The Georgetown Voice, March 26, 2015

VOICE

the georgetown

SPRING FASHION

2015

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w March 26, 2015 w Volume 47, Issue 25 w georgetownvoice.com

the

Voice

March 26, 2015

Spring fashion 2015: The Voice styles Georgetown students with this spring’s trendiest looks.

This week: Editorial ... Hoya’s Fossil Free editorial disappoints, pg. 3 News ... Gtown may receive $5 million from Japanese gov., pg. 4 Sports ... Men’s hoops ousted from NCAA tournament , pg. 6 Feature ... Spring looks by the Voice, pg. 8 Leisure ... Killer Joe packs a punch, pg. 14 Page 13 ... The future of climate dialogue, pg. 17 Voices ... It’s our Hilltop: Gearing up for the 2018 Campus Plan, pg. 18 Week-in-Review Wordsearch

– Kathleen Coughlin

Find and circle the words listed below!

Afghanistan Basketball Boko Haram Cruz Desertion Eclipse Elections Fishing Game of Thrones

Germanwings Get Hard Google Heinz Hillary ISIS Israel Japan Jolie

Corrections: A few of last week’s crossword clues were accidentally omitted from the list. They are below: Across: 62. Saying 63. Outer limit 64. Lisa Loeb’s one hit 65. Doomed thing 66. Accustom to doing without

Knox Mercury Miss Universe Netanyahu Obamacare Palestine Protest Plane Race Together

SeaWorld Starbucks Singapore Swine Flu Top Gear Trial Yemen Zayn

Last week’s key:

ARTS WEEK SUBMISSIONS Arts Week is a week-long campaign to promote the arts on campus through a series of events, activities, and initiatives, which will be held from April 11 to April 18. The theme of this year’s Arts Week is “Arts And...”, which encourages Hoyas to think about how the Arts interact with other spheres of life.

This year’s Arts Week will include student submissions of visual art, which will be displayed in Lau, Leo’s, and the HFSC (why doesn’t this have a nickname yet?). All visual art media and dimensions will be accepted so submit everything and anything that you have made!

For more information about how to submit artwork please email Adrianna Calabrese (adc78@georgetown.edu) or Claire Doyle (cmd255@ georgetown.edu).

The Georgetown Voice welcomes responses, questions, and opinions from its readers. Submit all e-mails to editor@ georgetownvoice.com. Please include your name, year, and school. Bear in mind that letters may be edited for length and clarity and may be published and used in any medium.

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 47.25 March 26, 2015 Editor-in-Chief: Dayana Morales Gomez Managing Editor: Caitriona Pagni General Manager: Mary-Bailey Frank Webmaster: Maya McCoy Editors-at-Large: James Constant, Julia Lloyd-George, Ian Philbrick Contributing Editor: Chris Castano Blog Editor: Marisa Hawley Halftime Leisure Editors: Erika Bullock, Graham Piro Halftime Sports Editors: Alex Boyd, Rob Ponce News Editor: Lara Fishbane Sports Editor: Joe Pollicino Feature Editor: Ryan Greene Leisure Editor: Daniel Varghese Page 13 Editor: Dylan Cutler Voices Editor: Noah Buyon Photo Editor: Joshua Raftis Cover Editor: Christina Libre Design Editor: Eleanor Sugrue Spread Editors: Pam Shu, Sophie Super Assistant Blog Editors: Grace Brennan, Dominique Rouge, Carley Tucker Assistant Halftime Leisure Editor: Michael Bergin Assistant News Editors: Courtnie Baek, Ryan Miller Assistant Sports Editors: Isabel Echarte, Kevin Huggard, Max Roberts Assistant Feature Editor: Shalina Chatlani Assistant Leisure Editors: Elizabeth Baker, Dinah Farrell, Sabrina Kayser Assistant Voices Editor: Leila Lebreton Assistant Photo Editors: Vicki Lam, Carolyn Zaccaro Assistant Cover Editor: Megan Howell Assistant Design Editor: Ellie Yaeger

Staff Writers:

Chris Almeida, Sourabh Bhat, Emilia Brahm, Emmy Buck, Lilah Burke, Brendan Crowley, Patrick Drown, Emmanuel Elone, Tyler Kranawetter, Joe Laposata, Brian McMahon, Maneesha Panja, Brendan Saunders, Thomas Stubna, Manuela Tobias, Colleen Zorc

Staff Photographers:

Ambika Ahuja, Saman Asdjodi, Jen Costa, Megan Howell, Gavin Myers , Freddy Rosas, Taryn Shaw, Andrew Sullivan

Staff Designers:

Erin Annick, Lizzy Blumberg, Caitlin Garrabrant, River Davis, Katie Hyland, Johnny Jung, Erin McClellan

Copy Chief: Dana Suekoff Copy Editors:

Lauren Chung, Bianca Clark, Jupiter El-Asmar, Alex Garvey, Rachel Greene, Madison Kaigh, Julian Sena, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Kenneth Lee Editorial Board:

Isabel Echarte, Lara Fishbane, Ryan Miller, Dayana Morales Gomez, Ryan Greene, Laura Kurek, Caitriona Pagni, Ian Philbrick, Daniel Varghese, Garet Williams

Director of Finance: Allison Manning Director of Human Resources: Michael Sitcawich Accounts & Sales Representative: Suzie Park The Georgetown Voice The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

Mailing Address: Georgetown University The Georgetown Voice Box 571066 Washington, D.C. 20057

Office: Leavey Center Room 424 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Website: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The university subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

editorial

The georgetown voice | 3

angsty activists, angsty responses

Criticism of Fossil Free undermines free speech

On March 18, GU Fossil Free (GUFF) walked on stage during World Bank President Jim Yong Kim’s speech about climate change at Gaston Hall to promote their campaign for the university to divest from fossil fuel companies. In Tuesday’s issue of The Hoya, their Editorial Board condemned members of GUFF for their decision to disrupt the speech.

They urged GUFF to acknowledge the special status of Gaston Hall as a “respected space” and “to change their methods of advocacy and better create a space for real dialogue.” Comments on The Hoya’s website also criticized the “disgraceful” action that “embarrassed the university.” The Voice’s Editorial Board finds the Georgetown community’s response to GUFF’s action disappointing.

Students have misrepresented GUFF’s actions on stage during the March 18 event.

The Hoya’s editorial, for example, chastises the group for “storm[ing] the stage” and “[demonstrating] an unfortunate misappropriation of

values and a disrespect.” This is a sensationalized and inaccurate account of what happened.

On its website, GUFF described its action as a “banner drop,” and videos of the event show that they did exactly that. They silently unfurled their banner containing the central tenet of their activism. At no point did GUFF interrupt Kim, injure speakers or audience members, knock over audiovisual equipment, or commit any acts of violence. Neither Kim nor the audience made much of a response to GUFF’s respectful exercise of their free speech.

In fact, the disruption GUFF allegedly brought to Kim’s event pales in comparison by far to what happened when General David Petraeus came to Gaston Hall in Jan. 2010, when multiple students rose from their seats during his speech and yelled aloud the names of Iraqi civilians who had died during U.S. actions in Iraq, cutting off whatever Petraeus tried to say.

Gaston Hall is a special space on Georgetown’s campus, but that alone is not a con-

structive reason to silence activism at this university. It’s no wonder the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education decided to rank this institution as one of the nation’s worst campuses for free speech in 2014.

Activists rely on disruption and civil disobedience to get their messages across; in return, they choose to accept the repercussions, legal or otherwise, of their actions, regardless of whether they believe such repercussions are just. During the March 18 event, GUFF members and Kim engaged in a mutually respectful dialogue about divestment. By the measure of how one conducts civil disobedience, their actions were a success.

By failing to comprehend that GUFF was trying to go beyond the avenues of civil discourse, responses to GUFF’s actions have thus far been condescending and unproductive.

Whether one agrees with their ideologies, the Georgetown community should protect free speech without exception.

things aren’t dire if the dryer’s not on fire

Quality, affordable laundry crucial to campus living

At the end of February, the Georgetown University Student Association and the InterHall Council distributed a Residential Living Survey, in which they solicited feedback for a potential prepaid system for laundry services. Spearheaded by GUSA Senator Richie Mullaney (COL ’18), the proposal for a prepaid system would function similarly to Georgetown Dining’s meal swipes. As such, it would become part of a financial aid package that would help students cover these costs and bring further transparency to the breakdown of on-campus housing fees.

While Mullaney’s proposal is still a work in progress, the Editorial Board applauds GUSA, InterHall, and the Office of Residential Living for looking to improve the current system in place for students to do their laundry.

As with any university, the lists of expenses posted on the Student Accounts website hardly reflect the true costs of a Georgetown

education. Beyond meal plans and a mandatory membership for Yates Field House, hidden costs for other things like textbooks and printing lurk beyond the officially listed costs and quickly add up for all students.

Laundry is one of those hidden costs. Each load costs $1.50, charged separately for washers and dryers. Many students do multiple laundry loads at a time, and the errand can quickly become an expensive endeavor. Currently, the Office of Residential Living does not include using washers and dryers in the housing rates it charges to on-campus students. Financial aid cannot cover hidden costs.

Students who need to cover those expenses might find little help from the university.

In addition to examining financial costs, GUSA should press ResLife to evaluate the poor quality of laundry facilities, which are contracted out to Caldwell & Gregory, a com-

mercial laundry company, and poor student etiquette in laundry rooms. Too frequently, students find washers with standing water, dryers that do not dry clothes, and dirty laundry rooms with overflowing piles of abandoned clothes, dryer sheets, and lint.

A necessity at college, doing laundry, at least for freshmen, could even be considered an important step towards adulthood for those who have never had to clean their own clothes.

The university has long overlooked improving laundry services in residence halls and apartments. It therefore should actively consider including prepaid laundry costs in financial aid packages. While it may not seem self-evident, providing affordable and satisfactory laundry facilities is just as integral as providing quality housing spaces if the university is truly committed to creating a thriving campus community and meeting the needs of students.

pell grants spread too thin

Republicans: Think before slashing student aid

Last week, Republicans in the House of Representatives released a budget memo for fiscal year 2016 that includes a freeze on the maximum amount of federal financial aid that a student can receive for college. Their budget proposal, passed yesterday in the House, caps Pell grants at the current amount of $5,775 per school year for the next 10 years.

