To go, or not to go...that is the question.

As inauguration day nears and excitement grows, I am beginning to question whether or not I will come to regret my plans for Jan. 20. As a first-time voter and passionate supporter of President-elect Barack Obama in last year’s election, I feel that I have a real stake in this week’s celebration.
And I'm not the only one who is considering whether or not to brave the cold and the masses.

"Downtown is annoying enough on normal days--enter millions of tourists who aren't acclimated in a city that relies heavily on public tranportation. Right now the cons greatly outweigh the pros," Lucas Woods, a high school teacher and Silver Spring resident, said. "I may regret it sometime down the line, but I'll remember watching it on television warm in my apartment."

But with the city in a state of emergency and an obligation to work, it seems unlikely that I will find myself in a spot along the parade route.
I admit that after spending four years in the heart of the nation’s capitol, the prospect of missing my opportunity to witness one of the greatest moments in history is a bit disheartening. This is where my checklist of consolations comes in.

• First, between my lack of an inauguration ticket and the crushing 2 million people that will be fighting for a glimpse of our President-elect, chances are I would leave the event somewhere between unsatisfied and disappointed.
  
• Second, I am just getting healthy after a week of poor health. It’s not just going to be cold, folks. Temperature predictions are bitter thanks to an Alberta Clipper, which is a fast-moving Canadian storm system that can cause temperatures to drop by 30 degrees in as little as 10 hours, that is expected to sweep down from central Canada on Monday.
  Even “warming stations” close to the swearing-in on Capitol Hill will be providing televisions for people to watch the event.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Some_offices_museums_churches_to_stay_open_as_rest_stops_for_weary_01_19.html

This weekend I went to the American History museum and watched actors perform the likenesses of great American figures. For example, one actor dressed as Martin Luther King Jr. performed a stirring rendition of the late Civil Rights Leader’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” It was a way to participate in the celebration without necessarily being at the National Mall on Tuesday.
Despite my inevitable lack of attendance on Tuesday, I can’t say I feel as though I won’t be a part of Mr. Obama’s historic inauguration. I will be in the newsroom watching it and recording it for future generations—or out on the street documenting the reactions of others experiencing such a momentous event. I’m just as excited as any other patriot here in D.C. and I look forward to celebrating in my own way.

GW Professor's Daughter To Deliver Inaugural Poem

The Hatchet writes:

Elizabeth Alexander will recite an original poem at Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, becoming only the fourth person in modern history to be awarded the honor of reading at a presidential swearing-in ceremony. When her mother, Adele Alexander, learned her daughter would be following in the footsteps of famous poets like Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and Miller Williams, she was ecstatic.

Last semester I took Hist. 101 Civil Rights and Black Power with Professor Adele Alexander and couldn't be happier for her. Congrats, Professor.

Colonial Spirit ???????

I grew up in Los Angeles where nobody cares that the Rams left in 1994 and people are happy that the Raiders closely followed suit and left our city in 1995. In my hometown, football means Trojans vs. Bruins and everyone is invested in the college game. I grew up with a Bruins mother and a Trojans father. However, my mother's father was adamant in making sure I was a UCLA Bruin and not a (dirty) Trojan. For as long as I can remember, UCLA has held a spot close to my heart. I remember watching the UCLA v USC basketball games at Pauly Pavilion, I will never forget the UCLA v Stanford football game in 2006 where Drew Olson threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for UCLA to remain unbeaten, and the uncontested, undoubtedly, and unprecedented best day of my life was seeing UCLA's 13-9 win over USC at the Rose Bowl to knock the Trojans out of the National Championship. 

I did not go to UCLA because I wanted to leave Los Angeles and experience something new. Flash-forward to January 2009. I am a George Washington University colonial and proud of it. But, when I talk to my friends at UCLA, USC, UNC, Syracuse, UC Berkeley, University of Kansas, and even University of Washington (whose football team went 0-12 this season), they have such pride in their respective Universities. I love GW, but my passion does not come close to theirs. I have concluded, and I would love someone to challenge me on this, that this is a result of the lack of school spirit revolving around our athletic program. GW Mens Basketball, which is arguably the school's most popular team, fails to fill the Smith Center for its home games and, on average, does not even hit half of its full capacity. "Gameday" is advertised around campus with flyers and banners but I have become accustomed to walk by them. Back in December of 2008, I wanted to go to a Womens Basketball game versus the Tennessee Lady Vols. I did not make it to the game for several reasons, but the most pressing reason was that I could not convince any of my close friends to attend the game with me. BUT I only wanted to go to the game to see Pat Summitt, future Hall-of-Fame coach. I had no desire to watch the GW team. 

