Michelle Obama

Jill Biden

9:05 p.m.

First lady Michelle Obama and second lady Dr. Jill Biden will appear at GW next Wednesday, Nov. 11 to launch a network of service opportunities to help U.S. troops around the globe.

The event, which will kick off ‘Mission to Serve: Forging a Continuum of Service’ will be part of GW’s Veterans Day celebrations and feature remarks from both women, a short performance, and an opportunity to assemble care packages for soldiers, according to a news release from ServiceNation, a national campaign to increase community service across the U.S.

Mission to Serve will be “a network of 36 initiatives partnering civilian and military service organizations to meet the critical needs of our nation, troops, military families, and veterans,” the release states.

MTV News Correspondent Sway Calloway and Acting CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service Nicola Goren will also be in attendance.

The event will start at 12 p.m., beginning with the assembly of care packages in the Marvin Center. Remarks from Obama will start at 2 p.m. in Lisner Auditorium where she will speak on “the importance of both civilian and military service in strengthening our communities and advancing our nation,” according to the release. Biden will speak about offering thanks and service to veterans and their families.

Prior to those events, student veterans from GW will participate in a wreath laying ceremony and participate in “military-style physical training activities including an obstacle course and a pull-up and push-up contest,” according to a University news release.

Brian Hawthorne, president of GW Vets, said he is excited that Obama and Biden will be on site to support the vets and that while his organization is not sponsoring the event, veterans at GW will be participating.

In conjunction with the event, the first-ever ServiceNation Award for Excellence in Civilian and Military Service to be presented to Alma J. Powell, chair of America’s Promise Alliance. The event will also mark the release of  “All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service”, which is the first-ever nationally representative survey of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, according to the report.

Tickets were available at http://missionserve.eventbrite.com. but sold out around 6:30 p.m. Unregistered guests can wait in a standby line on Wednesday at Lisner.

Colonial Connection, a student-staffed call center that solicits monetary gifts from alumni and other GW community members, has raised nearly $50,000 more in donations than it had at this point last year.

Chelsea Theis, manager of the Annual Giving Program and head of the call center, said that as of Tuesday, Colonial Connection raised $130,567 – nearly $50,000 more than the same date one year earlier. In the face of a sluggish economy, Theis credited the increase to an aggressive start in August, rather than September, and a larger student staff for the growth.

She added that to find success in a time when many families nationwide are tightening their purse strings, Colonial Connection emphasizes that every contribution makes a difference.

“We heavily stress the importance of participation,” Theis said in an e-mail. “A $10 gift is just as valuable as a $100 or $1,000 gift.”

Colonial Connection also encourages donations by credit card instead of by mail, something Theis said is more efficient and saves money on postage.

“It’s a secure process, supports the University’s sustainability efforts and ensures we receive the gift immediately, rather than waiting for the gift to be mailed back to GW,” Theis said.

Senior Marissa Tonelli, a Colonial Connection student manager, said the key to being a successful caller is remaining upbeat.

“I would say that overall the alumni are very polite, whether or not they are interested in giving, and will respond if you ask good open-ended questions,” Tonelli said.

Theis said the Colonial Connection program supports the relationship between alumni, parents and friends of the University and the school and raises money for the Annual Fund.

“Although some can’t contribute right now due to the economy, we want to maintain a rapport and hear about their GW experience,” Theis said. “With the current economic climate, it is now more important than ever to keep in touch with our alumni, parents, and friends.”

Colonial Connection employs work-study students to make calls to update contact information, discuss upcoming events on campus, and ask for contributions.

Most donations come from alumni, particularly those who graduated more than 10 years ago, Theis said, adding that Colonial Connection also reaches out to current students and their families in order to build a relationship early.

The Washington Examiner reported this morning that Hasan “was a participant in George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute task force that aimed at providing advice on security to the new administration.”

Yet Frank Cilluffo, director of the HSPI, said Hasan was not affiliated with the HSPI.