With both houses of the legislature under their control, Republicans are looking to cut government spending in any way that they can. Cutting money from the Pell grant program, however, is a woeful mistake. Federal financial aid for higher education in America ought to increase with inflation. In his 2016 budget, the Obama administration proposed indexing the grant to inflation beyond 2017 with mandatory funding.

The Republicans’ proposed cap on Pell grants ignores the reality of rising college tuition, which far outstrips inflation. Currently, 90 percent of recipients still require loans in order to meet tuition. Pell grants have become

far less helpful over the years. In 1980, the maximum Pell grant was able to meet 77 percent of the average cost of a four-year public college college. In 2013, however, the maximum Pell grant covered an average of only 31 percent.

According to the Washington Post, over 9 million students received financial aid from the $33.7 billion pool of Pell grants during the 2013-2014 school year. That federal financial aid ensures that higher education is more accessible to lower income and disadvantaged applicants is patently obvious. Pell grants are especially useful compared to other forms of aid or student loans because the money does not have to be repaid by students who receive them—namely, students from low-income backgrounds. Any money taken away from college applicants in need makes education all the more unattainable and exacerbates the problem of student debt.

Higher education remains one of the most viable means for social mobility. But worryingly, education opportunities, and therefore

employment, is increasingly restricted to the children of America’s elite, who benefit from legacy admissions and disposable income to spend on additional extracurricular and academic programs. Data from the College Board shows a growing correlation between family incomes and SAT scores.

Additionally, freezing Pell grants disproportionately impacts minorities. Almost two-thirds of African American undergraduates and 51 percent of Latino undergraduates used Pell grant money last year. Without Pell grants, many students of color would not be able to attend college at all without taking on more student debt.

Republicans should think twice about the irreplaceable value that student aid to higher education has for American society.

President Obama must stand firm on his budget proposal, and consider increasing Pell grant money to reflect today’s realities of a college education that is only getting increasingly unaffordable.

news

4 | the georgetown voice

MARCH 26, 2015

Japanese government considers granting Georgetown $5 million endowment MANUELA TOBIAS Georgetown University has begun conversations with the Japanese government about a potential $5 million dollar grant that would establish the first-ever endowed chair in Japanese Studies at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.

Japan’s final decision whether to give Georgetown the grant will come in April after Japan’s 20152016 budget is determined.

“Discussions initiated last fall at the initiative of the Japanese government and they were advanced when President DeGioia visited Tokyo last fall. We’re now in discussions with the embassy to finalize the terms,” SFS Senior Associate Dean James Reardon-Anderson said.

According to Director of Asian Studies Victor Cha, the grant would allow the university to seek out and recruit “the best faculty in the world” to fill the chair. “[Chaired professors] teach, obviously, but through their research and other activities, they become a focal point of activities on issues related to Japan, US-Japan relations, and whatever functional speciality they have,” Cha said. According to

Reardon-Anderson, the professor would specialize in Japanese government and international affairs.

The beginning of talks between Georgetown and the Japanese government coincides with a recent grant, modeled after the Fulbright Program, from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Sophia University. While two chaired professorships at Georgetown currently focus on Korea and one on China-Taiwan, the Japanese Studies department has never seen a similar endowment.

According to Arthur Alexander, adjunct professor of Japanese economics at Georgetown, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s interest in promoting in Japanese Studies at American universities is part of a soft-power initiative to promote Japan’s national image and to compete with the growing popularity of China.

According to Alexander, Japan’s efforts to collaborate with American universities have generated suspicion that the Abe administration’s is seeking to promote an idealized view of Japan in foreign countries. Alexander pointed to a recent instance in which the Japanese requested that

McGraw Hill Education revise its account of women in military brothels in a textbook.

“They have to be particularly careful here, and what turns out as positive program could become negative if they operate it with a heavy hand,” Alexander said.

Georgetown faculty, however, is not concerned about the possibility of ideological control over the use of the endowment. Should Georgetown be confirmed for the grant, the role of the Japanese government would be limited to selecting the general purpose of the chair—in this case, government and international affairs.

Likening the process to a firewall, Cha explained that a clause in Georgetown’s gift agreements ensures that the university retains exclusive right over the choice of hire or content of research conducted with external funding.

“Suppose we were selected, and we did a search, and we hired somebody who was a critical social historian of Japan, and that person wrote about the intellectual history of Japan’s efforts to whitewash what happened in World War II. The Japanese would have no say over that if we thought that was

georgetown department of asian studies

IF JAPAN LEAVES $5 MILLION ON THE TABLE, GEORGETOWN WILL PULL UP A CHAIR. the best scholar,” Cha said. The university, he explained, has not yet had any cases of donors seeking to manipulate the research conducted through similar endowments.

Other universities considered being considered for the grant include Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to Cha, Georgetown is in the running for the grant due to the Asian Studies program’s nationwide prominence.

“Our Japan Studies and our Asian studies more generally has been seen as one of the fastest rising and most dynamic Asian Studies programs in the country right now,” Cha said.

The Asian studies program’s growth began in 2006, roughly coinciding with the pivot toward

Asia. Following former Dean Bob Gallucci’s bottom-up study to expand the program, the department hired new faculty, created a graduate master’s certificate and then a master’s degree, and was soon designated a Title VI Resource Center for Asia and a Foreign Language and Area Studies Program.

While funding for FLAS fellowships has been recently renewed and increased, Georgetown’s federal funding from Title VI will be terminated in June due to federal budget cuts to higher education.

“The important thing is that we got increased funding for our students,” Cha said. “[This] will continue to enable us to train the next generation of US-based Asia specialists and the next generation of Asia specialists around the world.”

Georgetown to host allied Catholic universities at second annual IgnationQ conference RYAN MILLER Georgetown will host the second annual IgnatianQ Conference March 27-29 for LGBTQ students and their allied groups from a variety of Jesuit and Catholic universities across the country.

According to Council Director Brian Council (MSB ‘16), members of Georgetown communities will participate in conference events and breakout sessions, including an interfaith panel with Rabbi Rachel Gartner and multiple speeches from alumni.

Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien will give an opening address and prayer at the conference.

“Campus Ministry supports the IgnatianQ conference because of its mission to deepen the faith lives of participants and build community across Jesuit universities,” O’Brien wrote in an email to the Voice.

GU Pride has led the organization efforts of this conference since Georgetown won the bid last May to host it this year. GU Pride President Thomas Lloyd (SFS ‘15)

LBGTQ STUDENTS COME OUT TO SUPPORT IGNATIONQ. has expressed gratitude for the support that the conference has received from a variety of offices across Georgetown’s campus, including Campus Ministry and the Office of the President. “[Campus Ministry’s support] sends such a powerful message to the students who come to this conference, who may feel that their identity is irreconcilable with their family, with their faith, with their tradition,” Lloyd said.

The theme of this year’s conference, “Forming contemplative communities to ignite action,” was chosen to guide efforts to

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deepen relationships between Georgetown and the other universities’ LGBTQ communities, according to both Council and Lloyd. Last year’s inaugural conference at Fordham University began the dialogue between these schools on what it means to be both a person in the LGBTQ community and a person of faith.

Council anticipates attendance at the conference to be double the size of last year’s. He expects around 150 to 160 students.

“It’s going to be a bit different from last year. I think it’s going to cover a lot more,” said Lexi Dever

(COL ‘16), a member of the media and communications team for IgnatianQ. The conference will touch on topics such as LGBTQ families and the issues of gender and sexuality studies as academic fields, according to Dever.

Lloyd noted that Georgetown’s LGBTQ community has gained more freedom to hold a variety of events since the founding of GU Pride in 1989.

“We have a lot of leeway [at Georgetown],” Dever said. “We’ve gained a lot. We can do a lot here in general. We have events that a lot of other schools could never even dream of having. We have to make sure that we don’t do too much of that sort of thing during this conference because then it might not be able to go to another school later. We want everyone to be able to host this, but we also want to show them the way we experience our community here at Georgetown.”

According to Council, each school that participates brings its own unique bit to the conversations at the conference. Lloyd believes that, by having Georgetown host the conference this

year, GU Pride will be able to demonstrate its strength in organizing as an LGBTQ group on a Catholic campus.

“There is something in our [LGBTQ community] history of organizing, and identifying needs, and meeting those needs that any LGBTQ student group, especially those that are less developed or have less of a history, can benefit from.” Lloyd said.

Council hopes that, in addition to bringing together the community of LGBTQ students at Jesuit schools, this conference can also creater stronger connections within Georgetown’s LGBTQ community itself. Registration for the conference is free for all Georgetown students so that all allied groups can attend and participate in the conference experience.

“It brings the community together,” Council said. “In many ways, it’s a very diverse group of students, but I would say that this has probably been one of our most successful events when it comes to encouraging students who normally attend Pride events or not to be involved.”

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice | 5

Lauinger Library opens Booth Family Center for Special Collections to house rare artifacts BRENDAN SAUNDERS Lauinger Library has opened the new Booth Family Center for Special Collections, which will house many of the university’s rare and precious resources on the library buildings fifth floor. The center’s opening represents the final stage of a plan that began in Nov. 2010 to create an improved space for these artifacts and expand the size and scope of the former Special Collections Research Center.

The current exhibition on the Booth Center’s shelves is Treasures Since 2000, which displays some of the most prominent artifacts the library has collected in the past fifteen years.

These items range from a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to a copy of the script from an episode of The West Wing filmed at Georgetown.

The collections are divided into four categories: rare books, manuscripts, university archives, and the university art collection. The library gathers these artifacts by gift and by purchase.

“We tailor [these gifts] to match the strengths of the university, so we want to provide materials that

support the research and teaching at the university,” said Jennifer Smith, coordinator of communications, outreach, and programming for the library.

As a result, the Special Collections are particularly well-preserved artifacts that reflect theology, literature, Jesuit history, diplomacy, and languages, among other disciplines. Two of the library’s most famous artifacts are Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of John Carroll and Mark Twain’s original handwritten manuscript of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Additionally, the Booth Family Center houses the first copy of the Bible printed on the North American continent.

These artifacts can now be displayed in the renovated center as a result of several philanthropic donations to fund the project. The project’s $5 million price tag was paid for largely by a $3 million donation from Suzanne Deal Booth and David G. Booth, a $1 million donation from Barbara Ellis Jones (COL ‘74), and a $500,000 gift from the Lauinger family.

