Students to hold U.S.-Israel Solidarity Rally

In response to the suicide terrorist attacks in Israel over the weekend, the GW Student Alliance for Israel and the Jewish Student Association will hold a U.S.-Israel Solidarity Rally on Kogan Plaza Monday at 8 p.m.

“We are looking to remember the victims of the attacks and show GW’s and America’s solidarity with Israel and stand against terrorism,” JSA President-elect Jonah Zinn said. “Now more than ever, the world has no patience for terrorism, and we need to show that there is no difference between terrorism in the U.S. and in Israel.”

Two suicide bombers and a car bomb killed at least 10 and injured more than 180 civilians Saturday night outside cafes and restaurants on Ben Yehuda street, a main Jerusalem thoroughfare. All the victims were less than 20, in an attack President George W. Bush deemed “horrific.”

A suicide bomber then boarded a bus in the northern Israeli city of Haifa Sunday morning and blew himself up leading to 15 more casualties and dozens of injuries.

The rally will include student speakers and representatives from the Israeli Embassy and U.S. government. The event is co-sponsored by the Turkish Student Association, the Interfraternity Council and the Residence Hall Association.

RHA hosts Casino Night

The Residence Hall Association will give away two free vacations Wednesday night to raise money for campus housing scholarships. The RHA will host a Casino Night with free poker, blackjack, Caribbean stud and roulette games in the Marvin Center ballroom from 8 p.m. to midnight.

RHA President Noel Frame said the group will sell raffle tickets for trips for two to Miami Beach and a surprise location, raising money for housing scholarships that will be supplemented by the annual Martha’s Marathon event in the spring.

She said the RHA hopes to raise $40,000.

Students can gamble for free with play money and also win other prizes.

Frame said the RHA has raised as much as $38,000 giving away the week-long vacations to places like California and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the past.

“We are the student organization that represents student living,” Frame said. “We recognize that sometimes it’s hard to afford the cost of living in D.C., and we want to help students live on campus by raising funds.”

-Kate Stepan

GW’s Virginia Campus to celebrate 10th anniversary

As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations at GW’s Loudoun-Dulles campus in northern Virginia, the school will be unveiling new earthquake and driving simulator facilities.

A home to GW graduate courses, the 50-acre campus is unveiling one of the most modern earthquake simulators in the country that will be used to test the strength and response of “smart” structures.

“Smart” structures consist of elements like sensors and controllers that can detect and modify the response of the structure to a range of ground motion.

The simulator or shake table is capable of producing every motion that a building or structure may experience during an earthquake.

Also, a driving simulator laboratory will be opened with a vehicle donated by General Motors to conduct research on the prevention of crashes and collisions.

Students can travel to the Ashburn, Va., campus with the Foggy Bottom-Virginia shuttle which departs from Kogan Plaza at 8:30 a.m. and noon.

GW will also unveil a new name for the campus Monday.

GW and IRS sponsor taxation conference

GW and the Internal Revenue Service will co-sponsor the 14th annual Institute on Current Issues on International Taxation Dec. 13-14 at the J.W. Mariott Hotel.

Top IRS and Treasury Department officials and tax experts and members of the private sector will address breaking issues and present key perspectives on new developments in taxation.

Speakers will include IRS chief counsel nominee B. John Williams and R. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House.

-Mosheh Oinounou

Hippodrome celebrates second birthday

The Marvin Center and Student Activities Center will sponsor a birthday celebration for the Hippodrome on Wednesday with MTV.

The party will include MTV First Listen featuring the new No Doubt CD, prizes and food. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and will end with a sneak preview of “Not Another Teen Movie” at 8 p.m. in Lisner Auditorium.

The Program Board is sponsoring the movie, and tickets are available at Ticketmaster in the Marvin Center.

-Trevor Martin