“There have been a lot of erroneous stories,” Cilluffo said, adding that Hasan has “no affiliation [with HSPI], was not a member of the task force, but participated in some of the meetings as an audience member.”

Cilluffo said Hasan RSVP’d to these HSPI events “in his capacity as a disaster and preventative psychiatry fellow with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences” – a federal health sciences university which trains its students for “military medicine, disaster medicine and military medical readiness.”

“We try to err on the side of transparency and make available to everyone who is in attendance at our meetings, and that is I’m sure where the linkage came from,” Cilluffo said, referring to the Examiner’s misrepresentation of Hasan’s affiliation with HSPI.

Al Gore spoke in Lisner Auditorium on Thursday night in an event cosponsored by D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose. Michelle Rattinger/Assistant Photo Editor

This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Michelle Brown.

Al Gore delivered a grim forecast for the future of the environment Thursday night in Lisner Auditorium, and stressed that without broad public support for clean, renewable energy sources, the next generation will live in “a world of destruction and decline.”

The former vice president– who appeared on campus to promote his new book, “Our Choice,” in front of a sold out crowd in Lisner – outlined what he believes to be the major causes of global warming, explained his solutions, but ultimately concluded that without broad public support and participation in sustainable initiatives, the crisis will only worsen.

Gore said it will be GW students and their peers at colleges nationwide who have the determination to solve the climate crisis, and encouraged the older generation to believe a global climate crisis exists, and to start taking measures to solve it.

“I want to encourage you to become part of the solution for this crisis,” Gore said to the audience, about 400 of whom were students. “This is not just an intellectual exercise, it’s not a game, it’s not a political issue. This is the moral issue of the present generation.”

Gore noted he was just 13 years old when President John F. Kennedy issued his challenge to land a person on the moon within 10 years. The U.S. faces a similar test today, Gore said, and young Americans will be the ones to rise to meet the challenge.

The day Americans landed on the moon, eight years after Kennedy issued the challenge, “a great cheer went up from the control room in Houston, Texas,” Gore said. “The average age of the systems engineer that day in Houston was 26, which means their average age when they heard JFK was 18.”

After asking who was determined to solve the climate crisis, Gore said, “Those people who raised their hands represent the future of this world. And your commitment in changing your role says you are a determined part to solve this crisis is the greatest hope we have going for us in this world today.”

Throughout the evening, Gore gave a brief overview of each of the chapters of his new book, explaining the causes and solutions to what he believes are the main causes of global warming, including carbon emissions, inefficient energy sources.

He described solar energy as a potential leader of the three cleaner energy solutions, which also include wind and geothermal energy.

Gore said that “more sunlight falls on the surface of our planet in one hour than the entire world’s energy consumption in one year,” and that scientists have found ways to capture this sunlight and turn it into energy. Yet Gore said the price of the technology that scientists are creating “depends on the market and their demand,” and stressed the need for consumers to demand that these technologies become more accessible.

Michelle Rattinger/Assistant Photo Editor

Ultimately, Gore left his audience with two scenarios. He said that world leaders and the older generation can ignore the problem, and shrug it off as unimportant. Or, he said, these same people can accept reality, and begin to make the necessary changes to fix the environmental emergency.

“Not too many years from now, the next generation will look back at what we did or did not do in these first years of the twenty-first century,” Gore said. “If they see around them a world of destruction and decline as the scientists predicted would occur and we didn’t solve this climate crisis, they would be justified in looking back at us and asking, ‘What were you thinking?’ ‘Why did you do nothing?’ ‘Did you hear the scientists?’ ‘Did you notice the north polar ice caps melting right before your eyes?’ ‘Did you care?!’ ”

He continued, “Or they will ask a second question, the one I would prefer them to ask. If they look around them and see a world in renewal, with millions of good, new jobs building windmills, solar outlets, Smartgrids, and retro-fitting homes, and less dependent on foreign oil and with a sense of purpose and solution of the problems that this world needs to have solved, they will look at us and say, ‘how did you find the moral courage to rise up and solve the crisis that so many people said was impossible to solve?’”