The renovations add 1,200 additional square feet to the former Spe-

CITY on a HILL: HOUSE OF JOKERS a tri-weekly column about D.C. NEWS AND POLITICS

Georgetown might have flamed out of the 2015 NCAA tournament last weekend, but for the rest of Washington, D.C. the madness of March drags on.

Only the players in this game—6 foot 5 Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) aside—don’t tower over the rest of us. There are no referees. Fouling is the norm. The drama unfolds not on polished courts hemmed in by enthused spectators but in courts of law, atop pre-2016 soapboxes, and on floor of Congress. Instead of a sphere of brown leather, it’s the future of the country that dribbles every which way.

This game isn’t basketball—it’s American politics. And American politics has had a rough month.

Let’s tally the brackets.

March 3: Congressional Republicans and the divisive rhetoric of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu face down a ticked-off President Obama on the subject of the ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations.

March 4: GOP senators try and fail to overturn President Obama’s Keystone XL pipeline veto.

BY: IAN PHILBRICK

Also March 4: Right-leaning legal challengers to the Affordable Care Act advocate scrapping the law on a technicality before the Supreme Court.

March 8: Republican senators double down, penning an open letter to Iranian leadership to undermine progress toward a deal.

March 11: Hillary Clinton, presumed Democratic presidential nominee, faces down a suspicious public during a press conference following revelations that she maintained a private email account as Secretary of State—selected contents of which she made public, the rest of which she deleted.

March 18: The GOP wrangles with Obama again, this time pressuring federal judges to keep the court-ordered injunction that’s currently stalling the president’s executive action on immigration.

March 23: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the man who brought you the 2013 government shutdown and a mid-filibuster reading of Green Eggs and Ham, announces his candidacy for president.

cial Collections facility, making the center 9,200 square feet in total. Part of this increase comes from the creation of a new classroom within the center, enabling professors to bring their classes to engage with the special artifacts and enhance contextual understanding of their area of study.

“This room is specifically designed for the type of instruction that we do,” John Buchtel, Head of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections said. In addition to moveable furniture and built-in display stations, the room will be outfitted with technology focused on research and presentation.

“The thing I’m personally excited about is we will have a ceiling mounted document camera, so I can put a rare book right under the document camera and it will put the image on the screen,” he said.

Such technology enables students to zoom onto an artifact and study specific handwriting, for example.

Professors have voiced enthusiasm about the opportunities afforded by the opening of the new center “This will be a great boon to the history department because for all of our

classes our learning goals are to get students to develop research skills, and of course historians use primary documents,” Carol A. Benedict, chair of the history department, said. “To be able to do that kind of hands on investigation of primary source materials would be a benefit for our students.”

One motivation for the creation of the new center was the need to ensure that artifacts in the collections are preserved in appropriate environmental conditions.

“The [Lauinger] building is now 45 years old, it was 40 years old when we started talking about this, and the mechanical systems and the [heating, ventilation, and

So on, and so forth. If politics is the game, then everyone—from Congressional Republicans and right-leaning federal judges to Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton—seems to be playing it pretty poorly.

March madness indeed.

And while it’s normally enough to instant-replay each inexpert play, gaffe, and bad decision point by sordid point, jaded cynicism masks the more abstract problem: a deep, and deeply concerning, lack of seriousness among certain Washington policymakers—including our leading 2016 would-be presidents.

But what is seriousness, really? After all, Cruz gravely compares climate change activists to the “flat-earthers” of Galileo’s day. Clinton contritely admits “it would have been better” if she’d avoided using a personal email account. And Jeb Bush, another likely 2016 presidential hopeful, channels the priggish apoplexy of Bibi in belittling President Obama’s foreign policy as “schoolyard antics.”

But let’s not mistake words for action or action for seriousness.

Rhetoric in place of real solutions is a classic bait-and-switch.

But in an age where audiences salivate over shows like House of

Cards, which plays on atavistic fears about our politicians’ backroom-dealing, backchanneling, and back-stabbing, the real wolf in sheep’s clothing is the political joker. Whether denying climate change, flippantly undermining voter trust, or inflating lackluster resumes with fatuous claims, our political jokers fight the fights that matter to them (like the next election cycle) without fighting the fights that really matter.

They play the game on the clock without sparing a thought for the tournament, the season, or the future of the league.

In basketball, a game’s outcome is the aggregate of everything that happens—or doesn’t— courtside. In politics, things run in reverse: the envisioned goal comes first, day-to-day actions follow. But this formula is increasingly violated. Obama’s “Don’t Do Stupid Shit” foreign policy strategy institutionalizes a fear of the future. Republicans contest Obamacare, block immigration reform, and deny global warming without proposing alternate solutions to these serious problems. They hold their tongues on Ferguson and income inequality because they’re focused on 2016 instead of on 2043, the year the

air conditioning] were just not up to increasingly tightened standards for preservation,” University Librarian Artemis Kirk said.

In addition to updating the quality of preservation facilities, the new center also aims to be more accessible to students. Since removing artifacts is not permitted, the center’s expanded reading room and prominent visibility on the floor are intended to attract students to a space that they may have felt restricted from before.

“It’s going to be a lot more welcoming and a lot more accessible,” Benedict said. “I think that in and of itself will probably draw more users and bring people in.”

LAUINGER COMPLETES 2010 PLAN to house rare books on campus.

JOSHUA RAFTIS

Census Bureau estimates whites will become a national minority.

Though their Iran letter explicitly references the shortsightedness of American politics, most Republicans seem hardly aware of it—certainly not those running for president. Political jokers don’t just treat meaningful debate, factual responsibility, and the nation’s future as objects of ridicule; they turn themselves into laughingstocks too.

This lack of seriousness isn’t new. But the severity of the problems our nation must address—and the severity of the consequences of failing to—has changed. On climate, healthcare, immigration, and inequality, we need politicians who acknowledge, engage, and lead seriously, on the basis of serious fact. Volume doesn’t echo through the ages; good policy does.

The whole thing almost makes you long for a Frank Underwood—the tactics might be ruthless, but at least he takes himself seriously. In today’s political landscape, it’s far better to be deadly serious than not nearly serious enough. And while he might lie, coerce, and play dirty to get to the top, at least he has the decency to look us in the face.

sports

6 | the georgetown voice

march 26, 2015

Tournament run ends too soon for men’s hoops ROBBIE PONCE

The tough reality of the NCAA Tournament is that only one of 68 teams finishes its season without disappointment.

Another tough reality is that this year, the Georgetown men’s basketball team (22-11, 12-6 Big East) was one of the other 67.

On March 15, the NCAA Selection Committee’s decision to grant the Hoyas a 4-seed in the this year’s tournament came as a surprise to many. Following a disappointing 2013-14 season, in which the Hoyas missed the NCAA Tournament and exited the NIT Tournament in the second round, Coach John Thompson III’s squad was excited to once again have the opportunity to fight for prominence on college basketball’s biggest stage.

The Hoyas’ first tourney test came in Portland, Ore. against the Big Sky Tournament champion Eastern Washington Eagles (26-9, 14-4 Big Sky). Led by sharpshooting Tyler Harvey—the 6 foot 4 sophomore guard who led the nation in scoring at 22.9 points per game—the Eagles were a dangerous test for Thompson’s Hoyas, who had recently struggled in tournament games against lower-seeded competition.

It didn’t take much time for the Hoyas to set the tone against Eastern Washington, as senior Jabril Trawick and company physically dominated the Eagles from the opening tipoff. Trawick’s energy was contagious from the first whistle, as his efforts on offense and defense allowed the Hoyas to take control of the game. Harvey kept Eastern Washington close, hitting a few deep threes and keeping the Eagles within striking distance in the first half, but a late run allowed the Hoyas to carry a 43-33 lead into the break.

After stifling Harvey and translating defensive stops into transition baskets, the hungry Hoyas extended their advantage to 23 points with 11 minutes to play. Though a few complacent turnovers and a slump in the halfcourt offense allowed the Eagles to hang around late in the game, Trawick’s dunk with one second to play put the exclamation point on the Hoyas’ 84-74 win.

Though he finished with a modest 10 points, Trawick’s impact on the game could not be adequately revealed by the box score, as his intensity on both ends translated into his team’s success.

“We felt like we had something to prove, just in general,” Trawick said. “This year, we just felt like we had a chip on our shoulder.”

With the victory, Georgetown set their sights on the 5-seed Utah Runnin’ Utes (26-8, 13-5 Pac-12) in the Round of 32. Thompson’s Hoyas were looking to punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2007, and the Utes were eager to make their first appearance since 2005.

The Hoyas started off hot from the perimeter, and after back-toback threes early in the first half, Trawick and company took a 2110 advantage. After the Utes staged a 14-2 run of their own, the two teams jostled for advantage before being tied 32-32 at the break.

As the second half wore on, however, the Hoyas started to run out of magic.

An L.J. Peak layup pulled the Hoyas within four points with three minutes to play, but the Utes scored on four consecutive possessions and built up an insurmountable 10-point advantage with less than a minute to play.

With Utah ahead 75-64, the final whistle sounded and Georgetown’s season skidded to a slow halt.

georgetown sports information

Senior guard Jabril trawick and the hoyas fall short against utah

“You know, we have five or six seniors in that locker room that have played their last game wearing this uniform,” Coach Thompson said after the game.

No Hoya understood the truth of Thompson’s words quite like Trawick, who sat next to his coach at a postgame conference for the final time in his college career.

“I’m disappointed. But I’ve still got my head high,” Trawick said after the game. “Surprisingly I didn’t cry or anything like that. I

Joe o’s Pollicin

had a great time. It’s been a great experience for me.”

For four seasons, Trawick wore his emotions on his sleeve and went to war for his teammates and university. He didn’t win a national championship. Actually, he never even advanced past the third round of the NCAA Tournament. He was never the leading scorer or most gifted player on his team. Because of his grit and toughness, however, he helped open the door to a new generation of Georgetown basketball.

Georgetown basketball is both passion and pride, two attitudes that were continuously embodied by Trawick’s constant sacrifices for his team.

The Hoyas are out, for now.

But because of the lasting impact of Trawick and this year’s seniors, a better and brighter future is on the horizon for the Georgetown basketball program. This season was full of its ups and downs, but with the conclusion of this season brings excitement for next.

