Colin Powell to visit GW

Colin Powell, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a GW alumnus, will unveil a plan for college students to gain frequent flyer miles in exchange for volunteer services at GW Thursday .

As chair of America’s Promise: The Alliance for Youth, a national nonprofit organization, Powell has worked to provide children with access to resources needed to become successful adults. The organization is dedicated to providing things such as safe places for children to live, proper health care and development of marketable skills.

As part of this volunteer effort, Powell will come to GW to kick off the United College Plus Volunteer Miles program, which allows students to gain frequent flyer miles from United Airlines when they perform volunteer services. The event will be held at 10 a.m. in the Marvin Center and is free to the GW community. Students must have tickets to attend the event. Tuesday, the TicketMaster outlet in the Marvin Center began distributing one ticket to each student with a GWorld card.

United Airlines is one of more than 300 corporations, nonprofit organizations, and religious and community groups that have supported Powell’s efforts in some way.

Powell kicked off the initiative in April 1997 at a rally in Philadelphia. President Clinton, former presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, and former first lady Nancy Reagan attended the rally in support of America’s Promise: The Alliance for Youth.

-Francesca Di Meglio

Navy ROTC collects toys for needy children

GW’s Navy ROTC program is coordinating the Toys for Tots collection at D.C.’s participating colleges. Collection posts have been established at Georgetown and American universities, in addition to one in the Marvin Center.

“This is something we do for ourselves to be part of the community, both in the campus community and the community at large,” said Midshipman Joshua Cavan, who is coordinating GW’s Toys for Tots program.

Volunteers began accepting cash donations and new unwrapped toys Nov. 30. Students interested in making a donation can drop off donations in the main lobby of the Marvin Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Dec. 11.

Last year, GW’s Navy ROTC raised more than $7,700 and collected more than 200 toys, Cavan said.

In the first few days of collecting this year, Cavan said volunteers have collected about $75 a day.

“We’re hoping for that to pick up,” he said.

-Francesca Di Meglio

GW offers bus trips home

The Student Activities Center is offering students from New York and New Jersey an alternative way to get home for winter break.

Jeff Dagley, senior secretary of the Student Activities Center, is organizing bus trips home for the holidays. Letters were sent to parents of students living in the Northeast in October announcing the service and its fees. Dagley said the service offers students a flexible and convenient option to return home.

Separate buses run to Metropark, N.J., and the Port Authority bus station in New York City. The buses are scheduled to depart from the Marvin Center Dec. 18 at noon and return Jan. 11. A round-trip ticket to New Jersey costs $48 and one to New York costs $58, which Dagley said is considerably less than what Greyhound or Amtrak would charge.About 90 students used this service during Thanksgiving break to go to New Jersey and another 60 took it to New York. About 20 students already have signed up for the winter break trip, Dagley said.

Many parents and students like this service because of its relatively low cost and convenience, he said.

-Alan Boal

Phi Kappa Psi holds blood drive

Phi Kappa Psi held its blood drive Monday, raising more than 40 pints of blood for the American Red Cross, fraternity presidentJim Quinlan said.

Quinlan said the fraternity purposely arranged the drive during the holiday season.

“We thought it would be a good idea to do it after Thanksgiving,” he said. “People would be in the spirit of giving.”

Quinlan said the blood drive was successful.

“I was definitely happy with the results,” he said.

He said the drive surpassed the goals the fraternity set. The fraternity wanted 50 people to sign up for donation and actually have 40 people donate, Quinlan said. But at the end of the day 41 people donated one pint of blood each, he said.

Quinlan credited his fraternity brothers for their participation in the blood drive. He said Phi Kappa Psi brothers either donated blood or encouraged others to donate. Doug Miller, vice president and philanthropy chair of Phi Kappa Psi, coordinated the blood drive.

“I was very happy. The fraternity did a good job,” Quinlan said.

Quinlan said he was told by representatives of the Red Cross that one pint of blood donated could save three lives.

Quinlan credited much of the event’s success to fellow Greek-letter organizations and other student organizations.

“We had a lot of great support from the Greek community,” he said.

-Steven Postal