Homeless After Graduation?

Many GW seniors are doing what university seniors across the country are doing right now, looking for jobs and a place to live after graduation, as a GW senior I am no exception. I know I am staying in D.C. for a little while after graduation to finish off a lease in an off-campus apartment but after that I need to go look for something new. For all the education we get at GW there is nothing in picking an apartment, you have a few choices for on-campus living and if you receive financial aid which includes housing you do not even have the opportunity to move off campus.

If you are looking for something in the D.C. area after graduation you can spend weekends looking at apartments that meet whatever criteria you decided on. For students who are moving elsewhere, either for a job or to continue their education the task is even harder since they are not able to spend part of their time visiting apartment buildings.

GW does provide some resources for students who live off campus, there is the Office of Off-Campus Student Affairs which offers a guide on "Finding Your New Home", and students can ask older friends about where they live, but there is no institutional framework for moving students off campus so they can find a real apartment if they choose. Instead of forcing upperclassman who are dependent on their financial aid packages to live on-campus, why not transfer that into a credit which they can use for any apartment of their choice (provided they show proof). Students would get the valuable real-world experience which GW boasts giving its students, and on-campus housing would be available to more underclassman.

Given how things work at GW, does anyone think this will ever happen?

Green Spaces

GW officials have announced that the 'green space' behind Guthridge, South and Strong residence halls will be completed to a certain extent by finals. Though it will not be completely finished for students to enjoy this summer, it is a symbol of the green credentials of GW.

John Ralls, special adviser for community and outreach in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Treasurer, said in an interview with the Hatchet:

"The project will green the area, both by providing open green space and sustainable features,"

For me personally, I love the fact that we can live in a city campus but still have open green areas to hang out in. For people who have been walking through Kogan the last few weeks of nice weather, it is obvious that people enjoy the option of getting outside and enjoying the sun. This new 'green space' will increase these options, maybe even dragging people away from playing on their computers in their dorms!

For the First Time, The GW Patriot Speaks the Truth

While browsing through the various news sites and blogs about the GW and DC community, I came across an article on The GW Patriot. The main point the author, Dan Keylin, is trying to make is the ridiculousness of the activism campaigns. I know that no good will come of criticizing the very assignment in which I participated, but I feel I must also speak the truth. And I know I am not alone in my thoughts. As well, I am expressing my agreement with the Patriot's article, which bashes the very site I'm writing this for.

The second paragraph of the article pretty much sums up every thought I've had while running my activism campaign.

He makes his students create ridiculous activist-oriented facebook groups begging GW students to join so they can get an 'A' in the class. Some of the groups created include: "Free Bikes for GW Students," "Help us Get GWireless in City Hall," and "Let Me Swim." If "Professor" Green's intention to make students do humiliating assignments and annoy 99% of GW, he's succeeded. How is making facebook groups and begging students to sign a petition dependent on someone receiving an 'A' at a school like GW? That sounds pretty junior college to me, and I'm sure it's pretty demeaning to the dignity of the students in the class, who I'm sure are capable of much more useful and legitimate academic activities.

While there are facts wrong in the piece, such as saying that Adam Green works for MoveOn.org, I have no problem with the opinions expressed.

I know most of my fellow students in the Internet and Politics class are still actively engaged in their campaigns. I am not. I ended mine last week, as nothing will ever come of changing dining through student activism. We do not have a large number of emails from which we can reach out and convince students to take part in a movement. We cannot test emails to see which work, and certainly not to see which raise the most money. I'd be willing to bet that the PCCC has failed in more than a few of its campaigns. When that happened, they just moved on to the next one. We don't have that kind of luxury. One or two unlucky breaks, and the best we can do in the class is 'average.' Even if we did gather support, forming a large student base doesn't matter at GW. Does anyone think that a couple thousand students voicing their desire for change will pressure an administrator to do anything? This university is so restricted by red tape that the bureaucratic problems of the federal government pale in comparison.

I guarantee that not a single one of the current activism campaigns will reach its ultimate goal.

Change at GW is a pipe dream.

You Might Not Graduate

As the academic year winds down, everybody is busy with papers and finals and understandably are not focused on what happens next year. And while it may seem far away the Fall 2010 Semester is closer than you think (and Summer 2010 is even closer) and everybody needs to know if they are working towards their graduation requirements, and checking that is harder than you might think.

In the Columbian College, if you had a balance sheet printed as a sophomore you cannot EVER get another one printed, they just scribble on the old one and it becomes hard to understand. You need a C- in all 100 level class required for you major (in some cases, not all, and there are departmental requirements which might supersede this one). The GW Bulliten outlines the requirements for each department, but sometimes requirements change and you do not know what you need since only the requirements for the newer students are listed and YOUR contract is for the requirements when you declared you major (in some cases students are urged to use the new requirements if it is possible).

