The Georgetown Voice, April 8, 2016

VOICE The Georgetown

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April 8, 2016

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APRIL 8, 2016

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE Volume 48 • Issue 13

staff editor-in-chief Daniel Varghese Managing editor Kevin huggard news

executive editor Christopher Castano Features editor Graham piro news editor liz teitz assitant news editors lilah burke, caitlyn cobb, thomas stubna

culture

executive editor Joseph pollicino Leisure editor Brian mcMahon assistant leisure editors Tatiana Lebreton, Caitlin Mannering, Maneesha Panja, Sarika Ramaswamy Sports editors Alex boyd, robert ponce Assistant sports editors Santul Nerkar, Tyler pearre, phillip steuber

opinion

“Church window” by patricia lin

contents

Editorials Carrying On: Evaluating Epigenetics Caitlyn Cobb

An Environment Unlearnt and In a Shameful State Joshua Dostal and Allison Pfotzer Burning Issues and Lessons from Literature Austin Stollhaus and Louisa Christen Spiritual Exercises: Balancing Inclusivity and Catholic Identity Lilah Burke, Isaiah Seibert, and Liz Teitz

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Language Options Expand on Campus Liz Teitz

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Guiding Forces: Changing Tours on Campus Brooke Dudek

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Nomadic Tells a Tale of Self-Discovery with Happy Clair Smith Melissa McCathy Deserves Better Than The Boss Andrew Gutman Critical Voices Leisure Staff

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Executive editor chris almeida voices editor charles evain assistant voices editor Joseph Dipietro, Leila Lebreton Columnists Louisa Christen, Yafet Negash, Austin Stollhaus, The Knights of Columbus

halftime

Leisure editors Mike bergin, jon block assistant leisure editor danielle hewitt Sports editors Jay benjamin, Matt jasko assistant sports editors jonny amon, chris dunn

design

Executive editor megan howell cover editor patricia lin Spread editor johnny jung Photo editor Brooke dudek assistant design editors Emma francois, alli kaufman, abbey Roberts, eleanor sugrue, vance vaughn

copy

copy chief Anna Gloor editors Clara Cecil, Claire Goldberg, Michelle Kelly, Isabel Lord, Bethania Michael, Hanh Nguyen, Kate Phillips, Greer Richey, Dana Suekoff, Suzanne Trivette, Gabriella Wan

online

online editor sahil nair social media editors naba rahman, tiffany tao

Staff writers

Ben barrett, amanda christovich, Michael Coyne, brendan crowley, elizabeth cunniff, margaret gach, nicholas gavio, Amy Guay, andrew gutman, christian hallmark, susanna herrmann, cassidy jensen, Jake Maher, noah nelson, brendan pierce, isaiah seibert, tyler walsh

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erin annick, natalia campos, april hyein choi, samantha lee, andrea leng, may li, kyua park, angela qi, lindsay reilly, morgan trevett editor@georgetownvoice.com Leavey 424 Box 571066 Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057

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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. 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.

business

general manager tim annick senior associate, finance and alumni outreach naiara parker senior associate, accounts and sales jessica ho

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

read more on georgetownvoice.com NEWS

Housing System Glitch Interferes with Apartment Selection Cassidy Jensen reported on the malfunction in the housing selection process that prevented rising juniors from selecting available apartments.

Overhead shot of village a apartments

Freddy Rosas

Workers, Students Discuss Experiences at GSC “Work with Dignity” Rally Lilah Burke covered the Georgetown Solidarity Committee’s rally to call for better treatment of campus employees.

Students protest in red square

Lilah burke

LEISURE Critical Voices: Zayn, Mind of Mine Tatiana Lebreton reviewed Zayn’s new album, Mind of Mine. The album moves beyond the soft pop of One Direction to establish Zayn as a superstar in the making.

SPORTS Men’s Lax Weekend Roundup: Hoyas Routed by No. 4 Denver

Georgetown lacrosse takes on denver

Brooke dudek

A dreadful start to the season didn’t get any better this past weekend, as the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (1-9, 0-2 Big East) lost to No. 4 Denver (8-1, 1-0 Big East) 17-4 in front of 1,981 fans Saturday afternoon at Cooper Field. It’s the sixth consecutive loss for the Hoyas, who are winless in five home games played at Cooper Field this season.

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EDITORIALS

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APRIL 8, 2016

A Minor But Welcome Change Last Tuesday, it was announced that SFS students beginning with the class of 2017 are to have access to the language minors offered by the College. This is overwhelmingly positive news for most SFS students. Since it is compulsory for students within the school to pass a language proficiency test, these minors are relatively easy

to acquire. These minors will reward undergraduates who develop crucial language skills with tangible credentials for employment after graduation.

While this Editorial Board has no qualms about this specific decision, it does not address some of the more pressing concerns regarding the SFS curriculum. As it stands, the 17 courses required by the SFS core curriculum remain an incredible burden for students in the school.

Comparatively, students in the College are only required to take 12 classes for their core.

