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Andrew Ramonas, senior news editor at The Hatchet, is a senior from Naperville, Ill., double-majoring in journalism and political science. He has written for The Hatchet since October 2005 and has covered campus news as a senior staff writer and campus news editor. He has interned at the NBC London bureau and the Tribune Broadcasting Washington bureau. Andrew is interested in pursuing a career in broadcast journalism after college.
Alexa Millinger, The Hatchet's metro news editor, is a senior majoring in international affairs with a minor in Spanish. She grew up in Burlington, Conn. She will be contributing to Passports while teaching English in Paraguay this summer.
Nathan Grossman, a campus news editor at The Hatchet, is a senior majoring in political science. He primarily covers student life at the University. He contributed to Passports while studying abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, in the spring of 2008. He is from Indianapolis.
Sarah Scire, a campus news editor at The Hatchet, is a junior double-majoring in political communication and English literature. After two years in the metro news section, she now focuses on campus issues, including campus development and the Student Association. She is originally from Windham, N.H., but has been known to tell people Boston is her "true" hometown.
Danielle Meister, The Hatchet's assistant news editor, is a junior majoring in journalism and mass communication with a concentration in political science. She has covered the academic beat since her sophomore year. She has interned at the United Nations and currently works part-time at Congressional Quarterly. Danielle is from Manhattan where she attended Poly Prep High School.
The unidentified male paces on a GW Hospital ledge. An hour and a half later, he fell and sustained serious injuries. The man, whose name and condition is not available, was on the ledge for more than four hours. Andrew Nacin/Hatchet photographer
The Hatchet has published an article with more information.
Update, 4:48 p.m. Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Jimmie Riley said the man partially hit the ground when falling and was breathing when they took him inside the hospital with serious injuries. The man had been hanging off the ledge, and officers set up the mat while trying to negotiate with him.
Emergency personnel stationed on the roof prepare to rappel down to rescue the potential jumper. Andrew Nacin/Hatchet photographer
Riley said the man, a black male whose name is not yet available, checked in yesterday after being injured in a car accident.
Update, 4:08 p.m. The male jumped fell onto an inflatable mat. There is no status on his condition.
End Update.
A man exited a GW Hospital window around noon today and is threatening to jump from a ledge overlooking New Hampshire Avenue.
He is wearing boxer shorts and his arms are bandaged. More than 30 D.C. police and fire department vehicles are on the scene blocking off many of the streets surrounding the hospital. Stay with The Hatchet for more news as it develops.
Aerospace engineer David S. Dolling will become the next dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in September, University officials announced today.
Dolling, an associate dean at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, will replace SEAS Dean Timothy Tong who is departing GW to become the president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
“Dr. Dolling was selected after an extensive national search. His expertise in high-level research in aerodynamics, as well as in faculty recruitment and mentoring, will greatly help GW advance its science and engineering programs,” said Donald R. Lehman, executive vice president for academic affairs, in a news release.
Stay with GWHatchet.com this weekend for more details on the new SEAS dean.
The Metropolitan Police Department investigated a bomb threat near the perimeter of GW’s campus Friday morning, shutting down K Street between 20th and 22nd Streets for more than an hour.
Officers from MPD’s Second District responded at about 9:45 a.m. after a pedestrian reported seeing a suspicious male place a package in a newspaper box on the corner of 21st and K Streets, MPD Lieutenant Gary Fitzgerald said.
“This is IMF weekend and the IMF building is nearby,” Fitzgerald said. “Those circumstances gave credence to this call.”
Though MPD did not evacuate the office buildings and shops that line K Street, which is infamous for its concentration of powerful Washington lobbying firms, police did halt pedestrian and street traffic while MPD’s explosive ordinance unit investigated the bomb.
“The package didn’t contain anything dangerous and the closures were precautionary. We didn’t want anyone getting hurt but us,” said Fitzgerald, adding that MPD investigates about 700 to 800 serious bomb threats a year.
The D.C. Fire Department evacuated residents of JBKO due to a fire in the basement. Welders were working in the boiler room and lit insulation on fire, said Timothy H. Gerhart, a deputy chief with DCFD. The incident appears to be an accident but the fire department is investigating. The building’s occupants were evacuated to Marvin Center, said Michelle Sherrard, a University spokesperson.
A very large tree located on the northwest corner of 21st and G streets fell late this afternoon, halting all traffic and knocking a street lamp into the University Police Department headquarters. There was no damage to the UPD building.
Officials on the scene credited hurricane force winds across the city as the primary reason for the incident. Fire Captain Leroy Cade said no one was injured, and that the Department of Public Works would be removing the tree. The crew was delayed because of numerous fallen trees across the city.
If you were slightly confused by an infomail that was sent out this afternoon, I don’t think you were alone. The e-mail sent to all students explained that radio personalities were unfairly attacking the University for not accommodating a charity basketball game in the Smith Center.
Tracy Schario, a University spokesperson, said a host on WPGC 95.5 FM was calling GW racist for being continually booked when the basketball game’s organizers wanted to hold the event. The DJ during those hours is Big Tigger, who also sponsors the event. She added University President Steven Knapp has received “upwards of 50″ e-mails on the subject today.
The dates requested, June 7 and June 14, were unavailable due to “floor maintanence,” according to the University statement.
Anyone passing by The President apartment complex this evening at about 9 p.m. may have wondered why there were dozens of firemen and more than five trucks stationed in front of the building. A batallion chief on the scene said they were responding a large amount of smoke in a hallway of the building, though no apparent fire. One truck had its ladder extended to the top of the building and fire fighters were standing on the roof. They packed up soon after 9 and left the area.
Hi we’re up here on the Mount Vernon Campus right now (on my Blackberry), and a tree is sitting precariously on several electrical wires. Foxhall road is closed starting at the entrance to GW.
MPD is redirecting traffic while the Department of Public Works tries to cut down the tree. They have spent the past half hour on a cherry picker sawing away at the branches.
This is currently happening all over the city, and crews are dividing up their time on multiple incidents, said MPD officer Brian Aungarter. Many people around the city are also without power.
We’ll have more in a bit when we get back to campus on a computer (photos, etc). It doesn’t look like this will cause any problems for tommorow morning, but we will let you know if it does.
Update: The tree wasn’t cut down until the following morning because the people sawing off branches were only concerned about it touching power lines. The lines below this are phone lines, and the tree leaned on these for the rest of the night.
A suspicious object was spotted near the Medical Faculty Associates building at 22 and I streets on Friday afternoon, but was quickly deemed to be “a completely harmless package,” according to D.C. Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Craig Baker.
He said the object was a “bio-hazard container,” which they bagged up and removed from the area.
(Media Credit: Ryder Haske)
“We checked it out,” Baker said. “It doesn’t appear to be a hazard.”