University lays alumni bricks

Sidewalks between Bell Hall and the Woodhull House should reopen this week as the University finishes laying bricks with alumni names, officials said.

Since 1989, each graduating class member has the option of buying a brick with their name and degree that is placed around campus.

The bricks have previously been laid around Kogan Plaza, but GW needed to find a new place for the class of 2002 bricks because there is no more room around Kogan.

Director of Alumni Benefits and Services Jason Miller said decisions on where to place the bricks are made by Alumni Services, facilities management and the registrar. He said he does not worry about running out of space for each class’ bricks.

“It adds a real sense of community to the campus,” he said.

Miller said about 5,500 bricks will be put down behind Bell Hall on the 21st Street side, and it covers graduates from the fall, spring and summer. He said he did not know how many bricks are around Kogan Plaza.

-Andrea Nurko

Bookstore employee retires

GW Bookstore employee Kay Lee celebrated her retirement Monday after 10 years of working as a cashier and greeter. The store held a reception for Lee Monday afternoon, and her last day will be Friday.

“All of the years that I have worked at the bookstore I have always gotten respect from the students,” said Lee. “I call the students my children.”

Bookstore employees said they will miss working with Lee.

” Kay has always had the same upbeat personality,” Bookstore manager Patricia Lee said.

“Kay Lee said she and her husband plan to exercise regularly, travel and spend time with the couple’s nine-month-old grandchild. She said she plans to continue living in the D.C. area.

” I will have a lot of memories and have enjoyed my 10 years here,” she said.

Prior to working at the GW Bookstore, Lee said she worked as a clerk at Sears as and then for the military in Japan, New Jersey and California.

-Leslie Byford

Students help set world record

More 50 members of the GW community participated in “The Great American Conversation” with potential Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean on Monday evening.

Dean and his supporters nationwide broke the Guinness World Record for the largest conference call in history with about 3,550 different parties across the country, said Ari Mittleman, founder of GW’s Dean 2004 organization. The call lasted about 20 minutes, but GW students did not have the opportunity to ask the former Vermont governor questions.

“If you walked by, you would have thought (Dean) was in the room,” Mittleman said.

Mittleman said GW participants included undergraduate, graduate and law students and local young alumni.

Dean organized the call because Tuesday was the end of a campaign fundraising quarter of the year, Mittleman said. Dean raised $15 million for his campaign July to September, putting him “head and shoulders ahead of any other democratic candidate,” Mittleman said. GW conference call participants raised $200 this week.

“The message of the call and the message of the campaign is people who volunteer for the campaign really have the power,” he said.

-Elizabeth Chernow