SPORTS SERMON---

“He doesn’t fit the bill of guys who usually guarantee victory.”-John Thompson III on EWU Head Coach Jim Hayford’s win guarantee Another year, another letdown. At least that’s what many in the Georgetown basketball fanbase are thinking when it comes to yet another elimination in the first week of the NCAA tournament, the sixth consecutive time that’s occurred for Head Coach John Thompson III’s program.

Whether it be social media rants or message board tirades, the Georgetown fanbase has made known its dissatisfaction with how the Hoyas’ 201415 season ended. Some have even gone as far as to say that this year was a failure, as the ultimate goal of winning the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985—or just even making their first Final Four since 2007—was not met.

And although I, like many who closely follow Georgetown, am disappointed with the team’s elimination at the hands of Utah last Saturday night, I would not classify this season as a failure. Instead, given the circumstances coming into this year, I would say the 2014-15 campaign was a success.

I know that my opinion may not be the most popular with much of the beleaguered Georgetown fanbase. It may not be popular with Georgetown’s players, either—especially seniors such as Jabril Trawick, Joshua Smith, Mikael Hopkins, and Aaron Bowen, who will never play a game again in a Hoyas uniform.

But from a pragmatic perspective, this year’s team accomplished the two foremost goals of the season: make the NCAA tournament, and, once there, avoid elimination at the hands of a double-digit seed for the sixth consecutive time.

A Final Four run would have

been nice, but it was always a longshot with this year’s team.

Aside from the accomplishments that will live on forever as banners hung from the rafters of McDonough Arena, every player on the Hoyas’ roster met or exceeded the expectations that many had for them entering this season.

When needed most, junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera came through for the Hoyas in the most important moments of games. His clutch play closed out games against the likes of Florida, Marquette, and Creighton, and showed why he was the Big East Preseason Player of the Year.

Joshua Smith played every game this season, an accomplishment in and of itself considering he missed the whole second half of last season due to academic issues. And although when he was on the floor, he often struggled with foul trouble, he did have multiple double-double performance, and forced opposing teams to game-plan for him due to his ability to dominate in the low-post.

Trawick, the heart and soul of this Hoyas team, exceeded all expectations. As the team’s premier perimeter defender coming into this season, many would have been content if the Philadelphia native’s defensive ability canceled out his limited offensive skillset, strictly as a driver, the past few seasons. But Trawick, the only person on the current team that legendary Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson, Jr. said would have been tough enough to play for his teams, improved immensely on the offensive end so much so that he was the team’s top three-point shooter this season.

And most importantly, the freshmen showed that they

could not only be trusted, but relied upon in the most crucial of situations. Guard L.J. Peak scored 18 points in the Hoyas’ tournament loss to Utah, and he is probably their best perimeter defender now that Trawick will graduate. Guard Tre Campbell, after a slow start to the season, looks like he will be Thompson’s point guard of the future, showing late-game poise in the team’s contests against Marquette and Xavier this year. And forward Paul White demonstrated that he can play point forward, a rare commodity during Thompson’s decade-long tenure on the Hilltop.

But the player who offers the greatest prospects upside entering next season is forward Isaac Copeland. The Big East All-Rookie selection might very well be on his way to being the Hoyas’ first lottery draft selection since Otto Porter, Jr. was picked third by the Washington Wizards in 2013. From his game-winning three-pointer against Butler to his career performance against Seton Hall, Copeland showed that he has all the tools to succeed at the next level. Don’t be surprised if Copeland even takes the reins from Smith-Rivera next year as the team’s go-to player.

All of these developments point towards a promising 2015-16 campaign. A neophyte core will emerge into battle-hardened sophomores who know what it will take for the Hoyas to advance past the NCAA tournament hurdle that’s existed for nearly a decade. This year, for all its ups and downs, was a stepping stone. Next year comes the breakthrough.

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Men’s lacrosse ascends to Top 20 KEVIN HUGGARD The No. 14 Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (6-3, 1-0 Big East) seems to have hit its stride just in time for the most important part of its season.

On Saturday, the Hoyas opened their conference schedule with a 10-9 win against No. 9/11 ranked Marquette (7-1, 0-1 Big East). The Golden Eagles had been one of only three remaining undefeated teams in Division I men’s lacrosse, but the Hoyas ended their unbeaten run over the weekend. The game before, the Hoyas traveled to Baltimore and beat the No. 14 ranked Loyola (5-4, 3-1 Patriot League) 13-12.

The win over Loyola was not just important for this season, but it also marks the continued improvement of Georgetown’s lacrosse program. It was the first time since beating No. 10 St. John’s in 2013 that the Hoyas beat a ranked opponent, and the first time since 2007 that the Hoyas prevailed against the Greyhounds.

The two wins should provide crucial momentum for the Hoyas as they jump into the most difficult part of their Big East schedule, with games away against No. 4 Denver (6-2, 0-0 Big East) and Villanova (5-3, 0-0 Big East) looming on the horizon after Marquette.

Before the year, Head Coach Kevin Warne emphasized the importance of playing against top competition. The Hoyas’ schedule features tough non-conference opponents like Duke (7-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), Loyola, Notre Dame (5-1, 1-0

chris almeida’s TRI-weekly column about sports

quantifying the unquantifiable

newly ranked men’s lacrosse faces off against no. 4 denver this weekend.

Atlantic Coast Conference) and Virginia (7-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), all of whom have been ranked inside the top ten at some point during this season.

Their scheduling has paid off, as the Hoyas have risen to the challenge of their competition. After enduring two losses against No. 2 Notre Dame and Towson, the Hoyas bounced back to win their next four games before falling to Duke. Now, with the back-to-back victories over ranked opponents, Georgetown finds itself placed at No. 14 in both major polls, the highest ranking the school has reached since 2009.

Sophomore attack Peter Conley has led the team on offense, earning Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors twice early in March. He has scored a team-leading 19 goals this season, an impressive sequel to what was a promising freshman campaign. His 2.71 goals per game average is good for the 18th-best mark in the country.

“Peter was a key player in our offense during his freshman season

matthew funk

and has worked hard to continue to develop,” Warne said. “He has the potential to be one of the best players in our league.”

While Conley is the team’s most prolific scorer, senior attack Bo Stafford is not far behind, having scored 18 goals this season, good for second on the team.

Stafford, who leads the team with 32 points, has also assisted his teammates 14 times, again the second-best mark on the team behind only senior attack Reilly O’Connor. After the Hoyas’ strong performance against Marquette, Stafford earned recognition as the Big East Offensive Player of the Week, keeping that award on campus after Conley’s two-week run.

Against Denver, the Hoyas look to continue to build on their already-strong season against a team with several impressive wins of its own, including over Notre Dame and Duke.

The game will take place Saturday as the team travels to face their Big East rival in Colorado.

TV ratings for Big East tourney fall JOE POLLICINO It has not been the best of weeks for the Big East Conference. After seeing five of its six teams that earned an NCAA Tournament bid get eliminated during the first weekend, including standard-bearing league champion and 1-seed Villanova, the conference did not receive encouraging news after the release of the TV ratings achieved by this year’s Big East Tournament.

According to sports media website Awful Announcing, which tracks TV ratings for professional and college sports, the 2015 Big East Tournament Final broadcast on Fox Sports 1 between Villanova and Xavier, drew a 0.3 overnight rating, equating to over 414,000 viewers. That’s a 40 percent drop in viewership from the 2014 final between Providence and Creighton, which drew a 0.5 rating.

– backdoorcut –

This year’s 0.3 rating, however, is down 86 percent compared to the league’s 2013 final, which was broadcast on ESPN. That final, played between Syracuse and Louisville, drew a 2.3 rating.

The ACC Tournament Final was broadcasted on ESPN opposite the Big East Final and earned a 2.3 rating.

The ACC supplanted the Big East as ESPN’s primary college basketball conference when the Big East opted to broadcast its games with Fox Sports 1 in 2013. The least-viewed ACC Tournament game, a second round matchup between Clemson and Florida State, averaged 479,000 viewers, 65,000 more than the Big East Final.

On March 5, the Voice published a feature regarding how the new Big East has affected Georgetown athletics, including the men’s basketball program, both competitively and financially. The feature showed that television ratings for

the men’s basketball team dropped significantly between the 201213 season, when the Big East’s games were primarily broadcast on ESPN, and the 2013-14 season, the first year of a 12-year $500 million contract between Fox Sports 1 and the Big East Conference.

Despite the ratings decline, Georgetown Athletic Director Lee Reed has not been discouraged by the lower television ratings.

“We’re pleased with having FOX as our broadcast partner. As a member of the Big East and because of FOX, every Georgetown basketball game is televised nationally,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Voice. “The addition of two national FOX games this year, as well as cross promotion by the network through other sports such as the NFL and UFC, are also a plus. We remain confident that FoxSports 1 will continue to grow in the coming years and we appreciate the partnership.”

During the 2007-08 season, how many games did the University of Memphis basketball team win? If you said “a lot” or “38,” then you have a good memory, but the answer is technically “zero.”

The concerns around the SAT score of point guard Derrick Rose led to the vacation of all of Memphis’ wins from their nearly-championship season.

Additionally, the program was forced to remove all banners related to the 2008 season. But, seriously, who are we fooling?

Sure, the record books say that the Tigers finished the year 0-2, but what were the practical consequences of this penalty?

More or less, nothing. No major figures in the Memphis athletics system were fired, the Tigers had a stellar recruiting class the next year, and the program entered the NCAA Tournament ranked third in the nation. Memphis, by most measures, took no damage for their wrongdoings, to which the NCAA would say, “all wins were vacated.”

Practically speaking, however, they weren’t. Fans, potential donors, and all of the best high school basketball players in the country saw what the program could do. The Tigers’ record says one thing, but history says something else. John Calipari built his resume, had another strong season, and then jumped off to Kentucky. The program still has the reputation of a strong basketball school. The Derrick Rose season is something that people remember, and it’s a factor that draws to Memphis regardless of how the official NCAA records read.

Penalties that get people talking but have no real punitive effect have always seemed trivial. There always seems to be debate over Pete Rose’s absence from the Hall of Fame.

But why even bother? The question shouldn’t be whether or not Rose should have a place in the Hall of Fame. The question should be if the Hall of Fame, or technicalities in record books, should matter at all. Everybody is aware that Rose was statistically one of the best hitters of all time, and combined his prowess at the plate with longevity to top the all-time hits list. Rose was a great player, certainly one of the most important of all time, so what does it matter what a museum in upstate New York says.