Gore left the audience with one final charge.

“We’ve got everything we need to do it, with the possible exception of political will,” Gore said. “But ladies and gentlemen, in the United States of America, as these young people are demonstrating, political will is a renewable resource.”

Students at the event said Gore’s charge to the audience was moving.

“I think the end was the best part of the presentation,” said junior Leire Ariz. “Young people and students, we need someone to encourage us. Its good to focus on the positive things.”

Freshman Jason Katz agreed. He said he found Gore’s comparison of putting a man on the moon to fixing the problems facing the environment was inspiring.

“His example of how they thought it was impossible to get a man on the moon, and then ten- no, eight- years later, we did it, was a good point,” Katz said. “If we put our mind to [solving this problem], we can get it done.”

8:10 Gore just asked how many students at GW have in the last three years formed a determination to focus on things to be a solution to the climate crisis. Dozens of hands were raised, and the audience applauded. Gore said he was 13 years old when he heard President John F. Kennedy say he wanted to land someone on the moon. He said many people thought that was a foolish commitment. Gore said, however, that Americans accomplished that goal. He said the people who believed in the goal were the young people of that generation.”Those of you who raised your hands represent the future of this world… you are the greatest asset we have going for us today,” Gore said. 

8:04 “There are ways we can form goals based on deep values and keep on our course for a sufficient period of time to solve this crisis,” Gore said, in reference to political solutions to the environmental crisis. “This is not a political issue, this is the moral issue of the present generation,” Gore said. This sentiment drew a loud applause from the crowd. 

8:02 Brazil and Indonesia are the biggest culprits for deforestation, Gore said. Gore said it is necessary to build back the world’s forests in order to improve the environment. Gore said the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen will be important to try and solve this problem. 

8:00 “The biggest new source of energy is efficiency. The old technologies that are in common usage today, are for the most part incredibly inefficient,” Gore said. He added that 65 percent of energy from coal burning plants is used, the rest is wasted. Gore said that with new technology, it is possible to substitute old technologies with “far more efficient technologies.”

7:58 Gore is now talking about nuclear energy. He said that during his eight years in the White House, every problem with nuclear proliferation came from these nuclear enriching energy plants. He drew a comparison to Iran possibly trying to begin a nuclear proliferation program. Gore said it is hard to promote nuclear energy because the world does not want certain countries to have access to these nuclear technologies for safety reasons. 

7:52 It takes a lot of time, money and energy in order to capture geothermal energy, Gore said. It also can be unsafe, and it will take a lot of time, money and effort to find the sources of geothermal energy. He said this energy source does work and can be used, but wont be the option of choice most of the time because of the difficulties and expenses necessary to capture it. 

7:50 Gore is now talking about the economic issues with new, renewable sources of energy. He said the government will need to subsidize these new sources of energy in order to get them off the ground. 

7:46 Wind energy is now Gore’s topic of choice. Gore said we are not using wind resources enough because we do not have the technology to do so. Gore moved onto geothermal power, and said it is a widely overlooked source of power. Two kilometers below the earth’s surface, there is an abundance of heat that can also serve as a source of energy. “There is enough heat in much places to generate enormous quantities of energy,” Gore said. He added that there are now six publicly traded companies focused on marketing this source of energy. 

7:37 Gore moved onto his third chapter, the sources of renewable energy: wind, solar and geothermal energy. Gore said solar energy is the future, and scientists are working on improving ways of harboring that energy. “They are getting very good about capturing it and converting it into energy,” Gore said, referring to scientists capturing the sun’s energy. He said this form of energy is growing across the world, and other countries are utilizing solar energy better than the U.S. Gore said solar energy is actually a cost effective energy source and will save people money in the future. Gore said, however, that the only way these technologies will become cheap and accessible, is if people show a demand for it. This is the heart of Gore’s book, talking about the way improving the environment can actually be cost effective. 

