u/2CRedHopper

Let's talk about rule 4, all things housing, and the moderators.

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There is clearly some appetite among patrons of r/gwu to post about all things housing. Throughout the year, this subreddit sees posts for:

1. University students seeking to swap rooms with other university students.
2. University students seeking roommates for off-campus housing.
3. University students seeking information about on-campus housing.
4. Individuals unaffiliated with the university seeking housing in the area.
5. Individuals unaffiliated with the university advertising housing in the area.

...and more, I'm sure.

There are some problems with the existing setup right now.

Rule 4 states "no room swap posts: please use the master thread when making room swap posts. Failure to do so will result in the removal of your post." However, as many individuals have observed and pointed out, such a master thread does not exist. This serves as a little bit of a point of confusion, but more than anything else renders rule 4 toothless: university students seeking a room swap simply... ignore it and post anyways!

One could argue that all of this is relatively harmless; after all, r/gwu is dedicated to discussing all things related to The George Washington University by and for any member of the university community. The problem, however, is that these threads are numerous, 'clog' up the subreddit, and bury more productive threads. Importantly, none of any of these threads ever get any significant engagement; despite all of the appetite for posting about seeking roommates or room swaps or advertising off-campus housing, there's no evidence that there's anyone 'buying' what any of the people posting are 'selling.' To that effect, rule 4 is highly necessary as a means of mitigation against these fruitless posts.

It's important for me to note that I view r/gwu as more than just somewhere for people to make posts asking questions or having discussions about all things related to the university. To me, one of the most important functions of reddit (and r/gwu by extension) is to act as a repository for information. How many of you have had a question about something, related to the university or otherwise, and consulted some reddit thread that someone else posted asking your same question? I know I have. This is part of why I'm so active on the subreddit and make such an effort to share what knowledge I have in response to people sharing their problems or questions: I'm confident that someday, somebody else will have the same problem or question and that person is not unlikely to check our subreddit as a source. Similarly, I believe it's important that 'productive' threads remain visible on the subreddit's front page and not be buried by housing-related posts that get no engagement and, at best, will only serve to help OP.

I've already pointed out that rule 4 is effectively useless considering the lack of this 'master thread' that the rule says people should be posting on. However, the problem is larger than that. I opened this post listing the five main categories of housing-related posts that seem to plague the subreddit, but rule 4, as it stands, only addresses room swaps. That's a glaring blind spot, and rule 4 should be amended to restrict the other four categories I described as well. More importantly, though, a bigger problem looms: the moderators of r/gwu.

Some of you may have noticed that the moderators of r/gwu are quiet, to say the least. I believe I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen any activity from a moderator's account or any instances of moderator powers being actively used on the subreddit. In fact, around three days ago u/Jonahdog posted this thread drawing attention to the unclear guidance posed by the current incarnation of rule 4. The lack of any kind of response by or guidance from a moderator is a deafening silence. I, myself, have at times messaged the general r/gwu moderator inbox and never received any signs of life in response. Many of these accounts have not interacted with r/gwu in years. Some of these moderator accounts have had no activity anywhere on reddit in years.

I do not know whether or not the moderators are monitoring this subreddit anymore. That being said, the lack of any action on housing posts that violate rule 4 (unclear though it may be), the lack of any guidance in response to multiple people expressing being confused by rule 4, the lack of response to messages to the moderator inbox, and the lack of activity not just on this subreddit but across reddit as a whole by many of the moderators, altogether, do not inspire confidence.

I believe we need to see:

1. "Rule 4" reform.
2. More visible moderators.
3. More active management of the subreddit.

... so that's my manifesto.

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I am making this post because I want us to talk about all of these things as a subreddit community. I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on any of these points that I have raised and any suggestions anyone has on how to tackle these issues and move forward. Any input?

Thanks,

Been stuck here for a whole. Really curious what’s going on.

I know better than to post complaining about traffic, but I am curious what’s going on that’s caused such a spectacular shitshow of a backup on both I-95 S and US-1 S (I assume everyone else, like me, is trying to bypass the mess on I-95 S)

Wanted to ask because I have a third six-weeks summer class at Annandale and am not willing to pay the $90 for a parking permit.

I've been taking the bus to the Alexandria campus for the first six-weeks (~15min from me), but for Annandale it will be over an hour each way by bus or 15 minutes by car.

