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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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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Letters to the Editor

Not all the facts
Sometimes a revisionist historian will inaccurately portray the past to suit his needs and must be called on it. The Feb. 12 edition of The Hatchet featured an editorial by C.J. Chido titled “Dogs don’t bark at parked cars” (p. 5). In the article, Chido tries to point out supposed injustices dealt out by the Interfraternity Council upon his organization, Sigma Alpha Mu. Unfortunately, to make his case sound plausible, Chido has ignored a few important details.

When all of this was beginning, I was finishing up my first of two terms as the president of Beta Theta Pi. One of my duties was to sit on the President’s Council of the IFC; thus, I was intimately involved with the entire situation.

A group of 20-plus freshmen and a few sophomores had banded together, determined to found a new fraternity. The IFC president at the time, Jared David, met with the young men and convinced them to instead become the bulk of the founding class of the fraternity that was coming onto campus that semester, Pi Kappa Phi. After only a short time under the genuine guidance of the Pi Kappa Phi expansion team, the group quit and went looking for a new organization. They founded Sigma Alpha Mu.

Because Sigma Alpha Mu already had a small foundational group, we heard a presentation from them during spring expansion meetings. Despite their arrogance and self-righteousness, and in accordance with the open expansion policy of the North American Interfraternity Conference, the President’s Council agreed to design a contract with Sigma Alpha Mu. The stipulations were essentially just the rules of the IFC. The one exception, included in the contract, was a promise that Sigma Alpha Mu would not recruit for the duration of the agreement – one year. This was included because the organization was almost entirely freshmen and sophomores who had already demonstrated an inability to manage their infrastructure and keep their members from hazing each other. Chido suggests that his organization was unwilling to comply with this stipulation because “we all knew we would have floundered that first year, had we submitted.” Clearly, this is a ridiculous claim. Sigma Alpha Mu refused to sign the contract and became an unrecognized organization.

Chido seems to think that he can rewrite history to make his organization appear the victim of harsh practices, lies and false claims by a vindictive and fearful IFC when, in fact, the IFC offered his organization numerous chances to become a reputable and rule-abiding member of Greek-letter community and was rebuked each time. Sigma Alpha Mu is an unrecognized organization for a reason. It had nothing positive to bring to the IFC and, rather, wished to slide into the Greek-letter community in a subversive way that would allow its members to continue the unsavory and risky practices and ideologies that the organization continues to stand behind to this day.

-Zak Babcock, senior, former, president, Beta Theta Pi

Cents in the subway
Walking down the street to the Metro station, I was thinking about what I was going to buy when I got to Pentagon City. Naturally, I checked to see how much money I had on me: about enough for two DVDs and a soda. That’s when I realized that I needed money for a farecard. So much for my soda.

Now the price of a soda isn’t a big deal. Three dollars here and another three dollars there doesn’t seem to be much money, but when – in the span of a month – using the Metro twice a week for errands and such, that can add up to almost $25.

When I look at what else I could do with $25 a month, I know that I am tempted to walk and find somewhere else to do my shopping. The Metro is convenient, but at times the cost is just more than I want to pay.

This is why D.C.-Metropolitan University Student Alliance has started working toward finding a way to get reduced fares for college students. What DC-MUSA is doing is in the interest of students all over the District. As students in D.C., I believe that all of us here at GW should support DC-MUSA in their efforts to find reduced Metro fares for us.

In cities and urban areas all over the country, there are programs that have reduced the cost of public transportation for college students. Boston, Milwaukee and Seattle, to name just a few, have implemented programs that not only reduced the cost of public transportation for students but increased usage of those systems during times that had previously been considered off-peak.

Such a program in the Washington area would be beneficial to students and city, alike. I urge the students of this university to show their support and I implore the Student Association Senate to adopt Anyah Dembling’s “A Resolution to Urge the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to Adopt a Fare Schedule that Encourages University-Student Ridership.”

-Robin Wood, freshman, member, DC-MUSA

Sound endorsement
As director of membership for the GW College Democrats, I was outraged to read the editorial titled “Farcical endorsements” (Feb. 19, p. 4). The editorial stated that both organizations allowed membership registration and payment at the hearings themselves. This claim could not be more wrong. The terms upon which members could register and vote were set long before the endorsement hearings. Under a policy jointly established by the CDs and College Republicans, students wishing to vote at the hearings had to have been paid members of the respective organizations as of Feb. 10, a full week before the endorsement hearings. Neither organization allowed member registration at the event, nor did they accept membership dues.

In addition, the editorial criticized allowing all paid members of GW CDs and CRs to vote in the endorsement process. I can’t speak for CRs, but as far as CDs are concerned, allowing our general membership to vote is the best way to ensure that our members’ views and positions on issues are reflected in CD endorsements. To restrict such voting rights would be a violation of the democratic principles upon which the organization was founded and stands.

-Stacey Garfinkle, sophomore

Unfair label
I find personal and professional offense at the use of the phrase “alternative lifestyles” in the Feb. 17 article “Jews Discuss Alternative Lifestyles” (Web Extra).

First, nowhere is a member of the participating organizations cited using that phrase. In fact, journalistic norms require using the identification of the speaker and not imposing the prejudicial title of the writer. If The Hatchet was unsure of which phrase to use, it should have asked a spokesperson.

Second, the phrase violates the tenets of the official Associated Press Stylebook, which The Hatchet abides by – at least it did when I was a staff writer there two years ago. The AP states, “Avoid references to gay, homosexual or alternative ‘lifestyle.'” Moreover, the AP recommends using the terms “gay” and “lesbian” and not “homosexual,” which was also used in the article.

Third, and finally, the notion that my sexual orientation is merely an “alternative lifestyle” degrades the struggle I and so many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth have and continue to fight. Our orientation is neither an “alternative,” which incorrectly implies choosing some other option besides the heterosexual norm, nor is it a “lifestyle,” as if we opt to be gay like some choose an urban or trendy lifestyle.

Media coverage of LGBT issues is welcomed and appreciated. I only request that it be done with understanding and respect.

-Seth Goldman, senior

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