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Friday, April 20, 2012 5:17 p.m.

LaHood stresses bipartisanship in transportation talk

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood discusses the need for a quality D.C. public high-speed rail system during an event Thursday hosted by the Graduate School of Political Management in Jack Morton Auditorium. Carly Linsow | Hatchet Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Samantha Abramowitz.

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation emphasized the importance of bipartisanship – pointing to his work as one of only two Republicans in President Barack Obama’s cabinet – Thursday at Jack Morton Auditorium.

Ray LaHood, who has advocated for safe driving and transportation projects, said forging compromises in Congress hinges on flexibility.

“In this business that I’m in, public service, not dissimilar to other businesses, is about relationships, building relationships, and building opportunities to get things done,” LaHood said.

LaHood, 66, said despite the need for projects like high-speed rails, the future of the country’s transportation system does not have a distinct vision because of election-year politics.

“Republicans don’t want to hand Obama a jobs bill right before the election and there won’t be a transportation bill right before the election,” he said.

A former congressman from Illinois, LaHood was approached by Obama to become a part of his cabinet in 2008. He announced in October that he would step down from the cabinet in 2013.

He said the lack of federally funded roadwork and transportation innovation hurts contractors and worker, but projected that Congress could make progress after the election.

“People like mass transit,” LaHood said. “We want more walking and biking paths, light rails and street cars in order to give people options in transportation. People will always drive cars, but if there are other options people will use them.”

Obama and LaHood have supported the construction of high-speed rails across the United States, similar to the systems that exist in Europe. LaHood said getting state governors on board with the project would be key to its success.

He added that these projects will likely take two to three decades to complete.

LaHood also addressed the “epidemic” of distracted driving, stressing the dangers of texting or talking on the phone while driving.

“A car travels the length of a football field in four seconds, time in which people need to pay attention,” he said. “There is no message or phone call that’s too important and can’t wait for destination.”

Friday, April 13, 2012 10:53 a.m.

Solar conference speakers laud growth of sustainable energy sources

by The GW Hatchet

Commissioner of California Public Utilities Timothy Simon, spoke Thursday on the development and importance of solar technology at the fourth annual GW Solar Institute Symposium in Jack Morton Auditorium. Shannon Brown | Hatchet Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Justin Pennish.

Leaders in the solar industry discussed its upward-trending role in pubic policy Thursday at the fourth annual GW Solar Institute Symposium.

The symposium, the largest annual solar energy conference in the District, featured a keynote by Commissioner for the California Public Utilities Commission Timothy Simon and panels with a host of experts on solar energy and development.

Simon highlighted California’s leading role in the production of renewable energy and emphasized that the market opportunity for solar energy will continue to increase in states’ energy portfolios. He said states should look to solar energy for protection against a rate shock as the price of gas increases.

Tom Kimbis, vice president of strategy and external affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the solar industry is growing at an unprecedented rate.

“By 2012, the U.S. is projected to become one of the world’s largest solar markets, alongside China and possibly Japan,” he said.

With the addition of an undergraduate sustainability minor and the construction of the eco-friendly science and engineering hall, Director of GW Solar Institute Ken Zweibel does not think it will be long before solar energy is a larger force on campus.

“It’s more of a logistical choice than an economic one,” Zweibel said.

He said he does not expect cost of solar upgrades to interfere with the University’s commitment to sustainability.

“Solar energy is on a very good pathway to cost reduction. This last year was one of the best years ever in terms of cost reductions of solar energy. With the way solar energy is packaged these days with incentives, funding shouldn’t be a problem because the price of electricity would come in competitively with what we’re already paying ” Zweibel said.

Monday, April 2, 2012 12:00 p.m.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker to headline College Democrats event

by Lauren French

Photo courtesy of the College Democrats

The mayor of Newark, N.J. will speak to students as part of a College Democrats event April 15.

Cory Booker is the third African American elected to Newark’s highest office in 2006 and is a potential Democratic candidate for the state’s governorship in 2013.

Booker has gained a national reputation for fighting racial injustice and economic inequality in Newark. In 1999, Booker went on a 10-day hunger strike while living in the one of Newark’s must drug-afflicted wards in the Brick Towers apartment complex.

He was named as a TIME 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.

Booker will speak at the Jack Morton Auditorium from 8 to 9 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 10:21 a.m.

Washington insiders examine the role of new media

by The GW Hatchet

Arun Chaudhary, Joe Trippi, Frank Sesno, SMPA

White House videographer Arun Chaudhary, center, and former adviser to Howard Dean, Joe Trippi, left, speak Thursday with School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno about the influence of new media in the campaign process in SMPA. Zachary Krahmer | Hatchet Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Sophia Allouache.

Political strategists debated Thursday the impact new media will have on this year’s presidential contest in a School of Media and Public Affairs classroom.

