An independent student newspaper • Serving the GW community since 1904 Thursday The GW October 18, 2012 WWW.GWHATCHET.COM Vol. 109 • Iss. 19 Hatchet Donations left in wills bolster fundraising Gifts left by estate donors rise by 56 percent by cory weInBerg Campus News Editor Charlie Berardesco’s 30-year legal career was born at the GW Law School. And when he dies, a $3 million chunk of his multimillion-dollar estate will go back into the school to fund scholar- ships and programs. The 54-year-old alumnus is part of a growing pool of donors earmark- ing GW in their wills – initiating an awkward waiting game for gifts that will pad the University’s endowment when they die. “It’s an old lawyers' joke about giving money estates. When the es- tate matures, then the money flows,” said Berardesco, whose gift was an- Top: jordan emonT | assIsTanT phoTo edITor; Bottom: francIs rIVera | phoTo edITor nounced at a law school banquet this The Allen Lee Hotel, a five-story building on 23rd at F streets with white faded paint, will receive major upgrades in the coming years as its remakes its image. month. “That’s what would happen when I pass away.” The amount of money the Univer- sity pulled in from these gifts, called es- Developer plans facelift for century-old hotel tate or planned gifts, grew by 56 percent last fiscal year, amassing $23.5 million from 81 donations that will be tucked and hotel, six years after pur- away for years or even decades. Renovations to transform chasing the worn-down prop- These gifts often make up some of erty at 23rd and F streets. GW’s heaviest money loads. Out of the Allen Lee Hotel from President and CEO Jim 19 gifts valued over $1 million last year, Abdo presented the company's eight were planned estate gifts. plan for the five-story, white The University’s planned giving hostel to high-end brick building with a peel- program – where donors can request ing exterior at a neighborhood in their wills that money for scholar- by matthew kwIecInskI meeting Wednesday. ships, academics or research go to GW Metro News Editor “We have been wanting to – isn’t new. GW has pushed the option get to this building to upgrade since the 1980s, but it rapidly gained A high-end District re- it to give it a new lease on life,” popularity in the past year, account- tail developer is beginning a Abdo said. “We’re not about ing for one-fifth of last year's entire 14-month project to inject "new knocking buildings down, we’re fundraising haul. life" into Foggy Bottom's oldest about giving them new life.” It has the potential to have its hotel, the company's president The company, which has greatest impact over the next two de- said Wednesday. transformed dozens of historic cades as the baby boomer population ABDO Development laid buildings in D.C. into luxuri- fades away, creating a “huge opportu- out an extensive plan to trans- ous venues, bought the hotel nity for gift planning,” Vice President form the century-old Allen Lee Hotel into an upscale restaurant See ALLEN LEE: Page 5 See DONORS: Page 11 Cheating violations reach all-time high by cory weInBerg Last year, professors brought The rise was in part driven by Campus News Editor 45 percent more cases to the Of- the 55 graduate students caught fice of Academic Integrity than cheating, a 16 percent jump from Geology lecturer Elli Pauli they did during the 2010-2011 last year. Plagiarism, the most said the laundry list of cheating academic year. common type of academic integ- incidents in her classes – from col- “I’m guessing the issue is this rity violation, made up just more laborating on take-home exams to idea that you have so much pres- than half of the cases – 8 percent peaking at iPhones during tests – sure, and you have to get ahead fewer than during the 2010-2011 has reached a tipping point. at any cost,” Pauli said. “But it’s school year. To combat what she calls an getting more rampant." Cheating, which Terpstra de- "epidemic," she enlisted extra While Pauli prefers to deal scribes as the “old-fashioned” copy- proctors to watch test takers and with instances of cheating herself ing off another student’s paper, made banned group exams last year by failing students on the assign- up about 16 percent of cases. The rest – when the number of cheating, ments, more professors than ever of the academic integrity violations phoTo IllusTraTIon By francIs rIVera | phoTo edITor plagiarism and falsification re- are asking GW to step in and han- include falsification, fabrication and GW's disciplinary office and police force are teaming up on a University-wide campaign ports at GW reached an all-time dle the cases, Tim Terpstra, the of- to