What does this mean for you, the student? There is no uniform list of requirements, there is no easy way to access what you have done and what you need to do when things keep changing and you cannot access a copy of the older requirements.

There are people trying to change this. Students are rallying in a facebook group and online at Know What It Takes To Graduate to get the back editions of the bulletin printed so that every student at the University knows their requirements, this website and facebook group have a simple, and inexpensive solution to the problem

• GW Administrators will publish the next edition of the GW Bulletin with annotations of all changes made within the last 7 years
• post all Bulletin’s from the last 7 years online in PDF format.

Great News from the 4-Ride Front

I have good news for those of us who believe 4-Ride needs to be improved: WRGW News did an interview recently with incoming SA President Jason Lifton, who had this to say about inefficiencies in 4-Ride services:

Lifton also discussed methods for improving campus security, addressing inefficiencies in 4-Ride and general safety concerns around campus.

“I think that the simple solution for long wait time is more 4-Ride vans,” Lifton said in response to many students who have reported waiting upwards of 45 minutes for a 4-Ride van to pick them up. “That said, I’m not sure about the feasibility of that immediately.”

This is good news not only because he agrees that there are efficiency issues with 4-Ride, but also because he offers, coincidentally, a solution also offered on the "Sick of Waiting Around for 4-Ride" Facebook group, one of two campaigns created by GW students who have expressed frustration with the way 4-Ride currently runs.

What he says about the solution's immediate feasability is an important point: vans aren't cheap, and it will take a lot to convince the administration to utilize funds for this purpose.  But change, as we have so often been told, isn't easy: it will take a lot to show the GW administration that there is an overwhelming demand for an expansion of 4-Ride services.

Want to join in the effort?  Sign the petition and join the Facebook group - don't forget to invite all your friends!  We will be presenting the petition to President Knapp once we acquire a sufficient number of signatures.

With your help, we can ensure that future GW students will have an efficient and expansive 4-Ride fleet to keep them safe.

Students care

“Why do you care about this issue?” is one of the questions students have to fill in when signing the online petition to get Gwireless in City Hall.

It's hard to tell how much people care about an issue just by the amount of people that join a facebook group. Did they join because they were friends with the creator? Because she or he begged them to? Do they care only slightly about the problem, or do they care deeply? There are probably all 4 types of people in our groups.

“Help us get Gwireless in City Hall” now has 113 members, some of whom I know; some of whom I've never heard of.

But the numbers aside, there are people who really do care and need a solution to this problem.

Diana Sanchez, who currently lives in City Hall, remarked:

Because Gwireless is key to getting homework accomplished. With roommates around, sometimes you can't both work in the same room, but we're forced to since we only have internet access in the living room. It was an annoying and ridiculous problem to have all the year, and even if I don't reap the rewards of this petition, hopefully others will.

Bradley King, a future resident, shared a similar concern.

Wifi is a major part of my academic due process when it comes to assignments and projects. The fact my future dorm may lack this concerns me deeply, wrote King.

All in all, there are students who care and find the lack of a Gwireless connection that reaches all the floors in City Hall a real problem. Those are the students these facebook groups address.

The fact that these groups were created with the initial goal of getting an A in a class doesn't undermine the legitimacy of our causes. The fact that we are all campaigning at the same time may be counter productive for us, and the fact that we all use this platform may annoy some readers, as some of the comments on my last blogpost suggest. But we are still addressing real problems at GWU. And there are students who do care about them.

It's not about glitter, or numbers in a group. It's about the people with real concerns and testimonies, and the people who empathize and click “join” or sign up.

ABP Overcharged GWorld... Surprised?

This week, The Hatchet reported that the Au Bon Pain in the Shops at 2000 Penn overcharged students by more than $7,000 dollars on their GWorld cards.

The story said that the overcharges occured between January 2 and March 15, and that GW University officials believe it was unintentional.

According to the article,

Ed Frechette, senior vice president of marketing for Au Bon Pain, said earlier this month that the overcharging was the result of an interface issue with BbOne, the system provider for GWorld cards.

"The problem was that GWorld card swipes resulted in erroneous 'transmission failed' notices," Frechette said. Cashiers at the franchise swiped the cards a second time after seeing this notice, only to later find "the first swipe did, in fact, go through, thus the duplicative charges," he said.

Do students really take the responsibility of looking at the totals being charged to their cards? Or do they just swipe and go? We must learn financial responsibility. Kudos to those students who filed reports with the university police about the overcharging.