The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-13)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE C5

BY JOE HEIM

George Washington University
interim president Mark S. Wrigh-
ton apologized Friday to the cam-
pus community for the univer-
sity’s failure to inform it in ad-
vance of a data analytics pilot
program that monitored locations
— though not individualized data
— of students, faculty and staff
last fall.
The project, Wrighton wrote in
his letter to the campus communi-
ty, was a combined effort of the
school’s IT, student affairs, and
safety and facilities divisions that
used data collected from Cisco
WiFi points across GWU’s cam-
puses “to determine density and

use of buildings by students, facul-

ty, and staff in the aggregate in

order to assess how this could help

inform the Safety and Facilities

team’s operational priorities.”

The research also accessed “de-

identified student data for use by

the Division of Student Affairs to

assess capabilities for providing

insights into the utilization rates

of various campus facilities by

broad segments of the student

population.”

Wrighton referenced an article

that said the project “analyzed

individualized data of each indi-

vidual” and said he wanted to

emphasize that did not happen.

Although the project did not ana-

lyze data about individual stu-

dents, Wrighton acknowledged

that some descriptors, such as

gender, were used to analyze how

campus facilities were used.

“I want to be clear that even

though the technical capacity may

exist to track individuals across

our campus, such a capacity was

not utilized nor contemplated in

this pilot and no individualized

data tracking or movement across

our campus was ever shared,” he

wrote. “Regrettably, however, the

university neglected to inform

members of our community in

advance of commencing this ana-

lytical project.”

Wrighton, who began his inter-

im term Jan. 1 and will serve for up

to 18 months while the university

searches for a new president,

wrote in his letter that he learned

of the project soon after he start-

ed. He said the collection and

analysis of aggregated data “raises

important privacy considerations

and potential breaches of expect-

ed ethical norms in higher educa-

tion.”

Any data collected as part of the

project that has not already been

destroyed will be, university

spokesperson Crystal L. Nosal

said in an email Saturday.

Harald W. Griesshammer, a

GWU professor and faculty sena-

tor, said the Faculty Senate has

been working closely with Wrigh-

ton over the past few days as the

information about the data proj-

ect came to light. He said the

president’s letter was “refreshing-

ly candid and thorough” and

“made it very clear what hap-

pened and that it shouldn’t have

happened.”

But, Griesshammer said in an

interview Saturday, there are still

many questions to be answered.

“Exactly who knew what when?

Who signed off on this?” Griess-

hammer said. “Why did the per-

son who signed off on this for the

compliance office not red flag this

when it was clearly against stated

university policy?”

Nosal declined to answer who

originally approved the project

and whether that person is still

with the university.

Leaders of GWU’s student asso-

ciation did not respond to re-

quests for comment on the disclo-

sure.

Nosal said the university is

committed to maintaining the pri-

vacy of personal information and

will create a committee to assess

data analytics on campus. She

said no similar effort to last fall’s

pilot program will be undertaken

until the university puts policies

in place and communicates them

to the campus.

“The university deeply regrets

that this project took place with-

out proper review or safeguards

and we will work to make sure that

such an incident is not repeated,”

Wrighton concluded in his letter.

THE DISTRICT

GWU apologizes for tracking student and sta≠ movements o n campus

BY DANA HEDGPETH

Two bald eagles at a nest along
the Dulles corridor have been
named in honor of civil rights
leaders Rosa Parks and Martin
Luther King Jr., after a contest by
kids in Loudoun County public
schools.
The winning names, Rosa and
Martin, were selected from en-
tries made by students at Ster-
ling Middle School. The stu-
dents at the school will get
bracelets with the eagles’ names
on them.
The naming contest was run

by TRIP II, the owner and opera-

tor of Dulles Greenway, a private

toll road that connects the Dulles

and Leesburg areas. About 9,000

students entered.

Officials with the Dulles

Greenway said Rosa had laid two

eggs in the nest last week. They

expect the first eaglet to hatch in

early March.

Eagles have been nesting in

the Leesburg area since 2005,

and officials last fall put in live

cameras on a tree overlooking

their nest to watch them.

In the past few years, bald

eagles have made a comeback

both nationally and in the D.C.

region.

In the 1960s, there were only

400 breeding pairs left in the

Lower 48 states. But bans on

pesticides and the passage of the

Endangered Species Act in the

1970s helped stop their decline,

according to Dan Rauch, a D.C.

wildlife biologist.

Eagles were also helped by

efforts to improve habitat, clean-

er air and water initiatives, and

protections in areas where

they live. Adaptation has helped,

too.

“They are adapting to nesting

and breeding in areas of high

human activity. You can now find

nests next to highways, on cell

towers and in some backyards,”

Rauch said.

Bald eagles were removed

from the endangered species list

in 2007. The country’s national

bird, they remain protected un-

der several federal laws.

