GW Students Meet Google

Tonight, our class went to Google's DC headquarters. More details coming, but here is a great class picture -- courtesy of Johanna Shelton, Senior Policy Counsel & Legislative Strategist for Google:

Ahem, it's with sadness and embarrassment that I point out that the above picture was taken with Google's new Nexus One phone. Here is the picture from my iPhone:

Anyone want to buy a used iPhone?

[Update] Get Rid of The Graduation Fee!

We're getting there! This week the Facebook group to end the graduation fee surpassed 60 members but we can't let the momentum fade. Please join the efforts of many of your fellow classmates and alumni who are sick of the GW fees. Invite your friends to the group and share the petition to help us get over the 100 person mark.

Most importantly, be sure to SIGN THE PETITION yourself!!! This campaign will only be effective if we have enough students to convince the University that it's laundry list of fees is actually hurting the University in some other way. So far the majority of people who strongly oppose the fee are much less likely to give back to the University as alumni. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.

Help us get GWireless in City Hall!

I wish the dictionary had a definition for “Individual High Speed Internet”. If it did, I am sure that City Hall's wireless would not fit the description. Even if that's what GWU promises on it's website.

The truth is that even if GWireless is problematic across campus, there is a huge difference between problematic wireless and having no wireless at all.

Since the wireless signal only reaches as far as the lowest floors in the building, the ones located in the upper floors are forced to used the much hated ResNet cables.

People are tired of tripping with the cables. Sick of inviting people over to work on class projects, but not having Internet for their guests.

If you are sick of GWireless too, or just empathize with this issue, please join our facebook group and sign the petition there!

We will email President Knapp after we reach the 150 member benchmark, and hopefully reach our goal soon thereafter.

$12,250 a year make real “Individual High Speed Internet” more than affordable. Let's make it real!

Join the group now!

Free Bikes for GW Students

Are you a GW student who would be interested in access to a bike for no charge? Sign this petition and join this Facebook group to encourage GW to establish a system where students could check-out bicycles for free. Giving students free access to bikes would result in a healthier and greener campus. It has been proven that more bicycles on city streets actually decreases the likelihood of accidents, and could very well make the Foggy Bottom Campus more pedestrian friendly. The cost to the school would be nominal and the potential benefits to the environment and the general safety of the student body is incalculable.

Know What it Takes to Graduate

Do you know what it takes to graduate? Well, you might not. There is a new facebook page launched this week promoting clarifications in the GW bulletin, the official list of requirements for GW students.
Each year the bulletin in reprinted to reflect changes in the curriculum, put copies from previous years are unavailable for members of those classes to find out what it takes for them to fulfill their requirements. This page, and their website KnowWhatItTakesToGraduate.org seeks to solve this problem by printing annotated editions of the bulletin with all the changes going back seven years, and making the full bulletins for those seven years available online.

The facebook page states:

Do you know what it takes to graduate? Don't wait until its too late! The George Washington University Bulletin is YOUR official contract with the University. Make sure you know relevant information to YOUR graduating class, not the freshmen!

Photo Credit 1

Good Stuff Eatery: a Review

Last weekend, while I was home celebrating Easter, my friend traveled to Capitol South and ate at Good Stuff Eatery, a place I had never heard of.

Coincidentally, the Hatchet wrote an article about the same fast food restaurant on Thursday. The two incidents sparked my interest, so when my mother and sister were in town this weekend and I was figuring out our dinner plans, I decided we should check it out.

The restaurant is located on the 3rd Street and Pennsylvania Ave, S.E., a few blocks from the Capitol and close to the Capitol South metro stop. Convenient for sure, with a post-dinner tourist stroll built in.

Good Stuff Eatery is a burger joint. They serve burgers, fries, chili, salads and milkshakes. Chef Spike, Chicago Top Chef contestant, created the restaurant with his family to serve fast food done right. Their website says they serve, "handmade burgers, hand-cut fries and handspun ice cream" made from the "freshest ingredients."

The Hatchet also quotes Catherine Mendelsohn, Spike's mother and director of operations as saying:

We are very passionate about great food and the power of community and the freshness of our local ingredients.

Chef Spike can be seen handling every aspect of the family-business--in the kitchen, putting up signs, etc.

My meal was delicious. I ordered a chili & cheddar cheese burger. To be fair, I am not the biggest burger person, having never had one before the age of 16. But, if my critique doesn't seem trustworthy, my mother, the pickiest of burger-eaters, left very happy and noteably full.

With four people who ordered: a beer, two shakes, fries, fried onions, a cup of chili and three burgers, the meal cost us only about $50, being an affordable alternative for GW students who are looking to get off campus and eat something other than Potbelly's for once.

The owners have recently purchased the space next door to Good Stuff Eatery and are turning it into a pizza place, called "We the Pizza."

The Hatchet also reports that the restaurant is looking into expanding into other areas of D.C. Here's to hoping they make it to Foggy Bottom. Check out their menu above and enjoy!

"Please pack up your knives..."

Word on the street is that Bravo's Top Chef Season 7 has begun filming in our very own district...

Earlier this week, Politico posted "'Top Chef' Films First D.C. Challenge," revealing that the first episode had been filmed in Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium off of Constitution Avenue.

In such a political town, it's important that the tasters represent the city, right?

According to Politico, Luke Russert, David Chalian, and Karen Finney were among those invited to sample the tasty dishes. Even Karl Frisch, a familiar face of Professor Green's Politics & Internet Class (SMPA 194), was at the event.

As Metrocurean has pointed out, D.C. has already had its fame on the show with famous contestants such as Carla Hall of Alchemy Caterers and Spike Mendelsohn, of the aforementioned Good Stuff Eatery.

Keep your eyes out for sighting of Top Chef Head Judge Tom Colicchio and Top Chef Host Padma Lakshmi in the area!