Keep the tradition

The Commencement Committee reached a decision Friday to recommend keeping the Ellipse as the venue for the 1998 ceremony. Hopefully, this will act as a precedent for years to come.

George Washington University does not have many traditions, but graduation on the Ellipse is a tradition that has a place at GW, and should be allowed to continue as symbol of GW’s prestige and uniqueness.

Student activism on this issue also should be noted. Graduation is an issue that runs deep in the hearts of all students. The pride students have demonstrated pertaining to graduating on the Ellipse should never have to be taken away from them.

The Commencement Committee should be recognized for listening to student response on where Commencement should be held. Many members of the committee attended and answered student concerns at the Student Association-sponsored town hall meeting on the topic in November.

The committee also set up a student survey on GWIS and opened the committee meetings to the public, allowing students to attend. Commencement will continue to be an issue on the minds of GW students until a final decision is made on what will happen in 1999 and thereafter.

If the administration has listened to the student response on where graduation will take place, it will continue to be on the Ellipse, as this is one tradition well worth keeping.

-Alexis RiceSA director of student involvement

No ticket to ride

Your defense of Casey Martin in Thursday’s editorial (“Rules vs. right,” The GW Hatchet, p.4) is noble, understandable and completely misguided. It makes the claim that “every other golfer on the tour has an unfair advantage over Martin every day of their lives – they can walk.”

This is absolutely true. What is also true is that golf is, theoretically, a physical activity. It may not be very physical for the 70-and-over crowd that drives around on golf carts every Saturday afternoon, but it is for the professionals on the tour.

The act of walking is integral to the game, simply because all that walking inevitably adds up and takes its toll on the participants over the course of a four-day event.

Perhaps we should start making concessions to handicapped people in other sports as well. Countless football players who “have what it takes” (the assertion the editorial made for Martin’s golfing abilities) had to end their careers for fear of future injuries to the head or spine. Maybe we should let all those players back into the NFL and give them special helmets to let opposing players know they can’t hit these “special” players as hard as they would hit a regular one.

The bottom line is if Martin really “has what it takes” to play professional golf, he would be physically capable of walking the course. Since he is physically unable to so, he does not have what it takes.

-David JonesJunior

GWorld Points FYI

If you are currently on a meal plan and also have carryover points from the fall 1997 semester, please don’t worry. Your fall points balance is still available for your use. You haven’t lost any of your leftover points!

The cash registers are capable of displaying only one of your accounts at a time. Each student is set up in the GWorld system with several different accounts. Because we needed to keep your fall and spring points in separate accounts, we were only able to program the cash registers to show the remaining balance on your spring points account.

However, the system does allow us to “link” the fall and spring accounts together. So the way it works is this: When your spring points have been depleted, the system automatically will begin to debit from your fall points account.

We will continue to work with our system provider to find a way to combine these two account balances in the future so that what you see at the point of service reflects the true balance available for you to use.

In the meantime, we encourage you to call or visit the GWorld Card office if you have any questions or would like to inquire about your account balances.

The GWorld Card Office is open Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The phone number is 994-1795, or you can e-mail us at [email protected].

The GWorld Card Program and GW Dining Services thanks you for your patience and understanding.

-Michele NeyersGWorld Card program manager