Courts postpone sentencing of former GW student
Former GW student Ed Meinert, who pled guilty to two counts of first-degree fraud Oct. 7, had his sentencing postponed until April 10.
Meinert’s sentencing, originally scheduled for Dec. 13, was postponed to Dec. 21 after his lawyer, Joseph Jorgens, asked a federal judge to postpone the hearing, according to the Harvard Crimson. His sentencing was later postponed until the spring, according to D.C. Superior Court.
Meinert, who ran for Student Association president and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and was a member of the Colonial Cabinet, was responsible for the theft of more than $8,000 from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union along with allegedly using the credit card numbers, checks and social security numbers of his friends at GW.
Meinert, who was not registered as a student when he ran for SA president, left GW at the end of last year and moved to Boston. There he enrolled in the Harvard School of Continuing Education and posed as a full-time undergraduate, establishing himself as a prominent member of the campus community.
When his past was revealed, Meinert disappeared from the Harvard campus.
The strictest penalty Meinert can receive is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Metropolitan Police.
-Theresa Crapanzano
GW student to study at Biosphere 2
GW student Nerissa Whittington will spend the spring semester studying environmental science and policy at Columbia University’s Biosphere 2 campus in Tucson, Ariz.
According to a Columbia University press release, the Biosphere 2 campus has a three-acre enclosed glass structure that contains miniature replicas of five of the earth’s biomes – a rainforest, ocean, savannah, marsh and desert.
Whittington will join other students from colleges and universities nationwide on research trips to explore the Santa Catalina Mountains of Arizona, which surround the campus, according to the press release.
Students will work with researchers to study the impact of changing environmental conditions on different ecosystems, according to the press release.
Whittington will earn 16 credit hours from Columbia University for the Earth Semester program.
-Margaret Magee