Further, specified classes make up about half of the SFS’ core, providing little academic freedom when compared to the College core, which is instead largely organized in general fields that allow you to tailor your coursework to your interests. As Georgetown moves to further prevent students from transferring AP/IB credits, this burden required by the SFS core curriculum only becomes more onerous and must be addressed.

Furthermore, language minors are not the only College minors that are of interest to SFS students. Students might certainly benefit from the inclusion of other minors in this program, like computer science, psychology, or journalism. While students interested in specific regions and some limited topics have access to certificates, students interested in codifying their achievement in many other subjects are still unable to do so.

These are only some of the many complaints students have had in the past regarding the SFS. Other criticisms include the quality of the services provided by the Career Center, and the time students have to wait in order to get appointments for career counseling. Another problem includes the lack of science classes within the SFS curriculum, the list goes on. These are the changes students really need.

While most students will certainly welcome the addition of language minors, it is hard not to see it as appeasement for overdue changes that still haven’t been made. That being said, while the larger problems within the SFS could be fixed without the addition of language minors, these might serve as a basis to address some larger concerns. We are encouraged by the University’s willingness to accept student input in crafting the program. Hopefully, this addition will serve as a model for pursuing the many needed reforms within the SFS in the near future.

georgetown flickr

Balancing Speech and Preach One could hardly be faulted for mistaking the University and the Church as age-old antagonists. The two ancient institutions share an inextricable history, a relationship at times both amiable and strained in fair measure. With the Lecture Fund’s invitation of Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, to speak on campus, this enduring tension once again surfaces in plain sight.

The debate over the reciprocal responsibilities and liberties of each establishment is well trodden. Some argue that freedom of expression trumps the University’s particular institutional values, that the University ought to facilitate the unqualified flow of knowledge and discourse. Others argue that the University is logically obliged to divorce itself from Richards’ views (which stand incompatible with the Church’s doctrine on abortion) by virtue of its Catholic identity, a position recently articulated by the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wuerl. Still others go further in asserting that the University is canonically obligated as per Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, to deny statements in contradiction to fundamental Church teachings a pulpit.

Without adopting any of these ideologically grounded positions, this Editorial Board holds on pragmatic grounds that the University is within its

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rights to distance itself from the perception that it endorses, even tacitly, Richards’ views, while still affording her a public platform for expression.

In doing so, Georgetown achieves a reasonable compromise in serving its dual commitments to academic and religious values.

Moreover, this Editorial Board views the manner in which the University reconciles these two mandates in the instance of Cecile Richards as a fair, practical balance.

While originally intended to speak in Gaston Hall, the symbolic centerpiece of Georgetown’s identity, Richards has been relocated to Lohrfink Auditorium.

This move bypasses the dissonant image of a speaker—whose message, in part, strikes at the core of the Catholic view of human life—with the backdrop of the shields of the world’s Jesuit universities, the seal of Georgetown University, and the inscription “ad majorem Dei gloriam.” However, the venue of Lohrfink provides Richards with an undeniably prominent platform from which she can speak freely.

erin annick

Therefore, while the views of this Editorial Board are more in line with those of Richards and Planned Parenthood than those of the Catholic Church, we find that this arrangement affirms both the commitment of the university to dialogue and academic freedom as well as to its Catholic values in the Jesuit tradition.

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Evaluating Epigenetics

Carrying On: Voice Staffers Speak

Avoiding Eugenic Thought In the last decade, findings within epigenetics have been generating big waves far beyond scientific circles. It’s fairly easy to understand why. But, the moral discussions that have evolved from epigenetics and the public reaction to some of hotter topics can include a eugenic edge that echoes some of the most dangerous sentiments of the 20th century.

Broadly put, epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in mechanisms for gene expression. It’s worth noting, though, that exact definitions of epigenetics are debated even today. The key points are ‘heritable’ and ‘mechanisms for gene expression’.

To start with the latter, changes in mechanisms for gene expression are changes brought on by environmental factors that affect phenotypes, or physical traits, without changing the genetic code itself. This is pretty cool when you think about it: our body responds to changes such as those of diet, stress level, exposure to toxins, and even our social environment by altering how genes are expressed. The genetic code on its own is a marvel of complexity, gene regulation a layer beyond, but the idea that our bodies can adjust how the coding within our DNA is used based on our situations and experiences is incredible.

This means a person’s environment and lifestyle can alter their gene expression, which can have significant health impacts.

One example: epigenetics helps explain how the month in which you’re born helps determine what allergies you have. But not all applications are this benignly cool. The connection between our environments and epigenetic changes includes our social and personal environments, allowing us to link things like stress, racism, bullying, and socioeconomic status to our phenotypes and health risks. Compound this with patterns of injustice in how different social and racial groups are exposed to toxins and environmental hazards, and the role of environment in our health gains startling prominence.

It’s the “heritable” portion that really hits people. Epigenetic changes are always heritable between cells. As long as the change occurs in a somatic cell (not a sex cell), it can be passed down as that cell divides and replicates. The big point is that some epigenetic changes may be heritable across generations if they occur in sex cells.

