Hold the door

How can student life at GW be improved? Though broad and sweeping student-driven initiatives often produce worthwhile results, I feel that lofty, long-term goals look past some of the simplest and easiest solutions. One of the best answers I can provide for improving student life is to hold the door. Though it doesn’t seem like much, holding the door for others is an act that greatly reflects who we are as individuals and what we value as a university community.

Door-holding etiquette is something that tends to be generally overlooked throughout society. As you approach the point of entry or exit, take a quick glance over your shoulder or listen to see if there are footsteps behind you. In my humble opinion, if an individual is within 20 feet of you and headed for the same door, it is only appropriate that you hold the door for them. In my personal observations, it has become evident that the greater the length of time I spend holding the door for a specific individual, the greater the satisfaction that the individual derives from my assistance.

On the other end, it is important that the recipient of the door holder’s generosity must express some measure of gratitude. Whether it is a “thank you,” a smile, or a pleasant combination of both, the effortless recognition required to support the work of door-holders everywhere is greatly appreciated. Eye contact during this exchange is thoroughly recommended. For me, the ultimate satisfaction is realized when the person I have just helped decides to assist the next person passing through.

Anyone can be a door holder. All it takes is a small degree of awareness that someone else might need to pass through the door you are using. Regardless of how busy you are, a few seconds spent doing this good deed for someone else will be genuinely rewarding.

I offer this challenge to GW because I believe it will effect a small but noticeable difference. I have faith in every member of the campus community to shape the University to be a better place to live and learn. Each of us has the responsibility to make GW a place for all to feel at home, and we can start small by holding the door.

-Josh Lasky, junior

To better universities

I graduated from GW this May with a B.S. in chemistry. After reading your article about the lack of science students at GW and other colleges (“Where have all the science students gone?” Nov. 14, p. 9), I found a major factor of this problem ignored.

In order for a university to have an excellent science program, it needs to generate interest from students. To accomplish this, they need modern facilities equipped with the current technology. GW has neither.

The sciences have been ignored for decades – the chemistry and physics departments are located in a building that was completed in 1924. GW needs a new science building. Interest in GW from science students will occur when the University shows that it is dedicated to science education. New laboratories would definitely be a step in the right direction.

-Rebekah Kushner, alumna

Cut the luxuries

In response to President Trachtenberg’s opinion piece “A better University comes with a price tag” (Nov. 14, p. 5):

He is correct that, as University president, it is very much his responsibility to raise funds, and a better university does come with a price tag.

However, his definition of “improvements” doesn’t coincide with the typical student’s definition. That he’d contest the average student thinks the Marvin Center today is “immeasurably better” than Marvin center in 2001 is sad, really. Though not shocking, it is every bit disturbing how out of touch he is with the needs and desires of his students.

I graduated this past spring. I was present before, during and after the renovations. “At great cost,” we were left with fewer dining choices. We were left with less seating overall. We were left with more plasma televisions. Meanwhile, my friends in the biology department shared aged lab equipment and my friends in the history department scrambled to class early in order to get a seat. As an alumnus, it embarrasses me that my university consistently cannot seem to make it into U.S. News and World Report’s top 50.

Perhaps a town hall meeting led by President Trachtenberg would be the best way to hear from students and professors alike about where funds are urgently needed. I won’t dwell on Trachtenberg’s salary though that is a case in point. The very flashy laser show that greets incoming freshman and their wide-eyed parents at Colonial Inauguration is another. Before another dollar is spent on aesthetics or laughable luxuries for our president, the University needs to take a harder look at what it’s lacking in more substantive arenas.

-Helly Schtevie, alumnus