Student Draws Swastikas On Her Own Door, EXTENDED EDITION
Earlier today, 11/5/07, Sarah Marshak, a GW freshman who had reported several incidents of Swastikas drawn on her door in Mitchell Hall, signed a letter of confession administered by University officials, admitting that she had drawn several of the symbols herself. Although it has yet to be disclosed by the University exactly how many of the symbols Marshak is responsible for, she is said to have drawn the last three of six on her own door. She was linked to the incident by University Police after being caught by a hidden video camera installed in Mitchell Hall drawing “several” of the symbols. She must now appear before a Student Judicial Committee and faces potential District and Federal charges.
In the Hatchet’s November 1st spot “News Analysis: What is a Hate Crime?” Marshak was quoted as saying, “I would like to see a few cameras in my hall.”
Indeed.
While a swastika being written is very inappropriate and incredibly offensive, the initial instance does not warrant an article. Anyone who has frequented the third floor cubicles in Gelman can attest the the fact that isolated Swastikas and hateful graffiti are not uncommon.
Despite this fact, the last three editions of the Hatchet feature this issue as their lead story. While this became news later when more were drawn, all that the article did was draw attention to this one girls story.
In addition, they continually criticized the university for it’s lack of response in news pieces when it now becomes clear they knew what they were doing from the get go. Last Thursdays edition of the Hatchet had this as a quote: “‘It is easy to automatically think this is a hate crime and we can’t jump to conclusions,’ said Michelle Sherrard, a University spokesperson.” As it turns out, the university was clear on what they were doing all along. This sort of presumptuous journalism sheds light on the Hatchet’s weak desire for unbiased reporting.
Hold on, we forgot something. Marshak is a reporter for the Hatchet. Yep. It’s right there in the second sentence of the first article posted on 10/25, it’s on the front page of the 10/29 Hatchet, and in the 10/29 Web Update. An article that does not mention this? Their most recent breaking news web update.
They forget that whole “affiliation” thing when their informant turns out to be a liar.
Let’s not forget the power of Facebook. With a few clicks, more unfolds. The sophomore who has written almost every Hatchet article on the issue, Robert Lee, is Facebook friends with the criminal tipster. And check out his Facebook wall. We captured this wallpost Marshak left Lee less than 24 hours before: “I’m so sure you’ll miss all those late nights when this swastika shit is eventually over…glad my door could give you something to do in the meantime :)”
The Hatchet was the student body’s main news source for this issue. The FBI was involved. Was it really journalistic to be buddies with someone involved? And as it turns out, this buddy relationship happened to include a lot of lies that made their way into the paper. She fooled a paper, which in turn fooled a community.
This sort of slightly-obtuse hatemongering is always unsettling, but it’s much more upsetting when perpetuated by members of the media. It doesn’t matter whether Marshak drew all or one of the swastikas: the Hatchet is forehead-deep in the propagandistic miasma that is this story.
We at the Colonialist would like to point out what is perhaps the most alarming truth revealed by this whole situation: There is no reliable news source on campus. At least we admit we’re biased.
More as it breaks.
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Comments
seriously, great story. I’ve had swastikas drawn on my door though. its fucked up but you just erase it and move on.
Well, there’s one more camera in Mitchell Hall now. Quite an accomplishment, Sarah. Let’s hope that one Hatchet article’s plea for extended camera surveillance slips under the university’s radar–I mean, the University should really find another news source. What a bunch of turd nuggets.
Why do dumbasses like this have to make it so hard to be a liberal thinker?
The supposed intolerance on the GWU campus seems like it is perpetuated more by people who wish to be victims than anyone who would want to antagonize them.
A swastika on a door? Sounds like someone who doesn’t believe in that stuff to begin with is just trying to get a rise out of someone else. And it worked.
freshmen: if you don’t want something written on your door, take down your markerboard. it’s november, get a clue.
is a penis drawing on your door newsworthy too?
Yes, hidden cameras in the dorms. Hidden cameras installed in the hallways. Hidden cameras installed in the hallways after documentation of hate-centric vandalism. Hidden cameras installed in order to catch the repeat offender.
Most recent Anonymous, did you read the article?
Expel this bitch for wasting our time and the University’s money and resources. Why aren’t people more upset at her?
PS - The Hatchet has gone way downhill in the past couple years. It’s amazing how many spelling errors and simple mistakes one finds.
i’m not surprised…. this girls door is a fucking bulletin board for extreme liberal causes. thanks to her, the hatchet (which she wrote for), and all other student organizations that she was affiliated with have zero credibility.
way to be sarah marshak, giving a bad name to jews and gw students everywhere.
As a GWU Medical Graduate Student and a Jew, this whole issue bothers me terribly.
It makes me sad. I hope this young woman gets the mental healthcare she needs and the University can find a way to educate students on the important issue of hate crimes.
The Hatchet has been biased, corrupt, misinformed, and malicious since at least 2002 when I was a freshman at GW. The writers for the paper think that they are writing for the New York Times and are entirely too serious about their positions, which are often blatantly biased. I was a member of a nationally recognized and highly regarded fraternity, which the school does not support. This relationship with the school dates back several years, when our chapter was founded and the university prescribed that we had to admit each and every interested person into our fraternity. We did not agree with the school’s mandate, as a fraternity should be sacred and privileged.
Since we emerged on campus, the Hatchet, which calls itself an independent paper, took every opportunity to bash our fraternity, to point out minor occurrences and completely ignored the good we did in the community. Such positives include our annual fund-raiser of $2500 for Pediatric AIDS, which far exceeded most fraternities combined. The Hatchet also “warned” freshmen not to speak with us if we asked them to come to our recruitment (rush) events. In fact, we had to individually speak with students because it was harder for us to gain membership, as the school would not include us in rush week at all.
Throughout my time at GW, we as a fraternity never asked for the Hatchet to get 100% in our corner, but did ask for fair treatment by our peers. This is especially true when these students claim that they owe nothing to the university itself and speak independently. As a group, we just found it odd that students would spend so much time to make our lives difficult, when college is supposed to be one of the most exciting and happy four years of life, for all of us and them as well.
Much more mortifying, the Hatchet is also the publication which printed on the front page of its paper the tragic story a student who died in an accident, and included with that article a picture of the student’s body after the police arrived. When asked about this tasteless and callous action, the writer’s for the paper made comments such as “we are just journalists, we are doing our jobs.” Instead, I think most people would consider these individuals who are 17-22 years of age as students, whose primary task is education and are no where near the same realm as writers of the Washington Post. There is simply no comparison and this awful decision to print a picture of a deceased student further shows their ignorance and lack of understanding their place in the world.
Consequently, hearing that a Hatchet writer was personally connected with the culprit of the recent hate crime at the university and that the Hatchet’s publication reflects that relationship, I am not surprised whatsoever. This is simply one more example of how the writers of the Hatchet truly feel as though they are the voice of God.
[...] ridiculous situation, we would be the logical masterminds. To this day, our most read post was our analysis of the incident. We owe the majority of our readership to that post. See, Sarah? Something great did come [...]
[...] ridiculous situation, we would be the logical masterminds. To this day, our most read post was our analysis of the incident. We owe the majority of our readership to that post. See, Sarah? Something great did come from your [...]
well done!