Arun Chaudhary – the first-ever White House videographer who covered President Barack Obama during his first three years in office – and Joe Trippi, a former adviser to Howard Dean, headlined the conversation moderated by School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno.

The pair concluded that new media – including multimedia videography and the rise of social networking platforms like Twitter – have transformed the campaign process, which still continues to evolve. Voter outreach, fundraising strategy and the role of traditional news outlets are changing with technology, they both said.

Associate Research Professor Nina Seavey called Trippi the “architect of this new way of approaching campaigns,” compared to Chaudhary who later enacted similar strategies.

“We thought it would be interesting to have a dialogue between the architect and the practitioner,” she said.

Trippi said political candidates must be “authentic” while constantly in the eye of new media. Chaudhary echoed the claim, noting the popularity of live-streams of Obama’s daily life.

Although Seavey said new media can encourage participation among young voters, Chaudhary challenged the idea, saying that the bulk of viewers of White House videos are actually middle-aged – leaving the question of their influence on young voters open-ended.

“Social media is the more powerful way to communicate,” Sesno said.

This post was updated on Feb. 17, 2012 to reflect the following:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported the event took place in Jack Morton Auditorium. The discussion was held in a School of Media and Public Affairs classroom.

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 5:29 p.m.

Photos: ‘The Beginning of the End of AIDS’

by Michelle Rattinger

President Barack Obama speaks to the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention at The Beginning of the End of Aids event in the Jack Morton Auditorium Wednesday morning. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Lead singer of Irish rock band U2, Bono, greets audience members before the start of the panel discussion. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Florence Ngobeni-Allen is applauded for her powerful commentary on HIV/AIDS education and prevention. Ngobeni-Allen is HIV positive and lost two children to the disease. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

President Barack Obama receives a standing ovation in Jack Morton Auditorium. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Bono, sitting alongside Dr. Patricia Nkansah-Asamoah, far left, and musician Alicia Keys, middle, speaks with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, about growing HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta serves as the panel discusison moderator at the HIV/AIDS awareness event. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

The star-studded panel included renowned musicians Alicia Keys and Bono, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as well as other distinguished HIV/AIDS activists. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Former President Bill Clinton addressed the crowd via satellite. Other guests to grace the big screen included former President George W. Bush, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, and musical artist Elton John. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

President Barack Obama is surrounded by media and enthusiastic audience members as he exits Jack Morton Auditorium after his address Wednesday morning. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 2:20 p.m.

President Obama takes on HIV/AIDS with new goals, funding

by Chelsea Radler

See more photos from the event

President Barack Obama joined activists, celebrities and politicians Thursday to announce $50 million of new funding for domestic HIV/AIDS treatment.

Obama received a standing ovation when he announced an expansion of global treatment goals, up from 4 million people by the end of 2013 to 6 million.

“Today we come together as a global community across continents, across faiths and cultures, to renew our commitment to ending the AIDS pandemic once and for all,” Obama said.

A panel discussion followed with singers Bono and Alicia Keys, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and activists. The conversation was moderated by Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent.

Former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton as well as musician Elton John and President of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete joined the conference via satellite.

The event, dubbed “The beginning of the end of AIDS,” marked the 23rd anniversary of World AIDS Day. Since its discovery in the early 1980s, an estimated 30 million people have died from the disease worldwide.

The president called for programs to reduce transmission of HIV/AIDS among minority Americans, about 1.2 million of whom are estimated to live with the disease.

Obama also praised the bipartisan support of HIV/AIDS treatment initiatives in Congress and called on China and other countries to “step up as major donors” to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“In a time when so much in Washington divides us, the fight against this disease has united us across parties and across presidents, and shows that we can do big things when Republicans and Democrats put their common humanity before politics,” he said.

Obama’s pledge adds $15 million to Ryan White treatment programs nationwide and $35 million to state-run HIV/AIDS programs.

Eradicating AIDS is a goal that “allows us to stand at that most perfect union of audacity and achievability,” Gupta said at the event sponsored by advocacy organizations ONE and (RED).

Obama praised his predecessor for “bold leadership” in the field, including the establishment of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which works to provide treatment to sufferers of the disease worldwide.

Bush gave brief remarks from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – a place he called he “frontline of the battle” against HIV/AIDS.

“There’s no greater priority than living out the admonition, ‘to whom much is given, much is required,’” Bush said, urging the country to support HIV/AIDS programs.

The 43rd president will announce a new George W. Bush Presidential Center “Pink Ribbon/Red Ribbon” campaign to fight breast and cervical cancer in tandem with its AIDS programs tomorrow in Zambia.

“It is not acceptable to save a woman from AIDS and watch her die from cancer,” he said.

