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.

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.