7:36 Gore is now talking about the second chapter of the book, which focuses on energy sources across the globe. He said the single largest factor to global warming is energy. “The ways in which we burn coal and oil are horribly inefficient.” He said natural gas is an important fossil fuel, and can help de-carbonize our society. He said diesel fuel should be traded for natural gas, as it is a cleaner energy source. Gore also said the electric vehicle fleet is a great way to reduce emissions from energy. 

7:29 The former vice president and Nobel Laureate is discussing the major factors to global warming. Carbon dioxide, or Co2, is a large factor to global warming. He said it is the exhaling breath of the modern industrial society, and said it is very difficult to make changes in reducing these emissions. He said its half of the problem. Gore added that methane is another major factor to global warming. Methane comes from industrial livestock farming and coal burning, as well as rice farming that relies on flooded fields. A lesser known factor to global warming is soot, Gore said. He said much of the soot comes from the burning and destruction of forests across the globe. Gore said this soot stays on glaciers. Because the soot is black, it absorbs the sun and speeds up the melting process of glaciers.

7:23 Gore is telling jokes now. He said that while he was writing the book, he was sitting in a fast food restaurant with a friend. A woman walked by him and gave him an odd stare two times. Gore said he said hello to the woman, who proceeded to say to him, “Do you know if you dyed your hair black you would look just like Al Gore.” The joke drew laughter from the crowd. 

7:20 Gore said he is donating 100 percent of the profits of his new book to the Alliance for Climate Protection. Gore is not a static speaker, and is walking back and forth across the stage as he delivers his lecture to the audience.

7:19 Gore just took the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd. 

7:16 The president of Politics and Prose is now speaking, and said the bookstore is committed to the sustainability movement. She said she cannot understand how everyone in the U.S. is not on board with the movement, and said she feels Gore’s new book will be a great tool to get more Americans on board with the “Green Revolution.”

7:13 Knapp is highlighting GW’s commitment to sustainability, and said that the University wants “to make sure we practice what we teach” in terms of lessoning GW’s impact on the environment. Knapp said he views Gore as a leader in the sustainability movement, and told the audience that we are lucky to have Gore as a speaker here tonight.

7:11 The event is now underway. University President Steven Knapp is welcoming the audience. Gore’s wife, Tipper, is in the audience, as well as members of the Board of Trustees and the D.C. government.

7:07 We are still waiting for the event to start. Before we get underway, take a look at this article in Newsweek for a better explanation of the focus Gore’s new book, which he will talk about tonight. The difference between An Inconvenient Truth and Our Choice, according to this article, is that Gore’s focus has shifted from the individual and their impact on the environment, to corporate America and how big companies can make changes to lessen their environmental impact. 

7:00 Gore’s book is a follow-up to an An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s award-winning documentary about the environment. According to a blog post on Gore’s Web site, “An Inconvenient Truth reached millions of people with the message that the climate crisis is threatening the future of human civilization and that it must and can be solved. Now that the need for urgent action is even clearer with the alarming new findings of the last three years, it is time for a comprehensive global plan that actually solves the climate crisis. Our Choice will answer that call.”

6:54 The event is scheduled to start in a few minutes. It is a full house here in Lisner and the crowd is anxiously awaiting Gore’s appearance. 

6:50 Gore appeared last night on the Colbert Report, where he debated the comedian on global warming. 

6:48 This is not the first time Gore has made an appearance on campus. He came to GW in 2007 for an environmental conference. The event was hosted by the GW Law School and was not open to the public or media.

6:41 Hey all, welcome to the live blog for tonight’s event with former Vice President Al Gore. The event starts at 7 p.m. and is being held in Lisner Auditorium. The former vice president will be promoting his new book, “Our Choice,” which focuses on climate change. The event begins in about 15 minutes, and the auditorium is quickly filling up. About 400 students are in the audience, as well as members of the D.C. community. The event is being held in conjunction with Politics and Prose, a bookstore in northwest D.C. that often hosts prominent authors. Stay with us as we offer live updates and analysis of the event!

