Neither I nor, I think, anyone here at the Patriot is conceited enough to believe that GW President Knapp ever reads our little web publication. But I couldn't help but think, in a fit of self-importance, that President Knapp's recent editorial in the Hatchet was a little bit of a response to my writing of last week demanding a specific vision for GW.

Knapp certainly provides things resembling ideas in his piece, but I'm not sure I feel like I have any better sense of where the university is going after reading it. The closest he gets to something like an idea is this:

We must continue investing in student learning and experience, on campus and off, and we must increase our investment in the kind of discovery that will firmly establish our international stature. In short, we must increase what we invest in our students, our faculty, and the infrastructure that supports them both.

But these are pretty vague generalities. And why is it, exactly, that we need to spend more money in order to achieve greatness?

Knapp goes on to say that he wants to raise 60 million dollars to spend on these new projects. But why spend that money? By my extremely rough calculations, raising 60 million dollars from outside sources could reduce tuition for every student at this school by $3,000.

We are one of the most expensive schools in the country. Grand plans for new spending should take a back seat to affordability. And, for all Knapps talk of how wonderful our financial situation is, we shouldn't forget that GW is roughly a billion dollars in the hole.

So, President Knapp, I have some brief advice. Perhaps GW should focus on paying down its debts and reducing costs here at GW before we embark on grand new spending adventures to become the "world-class, 21st-century version of the university George Washington envisioned."

I know it's not glamorous to pay your debts and reduce tuition costs, and it might even get people mad at you. Certainly the editorial page editors over at the hatchet, endlessly clamoring for more services from the University, would not be happy with you. But it's the right thing to do.

And who knows? Maybe if GW students stopped graduating with crippling debt levels, they might be a bit more willing to donate to the alma mater. And with that money, you can build all the science centers your heart desires.