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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

News Briefs

IAS to host Middle East peace forum

The GW International Affairs Society will hold a community forum, Prospects for Peace Sept. 19 in Funger Hall 103. A panel of experts will speak on the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations in the midst of current peace talks, according to a University press release.

The panel will also discuss the status of the political, economic and social situation in the region.

Speakers will include Dr. Michael Hudson, director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, GW Professor Walter Reich and Jake Wallace, director of the Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs at the State Department. Representatives from the Israeli Embassy and the Palestinian Liberation Organization are also scheduled to speak.

We’re hoping to pack Funger 103 with some people who know a lot about and can talk about the issues surrounding Middle East peace, and maybe some students who don’t know a lot about it at all, said junior Daniel Loren, IAS chairman.

Co-sponsored by the Arab Students Association, Jewish Students Association and Muslim Students Association, the event will feature a reception with food and beverages following the forum.

We kind of wanted to try to make this a little less run of the mill, Loren said. It’s a very optimistic forum in that we’re assuming peace and what that peace will mean.

The panel will mirror a similar event organized by IAS last semester during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests, Loren said. Loren said the group hopes to continue to hold discussions about newsworthy events twice a semester. The event begins at 7:30 p.m.

Conference addresses classroom behavior

GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development will host the annual New Directions conference Sept. 23. The conference theme will be Behavior Problems in the Classroom: Challenges and Options, according to a University press release.

Dr. Iris T. Metts, superintendent of Prince George’s County public schools, will deliver the keynote address, according to the press release.

Her speech, titled A Superintendent’s Perspective on Behavior Problems in the Classroom, will offer the perspective of a leader in the 17th largest school district in the nation, encompassing 185 schools, 14,000 employees and 129,000 students.

Intended for educators, graduate students and new teachers from kindergarten to college levels, the program will advance knowledge, understanding and practical applications of behavior management in classrooms, according the press release. Participants will hear, see and experience current thoughts and practice for managing disruptive student behavior.

The event, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will feature GSEHD faculty and students presenting seminars on behavioral issues. Guest panelists, including faculty and teachers from area colleges and local school districts, will also share their knowledge and experiences.

-Kate Stepan

Alarm evacuates Thurston HallResidents evacuated Thurston Hall late Wednesday afternoon after a fire alarm sounded.

University officials declined to comment on the cause of the alarms, but said that the mandatory building evacuation was not a drill.

University Police officers, who ushered students out of the building, said residents did not take the alarm seriously.

They were just all joking around, said a UPD officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They took their time and laughed off the alarms.

Some students blamed congested stairwells for their slow evacuation, while other joked about the timing of the 4:20 p.m. alarm.

If there was a real fire, we never would have gotten out, freshman Katie Mangiacapra said. There was mass confusion. For a while, we weren’t even moving in the stairwell.

Freshman Jessica Meller, who lives on the sixth floor, was reading a newspaper when the alarm went off.

It took me about forty-five seconds to leave my dorm room, she said.

But when she arrived at the stairwell, Meller says she was scared.

There were a lot of people in the stairwell. It was so slow, she said. It took a long time to get out of the building.

-Eric Daleo

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