Alumnus and Congressman Steve Israel, D-N.Y., spoke in strong support of the country that bears his last name to a crowd of students in the Marvin Center Wednesday.

Israel, who has represented central Long Island since 2001, graduated from GW in 1982. He spoke and answered questions for more than an hour at the event, which was sponsored by the GW College Democrats, GreenGW, GAP Israel, the Jewish Student Association and the Alumni Association.

“I believe the single greatest threat in the Middle East is Iran,” Israel said.

He said it was a feeling countries in the region shared as well. “When you sit with the defense ministers and the prime ministers and the foreign ministers and you have a map of the Middle East and you say ‘What keeps you up at night?’ they’re not pointing at Israel – they’re pointing at Iran.”

He faulted the Bush administration for not preventing Iran’s nuclear expansion, noting that when George W. Bush took office Iran had zero nuclear centrifuges compared to 8,000 when he left office eight years later.

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel said he believed that the Obama administration was “walking a very fine line between trying to signal to the Arab world that they’re not reflexively pro-Israel so that they’ll come along and help the United States stop Iran while and at the same time trying to broker a long term peace between Israel and Palestine.”

Israel was also critical of past U.S. policy in the region.

“We as a country have made a mistake over the past many years with respect to U.S. policy towards Israel and Arab countries,” Israel said. “Our mistake has been that we believed that negotiating at high diplomatic altitudes is going to make a difference.”

Israel cited Palestinian schools which he said embed a hatred and mistrust of the country of Israel from a young age in Palestinian youth one of the reasons it is difficult for the Palestinian population to accept an Israeli state.

“Reforming curricula and education in Palestinian classrooms is what will bring peace and stability,” he said. “And the Palestinians have shown no desire to do that.”

Juliana Amin, a freshman in the Columbian College, asked Israel if he felt the United States should put any pressure on Israeli government to change its policies towards Palestine. The congressman pointed to a need for Israel to find a better policy regarding warfare that reduced Palestinian civilian causalities, though he offered no alternatives. Amin said she felt unsatisfied with Israel’s military tactics-focused response.

“I was asking about basic human rights issues and the daily struggles that Palestinians go through as a result of Israeli policy towards Palestine,” Amin said. “I feel like he didn’t really answer my question.”

Others felt more satisfied with Israel’s performance. Kaitlin Gaughran, also a freshman, worked for Israel’s re-election campaign in 2008 and said it was great to hear him speak.

“It was inspirational to hear him talk about what we as College Democrats can do in the future,” she said.

Williams was previously the president of The City College of New York and served in numerous administrative posts at GW, where he graduated with three degrees: a law degree and a master’s degree in philosophy in 1971 and his doctorate in 1981.

“I will always look at my time at George Washington University as providing me with the solid academic credentials I needed to expand my career in higher education and take on a leadership role,” Williams said in an e-mail.

Williams has been a university administrator for more than 30 years, previously working at GW, the University of Iowa and The Ohio State University. At The City College of New York he served at president and dean of the Law School.

Williams said he was excited to start a new phase in his career, especially at a time of growth for UC.

“My timing in coming to the University of Cincinnati couldn’t be better. U.S. News & World Report and the Chronicle of Higher Education have termed UC ‘up and coming,’ ” he said. “In recent years, the university has made great strides in nearly every indicator of success, from student satisfaction, to retention and graduation rates, and research funding as a top 25 public research university. My goal is to build on that great momentum and to keep working to make sure that UC becomes the best it can be.”

Hatchet File Photo

Tickets to the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be available online for the first time when the lottery opens after midnight tonight.

While the tickets are free, the lottery is only open until 11:59 p.m. this Friday for the public to request a spot for the event occurring Dec. 5 on the Ellipse near the White House.