Singers Alicia Keys and Bono founded organizations to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor

Politicians from either side of the aisle advocated for further investments in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, despite global economic hardship.

Clinton emphasized the importance of using foreign aid funding efficiently and encouraged activists to focus on raising more money for the cause.

“The economy will be even tougher if people around the world are dying and can’t enter the workforce and can’t be our business partners in economic trade and development,” Rubio said, to cheers from the audience.

Kikwete thanked U.S. leaders for pioneering the efforts against the disease but, like others, acknowledged there is still work to be done.

“The disease has spread like a bush fire in the Harmattan winds to every corner of our country,” he said. In the last year, 86,000 Tanzanians have died from the disease. Kikwete estimated that 1.3 million people live with HIV/AIDS in the eastern African country.

“I’m not happy with the last statistics, but we’re steadily on the march to do better,” Kikwete said. “Now the disease is no longer the death sentence it used to be.”

University President Steven Knapp welcomed the speakers to the Jack Morton Auditorium, the walls of which were decked with swatches of the commemorative AIDS quilt.

“GW is proud to perform its role in the battle against HIV and AIDS, both globally and right here in the District of Columbia,” Knapp said, noting University collaborations with the National Institutes of Health, the D.C. Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bono and Alicia Keys, both of whom were inspired to become advocates for HIV/AIDS during trips to Africa, emphasized eliminating the disease entirely.

“I’m 30. This disease is 30 years old. When my son is 30, we must make it that he won’t even know about this. He’ll know that it was in the past and that now we have created the end of it,” Keys said. “So if we have the power to, then we must.”

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 1:24 p.m.

White House reporter says Republicans have “set the agenda” for Obama

by The GW Hatchet

Chuck Todd, the chief White House correspondent for NBC News and GW alumnus, broke down the GOP candidate election odds at the Jack Morton Auditorium Monday night. Delaney Walsh | Hatchet photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Naina Ramrakhani

If President Barack Obama wins re-election in the fall, it will be on the back of the liberal base, NBC News’ chief White House correspondent said Monday.

“The West Wing doesn’t feel very well run. To me, it starts from the top,” alumnus Chuck Todd told a packed audience at the Jack Morton Auditorium, pointing to the president’s approval ratings that have held at “a rock solid 44 percent” for the past six months.

“His approval rating, to me, is about five to 10 points higher than it should be, given the unemployment rate, given the depression of the country, given the way people feel,” Todd said. “If he wins re-election, it will be because the base has been with him.”

The alumnus said the Republicans have succeeded in setting a national agenda because of yearlong battles over the deficits and spending cuts.

Todd laid out election prospects for Republican presidential candidates in next year’s election.

He said businessman Herman Cain, who was accused Monday of having a 13-year affair with a businesswoman in Georgia, was “done” in the presidential race.

On Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Todd said that despite the media’s mockery of Perry with his debate stumbles, the candidate has been able to keep himself together.

When asked if Romney could win, Todd shrugged.

“Sure,” Todd said. “The line I keep using is: I don’t know how Romney is denied the nomination, and I don’t know how he gets it.”

Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 11:03 p.m.

Photojournalists illustrate the power of a single image

by The GW Hatchet

Andre Lambertson, a photojournalist who covered the devastation in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, shares examples of his work in an event hosted in part by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting at Jack Morton Auditorium Monday night. Delaney Walsh | Hatchet photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Nicholas Rosato.

A panel of photojournalists specializing in crisis reporting reflected on the challenges of humanizing issues of international events in an event held at the Jack Morton Auditorium Monday night.

The program – sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the School of Media and Public Affairs and FotoDC – demonstrated the power of photographs to raise awareness about environmental, social and political crises across Africa, Asia, Haiti and other regions.

“Trying to humanize these events is a difficult task,” Dominic Bracco, whose pictures documented drug violence in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez, said.

Covering local communities, he explained, involves being let into their lives by taking their photograph.

The panelists agreed that the ability to bring images from the field into publication relied on each photographer’s ability to illustrate the value of a narrative.

“The challenge is to translate what I find important to what others find important,” James Whitlow Delano, who covered deforestation in Malaysia, said.

After chronicling Haiti’s post-earthquake poverty, Andre Lambertson said public reaction to an individual’s work is another factor that crisis reporters need to consider.

“There is a sense of feeling powerless,” Lambertson said.

Though “we are all bombarded with images of death, disease and destruction,” David Rochkind, who analyzed the effects of Tuberculosis in the Third World, said “the images have to move beyond pure emotion” to make a story stick.

Richard Mosse made his photos exploring Eastern Congo unique by using old U.S. military technology that turned the landscapes bubblegum pink instead of the usual “black and grey approach.”

“It is very difficult to put complex issues in front of a lens,” Mosse said.

