The Upside to Tax Day: Free Stuff!

Given the horrible economy, many companies are having tax-day related specials/giveaways.

So save your federal return, and benefit from some promos:

• Cinnabon is giving a way free mini Cinnabons between 5-8pm

• Dunkin Donuts will give you a free donut if you buy coffee

• MaggieMoos will give you a free scoop of ice cream all day.

• McDonads has a buy one, get one more for just 1 cent on the Quarter Pounder w/cheese and Big Mac

• PF Changs will you give 15% of your bill.

• Staples will provide free copies, up to 20 pages, of your tax return

• Subway is giving away free cookies starting at 10am

Hear about any other promos? Leave the info in the comments!

The Flaming Lips To Headline National Mall Concert

The Flaming Lips will be headlining the Green Apple Festival this Sunday on the National Mall.

The festival is in honor of earth day, and starts at noon. In addition to the Flaming Lips, the festival also features emcee Chevy Case, Los Lobos, and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA).

Prior to the Green Apple Festival, hundreds of volunteers will be participating in environmentally focused service projects. Nine other cities, from Austin to Seattle, will have their own Green Apple Festival.

Are you a Flaming Lips fan? Will you be heading to the concert?

Get the SMPA a seat in the SA Senate - A strive towards equal representation

It is time that the School of Media and Public Affairs gets its much-deserved seat in the Student Association Senate. For too long SMPA students have been without a representative to voice their distinct and differentiated needs to our SA legislative body. This is not another example of SA politics, but rather, a strive towards equal representation for all facets of our University. For too long our fellow peers in the Columbian College of Art and Science have drowned out students' voices in the SMPA. As students who are part of a distinct school within GW and are heavily outnumbered by the rest of the Columbian school, we need a representative who will look out for our specific needs. 

Please fill out this petition, or join the facebook group to voice your desire for equal representation. 

The SA is an organization that does not welcome change. However, the elected officials of the SA senate are reasonable and well-intentioned students who place the well being of the University high of each of his or her priority list. We need to reach out to those Senators and talk through our issues and come to an amicable conclusion. There is no justifiable reason why SMPA should not be granted its own seat. 

According to the Student Association Constitution,

"Any degree-granting school created or redesignated by Act of the Board of trustees shall be guaranteed representation in the Senate according to the provisions of subsection A of this Section" (Article 1, Section 2, Subsection B).

SMPA offers specified degrees in Political Communication and Journalism & Mass Communication, which are not available in any other section of the University. Although Poli Comm and JMC students receive diplomas that are from the Columbian College of Art and Science, it does not eliminate the SMPA's status as a "degree-granting" school. Students were required to apply specifically into SMPA and take courses offered only for SMPA majors. This, as well as its name, the School of Media and Public Affairs (versus, for example, the Department of Psychology) states clearly that the SMPA should be entitled to its own seat. 

In addition, according to the SA's apportionment model, the SMPA fits the criteria for its own seat. According to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning at GW, in the fall of 2008, there were 291 SMPA students. The SA constitution states "One (1) Senator for one (1) to one thousand (1,000) students officially registered therein" (Article 1, Section 2, Subsection A, Part 1)

It is time to engage in a discussion with the SA. We are not here to yell and scream at the people who dedicate much of their time to our University. We are here to sit down, diplomatically, and lay out our argument. As stated in our First Amendment rights, we are free to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances" and this will be our first step in reaching our final goal. 

"Pops" has big game back in D.C.

"Pops" Mensah-Bonsu, who was an integral part of GW's 26-1 basketball team in 2006, shined in D.C. once again. Mensah-Bonsu had nine points, five steals, and 12 rebounds for the Toronto Raptors, who came back from down 13 points to beat the hapless Washington Wizards in the final minutes of Monday night's game.

Near the end of the third quarter, "Pops" made a great steal and finished with a monster dunk which is sure to make tomorrow morning's highlight reel:



And here's a video of "Pops" excelling against the Chicago Bulls on March 29:

"Take me out to the Ball Game"

Spring is here and that means summer is right around the corner. And summer means one thing to me, BASEBALL. Oh yes, it is that time of year again; grab your hat and glove and follow me out to the ballpark. Our nation's pastime returns in all of its hotdog eating, record chasing, and steroid popping glory. So, I take this time to reflect a little of what I love about baseball and what the sport means to me. 

To fully grasp the remarkable nature of the sport, go to a game. The beautiful Nationals Park is an easy metro ride away from campus (located at the Navy Yard station on the green line) and tickets can be purchased for as little as $5. It is a great way to take a break from the usual drudge of GW life and take in an evening with some friends. The Nationals are on their first home-stretch of the season and have 15 games in D.C. before the end of the semester. The Nationals will be hosting the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies from April 13-16 for a three game series and tickets are still available.