It seems to be a detail that brings about intense arguments

but has little actual meaning.

The Hall of Fame is just another way to try and quantify a player’s greatness, like being an All-American or winning a Heisman. But there’s a reason why a player can win all of the MVP trophies in the world and still be unhappy: because every award, excepting the one for winning a league, is simply a subjective vanity statue.

Everybody has their value systems. In college, most of us look at our grades or our positions, or maybe just the school we go to when we want to feel good about ourselves. In the end, none of these things necessarily represent intelligence or personal-worth, but they provide a picture when there are no statistics available. There are misaligned value systems everywhere, but none seem to be viewed with the same importance as subjective individual accolades or win vacations.

The concept of halls of fame or most valuable player awards make sense. They’re shortcuts for those who aren’t well steeped in the happenings or history of professional sports to know, but if these awards are only important for laymen, why do the experts spend so much time and breath arguing about who receives them?

Aside from the bottom line of winning and losing, sports are completely subjective.

“Greatness” has a malleable definition. All we know is what happened, who won, who lost, and the chain of events that led to that result. Putting tags for a solitary “most valuable player” or speaking about a hall of fame like it changes the achievements of a career seems to be besides the point. More so, it seems vain. If the bottom line is winning as a team, why should a player care about how good they, individually, are believed to be.

Taking wins out from the record books plays into this sense of vanity and the belief that the records and halls of achievement are the ends in determining an athlete or a program’s accomplishments. What many athletes and pundits seem to forget is that the determining factor is not what the Hall of Fame says, or what the records, or even the stat lines say, it’s the impact that athletes and teams make on everybody who came in contact with their craft.

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8 | the georgetown voice

March 26, 2015

Lisette wears Topshop dress, $160. Urban Outfitters hat, $39.

Vince Camuto wedges, $80.

SPRING FASHION 2015 The Voice’s guide to this season’s style Art Directors Pam Shu Sophie Super

Photographers

Shalina Chatlani Dayana Morales Gomez Christina Libre Pam Shu Sophie Super

* Listed prices are rounded figures from prices at time of purchase.

Models

Lisette Booty Milan Chang Miyu Fujita Travis Fujita Nicholas Marquardt Glenna Roberts

Assistants

Dinah Farrell Ryan Greene Megan Howell Leila Lebreton Ellie Yeager

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the georgetown voice | 9

Miyu wears H&M shorts, $25. Madewell shirt, $80. Nine West shoes, $79.

Nicholas wears H&M shirt, $40. J. Crew chinos, $75. Hillside sneakers, $175.

Glenna wears Zara sweater, $50. Zara pants, $70. J. Crew flats, $150. Aldo hat, $20. Travis wears H&M shirt, $30.

Zara joggers. Aldo shoes, $60.

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10 | the georgetown voice

MARCH 26, 2015

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the georgetown voice | 11

Glenna wears Zara sweater, $25.

Nicholas wears Zara jacket, $100.

H&M sweatshirt, $25.

Milan wears CBO shirt, $25.

Miyu wears H&M earrings, $8. Urban Outfitters sunglasses, $15.

Glenna wears Topshop crop top. H&M denim skirt, $50.

Nine West sandals, $99.

Lisette wears Zara coat, $169. Forever 21 dress, $23.

BCBG pumps, $60.

12 | the georgetown voice Glenna wears Topshop top, $68. Topshop shorts, $68.

Aldo shoes, $70. Zara backpack, $70.

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March 26, 2015

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the georgetown voice | 13 Milan wears Topman Blazer, $140.

CPO shirt, $39. H&M chinos, $20.

Diesel shoes, $135.

Madewell necklace, $32 and ring.

Earthbound earrings.

Zara backpack.

H&M necklace.

Dixie Bound Trading Co. rings.

Dixie Bound Trading Co. bracelets and necklace.

leisure

14 | the georgetown voice

March 26, 2015

Student collaboration Killer Joe strangles societal comfort zones DINAH FARRELL Killer Joe packs a punch as strong as its main character.

The new collaboration between Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society and Nomadic Theatre brings serious themes to the forefront, achieving a pleasant combination of irony and drama that hits the thematic nail right on the head.

The show opens in Walsh Black Box Theatre with the sight of the Smith family trailer. Chris, played by Conor Ross (COL ’16), and his stepmother Sharla, played by Nora Genster (SFS ’16), begin the scene yelling,

cursing, and name calling setting the continuously aggressive tone of their family dynamic.

Chris is desperately seeking money from his dad Ansel, played by Wendell Krebs (COL ’15). With no money and no other options, Ansel agrees to Chris’s twisted plan to hire Killer Joe Cooper, played by Conor Canning (COL ’16), to kill their estranged mother and ex-wife, who remains unseen throughout the show. Her substantial life insurance policy entices Chris, Ansel, Sharla, and Chris’s sister Dottie, played by Emily Lett (COL ’17), pushing them over the brink of impropriety,

sEXUAL TENSION SO THICK YOU CAN CUT IT WITH A KNIFE

OUT OF CoNTROL

calling the audience to consider the measures this family takes for the opportunity to start a new life.

In its raw portrayal of sensitive issues such as sexual assault, violence, mental illness, and infidelity, Killer Joe succeeds with an uncomfortable, yet admirable authenticity. Director Andrew Walker (SFS ’16) and producer Sarah Konig (COL ’16) chose to produce Killer Joe for its well-written, humorous depiction of the darker, thought-provoking themes throughout.

These themes shed light on issues already in conversation at Georgetown, but in a differ-

AïnhOa HARDY

ent way. “Georgetown is very committed to dialogue about pluralism, which is something I have really valued in my time here. Still, this dialogue is often strained and polite, and the benefits of a black comedy like Killer Joe is that the visceral reactions of the audience takes the strain and politeness out of this conversation,” said Walker.

The complexity of each character challenges the actors’ emotional as well as physical acting abilities.

Canning brilliantly assumes the disturbing, angry, and manipulative sensibility of Joe while performing tense fight scenes, with a believable pain-inflicting strength. Remarkably, each member of the small cast gives this same impressive amount of effort in the emotional and physical development of their characters. While her character’s lines are awkwardly short and nonsensical at times, Lett uses that to her advantage with an incredible use of nonverbal communication, producing one amazing and vulnerable performance.

Especially in scenes between Joe and Dottie, the script consistently pushes the actors to reveal themselves both emo-

tionally and physically. Even in these demanding scenes, the actors showed an aura of confidence—expressing their character’s discomfort and uncertainty of interacting with the other.

That plethora of emotions each character goes through feels very real to the audience during those moments.

An unchanging setting of the Dallas trailer never seems stagnant. Shifts in lighting and details in the set design allow the audience to travel with the senses, feeling the light of day turn to darkness, and noticing idiosyncratic eating and cleaning, or lack thereof, habits of the family. Empty beer bottles, food containers, and the ironic, notso-subtle “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster hanging on the wall give the audience insight into their dysfunctional story.

Killer Joe will make you laugh, it will make you cringe, and most importantly, it will not hold back its punch as a conversation starter.

Walsh Black Box Theater March 25-28, 8 p.m.

March 28, 2 p.m. performingarts.georgetown.edu

No need for a Throwback Thursday for many of our childhood titles

A bi-weekly column about gaming by Christopher Castano Nineties kids and nostalgia go hand-in-hand like cats and the internet.

Much like the patrons of these videos, the current makeup of the gaming market is young. So many published enthusiasts today grew up playing the same titles. People go absolutely bonkers over Super Mario 64 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, with good reason. These titles were innovative, some say revolutionary.

They’re also tinted with the memories of an era where most of the gamers of today were discovering their passion, for better or for worse.

I’ll try and give you an example.

I recently ordered a USB Super Nintendo controller off of Amazon, hoping to make the game emulation applications on my computer a little more realistic. There’s something about

playing with a controller that just feels right (console peasant status cemented).

The download queue on my Mac read like a ’90s kid’s dream.

A Link to the Past, Shadowrun, Super Mario World, and more poured into my hard drive like the sweet nectar of the gods.

One title to rule them all captured my attention. The crown jewel of the ’90s RPG genre. The game touted as one of the undisputed best of all time.

My body was ready… for Chrono Trigger.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the game had aged well.

Some RPGs from the ’80s and ’90s are downright painful to play, but the art and narrative style of it seemed like something straight out of the 2000s, something I would have played growing up (late bloomer here).

A lot of people point to the fact

that Chrono Trigger was so far ahead of its time as part of the reason it’s so beloved, and I’d have to agree.

The characters were interesting, the plot was anything but linear, and the story was compelling. I’ll admit, it was hard to put down, but I wasn’t blown away like the majority of its audience/fanbase.

Now, some will argue that’s because I’m playing it out of context—that if I’d been there in 1995 when the game was initially released, SNES controller in hand, I would have been awestruck. There might be some validity to this claim, yet I still can’t help but wonder if maybe the critics of today are blowing its revolutionary characteristics out of proportion.

They talk about the depth of certain characters that inhabit the games story, but Final

Fantasy was already on its sixth installment by the time Chrono Trigger was released.

No one does character development quite like FF. They talk about the story concept and mechanics, but time travel always leaves a few paradoxes lying around that no deus ex machina can quite iron out. Final Fantasy was great but, in my opinion, might not be worth the hysteria some associate with its name.

I can say the same for a few of the other titles from bygone eras. But I won’t for the moment. Chrono Trigger spoke to people who were playing it back in the ’90s, and it was a great game, so I can’t fault either the art or the audience for that.

However, it might not be worth deifying in a way similar to that of modern critics, especially when it can get in the way of

objectively evaluating a game based on its merit.

Remember your first kiss, or your first love? Remember how sweet it was? For the majority of us (myself way included) that can be attributed to the simple fact that we just didn’t know any better.

Your first video game loves work the exact same way. I won’t ever forget the countless hours I spent working my way through Golden Sun’s vast world, or blowing my brother away in Star Wars: Battlefront, but I certainly realize the rose-colored spectacles I don when talking about my experiences.

The games were good, but I’d rather admit my own bias and be able to discuss them as they truly are.