The event coincided with the annual photography festival FotoWeek D.C., which encourages professional and aspiring photographers to display their craft in a number of venues throughout the city.

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 11:29 p.m.

Huntsman shares optimism about American potential

by Sarah Ferris

Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman told students he wants to reenergize the "engines of growth" in the U.S. economy. Francis Rivera | Assistant Photo Editor

“Folks, this country is in a funk,” former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said Tuesday, stressing a need for new leadership to revive a lagging economy and outdated foreign policy strategy.

The presidential contender spoke about the nation’s dimming presence in the international economy at the event hosted by College Republicans.

“We are dispirited. This is not natural for the most creative, most optimistic, most problem solving people on Earth,” Huntsman, the former ambassador to China and Singapore said.

Huntsman, who described himself as the only “practitioner of foreign policy” among the 2012 GOP candidates, said his extensive experience overseas could bring the U.S. back to the forefront of the global economy.

The country, he said, has an “unprecedented opportunity to rebuild manufacturing muscle,” as nations like China slow from a 9 or 10 percent growth rate to a 5 or 6 percent growth rate, creating a void for investments.

“We have a rare opening in economic history,” Huntsman said.

Loopholes in the U.S. tax code, which has not been touched since 1986, prevents the U.S. from attracting capital, Huntsman said.

As president, Huntsman said he would create three tax brackets – 8 percent, 14 percent and 23 percent – to kickstart the nation’s economy, in addition to phasing out loopholes, subsidies and deductions for individuals and corporations.

“The tax system of yesterday is done,” Huntsman said.

Huntsman has served under four presidents, including President Barack Obama, and is also the former CEO of his family’s multibillion dollar corporation.

He called out the Obama administration for bailing out banks seen as “too big to fail” and dismissed last year’s Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection bill that aimed to stem high-risk practices in the banking industry.

“That Dodd-Frank thing needs to go,” Huntsman said. ”Capitalism without failure isn’t capitalism.”

In an interview with The Hatchet, Huntsman said it is too difficult for young entrepreneurs to access capital.

“We have young people full of ideas but unable to take the risks because the hurdles are too high,” he said. “We’re problem solving people. We confront a challenge, find solutions, and make the world better.”

If elected, the two-term Utah governor said his first day as president would be spent tackling the “dilapidated’ tax code, regulatory reform and the “heroin-like addiction” to imported oil.

Huntsman said he decided to run for president because for first time in our history, his generation will pass the country down to a generation that is “less productive, less competitive and more divided than the country we got.”

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011 12:38 a.m.

Activist shares story of conquering physical, social obstacles

by The GW Hatchet

Paraplegic athlete Chris Waddell detailed his journey up Mount Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair while screening his new documentary at the Jack Morton Auditorium Wednesday night. Freddo Lin | Hatchet Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Matthew Reiber.

Paraplegic activist Chris Waddell recounted his inspirational tale of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair to a full house Wednesday night at the Jack Morton Auditorium.

The new film “One Revolution” chronicles the journey of Waddell and a group of dedicated friends, family, trainers and porters who climb the highest mountain in Africa together in an effort to make a point about the abilities of the approximately 1.1 billion disabled individuals worldwide.

“As we were going up the mountain, we passed a lot of people coming down saying it was the hardest thing they had ever done,” said Waddell. “For some reason they got pretty quiet when they saw me.”

Waddell was left paralyzed from the waist down after a skiing accident at Middlebury College in 1988. He went on to become the most decorated male skier in Paralympic history, winning 12 medals in four games, and spending 11 years on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team.

The documentary delves into his desire to increase disability awareness through the work of educational group Nametags, which refers to often self-created labels and limitations.

“Sometimes the more visible mountains are easier to climb than the ones you can’t see,” Waddell said. “The idea behind the foundation is to change the way the world views people with disabilities, and the way people with disabilities view themselves.”

Once the plan to climb Mount Kilimanjaro was hatched, Waddell and his friends Scott Gilman and Dave Penney worked to create a feasible means of transport and method for ascending the mountain.

Despite their precautions, the team met obstacles, such as volcanic dust and equipment failures, that took their toll on their timeline as well as group morale.

The trek took the team through five different environments, from jungles to mountains, and through high altitudes.

While initially intended to make Waddell the first paraplegic man to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro, the journey developed deeper meaning as the team worked through the climb. After an incredibly powerful scene in which the dream of unassisted ascent must be abandoned, Waddell finds a bigger dream to follow up the mountain.

“As I was being carried up, I initially had this feeling of failure,” he said. “But I realized I was trying to eliminate this separation [for disabled people], and if I didn’t need anybody, then I would be separated.”

Waddell will continue to screen the film in a fall tour aimed at raising awareness for the Nametags program.

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