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Amanda Dick

a campus news editor at The Hatchet is a senior majoring in finance and journalism. She has been writing for the campus news section of The Hatchet since her freshman year. She is originally from Shrewsbury, M.A.
amandadick@gwhatchet.com
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009 3:49 p.m.

CRs to host Rep. Joe Wilson Oct. 6

by Amanda Dick

The GW College Republicans will host Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who made headlines Wednesday night for his outburst during President Barack Obama’s speech, at Mount Vernon’s Post Hall on Oct. 6.

Wilson shouted, “You lie!” at Obama during his speech at a joint session of Congress about health care reform on Wednesday, a “breach of protocol” that drew criticism. Wilson issued an apology to Obama shortly after the speech, which the president accepted.

CR Communications Director Andrew Clark said Wilson will discuss health care reform and other big issues facing Congress on Oct. 6.

“Rep. Wilson’s outburst last night is proof of the heated passions lining up on both sides of the aisle on the health care debate. He has subsequently apologized appropriately, and we look forward to hearing his obviously energetic opinions on the subject of health care,” Clark said in an e-mail.

This event is part of the College Republicans Congressional Dinner Series, in which members of Congress will speak with students and discuss issues important to them in a panel-like format.

The College Republicans have previously interacted and established a relationship with Wilson during their 2007 campaign trip to Louisiana for Bobby Jindal’s gubernatorial campaign, Clark said.

The Wilson event is at 7 p.m. in Post Hall on the Mount Vernon campus. Doors for the will open at 6:30 pm. The event will be free and open to anyone who wishes to attend, but preference will be given to paid members of the College Republicans.

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Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 9:02 p.m.

SA fixes bylaws discrepancy

by Amanda Dick

Hatchet Staff Writer Madeleine Morgenstern wrote this report.

Members of the Student Association Senate used their first official vote of the school year to resolve a bylaws inconsistency on Sunday afternoon.

Executive Vice President Jason Lifton recapped the problem, which The Hatchet reported last week. According to Lifton, 2008-2009 EVP Kyle Boyer did not receive the revised bylaws that were used during the 2007-2008 school year by then-EVP Brand Kroeger.

Lifton referred to it as a “clerical mistake,” and said that as a result Boyer used bylaws from 2006-2007 EVP Joshua Lasky.

He added that he has since been in contact with Kroeger, who gave him a copy of the revised bylaws that had been in use during his time as EVP. However, with no accompanying legislation, Lifton said that students who were senators at the time had to vouch for Kroeger’s bylaws.

The Senate bill passed on Sunday settled the two sets, which included retroactively authorizing the Graduate Affairs Committee and the Multi-Religious Affairs Director and the Pride and Community Building Initiatives Director positions.

The bill passed by acclimation, with approximately half of the senators voting by proxy.

Prior to the vote, Rules Committee Chair Jamie Baker summed up the problem.

“We’re in conflict by our own rules,” he said. “If we do not pass this, we do not have bylaws.”

The SA also announced Sunday that they will be holding a town hall-style forum this Thursday. According to the press release sent out by Lifton, they are seeking feedback from students as they “revise (their) current governing documents to make this organization more efficient and more student friendly.”

Baker added that with the SA’s influence within the University and especially with regard to student organization funding, “we wanted to ensure that the student voice was heard as much as possible through the development process of revising our governing documents.”

The revision process is meant as a general review, Baker said, not aimed at any document in particular, such as the Constitution or the Senate bylaws. Goals he hopes to focus on include making the governing documents “more effective and less confusing,” improving the organization by streamlining its rules or positions, and using the revisions as a way of putting more of what the students care about into the SA.

“The one thing that I want more than anything is regular students to come and have a state their opinions on any changes they wish to have in the SA,” Baker said.

The town hall will take place Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. in Monroe Hall, room 114.

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Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009 6:52 p.m.

Jeb Bush to speak in the SMPA Oct. 21

by Amanda Dick

Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida, will speak in the Jack Morton Auditorium on Oct. 21 for an event hosted by the College Republicans.

The CRs announced this event at their kickoff with Virginia candidate Bob McDonnell Wednesday night. Tickets are free and available to all students, but preference will be given to dues paying College Republicans members.

Bush is “very successful and popular. He is successful at taking Republican ideas and turning them into solid economic growth,” said Andrew Clark, the CR’s communications director.

Some political commentators have speculated about a possible presidential run in 2012 for Bush, the son of former U.S. President George Bush and brother of former U.S. president George W. Bush.

“This is one of the reasons he’ll be so well received [as a speaker],” Clark said. “There’s a lot of speculation about him running for president, and it’s kept him in headlines.”

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Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 1:20 a.m.

SA to reconcile inconsistent bylaws

by Amanda Dick

Hatchet Staff Writer Madeleine Morgenstern wrote this report.

The Student Association Senate will convene in a special meeting on Sunday to reconcile two different sets of bylaws, Executive Vice President Jason Lifton said Monday.

Lifton said last year’s EVP Kyle Boyer could not locate the bylaws that had existed under the 2007-2008 EVP Brand Kroeger, and therefore worked using the bylaws used by the 2006-2007 EVP Joshua Lasky.