Putting the two together, this means that our lifestyles and environments can change how our 25,000-something genes are expressed, at times with significant health impacts, and that these impacts can be passed down to our children. This is what makes these findings so earthshaking.

The “big waves” in the media are findings about the epigenetics relating to obesity, stress, and diabetes. Headlines on these range from the panicked and accusatory, “Curb this menace… now! New science suggests children catch obesity at birth from their parents,”to hopeful “Epigenetics and obesity: Studies Suggest We May Be Able to Alter Genetic Risk Factors.”

It’s exciting to consider the potential for positive change within epigenetics. I think it’s possible to connect this excitement to a moral impulse to improve society and quality of life. If we take the implications of epigenetics and consider its implications for the potential health impacts of our environment and our lifestyles

on us and our children, it feels obligatory that we eradicate damaging environmental aspects and lifestyle choices from society.

In the article ‘Poisoning heredity’: , Maurizio Meloni asserts that epigenetics has enormous potential, but points out that we need to be careful in how epigenetics is used. He discusses recent articles and studies whose findings suggest epigenetics can lead to population-wide differences in health between social groups, and points out that their findings have the potential to be used for purposes other than promoting social justice.

Scientific understanding is not an inherently moral tool, and can serve purposes either good or bad. Meloni argues, and I agree, that exalting the potential social good that can come from epigenetics while ignoring our history is unwise.

The history Meloni refers to is eugenics, which calls for an improvement of the genetics of humanity. American eugenics in the 20th century fed into existing ideas of racial inequality and ableism, as proponents of racial supremacy argued for the eradication of undesirable traits from the genepool via segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, and the sterilization of the disabled. Ideas like ‘aquired inferiority’ from the heyday of eugenics argue that, due to socially disadvantaged positions, some ‘races’ acquire undesirable traits as children inherit the results of their parents’ exposure.

Right now, the idea that we can inherit results of our parent’s environment feels counter-intuitive. But they were less so during the era of eugenics, before genetics was widely accepted. It’s possible to return to the darker points of our history with the hidden implications of the discourse on epigenetics if we forget eugenics too easily. The language we use to discuss findings in epigenetics is important in this regard. Meloni mentions an article on epigenetics in the Economist, ‘Poisoned inheritance’, whose title is unknowingly linked to the term ‘racial poisoning’ used by the eugenist Caleb Saleeby to describe population-wide impacts of alcohol within races.

A lot of us know about the dangers of eugenics, but as findings in epigenetics lead to speculations about the legacy of slavery in the African American population today, it’s all the more important we remain conscious of the history of the words we use.

A form of eugenics that incorporates epigenetics would, at its most extreme, reject the rights of those with undesirable, inheritable epigenetic markers to reproduce for fear of negatively impacting future generations. Now, if we consider ‘undesirable’ as a lens through which to view all of the big epigenetic findings I’ve mentioned, this hypothetical and radical epigenetic-eugenic theory would reject the obese, the cancer-stricken, the diabetic; those exposed to toxins, to racism, to bullying, to stress; and those of low socioeconomic status.

I’ve drastically oversimplified the issue here in order to make a point. I am excited about epigenetics, but reading articles like ‘Curb this menace…’, which uses phrases like “some vices may

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SAm lee

be hardcoded into the genes at birth,” I worry that the use of moral language implies children of certain parents are ‘damaged’ epigenetically. The key point to consider as epigenetic findings continue to flood the media is that epigenetic “damage,” such as adverse health impacts caused by the environment, cannot be viewed as inferior. ‘Curb this menace…’ follows the general trend of positivity in epigenetics by pointing out that epigenetic changes are theoretically reversible, so the lifestyle choices of children can ‘reverse’ those of their parents. But potential for findings in epigenetics to inform public policy and our understanding of environmental and social injustices makes it especially important that we not only talk about how epigenetics can help us harness our health through our environment, but also where to draw the line on the moral judgements we make regarding inheritance of epigenetic markers.

I’m not saying that we should stay away from epigenetics. On the contrary, I think we should dive into this incredibly exciting field, and multidisciplinary discussion (provided that the information is translated accurately between disciplines) on this topic holds huge potential. Moving forward, we can promote the use of this field for developing universal access to the best possible quality of life without endorsing ideas of who is fit to reproduce. Let’s avoid implying that the obese shouldn’t have children, and acknowledge the complexity of epigenetics and our environments as we try to solve problems like obesity with new understandings from epigenetics. The only way to do this is to remember eugenics as we talk, worry, and wonder about epigenetics.

BY CAITLYN COBB SHE is a sophmore in the College.

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APRIL 8, 2016

An Environment Unlearnt A New Perspective on Gun Culture I was in my room in Edinburgh, Scotland when I got a text from a friend telling me there had been a shooting two blocks from my high school in Colorado Springs, Colo.

It was late October and a man had been walking down the street—a street I had walked on every day for four years—before he started firing at random, killing three people. I proceeded to make a series of phone calls that in the past few years I am sure dozens, if not hundreds of people have had to make: “Were you downtown today?”

