with an opportunity to begin construction on the potential mezzanine of the new entrance, says Alpert, as plans for the new building already require digging down several stories. In addition, GWU has already agreed to reserve the location of the current women studies building for a second entrance when Square 77 (the block on which Rome, Phillips, and Smith Halls now stand) is eventually redeveloped.

Alpert notes that overcrowding at the Foggy Bottom station is an important issue when considering GWU's continued growth.  The station is the busiest in the system with only a single mezzanine, and plans already exist to add an additional entrance to Rosslyn, the second-busiest in the category.

With a stretched budget and a host of other capital projects on its plate, WMATA is unlikely to find public funding for the additional entrance, a problem that Alpert suggests could be solved by seeking money from the developer, GWU.  Whether or not the university would be open this additional expense, however, has yet to be seen.

More information on WMATA's 2007 study on a second entrance can be found here.

President Knapp Holds Office Hours

On Tuesday, October 19^th, President Steven Knapp held a second session of office hours this year at his office in Rice Hall. Several students arranged a ten-minute appointment with the Office of the Dean of Students in order to address general, as well as personal, concerns from a student or group of students.

President Knapp has several objectives to holding the office hours.

“[Office hours] offer an opportunity to talk to students one-on-one in ways that are very different from a setting where I’m meeting with a large group or at a reception,” Knapp said. Knapp called the office hours a “two-way streak,” saying they give him “feedback and guidance” on the university’s operations and additionally allow a student’s specific questions or concerns to be resolved quickly. Since taking the position of president of the university, Knapp has increased the number of office hours he has held during the academic year by holding office hours during the summer season.

Students offered suggestions and concerns about 4-Ride, EMeRG, the undergraduate law review and a student-run Haiti project. Knapp recalls hearing concerns about student art programs during office hours in his early years at the university, which later evolved into an entire arts center in West Hall. Knapp also hears about concerns through the Student Association (SA) by meeting with SA President Jason Lifton and SA Vice President Rob Maxim on a “regular basis.”

“Office hours have been a real resource [to my office], and expanding the number of office hours was a good decision,” Knapp said.

President Knapp will be holding office hours Wednesday, November 10^th from 3:30pm to 4:30pm and Wednesday, December 8^th from 10:00am to 11:00am. Students can sign up at the Office of the Dean of Students in Rice Hall, Suite 401. For more information, call the Office of the Dean of Students at (202) 994-6710.

BREAKING: Tornado Watch issued for DC

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding counties in anticipation of severe storms forecast for later tonight.  The alert, issued by the weather service at 8:09pm, was sent out across D.C.'s emergency alert system twenty minutes later.

D.C.'s emergency management agency has said the watch will be in effect from 10pm tonight until 3am tomorrow morning.  This is in addition to the Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service earlier this afternoon which warned of the possibility of storms with potentially damaging winds striking the city as late as 4pm Wednesday.

A tornado watch, unlike a tornado warning, is a bulletin advising the public that the conditions amicable for the appearance of tornadoes exist.  Warnings are issued in the event that a tornado's existence is confirms.

Stay with WRGW for the latest.