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The GW Hatchet

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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News briefs

Class awards student essays and posters

Three days after the United States encountered the most severe acts of terrorism in its history, two students were honored in a celebration of tolerance and peace.
Thomas Hundley, Jr. and Sheldon MacDonald were awarded certificates and honored in a luncheon Friday for their posters and essays commemorating the life of baseball player Jackie Robinson.

Robinson was the first black American allowed to play on a major league team in 1947. Robinson is also the focus of Professor Richard Zamoff’s class titled “Race, Sports and the American Dream,” a 700-level sociology class introduced to the University as a result of a 1996 grant from the D.C. Humanities Council.

GW Alumni Project Director Erica Collins said this poster-essay competition was started by Zamoff’s class, and open to all Cherry Hill, Md. elementary and middle school students.

Students were asked to create a poster or essay depicting the life of Jackie Robinson and his contributions to baseball and more.

“Racism is ending now. Because of what he did, people are more aware of other ethnicities,” Hundley said.

MacDonald, a student at Rosa International Middle School, created “a collage of pictures and captions with a timeline that showed important parts of Robinson’s life,” he said.

Like Hundley’s essay, MacDonald’s poster complemented the theme of tolerance and equality Robinson sought to convey throughout his life.

Zamoff is inviting presenters to campus Oct. 18 to speak about Robinson. This upcoming event is sponsored by several campus organizations, including Hillel.

-Shaina Schallop

SA creates Points for Help
Students will be able to donate meal points to help rescue efforts at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon next week through a program coordinated by the Student Association.

Starting Tuesday, students can donatemoney in $5 increments at Provisions Market for bulk supplies that go to rescue workers in New York and Arlington, Va., where the Pentagon is located.

SA President Roger Kapoor said the program, called Points to Help, will continue the sense of community on campus that was created at vigils on the Quad last week.

“Points to Help is the easiest way for a student to donate,” Kapoor said. “It’s just like buying a burger, except this time, the points buy hope.”

-Kate Stepan

SAE member charged with simple assault

University Police arrested a Sigma Alpha Epsilon member early Friday morning after he allegedly elbowed a UPD officer while refusing to show an I.D.

The student was charged with simple assault but charges were dropped at arraignment because the prosecution felt the case was not strong enough, Sigma Alpha Epsilon President Andrew Hopkins said.

A Metropolitan Police report describes the man as a 19-year-old 5-foot-7-inch white male with a goatee who weighs 236 pounds. Police failed to take the student’s name.

UPD Director Dolores Stafford said a UPD officer witnessed a male and female student walking north on 21st Street early at about 3 a.m. Friday. The female student was stumbling and appeared to be “severely intoxicated,” she said.

When the officer approached the students and asked them to identify themselves, the male stood in the way of the officer, refusing to allow her to talk to the female student, Stafford said. Two more UPD officers responded and asked the student for I.D. again. Stafford said the male student told the officer he was not carrying identification and he did not have to show one.

When he started to walk away, two of the officers attempted to stop him by holding his arms. As the student attempted to break free, he elbowed one of the officers in the chest. The officer went to GW Hospital, was treated for bruised ribs and will be out of work until next week, Stafford said.

The underage female student was taken to GW Hospital for alcohol poisoning but left without being properly discharged. But, when officers saw her walking down the street later Friday, they returned her to the hospital and she is currently being processed by Student Judicial Services, Stafford said.

-Mosheh Oinounou

GW ranks in second tier

U.S. News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue, which hit newsstands last week, ranked GW in the second tier for the third consecutive year.

A school’s academic reputation, freshman retention, faculty resources, selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate are all considered in the ranking process, according to the annual ranking report.

The University ranked 50 in 1998 and 46 in 1997.

Some students said they are optimistic about GW’s future prospects in the rankings.

“I came to this school because of its strong reputation,” sophomore Lars Bildman said. “Maybe if we’re lucky, by the time we graduate it will be first tier again.”

GW scored 3.4 out of five possible points in its academic rating, an improvement of one-tenth of a point since the 2000 rankings.

Its acceptance rate remained steady at 49 percent.

A university’s academic reputation is based on a survey of presidents, provosts and deans of admission at institutions in a single category.

The top three universities – Princeton, Harvard and Yale – scored 4.9 out of 5.0 in the academic reputation category. GW has the same academic reputation as 26th-ranked Wake Forest University in North Carolina and 36th-ranked University of Rochester in New York.

Schools in GW’s “market basket” include Tulane University, ranked 46, New York University, ranked 32, and Boston University, which is also in the second tier.

One student considered his program’s ranking more important than GW’s overall ranking.

“I’m just happy that my program was supposedly ranked number 12 in the country,” said international business major and junior Rich Roloff. “I’m also happy that I’m at the school during a period of expansion that will likely boost the value of my degree later.”

Out of the top 50 schools, more than 28 percent of them had acceptance rates equal to or higher than GW. Wake Forest University (26) and GW tied for the same rate of acceptance.

– Jason Safdie

Construction complete, law school reopens

The GW Law School opened its doors Aug. 20 for the first time since $2.8 million in renovations were made to Lerner and Stockton Halls.

The school’s refurbishment was only internal, with the addition of “smart podiums” to the front of every classroom, said Paul Fucito, media specialist for the law school. Each podium includes a built-in computer for the professor to use during class, direct internet access, DVD and CD-ROM drives and a VCR.

The podiums allow the use of video conferencing and telecommunications, and faculty can now log onto the internet during class for instructional purposes.

“This enhances the learning experience of students,” Fucito said. “It brings us up to date on technology and the use of space.”

Cameras and microphones were installed in each classroom. These devices can also be used to record each lecture for future use or to teach online.

Twelve classrooms were equipped with new furniture such as larger desks and more comfortable seats, wider walkways, carpeting, new paint and hardwiring computer access for each seat.

Although the desks are not equipped for students to log onto the internet during classes, students can bring laptops and plug in their computers to type notes during class.

This is merely the beginning of construction at the Law School, Fucito said. Stuart Hall will be renovated in 2003, creating new offices for faculty and newer technology.

The original law school was built in the 1980s, said Tom Morrison, project leader for the renovation and dean for administrative affairs.

“The Law School badly needed a renovation,” Morrison said.

Morrison said the renovation planning took several months, but the actual construction took three months, between May 15 and Aug. 15. The goal of the renovation was to make the area more unified, Morrison said.

So far the classrooms have been running smoothly with no major complaints, Fucito said.

-Niki Dasarathy

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