GWU Medical School Accreditation Probation Lifted

Earlier this week, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the school's accreditation board lifted probationary measures against the The School of Medicine and Health Sciences'. The school had orgiginally been placed on probation in October 2008 for a variety of reasons including problems with curriculum management, lack of lounge and study space for students, and inadequate internal administrative processes. Being on probation was a sore spot for not only the highly ranked medical school but the university as a whole. With something as important as accreditation, the legitimacy of a GWU degree, the school took the situation very seriously.

To address the committee's issues, the school has created a new database system that compares information from the school's curriculum to national averages, added 6,748 square feet of new study space in Himmelfarb Library, and revamped two outdated laboratories into lounge space. Because of these changes the school has implemented the school was reaccredited for another 8 years.

It is definitely good that the school was able to work out these problems in a timely manner, however it is unfortunate that it took probationary measures for them to do it. GWU, in all of its schools should be meeting all accreditation n proactively to give its students the best education possible.

The Internet: More than a "Medium"

Today, almost everything is online. The flow of information, because of the enormous reduction in the cost of transmittion, is fast and endless. Constant news feeds are on display. Despite the decentralizing nature of the online information, institutions, the wealthy and the powerful, aim to release information that would value them strongly. But because of the vast information afloat, publicity form teh top are still very important.

As the Hatchet wrote, new staff members are being hired to GW's Office of Media Relations to gain more media coverage and attention. Even in the digital age, centralized actions are higly significant to increase name recognition: attention deficit is the scariest thing in the new media.

"This change is a positive move for the Office of External Relations," the Hatchet wrote, "but it's important the school remember that the best way to fix a wall is not simply to repaint it." On the use of new media for future publicity, they wrote that "the university will benefit from the capabilities of new media, as well as from having a staff that knows how to utilize that media to connect with current students, potential applicants, alumni and staff."

Neverthless, the Hatchet warned that "image is not reality," and "GW should rememeber that the best way to deal with a problem is not to spin it to your benefit." In the digital age, such dissemination of information must be done by changing the notion of "internet as a medium." Jeff Jarvis, the author of "What Would Google Do?" wrote:

We in the media tend to view the internet in our own image. But the internet is not a medium. Instead, as Cluetrain Manigesto author Doc Searls argues, it is a place. Think of it as a public park. You may not be selectively kept out because of your association with a race, religion ... or aggregator.

It is important to undestand this when GW consciouly aims to promote its "image" online. As Sean pointed out in this week's post, GW is a "unique school that most students chose to attend not because its spirit of tradition, or athleticism, but because its spirit of political engagement." I actually believe that it is good to have many sport events to integrate the GW community, enhancing its "spirit". I for one enjoy GW's basketball and rugby matches -- yes, there is a GW rugby team -- over the weekend to take a break from the academic work. We all need to take a break, right? But GW was my first choice for an exchange program, exactly because of its vibrant political commitment. This is the "spirit" and "image" that attracted me the most, because there was a wide and established conversation online of what makes GW special.

The new "media relations" should not simply be an interation between the surfaces of the billiard balls. They need to recognize the intra-action. No matter how hard some people try to publicize the strong sport "spirit" from the above, even people outside the GW community will ultimately find out what actually goes inside the campus, and what students think about their own culture.

GW Spirit: Some of Us Care

Ask your average George Washington University student how much they care about our athletic teams, and the answer you get won't be surprising. Apathy towards school sports is a favorite pastime among most GW students. Look around. There are those in your dorms and your student orgs who could care less about the success and failure of the Colonials basketball team. There may even be those in your classes who feel the same. Instead of blaming the school for actually caring about our basketball team, we should take a good look in the mirror. It's our fault as the student body for the lack of school spirit, especially when it's free to go to sporting events. It's like the typical excuse for not voting. "One vote won't make a difference." Instead, it's "Why should I take time out my day to go to a basketball game." To each who thinks that way, it's nice to know it's all about you.


If each of us took two hours out of our day, during a grand total of 15 days of home games over the entire year, then we might finally be able to say we have some resemblance of school spirit. But, realistically I do not expect your average, lazy GW student to want to do that. Nursing a hangover on Saturday is the more popular thing to do. However some will brave the conditions to cheer on our athletes. I commend the students who came to the game on Saturday, in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2010, and supported our Colonials against Duquesne. Even though the team lost, seeing more students than expected shows that there are those who do care.

I came to GW for the combination of the poltical experiences and the athletic experiences. And I know I'm not alone. Along those lines, I do not think the Administration tries to center "GW spirit" around basketball because it is the political speakers that get the attention. When was the last time the Washington Post ran a front page story on out basketball team? It's been awhile. Hilary Clinton and Robert Gates speaking grabs headlines, CNN coverage, along with new student interest in the school and most importantly, money.

If in rain or shine, winning streak or losing streak, GW students came out to support our athletes, then maybe the basketball team's fortunes will turn around. Home-court advantage is no good if alumni on Social Security outnumber students screaming their lungs out. We could become the next Cameron Crazies of Duke, or even just try to show the same support given by Georgetown's students to their men's basketball team. They will show up no matter how bad their teams are performing.

Demonizing the university for trying, saying that they are on a "crusade to force spirit down our throats" only shows great ignorance. Making excuses is easy, but none of us are busy enough to never go to a basketball game. Go to one, and maybe you will see that some of us care.