“I heard a female biker was shot, doesn’t your mom bike on that street?”

“Was anyone we know near the school when it happened?”

These are not normal questions a 20-year-old should be asking from halfway across the world to his friends and family back home, and yet, they have become the norm, so normal in fact that I would have to ask those same questions less than one month later. This time I was in a bar celebrating a friend’s birthday when my phone buzzed with an Associated Press update: a man had walked into the waiting room of a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs and killed two civilians and a police officer in the standoff that ensued. Quickly, a night of celebration turned, again, into a night of panic, as I made series of phone calls I thought I would never have to make again. I knew that Planned Parenthood clinic well; many of my friends lived in the surrounding neighborhood. In fact, I had been in that exact waiting room of that exact Planned Parenthood my senior year of high school. When a friend was afraid he had contracted an STD,

I went with him for moral support while he got tested, similar to Jennifer Markovsky, who had left two young children at home the day of the shooting before accompanying her friend for moral support to that same clinic, only to be shot and killed.

Recently, just about everyone I know has some connection to gun violence. From my older sister whose former colleague was killed in the Aurora theater shooting, to my new friends at Georgetown Against Gun Violence who grew up in Newtown, Conn. Each of these people, and many more, have felt the direct impact of gun violence in one way or another, re-shaping each of their lives. Aside from this violent and tragic bond, they all share another thing in common: they are all Americans.

In my entire semester abroad at the University of Edinburgh, I never met a single British person who had any connection to gun violence. I would go so far as to bet that most had never even seen a gun in real life, let alone know someone who had been threatened or hurt with one. I found this quite ironic, as before I left for Scotland, I was warned by American friends and family to be careful when travelling to Glasgow or certain parts of Edinburgh, as they were dangerous and notorious for gang activity. And yet, while there certainly are dangerous parts of these two cities, it was those same friends and family who had warned me to be safe who I should have warned to be careful simply going to school or to a medical clinic.

How is that possible? That is the question I have been asking myself since I returned to the United States. How is it possible that I

felt safer walking through a known gang area in Edinburgh while on my way to a restaurant than I would taking my friend to get tested for an STD or walking to my high school? These are questions only asked in one major country on earth, the United States. Yet, somehow, the question I heard politicians asking after these shootings was why the Planned Parenthood shooter wasn’t in therapy, not, why are these shootings happening so often?

It is because of politicians like these, who fail to address the real issue at stake, that we see a continuing rise in mass shootings in this country. It is because of people like these that I never felt as though I was in any danger while I was in a foreign country, but since I got back, I have never felt completely safe in the country that I call my home. Something about that paradox is wrong, something about this country is wrong, and it is time that that something changes.

That is why I joined Georgetown Against Gun Violence when I got back on the Hilltop and am doing my part to try to put an end to the gun violence that is tearing through our country. And, that is why I call on you to really think about those you know who have been affected by guns and consider whether you, like me, feel totally safe in this country when anyone at anytime could pull the trigger that takes your life away.

BY JOSHUA DOSTAL

He is a junior in the College.

In a Shameful State

HB2 and Discrimination against Transsexuals As I returned to North Carolina for Easter Break, I had no idea that I would soon be beyond ashamed of the state I call home. On the very same Wednesday I got back, the North Carolina legislative branch held a specially convened one-day session. In a short span of hours the government passed a law that undid the small progress that Charlotte, a large North Carolina city, had granted to gay and transgender peoples. In a day, the bill was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. But the law didn’t just un-do what Charlotte had rightfully made legal in their city, it caused much more damage.

The new law, known as HB2 or the Charlotte Bathroom bill, is officially titled the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act. As mentioned above, it was passed in response to a legal ordinance in Charlotte that protected peoples’ right to use the bathroom they felt most comfortable using with regard to their gender identity. Beyond just responding to this ordinance, the new law makes it illegal for cities to expand upon state laws, thereby nullifying current and potential LGBT legal protections. HB2 has set a new statewide definition for classifying people who are protected against discrimination by race, religion, color, national origin, age, handicap of biological sex (note: there’s no mention of sexuality, sexual orientation, or gender identity), as is written on a person’s birth certificate.

While same-sex marriage is now legal in North Carolina, as it is in all 50 states, sexual orientation was and is not an explicitly-protected target of discrimination. That is to say that with this law, a person

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has no legal grounds to challenge any state associated organization or business for homophobic or trans discrimination. Additionally, if transgender people have not taken surgical and legal steps to change their biological identity (as denoted on their birth certificate), they have no legal rights to use the toilet that corresponds to their gender identity, all in the name of “protection.” So, as my mother put it, “aren’t more people gonna be freaked out because there’s someone presenting as a man in the women’s bathroom?”

Gov. McCrory, a favorite of the private sector, assured the state that Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act would not apply to private businesses at all. Lynn Jacobs, a 51-year-old accountant from North Carolina, believes that while this is a political issue, it stems from fear and ignorance. “When people are spoon fed their opinions by the conservative media and fear preaching politicians this is the result. But this is more than a gay issue. The State Governor has encroached on the authority of local governments to govern.”