Reminisce with Chris at cdc67@ georgetown.edu

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“You’re like santa claus and the easter bunny combined—juST AS CHARMING, AND JUST AS FAKE.” — BIG FISH

Black Iron Pizza a lukewarm burnout RILEY MELLEN As a senior with roots in New York City, I’m a huge pizza fan—I could eat the stuff all day. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty excited to try Black Iron Pizza, one of DC’s newest pizza spots, and see if it captured the heart of someone whose early culinary education was in the Mecca of cheap, greasy Italian eats. Despite Black Iron’s elegant website and seemingly gourmet menu, nothing appeared to be especially striking as I entered the shop’s location several blocks from the White House. The cashier was friendly, the concrete and steel decor was modern, the place was fairly clean and tidy—everything seemed pretty average.

We walked up to the counter and placed our orders: a traditional margherita pizza, a pizza al taglio, with pesto, mushroom, eggplant, artichoke, roasted tomato, and ricotta; and a prosciutto e fungi pizza, with vodka sauce, mushrooms, prosciutto, and mozzarella. The restaurant also featured a “make your own pizza” bar—a pizza Chipotle, if you will—that included toppings diverse enough for any picky eater.

For a fairly simple dish, the margherita pizza was a disappointing, unevenly cooked take on an old classic. As much as I typically love mozzarella, the sheer quantity of oily cheese made

me feel like I was choking down Elmer’s glue.

The prosciutto e fungi pizza was better, but left a little to be desired.

The crust was pleasantly doughy and just chewy enough but the vodka sauce was over-sugared and over-salted. Furthermore, the mushrooms were strangely tough, and the small amount of prosciutto, though tasty, did not nearly justify the cost.

The pizza al taglio was, without a doubt, the best item we ordered.

While it could have benefitted from more seasoning, the juicy roasted tomatoes complemented the thick, rich ricotta cheese surprisingly well, and the oily pesto sauce provided just the right garlicky kick.

With some room left in our stomachs and our wallets, we sauntered up to the counter once again to give their “make your own” dessert pizza a shot. Unfortunately, it too

You Sit upon a throne of cheesy lies.

was an underwhelming excuse for a pizza. The crust was rock hard; as soon as we tried to cut it, the chocolate, raspberry, and lemon toppings slid off the pizza. The now pizza-less toppings coated pretty much every conceivable item in reach with a sticky residue not unlike a saccharine Flubber. Needless to say, a softer, sweeter dough would have considerably helped this dessert. All in all, Black Iron Pizza appears to be more of a businessman’s lunch spot than a must-try dinner location.

It’s not a terrible eatery and may work out its kinks after a few more months of operation. For now, the search for a slice that can soothe a cold, pizza-loving, New York heart continues.

Black Iron Pizza 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. blackironpizza.com

BLACK IRON PIZZA

the georgetown voice | 15

Groove Theory Showcase STEVEN CRISS The McDonough School of Business will be pulsing with a different kind of energy this Friday night. This won’t be because of hyper-eager underclassmen buzzing around Shea Commons or jittery juniors lamenting their Morgan Stanley summer internship rejection. It will be because Groove Theory is in the house.

Like most people in the MSB late on a Friday, the group would rather be elsewhere. Instead of Gaston’s spacious stage and premier stage lighting, Lohrfink Auditorium is Groove Theory’s home for their sixth annual showcase, “One Move, One Groove.”

Don’t let the name of this year’s show fool you. After getting an exclusive look at the team’s rehearsal, I can assure you there will be moves and grooves abound to satisfy everyone’s hip-hop desires. Look forward to variety not only in the style of dance, but also in the role of the audience (for the brave ones out there, get ready to twerk). In addition to Groove Theory, the showcase will feature performances from hip-hop crews from both the D.C. area and other Georgetown dance groups. “I definitely think this

year has more variety than past years,” Groove Theory member Tim Shaker (COL’17) said. “This year we have even more smaller pieces … so there’s more to look forward to.”

With dancers coming from backgrounds ranging from ballet to contemporary and hip-hop freestyle, no move or sequence is out of the realm of possibility with Groove Theory’s showcase.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder why administration feared the floors of Gaston wouldn’t be able to handle the group’s member-designed choreography.

“Everything is choreographed and directed by students, and we’ve tried to keep up on all the recent trends and hits in the hip hop world to create hype dances that people can really get into and relate to,” Fiona Cavise (COL ‘16), co-manager of Groove Theory, wrote in an email to the Voice.

Whether you’re looking to indulge in your weekly Beyoncé fix or just want to stare in amazement of the moves you wish you had, “One Move, One Groove” has you covered.

Lohrfink Auditorium performingarts.georgetown.edu

Amidst the noise, Slow Falling Bird finds solace and soars in silence JULIA LLOYD-GEORGE “This isn’t life, or death, but something in between, some other geography.” If Christine Evans’s play, Slow Falling Bird, has a central focus in its narrative of Australian xenophobia and the plight of asylum-seeking refugees in the country, it is this notion of simultaneous transition and entrapment. Though it’s an undeniably painful and often perplexing work, punctuated by disjointed scenes and otherworldly presences, Slow Falling Bird is a haunting and transfixing portrait of people on both sides of an inscrutable clash in human history.

The harmful effects of that clash are manifested in the various forms of purgatory, both political and personal, that plague the people living in and surrounding an immigration detention facility that flourished at the turn of the millennium in Woomera, Australia. The perspectives of these damaged individuals comprise a patchwork of voices, as

the action switches between the narratives of the refugees and those of the officers forced to deal with them.

Director Rosalba Clemente, a visiting professor from Flinders University in Adelaide, wanted the similarities between these characters to shine through in spite of the inherent conflict of that relationship.“What I was hoping to do was to kind of create all those prismatic reflections in the relationships that kind of carry through electrical currents backwards and forwards, because everyone is in a kind of prison of their own making,” she said.

They may be divided by their positions, but they are united by the ghosts of their respective pasts. For the refugees—Leyla, Zahrah, and Micko—that is the war-torn home they left behind for yet another place of chaos. This chaos is evident from the opening scene echoing the beginning of The Tempest, as a shipwreck destabilizes the asylum-seeking refugees and they are washed up on Australian shores.

Rick, played by Caleb Lewis (COL ‘16), is the primary immigration officer and arguably the dominant voice in the play. He acts as the manifestation of conservative masculinity and all Australian hostility toward foreigners, yelling drunkenly at them when they first arrive at the center and attacking them if they refuse to behave properly. Though there is a palpable tension between these three refugees and the two immigration officers that process them at the detention center, however, there is far more happening behind the scenes than most aggressive dialogue reveals. This is where the strange magic of the play emerges.

Life and death intermingle here in haunting ways, as the soul of Zahrah’s newborn is left behind in some transitory state between life and death. That spirit sits on a platform suspended above everyone, observing all the action and sometimes whining baby talk to the people below, usually to Rick and his wife, Joy, played by Alex Waldon (COL ‘15),

who is dealing with depression following a miscarriage. It’s often a little disorienting to see these interactions between concrete, often disturbing reality and some other intangible realm, as the incongruity of a baby spirit talking to people and life-sized crows raving with drunk immigration officers is difficult to get past.

The best scenes in the play are the quieter moments stripped of that bizarre clutter. Joy’s monologue about her depression, Rick’s

one-sided conversation with Zahrah about his marriage, and Leyla’s more touching moments with Micko are the vulnerable, personal points of a heavily political play that make it worth watching. It’s these times when the most distant and foreign concepts become the most intimate.

Gonda Theatre March 26-28, 8 p.m.

March 29, 2 p.m.

April 8-11, 8 p.m.

More intimidating than Alfred Hitchcock’s birds

LISA HELFERT

leisure

16 | the georgetown voice

march 26, 2015

CRITICAL VOICES

Marina and the Froot, Neon Gold

Diamonds,

Electra Heart is dead. The alter-ego of Marina and the Diamonds was killed with “sleeping pills, of course,” according to a recent interview with The Guardian. Good riddance, too. Thanks to an internet leak, Diamonds’ Froot arrived early, but just in the nick of time. Marina Diamandis has learned from the hot mess that was Electra Heart, reminding us on the new album’s title track that, “This isn’t my first time at the rodeo.”

Earl Sweatshirt, I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside, Columbia Emerging from the rambunctious skate rap crew Odd Future, the transformation of 21-year-old Earl Sweatshirt into one of hip-hop’s most cerebral and vulnerable artists has been fascinating to watch. In his third solo project, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, Earl achieves new heights in introspection. In Outside, Earl intrepidly portrays his inward conflicts through a dark ambiance in a captivating fashion.

REELTALk

Like all previous Marina and the Diamonds albums, Froot defies characterization. It’s too haunting for the beach, with songs like “Solitaire” and “I’m a Ruin.” The lyrics are poetic enough for brooding Tumblrs.

But even though Marina Diamandis writes all her own music and lyrics, her sound is too broadly appealing to be labeled singer-songwriter or indie-pop. This is honest-to-God bubblegum pop, but the bubblegum is licorice-flavored.

Once you listen past the albums’ intoxicating melodies, it matures, sounding jaded and regretful. The title track, “Froot,” is an ode to a bittersweet summer love of youth. Its imagery is jarring, moving from the fruit analogies to “I’m your carnal flower, I’m your bloody rose,” a reminder that Diamandis is never really yours to keep. She wilts with the crisp fall air.

But it isn’t all melancholy: these lyrics hide a reflective contentment, independent of the celebrity culture celebrated in earlier albums. “Happy”

is an enveloping cocoon of self-recognition. It’s here on the opening track that one sees Diamandis coming into herself as a musician. Froot is a renaissance, freeing and revolutionary, despite its evolutionary heritage.

The album’s early leak does make one wonder what Froot could have been with a tad more time in the oven.

The melodic backings feel simpler and more pared-down in juxtaposition to the other albums of Marina and the Diamonds, which tend to be a tad more lush and sugary.

Either way, any longtime fan of the singer will find Froot to have that exotic blend of instantly familiar and sardonic. Froot is a return to the foreboding and infectiously synthetic sound that makes a Marina and the Diamonds tune instantly recognizable. It’s a bit of anthem, a bit of camp, and a dash of regret. It’s exquisite.

While the album clocks in at under 30 minutes, it is more than enough time to enter into Earl’s world, a world that is gloomy, stark, and isolated.

