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Monday, September 30, 2019 I Vol. 116 Iss. 10 AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 WWW.GWHATCHET.COM What’s inside Opinions Culture Sports The editorial board Celebrate the start of What to expect from discusses the extent autumn with our picks women’s soccer as it of free speech on for the best seasonal embarks on its conference campus treats slate Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 ANC exceeds budget by thousands to fund community projects SHREYA SATAGOPAN & walk on the block between ZOYA WAZIR the Marvin Center and Kogan REPORTERS Plaza last fall after several stu- dents complained that cars A local governing body would nearly hit pedestrians exceeded its 2019 budget by crossing the street. thousands of dollars to pay Kennedy said the ANC for legal fees and pedestrian hired legal counsel to help the safety studies for projects on commission fi nalize a settle- and around campus. ment with the University de- The Foggy Bottom and tailing temporary housing sit- West End Advisory Neighbor- uations for students displaced hood Commission announced by renovations to Thurston last week that the organiza- Hall. The University agreed tion exceeded its fi scal year last week to pay a $1 million 2019 budget by about $3,000 fi ne for every semester that to fi nance several commu- students live in off -campus nity projects, like the Foggy buildings past its intended Bottom Campus Plan waiver fi nish date, which is sched- and a renewed liquor license uled for fall 2022. at The Watergate Hotel. ANC “That work guaranteed commissioners said the orga- the Commission’s unanimous nization’s fi nancial reserves – support for the project and an which grow every year – will expeditious handling of the pay for the extra services. application that will hopeful- SARAH ROACH | EDITOR IN CHIEF Commissioner Patrick ly allow the project to proceed History department chair Katrin Schultheiss said increasing the proportion of STEM majors could push of cials to reduce the amount of resources al- located to non-STEM departments. Kennedy said the ANC col- quickly,” he said in an email. laborates at the beginning of Kennedy said the services each fi scal year to outline po- the commission funded this Push to increase STEM majors could lead to tential expenditures for com- year will ultimately benefi t munity services and votes the community and will not on which projects could be negatively impact the ANC’s cuts in non-STEM departments, faculty say funded. In fi scal year 2019, fi nances next fi scal year. which ends Sept. 30, the ANC “That means, in eff ect, ALEC RICH & that GW still lags behind that initiative, I would be institutions as a result of used about $8,400 – more than that the ANC could, without ETHAN SCHWARTZ most private research uni- more supportive,” Schul- STEM graduates generally twice as much as the organiza- receiving another dime from REPORTERS versities in terms of its per- theiss said in an email. earning higher incomes tion spent last year – to fi nance the District government, con- centage of STEM students, LeBlanc said in an in- than non-STEM students. community projects, he said. tinue to pay its bills for al- Offi cials’ push to in- falling at second to last be- terview earlier this month “If you want to fi nd “The payments that can most three years just from the crease the number of STEM hind Georgetown Univer- that while he does not want something to blame for the fl uctuate the most based on money we have saved,” Ken- majors could mean “major” sity. to make GW a competitor declining fortunes of the the needs of a given year are nedy said. “So there will be no cuts in funding for non- “The world is chang- in STEM education on par humanities, look to broader those for professional servic- impact from running a slight STEM departments, hu- ing and STEM is an accel- with schools like the Cali- trends in society that priori- es,” he said. “The ANC often defi cit this year.” manities and social science, erator,” LeBlanc said at a fornia Institute of Technol- tize salaries, economic utili- retains the services of people ANC Chairman William faculty said. town hall meeting earlier ogy, he wants to bring the ty, tech-facilitated effi ciency like lawyers or traffi c consul- Kennedy Smith said the com- University President this month. “We should all school more in line with its and social status,” she said. tants to provide expertise and mission received about $19,000 Thomas LeBlanc an- want every student at this peers’ STEM-to-non-STEM Masha Belenky, an as- represent the community’s from the D.C. Council for fi scal nounced at a town hall University to have access ratios. sociate professor of