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Osama bin Laden, 9/11 Mastermind and Al Qaeda Leader, Dead

At 11:00pm EST on May 1, 2011, President Barack H. Obama stood in front of the press, the nation and the world in the East Room of the White House and announced that after a covert military operation instituted in Pakistan, approved by himself, Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and orchestrator of the September 11 attacks, was killed.

President Obama authorized an attack on a compound occupied by Bin Laden and family earlier on the first of May. After a gun fight ensued, Bin Laden was shot through the head and his body was taken into the custody of the United States.

DNA and forensics testing confirmed that the dead man was indeed 6 foot 4 inch Osama bin Laden.

News spread very quickly, even before the it was released on television news stations. People from the White House to Ground Zero poured into the streets to celebrate an American victory in the War against Terrorism.

The killing of Osama bin Laden is both the long-awaited victory of the Bush Administration and the legacy of the Obama Administration. It is closure for all those who lost lives or experienced the horror of the September 11 attacks and is the beginning of the end of the reign of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

In the words of President Obama: "Justice has been done".

My College Decision

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, the past few weeks have been filled with thought about the institution where I will spend the next four years of my life and further my education. I had the great honor and privilege to get accepted to some great institutions, which made my decision even harder. In the end Howard University, Kent State University, The College of William and Mary, the University of Delaware, Elon University, The George Washington University and Georgetown University offered me admission to the class of 2015.

I was also very honored to be offered the full cost of attendance from The George Washington University through the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarship and also from Georgetown University through the GU Scholarship Program and the DC Scholars Program. Naturally, I narrowed my choice to these two institutions.

When choosing an institution to attend, there were many factors I had to assess to insure that the next four years of my life would be the most enjoyable and the most fulfilling that I could possibly have. Not only did I have to make sure my choice could serve as a platform for my educational greatness, but also as a home. I have spent the past few weeks visiting campus, talking to students, consulting my family, walking through academic buildings, visiting dorms and imagining myself as a student at both of these institutions.

There was something to be desired from both these schools. There was the family-oriented atmosphere that I experienced at GW; the anticipation of having professors like Michael Eric Dyson at Georgetown; the two campuses at GW that provided students with both an inner-city connection and a secluded escape; or the opportunity to join a campus at Georgetown of great minds that have turned out successful alumni, including numerous senators, congressmen, philanthropists and Presidents (our 42nd President, William J. Clinton).

These, along with many others, were factors that brought me to my final decision.

I have decided that in the Fall of 2011, I will be apart of the 2015 Class at The George Washington University here in Washington, D.C.

The family atmosphere, "best of both worlds" campus selection, quality programs in Political Science and Public Policy and the opportunity to join a cohort of enthusiastic, open-minded, involved classmates all influenced my decision to become a Colonial in the fall.

By no means was this an easy decision. With both institutions giving me the opportunity to attend free of charge and the opportunity to be immersed in an experience much larger than myself, my decision was a source of much stress and deep reflection.

I feel that I have found a home at The George Washington University and am ready to contribute to the student life, get a great education and offer my special talents to a institution that prides itself on innovation and striving to change the world. I would like to thank Georgetown for their offer and also for giving the opportunity to be apart of a unique, prestigious and one-in-a-million community that is nearly unmatched anywhere else in the country.

However, my decision to be a Colonial was one that I think is right for where I want to go and where I think The George Washington University can take me.

Best,

Markus Batchelor

YouthPAC Takes It's First Major Step

Yesterday, YouthPAC, the organization a group of ambitious friends and I started just a few months ago, took first steps in becoming a legitimate organization in the city and in getting young people involved in the political process.

In conjunction with DC Students Speak and the DC Federation of College Democrats, YouthPAC hosted a candidates forum for those running for At-Large City Council Member in the upcoming Special Election on April 26th.

The forum, that discussed youth issues, gave a chance for native Washingtonians and college students studying in the city to have a direct voice to the candidates who may become our city's next At-Large Councilperson.

Sekou Biddle, Tom Brown, Joshua Lopez, Dorothy Douglas, Alan Page, Bryan Weaver and Patrick Mara discussed issues including noise ordinances, the DC opportunity scholarship, public education, civic engagement in the younger population and youth involvement in redistricting.

