Remember the Earth

For those of you who believe otherwise, GW does recycle. In fact, between 1990 and 1998, GW recycled an average of 14 percent of all its waste per year, making an average of $5,551 per year and avoiding a total of $221,639 in landfill fees since 1990. (Yes, it does cost money to put garbage in landfills).

While the recycling facilities at GW can certainly be improved, students need to increase their effort to recycle – far more than a mere 14 percent of our campus waste is recyclable.

So on this Earth Day, the Green Initiatives Committee of the Student Association and the Environmental Law Association of the GW Law School, with the help and support of Facilities Management, will make recycling the focus of Earth Day events at GW.

Reusable bookmarks on recycled paper with information regarding what items are recyclable and where they can be recycled on campus will be handed out to interested students. Demonstrations of new indoor and outdoor recycling containers will be displayed on the Quad, where a barbecue also will take place.

The campus events this Earth Day are intended to promote increased recycling in hopes that GW students will consider the ecological expense of refusing to recycle.

-Paige Miele
co-director, Green Initiatives Committee

Exercising fees

The front-page April 19 article “University to charge fee for wellness center,” didn’t make clear whether graduate students would be charged the mandatory fee as well.

Requiring graduate students to pay the fee raises a question of fairness. Almost inevitably, grad students would not receive the same value as undergraduates for the same money. Most graduate students live some distance off campus, often in apartment complexes that have exercise facilities. An on-campus wellness center may not be the most convenient or economical choice for them. Many grad students have multi-year memberships at private gyms and would end up paying again for services to which they already have access.

A better solution would be to offer graduate students access to the wellness center on a membership basis, similar to what is proposed for faculty and staff. Grad students who like the amenities, convenience and price of the wellness center could fully enjoy that option. And those of us who will have to repay with interest every cent charged by the University can choose to work out for free in our apartments’ exercise rooms and save a couple hundred scarce dollars.

-Christopher Kirkpatrick
GW Law School

Overlooked excellence

I believe The Hatchet did a disservice to several students by failing to recognize accomplishments that earned them Excellence in Student Life Awards. I wanted to briefly take the time to share the winners of those awards.

Larry Mills was this year’s winner of the Marc A. Zambetti Award. This award was presented to Larry for his contribution to the recreational sports program.

The first-ever winner of the Mount Vernon Award for Innovation was Jennifer Motzkin. Jennifer is the chair of the GW/MVC Activities Council and a representative on the GW Student Advisory Council.

Diane McQuail was honored as the student organization Advisor of the Year for her work with the American Islamic Medical Association.

There were five winners of the JCFS Scholarship for Student Leadership Development presented to undergraduates who have potential to demonstrate exceptional leadership based on their contributions to student organizations and student activities. These five individuals are Joseph Bondi, Stephanie Bowers, Aaron Chacker, Jenna Harju and Kristen Marie Kaczynski.

The Gail Short Hanson Outstanding Service Award was given to Zaheer Arastu for his involvement in the Neighbors Project. An AmeriCorps member, he was the coordinator of Project C.A.R.E. In addition, he has been active in the Muslim Students Association and the Violence Prevention Service Learning Program at Seton Elementary School.

I failed to mention many of the student organizations that won awards. Every honored student group should take pride in its accomplishments of the past year. -Michael Petron
chair, Marvin Center Governing Board