And if you are a real baseball fan, take advantage of being in DC and go see games in the nearby city. Go to Philly and see Citizen Bank Park, head up to the Bronx and Queens and see the newly minted Yankee Stadium and Citi Field (click here for a little preview of "Bailout" Field), or even take the long trip up to Boston and attempt to find a ticket to a Red Sox game. However, for my favorite stadium, you don't need to travel more than an hour out of D.C. A night game at Camden Yards in Baltimore might be one of the best things to do on a summer night. Although the Orioles are pretty bad, I love the atmosphere and camaraderie of the ball park. 

I also want to say one thing about the new Yankee Stadium. I was in New York this past weekend visiting family friends, and I took the 4 from SoHo up to the Bronx to the 161 Street - Yankee Stadium Station. I hate the Yankees. I hate everything the franchise stands for and every last one of their fans. Yet, I have the utmost respect for the old Yankee stadium and the players who walked that field. I have only been to one Yankee game in my life. It was the summer of 2006 and I saw a midweek day game between the Yankees and the Indians. It was an insubstantial game, I don't even remember if the Yankees won or lost. But the point is that I am grateful that I can say I was there. As much as I hate the Yankees, you have to respect what Yankee stadium is. You have to respect the men who stood at that plate and wore those pinstripes. The men like Ruth, Maris, Mantle, Gehrig and DiMaggio (to name a few). Even the most staunch Yankee hating fan can admit this. An old friend of mine put it beautifully.

"If you're a real baseball fan, then it's kind of ignorant not to admit that. There was a lot of history to go through that place. Especially between 1923 and the mid-60's. Its after that when Steinbrenner started buying teams that I have real despise for the franchise. I have nothing but respect for the old greats."

I caught a glimpse of the old stadium, the grass turing brown and the seats being pulled out. Its sad to see history torn down. 

Overall, make sure you get out to the ball park sometime soon. Hopefully, I'll see you there. 

Anonymous Student Takes Action Against Gelman

It is well known by now that this blog has been repeatedly critical of Gelman Library's inadequacies. Whether it be their food policy, temperature, or lack of study space, GWBlogspot has gone to bat for studious students across our campus.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, April 1st - a day most know as "the day in 2001 when Same-sex marriage became legal in the Netherlands" - GWBlogspot was one-upped.

An anonymous student brought their complaint straight to the source by taking a dump on the floor of Club G. This from the "crime log:"

4/1/09 - Gelman Library - open case

A Gelman employee reported that someone defecated on the floor.

Obviously a symbolic statement, but what does it mean? Depending on where this act took place, said student could have been trying to hold his or her study room by marking it with human feces. Or, maybe the student was simply saying that Gelman is a crappy library.

Either way, what is clear is that the student wanted to remain anonymous - but not for his or her own sake. Much like the folks behind Abolish the SA, this anonymous activist wanted this movement to be about the student body as whole - and not about personal agendas and resumes.

To GW's masked defecator - thank you for your efforts to make Gelman a better place by relieving yourself on the floor. The students wait for your next strike, and your next call to action.

BREAKING: SMPA Behind In New Media!

See update below...

The GW Hatchet recently published an article discussing the Business School's use of new media and social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

Visitors to the GW School of Business Web page can now follow academic events and updates using Twitter and Facebook, making it the latest GW school to join the social networks.

Now, most of the time when a post on GW Blogspot starts with " The GW Hatchet," one would assume that criticism is soon to follow. Not today! The bone I wish to pick is with the School of Media and Public Affairs! (Collective gasp!)

No but really, the Business School Tweets, but SMPA doesn't? The Elliot School has over 700 followers on Twitter! SMPA has nadda.

To be fair, I wouldn't describe myself as a fan of Twitter. My only tweeting experience is making an account for the sole purpose to tweet "#endtwitter" in hopes that I could destroy the monster from the inside - this was unsuccessful.

I just think it is rather ironic that the School of Media and Public Affairs, an institution which teaches the grand art of blogging and twittery has fallen to the Business and Elliot Schools in the "look at me I'm so hip and networked" internet-fad race.

To give the SMPA some interweb street cred, they do have a YouTube Channel and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 -- no 6 Facebook groups!

This section features the School of Media and Public Affairs' multi-media and social networking links. Missed an event featuring a high-profile speaker at the SMPA? Be sure to visit our YouTube site for the latest video highlights. Looking to connect with fellow classmates or faculty? Current students, faculty, and alumni are invited to join our five Facebook networking sites.

SMPA on YouTube
JMC Facebook
PCM Facebook
Master's Facebook
Faculty Facebook
Alumni Facebook
Graduate Alumni Facebook

The SMPA is a small, but proud school of political and media junkies. I know that I speak for all of SMPA when I say that we're embarassed. Tweeting is the way of the future and now we are stuck in the past.

UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, it turns out that SMPA does tweet. Yes, I know what you're thinking - this article is now pointless. But wait! Why isn't the twitter mentioned anywhere on the SMPA website. I would say a fitting place would be under the social networking and link section. Just an idea!

You can get all the SMPA tweets here: http://twitter.com/SMPAGWU

This post was written by a Sophomore in the SMPA and may be considered sarcastic when read in context.