STOP! The World is Coming to an End

Snowmageddon, snowpocalypse, or whatever you chose to twitter-hashtag this snowstorm is coming to an end. Snow has stopped falling and now it is time for D.C. snow removal teams to take to the streets and begin a cleanup effort. If Mayor Fenty’s plan for the city to be open for Monday morning is going to come to fruition, then it is going to take more than his “750 employees working 12 hour shifts” to get it done; individuals, businesses, and even GW are going to have to remove snow from their property if the city is going to see anyting resembling regular business Monday, since by Saturday night, DC canceled Sunday's Circulator bus service and WMTA shut down everything except underground Metrorail service.

Watch a Washington Post Video of Mayor Adrian Fenty discussing snow removal:

Venturing outside Saturday afternoon was not hard at all, there was not that much ice, and the sidewalks and roads were easy to walk on. For those choosing to drive, it might have been more difficult, not only were pedestrians choosing the road over the sidewalk, ostensibly for the more compacted snow and better walking conditions, but it took a big car to take on the snowpocalypse.

What would a snowstorm be unless people on the internet decided to overplay the intensity to which the people of D.C. overreacted to the pending “snowstorm-of-doom.” On the internet you could find sites like snowpocalypsedc.com and snowpocalypse.com which (hopefully) were mocking the intense overreaction of a the city to snow.

Never fear, during the storm, UPD could be seen patrolling the streets, keeping us safe.

Snowmageddon

A snowy-haired George Washington

Following up on ShopGirl's post last week, D.C. has been hit with another snow storm. With accumulations up to 30" in Baltimore, theWashington Post's Capital Weather Gang is calling our latest snow storm, Snowmageddon, and puts it at #5 on the all-time list.

Buried Hatchet dispenser

I'm sure everyone has their fair-share of stories depicting DC's inability to deal with snow (especially for those of us from the North, where 15" + of snow is a regularity), and I'll be no exception. Last night my friends and I spent about 30 minutes trying to assist a woman whose car was stuck in the snow on 20th & H streets. My friends and I also got into an accidental snowball fight with a snowplow truck driver (vaguely reminiscent of the Snow Day plot line.)

Students outside of Townhouse Row

Saturday marked an unofficial "Snow Day," with the block of 23rd between F and H streets, littered with students frolicking in the snow. There was also an organized snowball fight in DuPont Circle, whose Facebook group had 5,000 members, and is estimated to have turned out hundreds of participants.

The AP's video of the event

All pictures Madeline Twomey

GW Spirit: Who Cares?

The administration of The George Washington University just won't give up on "spirit". They insist on marketing the school's athletic program as "lively" and as "contribut[ing] immeasurably to the GW experience, school spirit and community pride." Anyone who goes to school here knows that is quite a stretch of the imagination. Sure, when the men's basketball team wins a few games in a row, interest peaks, as well as attendance at games. But if GW's sense of school spirit hinges on the game-to-game success of our men's basketball team, then we have a spirit problem bigger than our inconsistent athletic team.

GW has tried to drum up spirit in a number of ways. Most of them are ways to create a semblance of spirit by coercing large groups of students to attend games. For example, fraternities and sororities are awarded "points" (I don't know what the points mean) for attending certain games. Usually they leave at halftime. Another example is Colonial Challenge, a program that pits students and student organizations against each other in a Spirit Olympics. Groups are bribed to turn out to GW athletic events by being promised money for their organizations, whereas individuals compete for the chance to win cash prizes and GW gear. Of course, participation is highest in these programs when the men's basketball team is winning.

The administration at GW has to realize that this is a unique school that most students chose to attend not because it's spirit of tradition, or athleticism, but because its spirit of political engagement. GW is positioned to posses a special brand of "spirit" in which students feel most united and proud of their school when the Lisner Auditorium hosts an event featuring all of the living Secretaries of States, or we secure First Lady Michelle Obama as a commencement speaker. Most of the students I know are most excited about going to school here when big political speakers and events occur on campus, not when the men's basketball team wins a few games in a row. Students camp overnight in line for hours to get tickets to basketball games, but they will for an event featuring Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

If the school wants to continue on their crusade to force spirit down our throats, they should at least attempt to foster spirit in an area that GW students are actually interested in, rather than insisting that the foundation of a school's sense of pride needs to come from it's sport teams.

The trickle down tuition plan

There was an important article in the GW Hatchet this week detailing the salary increases that several of the GW professors and administrators got this year. Unfortunately, these aren't the types of stories that people read in the Hatchet, but they are the ones that are the most important to the student body. According to the Hatchet, there were very large increases in salary for both teachers and administrators.

The University's four vice presidents saw varying increases in their salaries over the time span, with Executive Vice President Donald Lehman seeing the largest increase - 52 percent. John Williams, the vice president of health affairs and University provost, had the highest salary of vice presidents in 2007, earning $772,500, according to the report.

I understand why teachers get an increase in salary. It is necessary to pay them a comparable rate to other Universities in order to retain top-level talent. However, I don't see how these administrators can justify getting a pay raise of up to 52% as is reported in the article. In a report by CampusGrotto.com, GW was listed as having the third highest tuition in the entire country, and very near the top:

College Cost
1. Sarah Lawrence College $54,410
2. New York University $51,991
3. The George Washington University $51,730
4. Bates College $51,300
5. Skidmore College $51,196
Source: http://www.campusgrotto.com/colleges-with-the-highest-total-cost.html


Teachers are the ones in the classrooms, and they are the ones that should be seeing increases in pay. While administrators do important work at our school, I don't see how the administration can possibly justify deciding to raise tuition and then turning around and awarding themselves a portion of it.

The cost of college is one of the biggest inhibitors in our higher education system right now, and these astronomical increases in administrator salaries are a step in the wrong direction.