GUSA Candidates Disqualified

Television news commentator Chris Matthews discussed the changing face of conservative politics in the United States and the possible implications on the upcoming 2008 presidential election Tuesday night in ICC Auditorium.

Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” said the Bush administration is leading the United States away from “traditional conservativism” in foreign and fiscal affairs. The administration’s pre-emptive attack on Iraq goes against the traditional conservative idea of attacking only after being attacked, he said.

“If Madeline Albright had suggested this war, not one Republican would have backed it. But all the dutiful Republicans say, ‘Yes master, we have to fight this war,’” he added.

Georgetown’s restrictions barring student study abroad programs in nations with U.S. State Department security warnings, including Israel, remain in place almost two months after administrators said they were considering lifting the study abroad ban.

Katherine Bellows, interim director of the Office of International Programs, said the policy has not changed since study abroad in Israel was suspended in 2000 due to security concerns.

“At this point, the policy has not changed; however, there have been on-going discussions at the highest levels addressing all of the issues,” she said. “Unfortunately, I do not expect a resolution before the end of the academic semester.”

Jason Crawford (COL ’05) was selected as Georgetown’s Allbritton Scholar for the 2004-05 academic year, university officials announced last Friday. The scholarship will pay his expenses during two years of post-baccalaureate study at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford.

Crawford was chosen for the award on the basis of academic excellence, character, service and interest in the well-being of others, according to a university press release. The scholarship includes tuition, fees and a yearly stipend for living and travel expenses.

Citing increasing worldwide religious, ethnic and political disputes, Georgetown University’s government department announced its development of a new Master in the Art of Conflict Resolution degree. Applications for the program will be accepted on a rolling basis through May 31 for the fall semester.

“This new program reinforces Georgetown’s commitment to ethics, inter-faith dialogue, peace and reconciliation,” Provost James J. O’Donnell said in a press release. “I am pleased to see us building on our existing academic strengths and preparing students for a rapidly growing field.”

In a heightened effort to have its demands heard, members of the Living Wage Coalition walked in on the Georgetown Board of Directors meeting Wednesday after rallying in Red Square.

Ginny Leavell (COL ’05) stood on the stairs of the Reiss building where the meeting was taking place and read the Coalition’s ten demands including a “living wage” for all university workers, which the group said would be $14.93 per hour. Coalition members and other participants in the rally cheered loudly after every demand was read. The group then entered Reiss and headed to the fifth floor where the meeting was taking place.

The interaction between the two groups was peaceful, and the Board allowed Coalition members to discuss their demands.

Georgetown’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics received an $8.1 million federal award and five year contract from the National Library of Medicine last month intended to enhance the institute’s bioethics library and outreach services.

The grant will be given out over the next five years, including $1.4 million in 2005. The National Library of Medicine, which provided the grant, is the largest biomedical library in the world. It bestowed the grant largely to continue the operations of the Kennedy Institute’s National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature in Healy Hall, the largest collection of bioethics materials in the world.

After persistent concerns from the student body, GUSA is proposing a series of changes to improve dining hall options on campus.

The proposed changes call for healthier dining options for students, permission for students to enter the dining halls twice during the same meal period, the ability for students to take a Grab-n-Go meal after eating a meal in the dining hall and allowing students on a block meal plan to use Grab-n-Go.

Having healthier food available was cited as the greatest student concern in two surveys run on the http://my.georgetown.edu Web site. Andy Asensio (COL ’06), the student association’s communications director, said that 600 to 700 students participated in the online surveys.

In a positive sign for college seniors seeking employment after graduation, a prominent entry-level job site announced a projected 14.2 percent increase in hiring for the year 2005 Thursday.

The site, http://www.collegegrad.com, also released a list of the top five hundred entry-level job employers for 2005.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is listed as the top entry-level employer with a projected 7,000 open positions available for 2005. Many government agencies also appear on the list, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Agriculture. Both are expected to offer about 3,000 jobs in 2005.

Employers cited increased customer satisfaction and a rise in tenure as causes of the recent trend toward hiring more recent college graduates.

Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth (COL ’93 LAW ‘96) (D-S.D.) related her experiences as a woman running for public office at a symposium in the Gewirz Student Center at the Georgetown University Law Center last Friday.

She was joined by Winsome Sears and Lisa Marie Cheney, Republican candidates for Congressional seats in the 2004 election, as well as Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, and Christy Agner, executive director of the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Vote Center. Cheney is unrelated to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Herseth, who received her undergraduate and law degree from Georgetown University, encouraged young women to run for public office and to help one another once elected.