Students write e-mail, check schoolwork via mobile devices

Students can now check their Webmail and Prometheus on internet-ready cell phones, PDAs and Pocket PCs after the University adopted a program allowing access without computers last week.

The program is free for all students with the available equipment.

Receiving and sending e-mail and using the “Syllabus” and “Messages” sections of Prometheus are available right now, said Abrar Khan, GW graduate student and CEO of Rockville Technologies, which partnered with the University on the project. Khan said if this program is successful, the company will include more sections of Prometheus and the GW Web site.

Students log onto the the URL for the wireless Website, http://mobile.gwu.edu, from a portable device and see two choices, Webmail and Prometheus. Logging online and checking Webmail or Prometheus takes about a minute.

Rockville Technologies and the Iceland-based software company Dimon Software is footing the $60,000 bill for the program until University officials see if it is popular, Khan said.

Khan said the program should gain popularity because it is convenient and simple.

The two companies have been working together for about a year to bring e-learning to the University, making GW the first college or university in the United States to use their system.

-Julie Gordon

Naval captain to headline business event

Naval Captain Michael Abrashoff will speak at 7 p.m. in the Marvin Center Thursday as part of GW’s business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi’s professional lecture series.

Abrashoff recently wrote “It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship In the Navy,” about his famous naval career. He will discuss the business tactics he used in commanding naval ships.

Abrashoff currently consults for the Defense Department and runs his own company, Grassroots Leadership, Inc., lecturing on good management skills.
-Amanda Mantone

Hippo gets fall cleaning

The bronze GW Hippo statue in front of Lisner Auditorium got its annual bath earlier this month, when two workers spent the day making the metal animal shine.

The Department of General Services, which is in charge of grounds maintenance, housekeeping and transportation services, supports the cleaning each year.

Officials said the problem with bronze is that it changes color from outside elements.

“(The hippo) is bronze and wants to turn green,” said Andrew Baxter, one of the grounds maintenance workers in charge of cleaning. “We want to keep its nice, dark finish.”

University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg presented the river horse to the University in 1996 as a gift to the class of 2000.

The animal is known for its good luck in Washington legend, and it has become an unofficial campus mascot.
-Stefanie Jackowitz