French, interests in areas where the year 2019. But Smith said the earlier this month that he to the skills necessary for Schultheiss said LeB- said offi cials should contin- volunteer commissioners ANC saves any money from its intends to increase the ra- the quantitative analysis of lanc’s focus on STEM ue to commit the same level themselves lack subject mat- Council allotment, which has tio of science, technology, data using technology.” through his strategic initia- of funding to departments ter expertise.” accumulated to almost $60,000 engineering and math ma- Katrin Schultheiss, the tives downplays the value that represent GW’s “tradi- The ANC hired a traffi c in reserves that will cover this jors at GW from about 19 chair of the history de- of a humanities education tional areas of strength” in engineer for nearly $2,000 last year’s extra expenses. to 30 percent of the under- partment, said she is “con- at GW. the humanities and social December to study pedestrian “In any given year we graduate population as the cerned” with LeBlanc’s “Studying the humani- sciences to preserve the aca- safety around Washington have reserves that are equal University rolls out its next twin goals of increasing the ties equips us to examine demic programs that help Circle after residents com- to three years worth of oper- fi ve-year strategic plan. percentage of STEM majors the world around us with GW stand out among other plained that cars failed to ating,” Smith said. “We have More than 10 liberal arts and cutting the undergrad- a critical eye and to under- colleges. stop at the crosswalk on 23rd plenty of margin to make ex- faculty said LeBlanc’s deci- uate population. She said stand the place that we as She said offi cials should Street and changed lanes hap- penditures beyond what we sion could strain budgets the changes will necessitate individuals and as citizens create a “clear plan” detail- hazardly around the circle. set for each year’s budget.” in non-STEM departments reductions in funding for play and have played in ing how they intend to ac- The District Department of Commissioner Detrick and impede progress on re- non-STEM departments society,” she said. “Without count for the reduction in Transportation created a traf- Campbell said the over-ex- search projects. and result in a “radical such understanding, we enrollment and increase fi c island on 23rd Street south penditure does not pose a LeBlanc said he aims to shifting of resources away cannot hope to change the in the proportion of STEM of Washington Circle in April. fi nancial burden because the admit more STEM majors from non-STEM fi elds.” world in ways that are truly majors so that non-STEM Commissioners voted in budget is fl exible. amid plans to cut under- “If the new push for meaningful.” departments have enough June to hire a fi rm for $5,000 “However, when we bud- graduate enrollment by 20 more STEM majors were She said LeBlanc’s push resources. to assess pedestrian safety get for purchases of service, percent over the next fi ve coupled with a clear com- is part of a broader decline on the section of H Street that it doesn’t necessarily have years. He said at a Faculty mitment to fi nding new in enrollment in humani- runs through campus. Of- to go to that, it’s just our best Senate meeting in March sources of revenue to fund ties across many academic See OFFICIALS Page 2 fi cials added a second cross- guess,” he said. Offi cials host on-campus trainings, debut new service ambassadors MEREDITH ROATEN & faction: inconsistent leader- Diaz said the work ZACH SCHONFELD ship, ineffi cient communi- teams’ recommendations STAFF WRITERS cation, poor service culture were “wide-ranging” and and lack of employee appre- included immediate chang- A service ambassador ciation. es – like free summer access team will host leadership “Faculty and staff agreed for faculty and staff to the training sessions this fall for that we need to change our Lerner Health and Wellness faculty and staff as part of a culture,” he said in an email. Center – and longer-term ef- push to improve institution- “This will not happen over- forts like creating an internal al culture. night and will require a portal for faculty and staff . Offi cials said the Culture long-term, multi-faceted de- “Implementation of work Leadership Team – a group liberate eff ort by faculty and team recommendations of faculty and administra- s t a ff . ” will continue, and updates tors working to improve University President will be provided to faculty staff morale and interactions Thomas LeBlanc has drawn and staff as changes and – developed an aspirational attention to the lack of a enhancements are intro- statement and values, over- service-driven culture at duced,” Diaz said.