Tickets can be requested here through the National Park Service and National Park Foundation. There will be 2,800 seats available and another 7,000 standing- room only tickets available.

Requests for tickets can still be made over the phone from Wednesday to Friday by calling 877-444-6777 or for TDD 877- 833-6777.

Winners will be notified via e-mail if they requested a ticket online, and through U.S. Mail if they submit a request over the phone. The status of a ticket request will be available  beginning Nov. 9.

The ceremony will start at 5 p.m. Dec. 3. If you don’t get a ticket, you can still watch the ceremony and performers, who have not yet been announced, online.

This year marks the 86th anniversary of the lighting on the National Christmas Tree, a  tradition which started in 1923 with President Calvin Coolidge. Though the tree’s location near the White House has changed over the years, since 1954 it has been located on the Ellipse.

Along with the National Christmas tree, another 56 trees will be lit from dusk until 11 p.m. each night until January 1, 2010, creating the ”Christmas Pathway of Peace.”  The smaller trees will represent all 50 states, five territories and the District.

While college-age young people are among the most susceptible of all age groups to contract swine flu, that distinction is not scaring most into taking precautions, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. Nearly seven out of 10 people in the 18-to-29 age group say they do not plan to heed warnings to get vaccinated, the poll reported. (About 62 percent of those from 30 to 64 years old, as well as 53 percent of those 65 and older, also say they plan to skip the vaccine, the poll found.)

In the article, Post reporter Ian Shapira visited the Sigma Phi Epsilon townhouse and even describes the room of a sick student, after a student made him an offer Shapira couldn’t refuse: “My roommate is sick. Want to see him? He comatosed himself with NyQuil.”

The Post article also notes GW has requested 14,000 swine flu vaccine doses and has been prompting students to prevent the spread of the flu by outfitting residence halls and other places students congregate with bottles of hand sanitizer and prompting students to wash their hands and cover coughs.

Ellen Costello, assistant professor of health care sciences, Tjai Nielsen, assistant professor of management, David Ramaker, professor of chemistry, Joel Teitelbaum, associate professor of health policy, Christopher Tudda, professor of history were awarded the prize, presented by Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Don Lehman.

The Bender Teaching Awards honor undergraduate, graduate, professional-level professors and recipients of the prize are selected by a committee of faculty each spring.

“Endowed by Morton Bender and The George Washington University, each award provides a $500 prize to be used by the recipient for faculty development activities, such as travel to professional meetings or the purchase of equipment or materials to be used for teaching,” GW’s Web site said.

The award is broken down into four categories: outstanding teaching by a non-tenured, full-time faculty member, given to Nielsen, outstanding teaching by a part-time faculty member, given to Tudda, use of innovative technologies in teaching, awarded to Costello, and general teaching recognition, open to any full-time or part-time tenured or non-tenured GW faculty member, given to Ramaker and Teitelbaum.

This year was the first year since 2000 that six professors were not presented with the award.

Lehman also spoke to the general assembly, remembering his 14 years at the University and reminding faculty about “looking back while looking forward,” the title of his speech.

Recalling GW’s demographics in 1996, his first year at the University, GW has grown into a more selective university, Lehman said.

The University has to “remember our mission while knowing the economy” and “understand how individual lean in order to engage and challenge our students academically,” he added.

“I hope that GW can maintain this balance in the future as it continues to be sensitive to and successful in the higher-education marketplace,” he said.

Lehman also announced the creation of a Teaching Consortium Task Force to develop a teaching consortium to work closely with the existing Innovation Center for Teaching

“The core purpose is to create a GW teaching consortium that can serve as a catalyst for innovation and excellence in education through application of what is known about how people learn,” he said.

University President Steven Knapp also spoke to the Assembly about the Innovation Task Force, admissions, enrollment caps, the next stage of research at the University and GW’s “destiny as the largest University in the nation’s capital.”

“[We will] fulfill the dream of our founder to have a world class university of the nation’s capital,” Knapp said.