The most recent threads I could find about this were a couple years old, figured there might be more up-to-date advice out there.

It’s ridiculous how much money I’ve spent over the past year and a half since moving to DC on Ubers/Lyfts/Empower (RIP) exclusively because WMATA Metrobus has shat the bed.

This morning, I wake up. Check the A76. No metro alerts, real time feed says that one should be coming in about half an hour. Then.. it just disappears! I wait and wait for it to come back but it just never does. Once I can’t wait anymore I have to just order a rideshare. This morning it was $19. Last week it was $15.

Amusingly, the most efficient route between Point A and Point B in this scenario is a near carbon copy of the bus route itself. So I’m paying $15-$20 to get in a stranger’s car and have them drive me alone the exact same route as Metrobus.

I’m just going to start sending WMATA an invoice to reimburse me for what I spend on Ubers and Lyfts and whathaveyou. I mean it really is ridiculous.

It’s just exhausting and it’s always something with Metrobus. I filled out a customer contact form, for what it’s worth. Customer service is useless too. Going to go back to driving first chance I get, this is ridiculous.

It seems as though whenever I need to work with any staff members everything is always a Zoom conference, even when they're sitting on campus.

Multiple times I've made academic advising appointments specifically for in-person only for them to be moved to Zoom at the very last minute. Back when I was having to meet with people in financial aid and I needed anything beyond a 'front lines' worker who had to escalate my case, those meetings were always over Zoom even though the directory showed they had an office in Foggy Bottom. I've had professors that insist on only holding office hours over Zoom, or professors that move class to Zoom over every minor inconvenience...

I wanted to make an appointment with the Center for Career Services, and... all of the appointments are over Zoom!

Some of you may not mind, but I absolutely despise Zoom, and I find it a little silly that there's no option to meet in person when they're in their offices and I'm willing to go to them. I just find Zoom so draining. I've never encountered so much Zoom-ing in my life.

That's my vent. Thanks for listening.

Equal parts genuinely asking and just kind of ranting.

I left my keys on the bus on Saturday, I guess they fell out of my pocket. I had an Airtag on them so I can see that they’re at the Four Mile Run bus division.

I’ve called and asked about retrieving them and been told I need to wait up to seven business days (!?) for them to get to New Carrollton so I can retrieve them. That seems like an outrageously long time to have to wait. Why on earth can’t this be done any faster? It just shocks me that a metro system with hundreds of thousands of riders can’t move any quicker.

When I call and ask if I can just go get them from Four Mile Run, even if I can’t go on the property just meet someone at the gate, even that gets cagey responses.

I just want my keys, man. Considering I know where they are and I’m offering to go get them I don’t feel like I’m asking for too much.

Yes I’ve filed a lost item report.

Just shocked such a simple task can take so long.

Posting this is more of an act of catharsis for myself than it is my 'contribution to the conversation.'

The past week or two has been perhaps the hardest on me out of all of these past 11+ years of hearing about Trump. Somehow, even worse than January 6 or November 2024.

I felt as though I had had the wind knocked out of me after SCOTUS gutted the VRA. Not because of the redistricting wars-- though that certainly isn't helping-- but because it comes across as such a blatantly partisan maneuver that erased decades of sacrifice and blood, sweat and tears from the civil rights movement to earn minority representation. Now not only will these minority communities lose their voices, but their seats will go directly to a party that has built its modern platform on demonizing people of color and of poverty (re: "DEI"). I was genuinely upset by that SCOTUS ruling and have continued to smart from that since it was issued.

And, of course, the constant onslaught of the endless 'tacky-ification' of all things emblematic of the US-- Trump's butchering of the White House, his disfiguring of the National Mall, the fact that I drive past his name on the Kennedy Center almost daily, the passports with his face, his signature on dollar bills, talk of a wrestling match on the South Lawn of the White House... his constant hateful rhetoric towards not just the opposition but anyone who isn't an overt sycophant, the way he speaks to the media... It's overwhelming, my circuits are fried hearing about it all constantly, and it's impossible to avoid hearing about it because as someone who strives to be civically active and politically literate I make it a point to stay up to date on current events. But God, it's gotten fucking exhausting and draining.