Throughout Outside, Earl portrays his struggles with issues of isolation, having experienced the death of his grandmother, drug addiction, and relationship issues, delivered in his trademark terse, deliberate flow. Outside boasts minimalist production, courtesy of the L.A. rapper himself, featuring heavy bass and ominous keyboard riffs, creating more dark, intimate beats. In addition to producing nearly every track on the album, Earl also does the lion’s share of songwriting on the album, making him a triple-threat rarely seen in today’s hip-hop.

Tracks like the album’s lead single, “Grief,” demonstrate the interior struggles which make Outside so resonant. Earl opens the track by declaring “I ain’t been outside in a minute/I been livin’ what I wrote,” referencing the album’s title, which denibstrates the emotional distance he battles.

The album’s last track, “Wool” sees the reunion of Earl and California rapper Vince Staples, who delivers a loaded verse which tackles police shootings and vividly portrays the realities of gang life in his hometown of Long Beach. On the album’s final verse, we hear a significantly more confident Earl emerging from his remoteness, as the album’s finale delivers a bombastic declaration of his place in the rap game.

Outside chronicles Earl Sweatshirt’s entrancing struggles with darkness and isolation far beyond his mere 21 years. Through its foreboding cohesion, Outside succeeds at painting an honest picture of the mental state of the embattled rapper. Amid trends toward superficiality in popular hip hop, Earl’s genuine vulnerability is a breath of fresh air.

Voice’s Choices: “Froot,” “Solitare” —TIM ANNICK

Voice’s Choices: “Wool,” “Off Top”

—JAY BENJAMIN

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MONDAY 3/30 Twin Shadow Black Cat, 7:30 p.m., $25

And this is how you beat Shaq

A bi-weekly column about film by Brian McMahon

There are many days I cherish throughout the year—Oscar night, Opening Day, Christmas. But nothing can quite match the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament. Even as we mourn another early exit for our Hoyas, I cannot get basketball off of my mind.

No matter who you root for, the tournament is bound to bring intrigue and excitement, along with the inevitable disappointment that comes with a failing bracket.

Basketball has captivated us for years, not only in real life, but also in films that try to capture meaningful, moving stories on the court.

Some are great—thanks, Hoosiers.

Some are not—sorry, Like Mike.

But what separates them? What makes a basketball movie great?

There are a wide range of basketball movies with vastly different tones, from the retro farce of SemiPro to the gritty character study of He Got Game. Despite this array of styles, though, some tropes stand out. First and foremost, no basketball movie can succeed without the charismatic coach. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers, Josh Lucas in Glory Road, and Samuel L. Jackson in Coach Carter are just three of the best in this category. Just about every basketball-focused film starts out with a similar problem: a team lacks the talent or discipline needed to succeed, and they need some figure to step in to move them forward. Watching a coach push and push their team, alienating them before lifting them to new heights, is undeniably entertaining, and movie after movie takes advantage of this fact.

Besides having someone memorable at the helm, you’ll find that most basketball movies pull you in with a tormented star, a player with the talent to go anywhere but the head that needs some fixing.

No, I am not really thinking of Air Bud here. Hoosiers has Jimmy Chitwood, the farmboy with the skills to escape small-town living but the head that could hold him back; He Got Game has Jesus Shuttlesworth, the NBA talent with the name to match and a tortured past; White Men Can’t Jump has Billy and Sidney, streetwise stars who don’t know when to stop. Just as we gravitate towards iconic players in real life, so too do we seek out silver-screen heroes, individuals forced to carry the weight of the team along with the weight of

whatever threatens to hold them back. We find ourselves fascinated by talented players navigating fame and stardom, struggling to balance the importance of their performance on the court with the troubles that persists off of it.

Besides characters filling these roles memorably, one thing can make a basketball movie great: realistic game action. Creating movie moments without sacrificing the credibility of the game is extremely difficult. It is terribly easy to have a sports movie fall apart because the in-game scenes look staged and unbelievable. The best basketball movies combine tense game sequences with actors that look the part. The Basketball Diaries is a fascinating story, but its game scenes fall short largely because of the stars’ questionable abilities.

In contrast, films like Glory Road and Coach Carter achieve a balance between believable moments on the court and narrative melodrama, not sacrificing the excitement we expect in sports movies’ climactic moments but also maintaining the integrity of the sport as they reach them. This formula works across all sports movies, with films like Miracle thriving on a mix of incredible drama and sensible gameplay.

When you think about it, every March brings us a tournament—a real-life tournament— that seems to imitate fiction.

Charismatic coaches? We loved watching Georgia State coach Ron Hunter tumble from his chair as his son sunk a three to lock up the biggest win in school history. Memorable stars? Players like Steph Curry and Kemba Walker tear through the tournament every year, leaving us in awe. Realistic gameplay? Of course, though at times the madness of March seems too absurd to believe.

Even when our teams and brackets come up short—year after year after year—we stay glued to the television, waiting for a Cinderella or a comeback kid. We watch the movies because they glorify these moments. We watch the games because they’re something else altogether.

Shoot hoops with Brian at bem64@georgetown.edu

georgetownvoice.com

PAGE THIRTEEN

the georgetown voice |17

– Dylan Cutler

voices

18 | the georgetown voice

MARCH 26, 2015

Time for a New Deal: Towards a student-first approach in 2018 AMBER ATHEY & MATT GREGORY With the first GAAP weekend just days away, Georgetown will soon be flooded with masses of accepted students anxious to get a first taste of the environment where they may be spending the next four years of their lives. Many will be amazed by the university’s physical splendor: the blossoming Healy lawn, bustling with spring activity; Hariri’s sleek modern lines, and the picturesque view across the river from the New South terrace. But behind the Hilltop’s outward-facing beauty lie conspicuous scars, representing the many failures of the last major construction planning initiative put into place five years ago.

One cannot venture far on the Hilltop without encountering some byproduct of the disastrous 2010 Campus Plan. The Leavey Center has been essentially barricaded, burdening the lives of the many students and workers who rely on access to this hub of university activity every day.

Entrances to Henle Village and Village A have been similarly blocked by new housing con-

struction, clogging walkways in some of the most heavily trafficked areas on campus. And some living in Southwest Quad triples next year will likely wonder why their dorms appear no larger than a standard double. The reason?

These rooms were, only months before, indeed intended for two.

Yet perhaps the most disheartening facet of this situation is not the proliferation of current construction, but rather the areas on campus that have not been designated by the administration as in need of renovation. Lauinger Library, Yates Field House, Kehoe Field, Village A, and Henle Village are all in need of significant repair or replacement, yet work on these structures has been deemphasized, pushed back into an uncertain and increasingly bleak future.

Since the implementation of the 2010 Campus Plan, the university has spent approximately $72.4 million on construction costs, leaving many students to question why this money was allocated to seemingly impose unnecessary burdens upon the Georgetown community while not addressing the areas most in need of refurbishment. The answer lies with the interests of

powerful neighborhood organizations, namely the Citizen’s Association of Georgetown (CAG) and Burleith Citizens Association (BCA), which for years have been pushing for increased on-campus housing as a means of carving out a residential lifestyle in what has long been a college neighborhood.

In direct response to protests by concerned neighbors, the 2010 Campus Plan included provisions for 385 students to move back on campus and designated that 90 percent of students must live on campus by 2025, forcing the university to adopt seemingly desperate measures such as converting two floors of the Leavey Center hotel into temporary residences. Demands for the future, however, are even more audacious. Among the proposals advocated by the CAG, BCA, and other groups is eventually mandating that 100 percent of undergraduates spend their four years at Georgetown living on campus.

Most frustrating about the 2010 Campus Plan, however, is the lack of student input that characterized its development and implementation. Unencumbered by significant opposition

from the student body, neighborhood activists were able to exert marked influence during the crafting of the original proposal, producing a document whose detrimental effects upon the student population will continue to be felt for years to come.

As it comes time to shape the provisions constituting the 2018 Campus Plan, this generation of Georgetown students cannot afford to remain idle. For not only will the current proposal determine the status of the aforementioned campus landmarks most in need of improvement, Lauinger being perhaps the most prominent, but its tenets will shape the nature of how master planning at Georgetown is enacted for the next twenty years.

As undergraduates, we have the best possible perspective to observe how a lack of administrative transparency and accountability may mar an otherwise consummate collegiate experience. It is we who are forced to suffer the consequences of insufficient student input in the 2010 plan, and, fittingly, it is our responsibility to ensure that similar or worse hardships are not forced upon our successors in the years

to come. Moreover, in a university located in Washington with one of the nation’s most politically-engaged student populations, it is emblematic of the Georgetown ethos to organize, protest, and advocate for a cause that we consider to be just and beneficial to our collective future.

Consequently, students from all segments of Georgetown life must unite—in dialogue, to represent our objectives for the future of our campus; in collaboration, working to hone a proposal that we consider an acceptable framework for the ensuing decades of development; and in action, rallying behind the shared vision that we have put forth. We ask all students to sign the 2018 Campus Plan Petition, so that in twenty years, we may once again admire the beauty of the Georgetown campus, content in our knowledge that we did everything possible to preserve and safeguard the institution that we love.

AMBER IS A JUNIOR IN THE COLLEGE MATT IS A SOPHOMORE IN THE SFS

A Game of Homes: Why you’ve already lost the housing lottery DOMINIQUE ROUGE That uncomfortable squirm in your stomach is not the 5th cup of coffee this time. Housing selection is upon us. It’s all most of us are thinking about, it’s largely what we are talking about, and, with Georgetown’s premature exit from March Madness, it’s now the hot topic of debate on campus.

I’m usually opposed to the vocabulary most students use to describe their endeavors here. I think many resort to “impossible,” “uncomfortable,” or “stress-

ful” as space fillers when they don’t have anything else to say. A friend told me, however, that the onset of housing selection meant “a lot of drama is about to start.”

He even issued a dire warning: “People lose friends.”

That concept is legitimately stressful to me. Deciding who to live with involves value judgements of other people that are uncomfortable to give and even harder to receive. The process that goes into finding the “best” housing at Georgetown conflates strategizing and cutthroat cruelty.

If there are little ways to cheat the system and get an edge on

ERIN ANNICK

THE HOUSING PROCESS IS COMPLICATED BUT IT DOESN’T LOOK TO BE IMPROVING SOON

housing, they aren’t well publicized (for your edification: you should have your list of choices ready before selection begins, because you only get 60 seconds to look at options! “What’s a Hoya?” can make a big difference!

