Just because you weren’t here this summer doesn’t mean nothing happened at GW. Here is a run down of our pre-semester Winners & Losers:

Winner: Grad students in HOVA

Talk about a deal – grad students accustomed to brutal area rents are now getting away with $700 for singles and $400 for doubles, albeit without kitchens. They better enjoy it while it lasts, because sooner or later their professors may be taking over the living spaces.

Loser: GW’s rankings

GW once again failed to break top 50 in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of undergraduate universities. While SJT has shrugged off the rankings as “nonsense,” it’s still a hit to students trying to polish their egos.

Winner: Student parcels

Package Services has increased its space, staff and training in an effort to improve student service. Lines and frustration may be a thing of the past as you pick up that care package of rotten fruit and dumb pictures your parents sent you – but don’t count on it.

Loser: Student stomachs

Two new J Street venues originally slated to open for the beginning of the semester will be setting up shop later than expected. Sure, other eateries will be open on time, but one of the delayed spots, WOW Caf? and Wingery, is slated to serve alcohol, and of-age students won’t wait quietly for that.

Winner: Cell addicts

Thanks to a new Verizon antenna on top of Funger Hall, students won’t be hanging perilously outside their New Hall windows in an effort to get cell phone service.

Loser: Law School renovations

Though improvements to the building were completed in time for the school year, they took seven years of planning and construction. That’s enough time for five classes to begin and end their law school experience.

Losers: Summer study abroad experience

And you thought midterms were tough – GW students studying abroad in Lebanon and Israel this summer had to deal with a war mid-semester. It must have been a fascinating experience, but few people want to spend their time between classes in a bunker.