Roy Cooper, the North Carolina attorney general, quickly condemned the bill as “a national embarrassment … [that] will set North Carolina’s economy back if we don’t repeal it.” Further, Cooper claimed the broad-based discrimination to be unconstitutional. In response, the Governor responded that Cooper’s position was the “real embarrassment … as politicians not publicly respecting each other’s positions on complex issues. Unfortunately, that has occurred when legislation was passed to protect men, women and children when they use a public restroom, shower or locker room.”

Ford Porter, a spokesman for Cooper, responded, “It is unfortunate that Gov. McCrory has decided to mislead North Carolinians about the facts of this law … His new law clearly strikes down protections that existed for employees of state agencies, universities, and local government across the state.

Instead of misleading North Carolinians, he should do his job, focus on repealing this law, and reverse the damage being done to our economy.” One North Carolina resident described her horror at the “dirty tricks used to get this bill passed and signed into law in just a few shorts hours. The members of the House and Senate were not even given copies of the bill until well into the process. Hell, even the governor doesn’t even know what he signed!”

Though people feel beyond ashamed and disheartened by the Charlotte Bathroom bill, many do have hope. Through rallies, petitions and sticking with the often frustrating political process, we North Carolinians have created change in the past.

From rage to passion, the decision to act in response to hate is the only way forward. So I invite you to be empowered wherever you are in our collective fight against discrimination.

BY ALLISON PFOTZER

She is a sophmore in the SFS.

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

austin stollhaus

Living Civilly As housing season kicks into gear once more and new waves of Hoyas find out, to their dismay, that they’ll be living in VCW next year, the last few people without roommates find themselves scrambling to complete the process that half the school started in January.

Even compared to the hassle of the townhouse lottery, finding a roommate can be one of the more aggravating parts of Hoya Housing. CHARMS and the student matching system try their best, but the questions they ask don’t account for a lot of things that can ruin a roomie relationship, such as: does this person tend to stagger in drunk at 3 a.m.? Does this person like to leave toenail clipping collections on public display? Does this person vacuum obsessively, then go over the carpet on his or her hands and knees and pick out pieces of lint?

There’s a way to avoid this hassle.

Georgetown University prohibits cohabitation, defined as overnight visitation with a sexual partner. This means that for Hoyas, the pool of potential roommates is only half of what it should be: males with males, females with females, no exceptions.

Couples can’t room together, so they’d better hope one of them gets a single, or at least a roommate who spends a lot of time at Lau. How much roommate drama could be avoided if couples were allowed to room together? How much simpler would it make housing—and a lot of relationships to boot—if Hoyas could live with their partners? So what’s so bad about cohabitation?

Georgetown’s official stance on the matter is that the rules are meant to prohibit “improper activities” between men and women. Not to beat around the bush, this means no sex allowed. The big problem with this, however, is that the rules apply to everyone regardless of orientation, and as we all know, Georgetown is very LGBT-friendly. Ironically, while the prohibitions against cohabitation come from our strong Catholic values, which frown upon improper male-female relations, there’s absolutely nothing to stop a gay couple from rooming together —kind of amusing, given the Catholic church’s traditional stance on that sort of thing.

And what about transgender and transsexual students? Should the system sort

Lessons From Literature

Louisa Christen

VOICES

Burning Issues

Selfish Love them by gender —even against the chance that they could be sexually assaulted—or play it safe and decide whether they should be matched with male or female roommates, even in defiance of their identities?

Shouldn’t they be allowed to decide with whom they feel most comfortable rooming?

So if there’s nothing to stop Ellen and Portia from splitting a room, what’s to stop Kim and Kanye? Georgetown at least understands that sex happens here; the proliferation of contraception on dorm room doors and the regular presence of H*yas for Choice in Red Square show that, even if the University doesn’t approve of it, they expect students to be responsible about it.

Isn’t it better to just concede that sex is going to happen and act like the adults we’re expected to be?

Now, obviously there’s the risk of sexual assault between cohabitants. And to be sure, that’s no small concern. But aside from the fact that, as mentioned before, that risk is already there for LGBT roommates, cohabitation would be a personal choice. No one would be forced to cohabitate; the housing system wouldn’t randomly match male and female students together unless they specifically so desired. For security’s sake, same-sex rooming arrangements should remain the default, just not the only option.

Couples who don’t feel comfortable living with each other, who fear assault or who aren’t ready to live together should not cohabitate. That’s a choice for them to make. And if things fall out badly between them, it’s not the end of the world. Student housing already makes special exceptions for roommates who, partway through the year, decide that they can no longer live with each other; all we need to do is make sure it’s capable of resolving cases where one student feels unsafe in his or her room. Or, if they trust each other, exes may continue to cohabitate civilly, as roommates.

Let’s stop pretending we’re still in high school, and that a couple living together at our age is still some kind of universal taboo.

If students feel comfortable doing so, they should be allowed to room with friends or partners on campus, just as they would legally be allowed to do anywhere else.