On unigo.com students are asked to disclose some stereotypes about GW. One student wrote ... 

GW: extremely pre-professional, career-oriented. Faculty/services: unhelpful, extremely bureaucratic. GW Students: very wealthy, little school spirit/enthusiasm.

 and when asked if those stereotypes are correct, the student replies ... 

For the most part, yes.

 

I do not have a solution in mind at this point, but I am going to try to go to every basketball home game until the end of the season, and if I figure anything out, I will let you know. 

Change we can believe in?

First, let me introduce my self, as it's my first time blogging. My name is Jason Lifton and I am the Vice President for Community Affairs of this year's student Association.

Anyway...After weeks of negative Hatchet Articles bashing the SA, is it possible that there is change in the air? Its clear that President Vishal Aswani has been the target of much criticism, but looking at the past really doesn't accomplish much if you ask me. I am not saying to forget the first semester of this year, but I AM saying that we go into the spring with an open mind.

Vishal has promised change and progress for the upcoming semester, and if he does what he says he will I'm optimistic. I hope that my optimism will stick! Vishal has promised a revised plan for next semester that will be rolled out at some point in the next month or so. I'll be sure to keep you updated on that.

In other news: WE GOT THE FLOAT IN THE PARADE! Yes, for those of you who didn't hear, GW will have a float in the inaugural parade for the first time in like 60 years, thats exciting. HUGE props to Charlie Burgoyne who helped make this happen! I have seen the design picture, and I'm not sure that I understand it but I assume thats because its lost in the CAD translation. It also seems that I'm not the only one who's lost. The Washington Post ran a story this morning about it that made me laugh at bit. Check it out.

GW makes front page on the post

Soooooo, I know I already posted about the tuesday night election activities in front of the white house BUT I thought this one needed to be said as well...

A GW kid made the front page of the Washington Post on Wednesday morning. Personally, I think it is an epic picture in general and it just so happens that he is a friend of mine but he represents all of our school on the front page of a huge national newspaper, so i thought you should probably know about it.

GW knows where to go

Pretty much everyone has loved Obama for a while now, but the real love showed around 11pm on tuesday night when CNN made the prediction that Obama would win presidency. From that moment on, not only did the screaming not stop until 3am but all the Gdubs kids knew exactly where to go... the White House.
It was said in an article that I read that the secret service had never seen anything like it and I believe them. It was an incredible experience that really does only happen once in a life time.



p.s. i know this is a little late, but GW got somewhat of a shoutout ( if thats what you want to consider it)
http://allthingsgo.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/girl-talk-930-club-1011/

"Thanks to guest writer/my co-worker Mike for going to the 10/11 Girl Talk show at 9:30 Club in DC and for doing a quick write-up about his experience. Here goes:
Aside from the audience selected exclusively from GW frat boys from the J. Crew catalogue and ironically-dressed hipsters, Girl Talk took on DC in the perfect venue."
http://allthingsgo.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/girl-talk-930-club-1011/#comments

No Laws Were Broken, Yet I Did A Very Stupid Thing

No feelings were hurt, no property destroyed, ect. Yet I did a very stupid thing as figured by the post's head title. Now what was this thing I did?

Well, it all starts out on Halloween. I saw the week before washing my clothes that I only had enough laundry detergent for one more run, so I set out to buy some more at Target. I made the trip with a couple of friends and upon getting there, I decided to purchase two large boxes instead of just one. For five minutes, they tried to convince me that just one box would suffice. Being the stubborn person that I am, I calmly explained that getting two boxes was reasonable as I did not want to make another trip in the future. They gave up and went to get their own things.

Back in my dorm room, I did the math and found out I had bought enough laundry detergent to last me through the fall of 2010.
Tide, anyone?