Thumbs down:

For the GW community, the Navy Yard tragedy struck particularly close to home. An alumnus and a parent of two former GW students were among those who died.

With a dozen people killed, this marked the worst crime in the District since 1982.

The event begs the question: When will lawmakers on Capitol Hill finally engage with the issue and come up with some sort of comprehensive gun reform program that will keep citizens of this city – and the nation at large – safe?

It is always nearly impossible to summon adequate words shortly after a tragedy. Sometimes, the only effective thing one can do is offer thoughts and condolences to those who were especially affected.

 Thumbs up:

The University offered a ray of light this week by announcing its elimination of the statute of limitations for reporting sexual assaults.

This means that instead of being forced to report a violent crime within a restricting and often unreasonable period of time, students can report as soon as they feel comfortable.

Sexual assault is a widespread issue, especially at universities, where one in four women are sexually assaulted over the course of their college career. For that reason, the change at GW could not have come any sooner.

The University has been working to perfect its sexual assault policy for a year, and has been introducing incremental extensions to the reporting time limit, starting with 180 days, and then increasing the statute to 2 years.

But the unlimited statute is more logical – most other universities, including Georgetown and American, have unlimited time frames for reporting.