“So long as one is happy, one can endure any discipline: it was unhappiness that broke down the habits of work … I became aware that our love was doomed: love had turned into a love affair—with a beginning and an end.”

—The End of the Affair, Graham Greene Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair is a painfully emotional account of every human extreme in the form of a memoir, and is introduced as a record of hate by its narrator Maurice Bendrix. As the title suggests, it is a recounting of Bendrix’s love affair with the married Sarah Miles, but it is much more than a love story. Greene flawlessly links the intensity of hate and the uncertainty of faith to the nuanced intricacies of love—a love that is selfish, jealous, mighty, beautiful, and ultimately tragic. Greene takes on this daunting subject and perfectly captures the lack of control, the selfishness, and the elation of the greatest human mystery without professing to fully understand it.

While I do not want to pretend I know all of love’s forms and complexities, the relationship between Miles and Bendrix leads me to think that love oscillates over time on a spectrum between selfishness and selflessness. It seems that most relationships begin at the most selfish end, where both individuals love each other for the way the other makes them feel physically and emotionally, and where they love the fireworks of two separate human universes colliding more than anything.

In the most seasoned and time-worn relationships of elderly couples, one sees love on the other end of the spectrum, where their love for each other has transcended their individual persons, where the success of their relationship comes almost from a competition of selflessness between the two, and where love is represented by an absolute adoration

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of the partner’s being. Every day in an average relationship falls somewhere in between the two extremes.

Some days you are more inclined to indulge in the affection that your partner has tacitly agreed to provide, while other days see a different love, one that involves swaddling your partner in everything you have, to protect and hold together everything they are. The second kind is infinitely more challenging, requiring that you leave the safety and comfort of your own universe to bridge the gap between yours and theirs. In this no-man’s-land, you stand uneasily at the mercy of your partner, who can choose to reject or take advantage of your love. It is not surprising that many people do not make it to this point.

Maybe this entrenchment is the reason couples that seem to be, and often are, undeniably in love eventually break up. A love that does not mature into this stage fails to satisfy the individuals who grow to expect a different or more complex companionship as they themselves mature. This feeling of dissatisfaction seems to be the point at which love, with its untapped potential, turns into a mere love affair, which is exactly what happens to Bendrix’s relationship.

Love, to me, is like a shifting two-piece puzzle. Each piece must not only extend a part of itself into the other, but also continually reform to match its ever-changing counterpart. It would appear that the trick is to understand how the pieces have shifted over time and to actively try to put the new puzzle back together.

Putting a chunk of one’s soul into someone else’s hands is ultimately the scariest and most exhilarating thing one can do, but everything from the way they hold your soul to the journey they take it on makes the risk the most worthwhile thing in life, often leaving you drunk on selfish indulgence and selfless discovery.

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APRIL 8, 2016

SOUL SEARCHING

By Lilah Burke, Isaiah Seibert, and Liz Teitz

Navigating Georgetown’s Catholic Identity

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n 2012, it was Kathleen Sebelius. Setting aside her pro-choice politics, Georgetown University invited the then-Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to speak at the commencement of its Public Policy Institute. The Cardinal Newman Society, a conservative Catholic group, gathered 26,000 signatures in a petition to the University to disinvite her.

“Georgetown insults all Americans by this honor,” the petition read. “The selection is especially insulting to faithful Catholics and their bishops, who are engaged in the fight for religious liberty and against abortion.”

In 2016, it’s Cecile Richards. The President of Planned Parenthood, invited by the students of the Lecture Fund, is scheduled to speak in Lohrfink Auditorium on April 20. Groups including the Cardinal Newman Society and the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property have started petitions calling for the event’s cancellation. Authorities including the Archdiocese of Washington have issued statements urging the University to reconsider, claiming that supporting her visit through a recognized student group is in defiance of Catholic doctrine.

At the center of both debates lies the University’s Catholic and Jesuit heritage and identity. They address the fundamental question of balancing the function of a university with the values of Catholicism. “Everyday and every generation of students and faculty here, we carry that inherent tension between being a

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university in all its fullness, and being Catholic and Jesuit,” said Vice President for Mission and Ministry Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J. (COL ‘88).

“Is Georgetown Catholic enough?” The question finds itself recurring every year, with every potentially provocative speaker. “Is Georgetown too Catholic?” others ask, who find the institution too restrictive. Every day, the Georgetown administration is asked to balance these two forces, to navigate the waters between its roles as a university and as a Catholic institution. Often, these roles are complementary. Sometimes they are at odds.

What is necessary now is to investigate what it really means to be a Catholic university, and what these words have come to mean practically and spiritually for Georgetown.

The answer is not simple, but the issue deserves to be addressed in all of its nuance. The spirit of the Jesuit education would require nothing less.

“E

very Catholic school, every Catholic institution needs to be a place where those who attend can authentically encounter the written Lord,” said Tom Burnford, Education Secretary for the Archdiocese of Washington.

There is no single Catholic governing body charged with evaluating Georgetown’s actions and policies, though the Vatican participates in significant “quality assurance” with pontifical universities, such as the Catholic University of America. Within the Catholic Church, however, several authorities express expectations of Catholic universities, which Georgetown seeks to meet.

