J Street improvements
This fall, students should be excited to eat in J Street. It is good to see that the University has acted upon student complaints about the Foggy Bottom dining hall and made some major improvements to the system. Students can look forward to new venues, extra seating space, lower prices, healthier foods and longer hours, including weekends. With all these new options, students may actually choose J Street even when they don’t have the mandatory dining dollars.
Athletics review pushes back release of guidelines
The University delayed the release of its athletics review report, which was scheduled to go public mid-summer. This review should be a vaunted feature of our transforming athletics department, and, without it, GW Athletics will not be able to go into this year with a comprehensive strategy to develop and grow. Let’s hope these essential guidelines are provided soon.
New turf on the soccer field
Fans at upcoming soccer games on the Mount Vernon Campus will see new turf on the field, one of the suggestions provided by the athletics review committee. We are glad to see that the University moved forward with this task and completed it before the season and wish the men’s and women’s soccer teams the best of luck with their season this year.
Security review
An outside firm will assess the state of campus security to identify how the University’s security program operates. This review is a necessary evaluation of how effectively the University Police Department is protecting campus and how well prepared the student body is in case of an emergency. The results of the assessment will hopefully further boost campus safety and provide greater insight into UPD’s strengths and weaknesses.
On-campus construction
The recent construction on campus has become a nuisance for students. Sidewalks have been closed and roads blocked off. Incessant drilling often wakes students as early as the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. But despite the short-term inconvenience, students should still be excited by these campus changes. The fact that construction has finally started on the Science and Engineering Complex, the Smith center is receiving its finishing touches and a new underground garage is in the works on G Street, means we have a number of new developments to look forward to on campus.
Girl Talk
It is great news to hear that Girl Talk is the headliner at Fall Fest this year. With its traditional free food, corporate sponsorships and loud music, Fall Fest is always a good time, but some second-tier artists have plagued the welcome back event in the past. Popular DJ Girl Talk is an exciting departure from that trend.
Natural disasters
Between the D.C. earthquake and Hurricane Irene, natural disasters have really shaken up GW lately. Tuesday’s earthquake, rated at a 5.9 magnitude, rumbled through campus buildings just before 2 p.m. As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one week, students will now be able to move into University residence halls one day early because of Hurricane Irene, which may rock the D.C. area this weekend. It isn’t thrilling that the student body will bid farewell to the lazy days of summer with quivering buildings and potentially severe winds, but hopefully this means the school year will be calmer after the storms.