In the D.C. area, there are 15 to

20 active bald eagle nests,

Rauch said. The nests, found

based on aerial and ground sur-

veys, are between Mount Vernon

and the upper Anacostia River,

he said.

VIRGINIA

Two Dulles bald eagles get names picked by Loudoun kids

DULLES GREENWAY

Two bald eagles in their nest along the Dulles Greenway. They were

named Rosa and Martin, in honor of the civil rights leaders.

BY JEFF BARKER

For years, Maryland casinos
viewed America’s largest sporting
event as tantalizingly out of
reach.
With sports betting illegal in
the state, the Super Bowl was a
fumbled football they couldn’t get
their hands on. It was a super
tease.
This year is different. With the
state’s approval in December, five
Maryland casinos began offering
sports wagers from an exhaus-
tive, state-approved catalogue
containing everything from
Olympic ski jumping and bad-
minton to hot dog-eating con-
tests, chess and, of course, foot-
ball.
The approval came just in time
for the NFL playoffs and Sunday’s
Super Bowl in Los Angeles, an
event that attracts billions of dol-
lars in wagers each year to domes-

tic sportsbooks and offshore sites.

Las Vegas was long the Super

Bowl betting hub before a 2018

U.S. Supreme Court decision

striking down a congressional

ban that restricted sports wager-

ing to Nevada and a few other

states.

“Vegas had a couple of days of

the year that they kind of owned

as a result of sports betting — the

Super Bowl, March Madness, big

fights,” said Rob Norton, presi-

dent of Live! Casino & Hotel

Maryland. “That was the only

place you could make wagers like

that.”

This year, the Anne Arundel

County casino, the Horseshoe Ca-

sino Baltimore and other state

casinos are loading up on Super

Bowl promotions.

Among those making Super

Bowl bets at Horseshoe ($20 on

the Los Angeles Rams to beat the

Cincinnati Bengals) was former

Orioles outfielder Al Bumbry,

who was at the casino doing a

promotion.

Bumbry gazed at the electronic

board posting odds for the 2022

Super Bowl, as well as for hockey,

college basketball, UFC fight

night and the 2022 World Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were

the 6-1 favorite to win the series.

The Orioles were 250-1, meaning

a $10 bet would win $2,500.

“Yeah, okay,” Bumbry said,

smiling. “That’s a long shot, right?

If I were to bet, I’d bet that.”

Maryland regulators allow

wide latitude on the types of wa-

gers that casinos may offer. The

state Lottery and Gaming Control

Agency maintains a voluminous

“catalog of events and wagers”

that can be updated as needed.

The agency says it doesn’t per-

mit betting on high school sports,

nor on exhibition matches in

mixed martial arts and boxing

because they are not sanctioned

by a governing body and have no

official result.

Last year, Major League Base-

ball expressed reservations to

Maryland about bets on the first

pitch of a game or inning, or the

first delivery to a batter. The con-

cern was that first-pitch wagers

could be fixed more easily than

other bets.

While first-pitch wagers don’t

appear in the state catalogue, an

operator could seek agency ap-

proval to offer them. If there were

objections from MLB or another

organization, the matter would

be decided by the state Lottery

and Gaming Control Commis-

sion.

Sports betting also is offered by

MGM National Harbor in Prince

George’s County, Hollywood Casi-

no Perryville in Cecil County and

Ocean Downs in Berlin on the

Eastern Shore. The state’s sixth

casino, Rocky Gap in Western

Maryland, doesn’t offer sports

wagering.

It’s uncertain when the state

will approve licenses for mobile

sports betting.

The Ravens still were playing

in the regular season when sports

betting began at casinos. But Nor-

ton, the Live! casino president,

said fans tend to bet with their

heads, not their hearts.

“Very, very rarely is the home

team actually the largest betting

action for the weekend,” Norton

said.

The majority of the bettors, he

said, base wagers on outcomes

they believe have the best “chance

of success.”

Earlier this month, Horseshoe

general manager Randy Conroy

said Super Bowl wagers seemed

“pretty even” between the Rams

and Bengals.

“So it looks like the bookmak-

ers did a great job of setting the

lines,” he said.

In 2020, Maryland voters ap-

proved a ballot measure allowing

the state to join the neighboring

jurisdictions of Delaware, Penn-

sylvania, West Virginia and the

District of Columbia in allowing

sports wagering, which has pro-

liferated as the nation’s attitudes

toward gambling have relaxed.

The Maryland General Assembly

established a framework and

state regulators then began con-

sidering license applications.

Sports betting topped $16 mil-

lion in its first month at Mary-

land’s casinos, and more than

$13 million was paid to winning

players, the gambling agency

said. The state collected 15

percent of the remainder — more

than $460,000 — with the money

largely dedicated to public educa-

tion programs.

— Baltimore Sun

MARYLAND

Legalized betting in state casinos comes just in time for Olympics, Super Bowl Sunday

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