Squat for someone while they go abroad!). The whole process is shrouded in secrecy and subterfuge. We face each other in a competition where few (perhaps only the Stewards) know the rules. This all might not matter if it weren’t for the emotional vulnerability inherent in making the living decision.

I am going into housing selection with three people (though someone told me you can go in with groups larger than four now?): a junior and two freshman. We want a five-person apartment so we can pull in a fellow sophomore. One of our freshmen has been to all of the “What’s a Hoya?” sessions, while the other has not; it would be strategic to substitute the sophomore for that second freshman in our group of four. In that situation, we would almost definitely be able to pull in the first freshman; but, with her in our group, the second freshman may not have the same luck.

As complicated as that was for me to type out and you to read, so are many groups’ tentative housing situations. We float through practical snares and half-willed commitments until this gut-check week when the math kind of matters and the prospect of isolation looms large. I recognize the privilege we have to be able to pick who we want to live with in college—but the emotional politics that go into that coordination seem unnecessarily painful. Some lucky people find three other friends with just the same hopes for living and number of housing points, but they seem to be a minority. It seems unfair to cater to them while housing incurs moderate identity crises in many of the rest of us.

So what to do? Part of me thinks the whole system just needs to be simplified. Here’s an idea: Apartments with more than four spaces go to seniors.

Four-person apartments belong to juniors, then sophomores; freshmen only live in doubles.

People can still apply for exemptions, but regular students must live with others in the same grade in designated spaces. Henles could be for juniors, for example, while only sophomores live in Village B. We would still need a lottery to

assign apartments within grades, but we wouldn’t need a point system. Limited options for housing also means limited options for maneuvering and scheming.

My suggestion takes freedom away from students in the housing selection process, but leaves in place the ability to choose roommates or housemates. It creates fewer options, which makes decisions simpler. It places responsibility on students to coordinate living in a group by the time they are seniors, but absolves everyone of the burden of getting the “best” housing by choosing the “best” roommates each year. Less wiggle room means fewer opportunities for ideal housing but also rids the moment when one person gets pulled up and leaves others tenuous and searching.

More importantly, more rules might change the atmosphere surrounding housing.

This week shouldn’t feel like a battle where anyone can be cut down and left in the cold at any time.

DOMINIQUE IS a SOPHOMORE in the COLLEGE

voices

georgetownvoice.com

THE GEORGETOWN VOICe | 19

Beyond borders: Underdocumented and traveling the world RIO DJIWANDANA I don’t know if it was my obsession with watching Pokémon or all the long nights I spent reading fantasy novels, but I’ve always had an insatiable thirst for adventure and exploring the unknown. One day, I swore to myself, I would save enough money and travel the world, sampling exotic new foods and forging exciting new friendships.

When I became old enough to realize I was undocumented, however, I discovered I would never be able to leave the country without giving up my right to return, even though the U.S. has been my “home” since I arrived as a four-month old infant.

Reluctantly and brokenheartedly, I

set aside my childhood dreams and traded them for harsher realities.

When Obama created the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program via executive action in 2012, so many doors were opened for me and countless other undocumented youth across the nation. Although DACA does not create a pathway to citizenship, it provides a renewable working permit and temporary relief from deportation. After talking to a wonderful fellow undocumented Georgetown student, I learned that DACA also permitted international travel (though only in certain circumstances) via Advance Parole, a special travel document that DACA recipients can obtain to re-enter the U.S.

RIVER DAVIS

THE AIRPORT SECURITY LINE IS A WHOLE LOT LESS FUN WHEN YOU’RE UNDOCUMENTED.

CARRYING ON

Obtaining Advance Parole, however, is a ridiculously lengthy, expensive, and frustrating process.

After paying a non-refundable $360 application fee, applicants must wait up to four months for approval by the Department of Homeland Security. Even upon approval, Advance Parole cannot 100 percent guarantee re-entry into the U.S. At any given border crossing or checkpoint, DACA recipients can still be denied admission into the country by Customs & Border Protection Agents, which can make traveling abroad a very risky ordeal.

With support from the Georgetown Scholarship Program and pro-bono assistance from an attorney, I was able to leave the U.S. for the first time last summer. I first traveled to Nicaragua to participate in the GU Impacts Program, but afterwards, I was finally able to return to Indonesia for the first time in 20 years, where I met long-lost family members, explored a country I had only known through stories, and reconnected to my roots.

When I was nominated by Georgetown to study abroad in Budapest, Hungary last semester, I applied for Advance Parole a second time. But when December rolled around and my Advance Parole had not arrived yet, I lost nearly all hope that it would ever come. Thankfully, I received notice that it was approved on Dec. 23, which turned out to be the best early Christmas present I could’ve ever asked for.

THE OLD COLLEGE TRY

BY JULIA LLOYD-GEORGE

A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

Last fall, I got in a rather bizarre accident. It’s a long story, but it involves a trip to an apple farm, a hayride trailer carrying lots of innocent children I’ve probably scarred for life, and my head getting run over by a big rubber tire.

Later, when I was sitting in the hospital, one of the doctors joked that I had eight lives left to live.

Needless to say, I was getting pretty existential. I wondered how many potential resurrections lie inside one person and how I would lead those remaining lives. It all felt a bit like a Lifetime movie.

A couple of years before this happened, I read “The Opposite of Loneliness,” an essay by a Yale graduate named Marina Keegan.

It’s an address to her own graduating class about maintaining a sense of possibility and an idealistic spirit, even as those possibilities seem to be narrowing as the real world fast approached. Keegan died five days after graduat-

ing, a tragedy that seems to make the work feel hollow.

Keegan’s story haunts me because her short life seemed so dedicated to that kind of “carpe diem” philosophy that she preached on the cusp of a life after college—the kind of philosophy that I’m afraid I need a near-death experience to remember. It’s so easy to be afraid at this time and to combat that fear by seeking the safe, easy paths that promise comfort and persistent validation. It’s so easy to forget that nothing is predestined.

Before I arrived at Georgetown, I was idealistic about what the college experience would have to offer me. I imagined an endless onslaught of intellectual stimulation and discovery, where I would easily find a tribe of passionate weirdos that shared my interests and had too many life-changing late-night conversations to count. The real thing wasn’t quite what I imagined. Everything was a little too polished

Despite all the legal complications and the possibility of not being able to return, I decided that the benefits of traveling abroad were well worth the risks.

First of all, my status as a DACA recipient only allows me to leave and re-enter the U.S. for educational, humanitarian, or employment purposes. This means that once I graduate from Georgetown, it might be several long years before I get another chance to see the world, especially if the DACA program ends once Obama’s term is over—a very real possibility if the Republicans take over the White House.

Second, I must admit that I chose to study abroad so I could temporarily escape the daily struggles of being undocumented in America.

Living in a country where I am repeatedly told I am unwelcome and where thousands of politicians are constantly scheming to deport me is psychologically and emotionally draining. Furthermore, realizing that I cannot individually “fix” my undocumented status and change the circumstances I was born into has been an extremely frustrating reality to accept. I’ve lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, graduated as the salutatorian of my high school, paid countless dollars in taxes, and am set to graduate from Georgetown in a year—but regardless of what I do or how many selfies I take with the Vice President, I don’t know if I’ll ever be “American” enough for the U.S. government.

and a little too regimented and goal-oriented to be the eccentric haven I’d dreamed of.

Though I eventually found my tribe and had those conversations, it took a lot of loneliness and wondering why I was wasting my years doing work that didn’t excite me before I got there. Admitting that disappointment is something I’ve always been afraid to do, since receiving a Georgetown education is a privilege that shouldn’t be shrugged off.

Nevertheless, I think it’s a great betrayal of a liberal arts education to remain silent about its weaknesses. If college is meant to teach us how to think, then it should teach us to take risks with what we say and do. It should teach us to avoid the easy answer, to reject the most convenient conclusion. What I’m afraid Georgetown instills in many of its graduates is the opposite, promoting a tendency toward credentialism and risk-aversion at the

expense of greater, less tangible, and easily listed rewards.

The consulting and finance industries continue to recruit Hoyas in steadily increasing droves, seducing them with high starting salaries and a straightforward application process. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with these industries, there’s something a little suspicious about 39 percent of the Class of 2014 following one of two similar paths. That’s a lot of potential that could be used in other ways. I’m not just talking about socially conscious.

Graduation is the end of an era, the end of the years carved out specifically for learning and self-discovery. This is the time officially allotted to explore our interests, to dabble in weird and wonderful things that we might never have tried otherwise. After four years, it feels like we’re meant to have arrived at a definitive understanding of our world and our place in it. We’re meant to be fully

Here in Hungary, my student residence permit ironically gives me more legal rights than I have in the United States, though my undocumented identity has still managed to define my study abroad experience. I am spending my time in Europe as if it is the only chance I will ever get to see it—because realistically, it very well might be. Most weekends, I find myself traveling to other countries, not because I hate it here (Budapest is an amazing city in its own right), but because the ability to cross international borders freely and without worry is an exhilarating privilege that I’ve only ever dreamt of.

For months, I’ve entertained the idea of permanently moving to another country to escape my immigration troubles, but spending so much time abroad has shown me that this option just isn’t for me. All the people I love and all the issues I care about are in the United States, and my lack of “proper” documentation does not make me any less of an American. While I hope to continue exploring the world in the future, the United States will always be my home, and I refuse to give that up without a fight.

RIO IS A JUNIOR IN THE THE SFS

crystallized, to have done all the necessary dabbling and be ready to get down to business. In many cases, that’s literal.

This worries me, because I see the people around me in constant motion and it seems like we’re all meant to be keeping up with a never-ending race. It’s hard to truly absorb everything and dabble in those weird and wonderful pursuits when we’re expected to be on this track to success, whatever that is. Truly knowing ourselves seems to be the result of sufficient time and freedom to experiment, to throw a lot of paint at a wall and see what sticks.

I know I’m definitely not done experimenting, and I’m definitely not a fully crystallized human prepped for all the slings and arrows the world is sure to throw my way.

I’m O.K. with that, though. What I’m not O.K. with is the idea that that lacking certainty is somehow a character flaw, a failure that irrevocably sets me behind everyone with a more sharply defined and secure direction. What I’m not O.K. with is the idea of living a life driven by fear of failure. That kind of choice seems to be a greater risk than any crazy gamble we could possibly make at our young age.