Among these is the local Archdiocese, led by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, which oversees parochial K-12 schools, but not higher education. Burnford highlighted four traits he believes should be present in all Catholic institutions.

“First is that it teaches the authentic Catholic faith, in whatever capacity,” he said. “The second is that it celebrates the sacraments, provides opportunities for people to encounter the Lord through the sacraments of the Catholic Church. The third, it has an appropriate ecclesial communion with the Church, that it relates to the local bishop in an authentic and healthy way, to ensure that community of believers that is the Church. And then the fourth element is that the educational environment of the school is permeated by the Gospel, so that the message of the Gospel permeates the entire Catholic educational institution.”

In a 1990 apostolic constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae , Pope John Paul II also outlined the roles and responsibilities of Catholic universities. “Besides the teaching, research, and services common to all universities, a Catholic university, by institutional commitment, brings to its task the inspiration and light of the Christian message. In a Catholic university, therefore, Catholic ideals, attitudes, and principles penetrate and inform university activities.”

These responsibilities are carried at Georgetown through university’s administration. Administratively, the secular Board of Directors has overseen University affairs since the late 1960s. “However, as a Catholic university and as a Jesuit university we are always in conversation with the local Bishop or Cardinal in this case, and the local Jesuit superiors,” O’Brien explained.

“We are also engaged with different congregations or offices in the Vatican.” These conversations, which range from formal occasions to informal discussions of academic life and initiatives, play a guiding role in shaping the administration’s actions and align with the instructions of Ex Corde Ecclesiae .

That being said, the University regularly provides a space for the discussion of views that are contrary to the Church’s official teachings. This commitment is seen as a part of their duty as an institution of learning. “We’re a university, and like the best of universities, we are committed to the relentless pursuit of truth,” O’Brien said. “We are committed to the free exchange of ideas, where questions can be proposed and no answer’s off limits.” O’Brien frames the decision as indicative that the administration is secure in their trust of Catholic doctrine. They do not believe that Catholic thought can be weakened simply with the presentation of other views. “We trust in that free exchange of ideas,” O’Brien said. “The truth will prevail when those ideas are tested.”

This is where the university deviates from the Archdiocese’s advice. In the wake of the Richards invitation, the Archdiocese made a statement arguing that the invitation reflects an ignorance of moral values. “The apparent unawareness of those pushing the violence of abortion and the denigration of human dignity that there are other human values and issues being challenged in the world lends credence to the perception of the ‘ivory tower’ life of some on campus,” the release reads.

Burnford echoed this, stating that “I think that when an institution publicly proclaims something that is offensive to the Catholic Church, that it’s an attack or an offense against ecclesial communion. I think we also need to acknowledge that in the case when something happens on campus, or a speaker or presenter presents something that is offensive to Catholics on campus, I think then you have a problem.”

- Father Kevin O’Brien

directly in contrast to Catholic tradition, such as H*yas for Choice, though unrecognized, are permitted to have a visible presence on campus.

The University does, however, privilege Catholic values in that exchange. “The University does endorse certain positions,” O’Brien said. “If you want to look for … where a university stands, look at staffing and funding and publicity. Look at where the university is communicating itself.” For example, O’Brien noted that the University provides funding and publicity for the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life, as well as funding and staffing for the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.

“We spent 10 million dollars renovating Dahlgren, 17 million dollars building a retreat center, showing our commitment to students’ spiritual lives. We fund the largest campus ministry in the country, ” O’Brien added. “While there are different expressions on campus where students enjoy free speech, the University can privilege or emphasize certain expressions, certain commitments stemming from our Catholic tradition.”

Georgetown’s Catholic identity is further complicated by its affiliation with the Society of Jesus. Though the Jesuit order lies within the Church, a historic and continuing difference in focus and application of beliefs makes understanding where Georgetown fits even more challenging.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II exemplified this divide when he reprimanded the Jesuit order, saying that a priest’s job “is not that of a doctor, a social worker, a politician or a union leader.” In a criticism of then-recent liberal trends in the order, the Pope suggested to more than 100 Jesuit leaders gathered at the Vatican that “the necessary concern for justice must be exercised in conformity with your vocation as priests and brothers.” He referred to the Jesuit’s liberal leanings as their “regrettable shortcomings.”

Pope Francis, a Jesuit himself, has countered this, emphasizing that the Church should take a more active role in serving those in need. “I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope,” he said in his 2015 address to Congress. “The fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts, especially in its causes. I know that many Americans today, as in the past, are working to deal with this problem.”

Throughout his papacy, he has emphasized inclusivity and service as a crucial part of Catholicism, drawing a closer bond between the history of Jesuit values and service and the Catholic institution.

John Carr, Director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, sees the commitment to pluralism as a central part of the university’s Catholic identity. “It seems to me there are a couple ways to be Catholic,” Carr said. “One way is you hunker down and try to preserve and protect things. Or you open up and try and engage and persuade the world. Georgetown is an ‘engage and persuade’ kind of Catholic university.”