inform students what happens if they are caught with fake identification cards. high of 145 cases. fice's director, said. See CHEATING: Page 5 Sixteen students have been reported to UPD for fake ID use this fall. University fights fake ID use, underage drinking by jeremy dIamond with false identification. Hatchet Staff Writer “If your friends talk you into get- ting a fake ID, it could be more than With an escalating number of stu- just a college lark,” Hay said. “You dents found with fake IDs, the Uni- could end up with something on your versity is launching a campaign to record that you don’t want to be there warn them of the legal consequences. three years later.” The University Police Depart- Sixteen students have been re- ment has seen an increase in alcohol- ported to GW’s disciplinary office related reports tied back to the use of so far this year for using false iden- fake IDs, UPD Chief Kevin Hay said, tification to buy alcohol or gain ac- along with finding more fake IDs in cess into bars. Last academic year, wallets at the lost and found. a total of 84 students were referred That spike prompted a joint effort to the Office of Student Rights and by UPD and the Center for Alcohol Responsibilities for the use or pos- and other Drug Education this fall session of false IDs – down from 109 to remind students that they could students during the 2010-2011 year, face disciplinary violations, police ci- tations, fines or even arrest if caught See FAKE IDS: Page 5 Sarah Ferris | Senior News Editor | [email protected] Cory Weinberg | Campus News Editor | [email protected] October 18, 2012 Matthew Kwiecinski | Metro News Editor | [email protected] Chloe Sorvino | Assistant News Editor | [email protected] H News Snapshot IN BRIEF New website creates online study forum Gelman Library study rooms booked? A local startup that launched at GW Tuesday offers a Blackboard- meets-Facebook website that lets stu- dents study together online instead. The website, StudyHall.com, allows students to video chat, swap notes and share files – offerings the company hopes will revolutionize the market for online classroom tools. It went live Tuesday to five schools, including GW. Geared toward student needs, the website encourages collaboration, un- like faculty-driven Blackboard tools, Ross Blankenship, the website’s found- er and chief executive officer, said. He added that students have told him they want to move away from Blackboard – which is mostly used to post assignments and syllabi – to col- laborate with their peers online. At schools like Cornell and Harvard uni- versities this year, Blankenship said nearly one-fifth of their undergraduate bodies signed up for the program. Enticing students with a Black- board alternative is “almost like steal- ing candy from a baby,” Blankenship JORDAN Emont | AssistANT PHoto EDitoR said, adding that years of navigating In sync with the indie rhythms of DeVotchKa, sophomore Kathleen O’Neill leaps into the air during a solo routine Tuesday. She was one of 15 more user-friendly social networking performers in the SoloFest showcase, put on annually by the Department of Theatre & Dance. sites had made “their taste palate so refined now that they will switch from Blackboard in a heartbeat.” The website does not require a buy- in from GW. Students register by giving ON THE WEB www.gwhatchet.com their school, grade level and courses, and can be rated by classmates on their VIDEO VIDEO quality as a study partner. It will not look to challenge Black- Behind the scenes of ‘Almost, Maine’ Pumpkin decoration board’s supremacy as the main learning management system universities use to link up students and professors, but the small company may want to join forces, Blankenship said. StudyHall.com got its start from a A look at the Department of Theatre & Dance’s first fall Students usher in the fall season at the Mount Vernon TechCrunch competition. As one of 30 performance. The show starts this weekend. Campus by decorating pumpkins. finalists, the program picked up funds from investors, and began beta-testing at Cornell, Harvard, Georgetown, Mid- dlebury and Yale in September. OCtobER Freshman Casey Syron said he could imagine his study group habits Thursday Friday Saturday moving more online. 18 19 20 “Usually for study groups, my GW Museum groundbreaking Innovation and Opportunity in Russia Colin Powell Book Signing Train Concert classmates and I get a room in Gelman The University will kick off construction on Hear from the vice president of strategy and Get the signature of GW Business School alumnus Listen to the soft rock sounds of the or go to J Street,” Syron said.