YouthPAC also held an endorsement vote for the At-Large Council Race and the State Board of Education Race in Wards 4 and 8. YouthPAC was honored to endorse Bryan Weaver and pledged to work hard to make him our next Councilman on April 26th. Read YouthPAC's Statement of Endorsement here.

Thanks to all the candidates who participants who participated, all the young people who attended and all the organizations that worked so hard to put it together!

Extras: See what everyone at the event was tweeting about at yesterday's event: Click here.

Hard to Believe

What's Hard to Believe- March 27, 2011

The District Government- Just two months after the new administration arrived in the Wilson Building, both in the Mayor's Office and in the Council, public trust has plummeted and the Mayor's approval rating is barely hitting 40%. The "One City" motto that thrust Gray into the City's highest office is slowly beginning to fall and seems only like a nice motto of an era long gone. For a mayor and an administration that was elected in the spirit of optimism, that emotion is in short measure and is on the brink of disappearing very soon. It will be interesting to see what the Mayor has to say to restore the public trust tomorrow at his State of the District Address. It will be a hard task to pull off, and restoring his approval to the height that it was 2 months ago is highly unlikely and will probably happen never again. If it does, that will be hard to believe.

George Washington University- It is very hard to believe that the George Washington University has throw a total of 200,000 dollars my way to attend in the fall by way of the Stephen J. Trachtenberg Scholarship! Yeah...pretty hard to believe. Thanks, Colonials! Check out the day's photos here.

Geraldine Ferraro- It is hard to believe that the first woman ever nominated for the office of Vice President of the United States, Geraldine Ferraro, is dead at the age of 75. As the running mate to the 1984 Democratic Nominee for President, Walter Mondale, she was a trailblazer for equal opportunity and a testament to America's evolution as a nation representative to everyone's interests. Mondale/Ferraro lost to Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush, who were running for reelection in 1984. Listen to Ferraro's speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention as she accepts the party's nomination for Vice President.

Amazing Day: Awarded the Stephen J. Trachtenberg Scholarship for the George Washington University

Today was an amazing day for me. At lunch today, Moo Ho Bae and I were awarded the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarship, equaling a full ride to the George Washington University. The surprise ceremony was definitely a highlight for me, not only in the day, but in a lifetime and to get the opportunity to go the one of the nation's top universities fee of charge is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Am I settled on GW yet? That decision will come within the next week or so.

Read the article attached here.

GO COLONIALS!

Social Media Addiction: There's a Cure

I think all of us can admit that using social media can be quite addicting sometimes. When something good happens, when something bad happens, when you hear your favorite song, see a good movie, read a good news article, got a new job, lose an old job, get a significant other or lose that significant other, we run to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. to share our news. And because something like this (or something less significant) happens to us everyday, we spend a significant amount of our lives changing statuses and tweeting and messaging. Furthermore, because this happens to our friends hundreds of times a day, we spend an even larger time checking their statuses and tweets and messages.

Before we know it, we have spent hours on Facebook and Twitter, not doing homework, laundry, grocery shopping, calling family members, reading, cooking, exercising or anything that we should have. For most of us, it is not necessarily our intent to waste our entire lives on these social networking sites. Most of the time, it starts as a very innocent break in between assignments or a way to relax after a long day or an honest attempt to get in touch with a friend and before we know it, it's half past 1am and you are writing a blog post for Advanced Computer Applications that you probably should have done hours ago.

The article we were assigned to read for our computer apps class gave some very helpful tips on how to kick the habit of obsessive use of social networking. I thought all of them were very helpful. They definitely take practice and a lot of commitment, but they are definitely manageable. To put the main idea of the article plainly: prioritize your time and do other things with your life.

I can personally say that whether for business or entertainment, I spend an excruciating amount of time on social networking sites. This enables procrastination, doesn't help me get a lot of work done and is distracting at times. The article mentioned above has very helpful suggestions on how to kick the habit of habitual social networking, but I was also interested in the forced restraints that were suggested at the bottom of this article we read in class the other day, such as programs you can install on your computer that blocks whatever sites you want for a pre-determined amount of time, which you cannot take back once its activated. I will definitely try the more voluntary regiments first and then move to more drastic measures if these don't work.

I suggest that everyone in my same predicament try these methods (voluntarily or involuntarily) so that we can all free ourselves from this "obsession and addiction" to social media, because it wastes too much time.