The Kojo Nnamdi Show

I am disappointed that community leaders were not asked to join the show. The Universities are no longer "non-profit" entities and are indeed large corporations which have responsibilities to their neighbors. Citizens' groups are finally getting together to review the Universities' tax-deductible status and these low interest municipal bonds which are distributed to institutions which are actively harming citizens.

GU has been pestering the neighboring communities with a "new transparency" in their numbers which means they were lying before this? . With a capital fund of over a "billion dollars", GU had the absolute gall to grab 221 million dollars in tmunicipal bonds through the Council which shares the blame. There's a lot of lip about family, community, democracy....in this city until a large institution comes out with guns lawyers and money and promises of jobs. For the record, GU hired thirty-two DC residents last year according to Ms. A. Graham of DOES so their constant patter about financial opportunity is nothing but "patter."
-Stephen R. Brown
http://www.removejack.com

The Kojo Show is well-known and widely respected. I am sure that such an important media force would want to present both sides of an issue. Toward this end, I urge you to expose the citizens in the Washington area to all the arguments about Georgetown University’s Ten-Year Plan. The residents living in the communities surrounding GU are justly concerned about the effect on their quality of life and the stability of their neighborhoods if the Plan is implemented. I therefore hope that the Kojo Show will invite leaders of the affected communities to talk about our concerns and the negative implications on our daily lives if GU’s proposals come to fruition. Thank you.

The Kojo show is an important source of information for our community. Consequently, any show addressing Georgetown University’s proposed 10-year expansion plan should present all sides of this issue. GU’s previous expansion activities have stressed surrounding communities; this new proposed expansion will only exacerbate the existing problems. I encourage you to include leaders from the communities surrounding GU to present their positions on this debate. Many of your previous shows have aired different sides of the issue discussed. This topic should be no exception, since for those of us living around GU, it has implications for the stability of our neighborhoods and for the quality of our lives.

Traffic Question
Having just read GU"s recently introduced "traffic analysis", is the University satisfied with the E and F grades ("lowest possible but sometimes acceptable in urban areas") for the intersections they plan to modify and do they think adding 1000 more parking spaces and cars to the mix is going to help...
I quote from the report and not "out of context"...
"..., during the morning peak period, the intersection of Reservoir Road and Foxhall Road operates at unacceptable levels of service. Additionally, the intersection of Reservoir Road and 38th Street/Gate #1 operates at unacceptable levels of service during the afternoon peak period.”

I own a home in Burleith, a lovely neighborhood of modest rowhouses that, unfortunately, is fast becoming a dormitory for Georgetown University(GU) because GU refuses to provide sufficient housing for its students on campus. The block on which I live went from 27% group rental homes in 2000 to 50% in 2009, most, if not all, occupied by GU students. Current zoning laws allow landlords to squeeze 6 students into these relatively small homes, so there are noise and property upkeep problems even when these houses are occupied by relatively considerate students, which, unfortunately is not always the case. GU's new 10-year plan proposes to add more than 2000 new students without providing any new on-campus housing. This will accelerate the already rapid destruction of what was once a neighborhood where families, seniors, couples and single people could live with a fine quality of life and maintain the value of their homes. I have lived most of my adult life in neighborhoods close to universities, including Madison, Wisconsin and Urbana-Champaign, Illinoisi, with their very large universities, but I have neverbefore encountered the adverse impacts caused here by GU.

Dear Kojo Show:

I have an issue with the description of your show- "they [AU and GU] face the challenge of balancing student and faculty needs with the concerns of campus neighbors" Please be aware it is neither universities right to decide "balancing needs," but the City Zoning Regulations 210.2 REQUIRE both of these [businesses] to establish the burden of proof that their operations will not cause an objectionable impact upon the surrounding communities. It is very clear that neither of these businesses come anywhere close to meeting this requirement. I believe this show is being setup to be a one-sided argument by a wolf in sheeps clothes, unless the community voices are included in this show.

As a long time resident of Burleith (over 10 years) I am disappointed to find out that your show this afternoon is so one-sided. As a parent with young children, I very much value the neighborhood and community feel of our small "village in the city." It is a haven in the city where neighbors look out for each other, can depend on each other, and create a small town atmosphere that is so important to us as a family.

That said, not everyone is willing to be a good neighbor. Whether it be late night parties, overgrown lawns, trash in the alley and beer cans on the curb, or unkept homes, the environment that student rental houses create can often be a nuisance. In fact, it can also be life threatening as with the house fire that occurred two doors down from me just one year ago.

I do hope that you will give thoughtful consideration to another show that allows community members to share their concerns with your listeners.

Dear Kojo,

I am very disappointed with today's Kojo Show on two counts. First, I'm disappointed because the great preponderance of time was devoted to the universities' perspectives; without equal representation of community perspectives, you therefore barely scratched the surface of the issues involved. I urge you to make such representation possible in future broadcasts that address the campus plans.

The second reason for my disappointment is that you completely missed the central point--namely, the Zoning Regulation that Georgetown University continues to violate. Advocates of the GU plan persist in making the same specious argument put forth by the caller from Hillandale (a GATED community, by the way, whose residential association nevertheless also opposes GU's plan). To paraphrase this argument: "The university was here first; if you don't like it, why did you move into a neighboring community? It was your choice; live with it or leave." Among other reasons, this argument is faulty because it conveniently neglects the fact that the burden of adjustment falls upon the university BY LAW. The Zoning Regulation that controls the approval of the campus plan states that "the university shall be located so that it is not likely to become objectionable to neighboring property because of noise, traffic, number of students, or other objectionable conditions." The regulation does NOT expect, much less require, the communities to adjust to university actions that the neighbors deem objectionable.

David Bachner
Burleith

Kojo,
As a regular listener to your show I was terribly disappointed in your so called Town/Gown show today. You were all gown - no town! Both GU and AU had almost a full hour telling us what good neighbors they are. PLEASE, sooner than later, give the Town side equal time.
As a long time member of WAMU I will think long and hard before renewing that membership.

To Kojo and Kojo show producers,

I was astonished by yesterday's show on GU's and AU's campus plans. We look to the Kojo show for fairness, integrity, depth, tough questions, and tough follow up questions. What we got yesterday was an hour long PR campaign for AU and GU courtesy of Kojo.

Where was mention much less discussion of zoning law, ANC resolutions, and the opposition to the plan(s) by Council members Cheh and Evans? Where were some statistics regarding the actual number of GU students in the surrounding neighborhoods and their impact on the neighborhoods? Where was mention that every neighborhood on GU's perimeter is fighting their plan. As I am a member of a neighborhood adjacent to GU, I know these issues and not the specifics of the opposition to AU's plans. But I can well imagine listeners in AU neighborhoods were as taken aback with your show yesterday as listeners from my neighborhood were.

Our community sent a great deal of background information into your show before Monday's airing. I didn't hear any of it. I did hear you cut off a citizen's association president and give her title, twice, as president of a student association... with no subsequent clarification. While I didn't expect you to take one side or the other in yesterday's conversation, I did expect a balanced and fact driven discussion of the issues. But you did take a side and gave the universities a platform for a great deal of unchallenged self promotion. And I am amazed and troubled that the Kojo show did this at a time when our neighborhoods are in such peril.

Forrest Bachner