Boyer, however, said he used the set of bylaws given to him by Kroeger.

“I was using a new set of bylaws provided at transition,” he said, adding that Lasky’s would have been outdated. “I provided (Jason) an updated set of bylaws at my transition.”

The Senate bylaws are kept in a binder along with complete copies of passed and failed legislation for that year and are passed down to the new Executive Vice President at the end of each year, Lifton said.

In an e-mail to the Senate late Sunday night, Lifton called the two sets of bylaws “theoretically both valid, but both inconsistent.”

An example of this is the Graduate Affairs Committee, which was established under the 2007-2008 Nicole Capp administration. Its existence is not recognized under the bylaws that were used by Boyer, Lifton said. Capp also created smaller executive appointments that have been filled by current SA President Julie Bindelglass, but need to be reauthorized under a new set of bylaws.

This week, the SA Rules Committee will examine both sets and combine them into a complete and consistent version, which must be approved by a full Senate vote.

Members of the Senate discovered the discrepancy Sunday, Lifton said, calling it “a silly mistake that needs to be fixed.”

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Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 3:40 p.m.

Exiled Honduran president to speak at Elliott School Wednesday

by Amanda Dick

The coup-removed President of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, will speak about his efforts to restore peace and order in Honduras in the Elliott School on Wednesday morning.

Zelaya was forced into exile on June 28 by soldiers who forced him onto a plane to Costa Rica. The Honduran Congress supported the move the same day and voted the former president of congress, Roberto Micheletti, to replace him.

Zelaya has traveled around Central America and the United States since his exile, speaking about the coup d’etat and his efforts to reclaim his title.

The event will be held in the City View room of the Elliott School from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Attendees must RSVP to the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program and the Center for Economic and Policy Research at lasp@gwu.edu.

Aaron Wodin-Schwartz, program assistant for the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program, said the event is open to the public, but any students who RSVP at this time will be put on a waitlist. If there is room on the day of the event, Wodin-Schwartz said, waitlisted persons will be allowed in.

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Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 4:54 p.m.

Sesno to interview former Vice President Mondale Sept. 23

by Amanda Dick

School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno will interview former Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale on Sept. 23.

This event is the first installment of Sesno’s 2009 Public Affairs Project Conversation Series. Sesno said he is currently working to schedule several other major guests in media, politics and public affairs.

“Walter Mondale has had an extraordinary life as an elected official. We will talk about what he has seen in America, what has changed, how the Obama administration is doing, and what he sees as major challenges confronting us in 2009,” Sesno said.

The event will include the Washington premiere screening of the new documentary about Mondale’s life, “Fritz: The Walter Mondale Story.”

Admission for the event will be free. Additional ticketing information will be released when classes start for the semester.

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Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 2:54 p.m.

HellWell will close for repairs starting Aug. 22

by Amanda Dick

The 8-year-old Lerner Health and Wellness Center will undergo several small maintenance projects between Aug. 22 and Aug. 28, when the facility will be closed to all patrons.

Director of the Health and Wellness Center Andre Julien said the lockers in the men’s and women’s locker rooms will be repainted and repaired. Fitness equipment will be reorganized and moved into new areas, too, and some repairs will be made to the equipment and flooring in the fitness center. Additionally, some new cardio equipment will be added.

“These are upgrades that typically happen in a facility like this once a year. It hasn’t happened here yet since it is only 8 years old. The easiest way is to shut down,” Julien said.

Usage reports from the past several years showed the final week of August would have the least impact on Health and Wellness Center members, Julien said. The facility will reopen on Aug. 29.

Julien would not comment on whether any maintenance projects will be done to correct the effects of the chlorine spill that occurred last month, but he did say the building had plans for these upgrades well in advance of the chlorine spill on July 22.

GW’s Office of Risk Management could not be reached for comment.

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Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 1:31 p.m.

College Republicans will host Robert McDonnell at fall kickoff event

by Amanda Dick

The GW College Republicans will host Robert McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, at their fall semester kickoff event, the organization announced Monday.

McDonnell will speak Sept. 2 at the Marvin Center. Doors for the event will open at 6:30 p.m. The event is open to all GW students, faculty and media who would like to attend. No tickets are required.

President Barack Obama won Virginia in the 2008 election, but McDonnell has gained considerable momentum for the state’s gubernatorial election this November. The most recent Washington Post poll of registered voters in Virginia had McDonnell leading the race, garnering 47 percent of the vote to Democrat Creigh Deeds’ 40 percent.

Obama was the first [edit: Democratic] presidential candidate in more than four decades to win Virginia.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009 4:42 p.m.

No headliner for Fall Fest yet

by Amanda Dick

Program Board’s Fall Fest is scheduled for Sept. 5 in University Yard, Program Board Chair Tiffany Meehan said in an e-mail Wednesday.

Meehan said that no performer is confirmed yet, but that food, amusements and giveaways will be available. Past Fall Fest performers include OK Go, Kanye West, Jimmy Eat World, RedMan and Gym Class Heroes.

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