Serving the GW Community since 1904

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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Letters to the editor

Remove barrier

As a former study abroad adviser, I fully understand the challenges of keeping on top of the hundreds of study abroad programs that exist – all with varying degrees of academic quality, student support services, safety records, etc. Study abroad offices are frequently understaffed and many institutions view non-affiliated study abroad programs as a drain on revenues – so it may seem to make sense to cut back on the number of programs students can participate in.

That said, no one program (or even 60 or 100 programs) is going to fit every student, nor should it.

Students study abroad for a million different reasons – to take classes in their major, to study a foreign language, to travel, to do an internship, to explore a completely new academic area. They want to study in England, in Ghana, in Singapore, in Brazil – or even on a boat that will stop at ports on every continent. Some students want to take classes similar to what they would take at GW, with other Americans and in comfortable surroundings. Others are more adventurous and want to enroll directly in a college abroad, taking classes in a foreign language and living with a host family. Still others want to do independent research, directing their own studies and traveling where their interests take them. These can all be valid academic experiences and should be options for qualified students.

I encourage GW to reevaluate their new policy on study abroad. It is more important today than ever before to encourage undergraduate students to participate in activities that expose them to other languages and cultures and allow them to develop the new perspective and independence that comes from living in a foreign country. Barriers to study abroad should be removed, rather than built.

-Heather Cole
Class of 1996

Confusing issues

Last weekend’s rally against the war in Iraq turned out to be a free-for-all gathering for anyone with any issue that they feel should be written on a piece of paper. For some reason people cannot seem to differentiate between issues; not everything is connected. These isolated rallies, that seem to be all too frequent, can be recognized by the title, “No War in Iraq.” I cannot attend any of these rallies. Regardless of how I feel about the war in Iraq, I cannot take part in order to show my opinion on the war in Iraq because I have to deal with endless controversy over my support for Israel. Somehow, opposition to the war in Iraq has become synonymous with opposition to Israel.

These are two very different issues, which the story (“Protesters March on D.C.,” Oct 28, p.1) does a sub-par job of expressing. The United States is contemplating war in Iraq in order to disarm a threatening dictator. There are no parallels to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A quote in the story, “It is unfair. If they want to stop nuclear weapons in the Middle East, they should start with Israel,” is biased and is in incorrect context.

Saddam Hussein is a dictator who possesses nuclear weapons for the purpose of gaining power in the Middle East. He has been responsible for the deaths of countless numbers of civilians, and he clearly cannot be trusted. Israel has nuclear weapons to protect itself from an all out war of destruction, which most of the Middle East would love to wage upon it. I am quite surprised that The Hatchet believes that a quote without credence is good material.

I think it is unfair that Israel is the target of so much inappropriate protest. It is reasonable to object to the actions of Israel, but in the correct forum and with educated arguments. Bottom line, the Israeli-Palestinian issue is not the same as the United States-Iraq issue.

-Scott Liftman
sophomore

Grow up

I really hope that some of our SA senators can find a worthwhile outlet for their energy because I am tired of their vendetta against SA President Phil Robinson. It seems that the senators – who were elected on the “Working for Us” slate – seem to still believe they have a chance to put Josh Singer in the office. I am not an active participant in the GW political scene, but I am appalled at the behavior of the senators. Rather than working together to create the best college environment for all of us, these senators seem to dwell on the results of last year’s election, and constantly try to eradicate Phil Robinson. I would much rather see results made regarding the printing fee, the rising cost of the school and all the other nickel-and-dime schemes the school uses to rip money out of student’s pockets.

I would like to applaud all President Robinson has accomplished. I cannot imagine the opposition that meets each and every one of his proposals due to the hostility of a small group of senators. The rest of the SA needs to raise their collective voice and drown out the few who harbor a grudge against Robinson. Finally, the Working for Us senators need to sit down, figure out for whom they are actually working for (it sure is not me, your typical, apathetic GW student) and grow up.

-William Young
junior

Poor taste

In regards to the twelve-page anti-abortion advertising enclosed in Monday’s Hatchet, it was in poor taste of whoever approved of the inclusion of this prejudiced advertising supplement. For a newspaper like The Hatchet that stands to represent a broad spectrum of student opinions, the insertion of this extremely opinionated and intolerant advertisement section was inappropriate and ignorant. It was not the usual commercial advertising section that students throw away as they pick up the Hatchet; instead, it was viciously biased, organization-sponsored, pro-life material. I would hope that a student newspaper like The Hatchet would have better discretion when electing what to include with its publication, whether or not the Hatchet supports the material within its pages.

-Valerie Russell
sophomore

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