And then, of course, today our popular-vote redistricting referendum was thrown out on, at best, a technicality. There goes the one bit of good news we've had in a long time.

Meanwhile, we're supposed to sit back and watch Tennesee and Florida (and many others, I'm sure) continue to disenfranchise people of color and of poverty to give Donald fucking Trump, of all people, more power (or rather less oversight).

I'm feeling very kicked while I'm down. Out of all the crazy shit we've seen this man do, all of the ways he has attacked our Constitution, centralized power, exceed his authority, fuck up the economy, spew hatred, this has been the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Today has been the day where I have gone on countless text-meltdowns with my friends about how I'm tired and hopeless and I just can't take it anymore. Steve Bannon's 'flood the zone' is all about making so much shit happen at once we can't possibly fight it all or respond to it all and it makes us feel hopeless... well, it's working. My zone has been flooded. I'm tapping out.

As someone who has historically believed in fighting the good fight to use our voices in a democratic republic to stand up to our chief executive, as is our right, today, for the first time since we've started dealing with Trump over a decade ago, my response has been that I just want to give up and run away. Clichéd though it may be, I have been furiously researching how one immigrates to Canada. I don't believe in saving people who don't want to be saved, and the powers that be and (according to the 2024 popular vote) the majority of Americans don't seem to want to be saved from Donald Trump. I'm to a point where I don't want to let it take up any more of my time or my energy and I just want to surrender and run away. The radical right-wing can have the United States. I give up.

I just don't know how those of us who have historically voted Democratic and/or who feel opposed to Trump are supposed to remain inspired and motivated to stand up to fascism and authoritarianism when the system feels very clearly rigged in his favor. Democratic-led states have "moral high road" provisions against partisan gerrymandering, but Republican-led states conveniently don't. The Supreme Court struck down years of Biden and Obama policies just to turn around and let Trump do quite literally whatever the hell he wants. Congress has no interest whatsoever in curtailing his activities because we have all come to put party over country and they are all afraid to stand up to him lest they face a similar fate as Thom Tillis of North Carolina or Bob Good of Virginia, who Trump effectively forced out for lack of loyalty.

It just feels like fighting is pointless. Watching the direction our country is going in feels so hopeless.

So yeah. I feel kicked while I'm down. I don't want to keep fighting this. I'm tapping out, at least for the time being.

That's all. If you read this, thanks for listening.

Just stood in the gate and held the door closed and told him I’m not paying for him.

Had to wait for the next train but it was worth it.

I’m sure he just tailgated someone else but I don’t care. I’m just sick of being tailgated. These people are obnoxious.

That’s all just wanted to share

I have to get the clutch replaced on my F56 Cooper (B38, manual, 3dr) and have been looking at flywheel costs since a lot of people recommend replacing the flywheel while you're already in there (understandably so).

That being said, I'm having an unusually hard time finding a flywheel compatible with my Cooper, and the one I have found has been wildly expensive.

Here's the only flywheel for my F56 that I've been able to find (about $1k USD):
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-25938631-twin-mass-flywheel/?

I understand that the flywheels in F56 Coopers are "special" because they're dual mass flywheels, not just "normal" flywheels, but it seems rather odd to me that there aren't more on the market. I can't find anything from ECS Tuning or FCP Euro, all the flywheels they sell are for R[XX] Coopers. I also find it hard to believe we can't possibly get one for cheaper than about $1k USD.

Does anyone know where the other flywheels are "hiding"? Anyone know of any less expensive options?

I've been searching on this long enough I should have found something by now and I feel like I'm going crazy.

Thanks in advance.

I actually can't take it anymore with people talking on Gelman's purportedly 'quiet study' floors. I'm sitting on the sixth floor because I'm trying to study, to read, to work...

We have group study rooms. We have social spaces on campus. Why do people insist on talking and laughing and carrying on HERE?

I tell people that this is a silent floor and they act all offended. It's beyond the pale. It's not as if if I don't like it I can or should just leave... this is where you go to escape people acting like this, supposedly. I should not be forced to use my noise cancelling headphones on the silent floor.

Can someone please walk me through the psychology of why one MUST socialize on the silent floors? Is it just... that much better than doing it where you're supposed to? Do you get some sort of perverse thrill out of it? Do you get off on annoying other people?

Sincerely,

- Someone who has spent days on end in Gelman and is losing their mind