Pulitzer Prize winner Martin Sherwin to teach at GW

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Martin J. Sherwin will join GW as a visiting scholar in January, the University announced last week.

Sherwin will teach at both the Elliott School of International Affairs and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences on courses in history and international affairs. He is an expert on the nuclear age and Cold War history and was an English and American history professor at Tufts University.

“The GW community is honored to have such an esteemed scholar teaching our future policymakers and global citizens,” said President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg in a press statement.

Sherwin and co-author Kai Bird won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for their biography “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” The text followed the life of Oppenheimer, the man known as the father of the atomic bomb. The book was also awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The two authors lectured at the University Honors Program’s symposium in spring 2005.

-Lizzie Wozobski

Battleground poll shows top issues for young people

The economy, education and the war in Iraq are the top issues young people are concerned about as the 2006 elections grow nearer, according to GW’s Young Voter Strategies and GW-Battleground pollster’s latest findings.

The poll also showed that 80 percent of eligible voters under 35 years old are registered to vote. Young Voter Strategies, a non-profit and non-partisan project at the Graduate School of Political Management, conducted the poll, which surveyed 650 18- to 30-year-olds in September.

Young Voter Strategies is also running the largest nonpartisan youth voter registration project of 2006. It is a collaborative project involving 14 groups to register 350,000 18-30 year olds.

– Lizzie Wozobski

University offers dental insurance to students

The University is offering a dental insurance plan and a dental discount card program to students this year.

Benefits of the Aetna Dental PPO Plan are available to students regardless of their participation in the Chickering Group’s Student Health Insurance Plan, the University announced in a blast e-mail last week from the Dean of Student’s office. It says that the student dental plan is flexible and allows student card-holders to visit dental offices in the D.C. area.

Students who sign up for Aetna SM’s Vital Savings discount dental card program have access to discounts on a wide variety of dental services even if they do not have dental insurance. Another feature of the discount card is that there is no limit to the number of times a student or his or her family can use the card.

Some services students can save money on include general dentistry, cleanings, root canals, crowns and orthodontia. The card also offers savings on vision care services through the Vision One discount program at no additional charge. Available through Vision One are discounts eye exams, eyewear and LASIK surgery.

The deadline to enroll in the Aetna Dental PPO Plan and the Chickering Group’s Student Health Insurance Plan is October 15. Details about both plans can be found online at www.chickering.com where students can use the “find your school” menu and choose George Washington University.

– Jessica Calefati