It is also with this reasoning that the University has chosen to create and fund non-Catholic ministries on campus. Religious instruction at Georgetown goes beyond Catholic dialogue, incorporating other faiths and doctrines. Georgetown was the first Catholic university to provide an LGBTQ Resource Center in 2000, after more than two decades of activism around the official recognition of LGBTQ students, breaking with tradition of other Catholic institutions. Student groups with views

he university’s Catholic identity informs more than just its policies. For some students, it is a major influence on campus life. “Being a Catholic student here I can engage in all kinds of services: in reconciliation on Mondays, nightly mass,” said Max Rosner (COL ‘18), Grand Knight of the Georgetown’s Knights of Columbus Council. In that role, he said, “I try to offer as many resources for the Catholic community.”

Kari Nelson (COL ‘16), Program Coordinator for The Francis Project: Hoyas for Human Dignity and Life, found that getting involved in the Catholic community transformed how she looked at all aspects of Georgetown.

“I think people see being Catholic as a way Georgetown is restricted by something,” she said, “but I think that’s a really limiting way to look at it.” She highlighted her interactions with her professors and the robust campus ministry.

“We carry that inherent tension between being a university in all its fullness, and being Catholic and Jesuit.”

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“We are committed to the free exchange of ideas, where questions can be proposed and no answer’s off limits.”

- Father Kevin O’Brien The Catholic identity also extends into the classroom, in keeping with the University’s papal charge to balance rigorous academic search for truth with the moral values of a Catholic education. Michael Khan (COL ‘18), president of GU Right to Life, pointed to the influence of Jesuit values such as cura personalis in his biology class through initiatives like the Engelhard Project, which seeks to include health and wellness lessons in courses throughout all disciplines. “I think that a lot of what we do, our Jesuit values give us an extra stepping stone to understanding the world around us and to living out what we believe in,” Khan said.

While Khan feels that the Catholic identity manifests itself in many different ways on campus, he believes there is room for improvement. “When they remove crosses from the classrooms, when they removed crosses for President Obama’s speech in Gaston, when they at one pointed funded the H*yas for Choice group [in 1991], and coming up, allowing Cecile Richards to speak on campus unchallenged,” said Khan. “I think all those examples are kind of us not living up to our Jesuit and Catholic values so I think that’s unfortunate, and I think we could do a lot more to show that we’re really committed not only to Church teaching and Catholic values, but the Jesuit ethos of creating a culture of life, of caring for others.”

For other students, Catholicism and Jesuit values affect their experience on campus in a less spiritual way. “I really like that Georgetown is Jesuit,” said Mallory Vial (COL ‘18), president of the Secular Student Alliance. She believes that the values translate easily to secular principles. “The fact that it’s Catholic is less important to me, but I like a lot of the Jesuit ideals, especially the ones that are more secular: being men and women for others, academic excellence, and things like that.”

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Vial believes that the Catholic influence on the University isn’t entirely positive, however. “I think there are some negative things that come out of it … I think H*yas for Choice should be allowed to be a student group. I think contraceptives should be allowed to be sold on campus, but I think [students have] found good ways around it and so I think all and all, it has a neutral effect,” she added.

The Catholic identity of the University is perhaps most often discussed in relation to groups’ access to university benefits and formal recognition. H*yas for Choice is the most prominent example, as they are not able to receive any funding from the University, and all supplies and events must be funded by donations or grants.

In a March 2015 post on their blog, members of the group explained why they chose to attend Georgetown, despite their strong positions in opposition to the Catholic pro-life position: “As a pro-choice individual, I chose to come to Georgetown for a number of reasons — the academic and extracurricular opportunities, the Jesuit ideals, the location, and the community’s commitment to reflective and relevant dialogue,” wrote Yijin Yang (COL ‘17). “I did not chose Georgetown because it was perfect. I came to this school knowing that there would be policies with which I would not agree, people with whom I would not share the same views, and things I would like to change. This is the case with any place that values positive change and healthy debate, and Georgetown is no different.”

Dr. Jeanne Lord, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, also believes the Catholic identity contributes to diversity of reasons of attendance a significant part of the University. “I think people are drawn to this place, this very special place, for many reasons: academic rigor, international character, the location, but in large part because of this very old and profound philosophical underpinning of all that we do.”

We believe that our fraternity very closely and very strongly embodies Georgetown’s values such as cura personalis...and men and women for others,” wrote Devin Baker (MSB ‘17), president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, in an email to the Voice.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Tucker Cowden (MSB ‘17), president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said, “there are Catholic schools that do have Greek life so it’s certainly not a unanimous ruling as far as whether or not it’s okay with or in line with Catholicism and Catholic universities to have Greek life be a part of that experience. I think at Georgetown, we talk about our Jesuit identity and the ideals that overshadow all of campus life … I personally wouldn’t say that those are things that are antithetical to the reasons I joined SAE and the reasons I’ve continued to be really involved in it.”

Compellingly at Georgetown, those with views contrary to conservative Catholic teaching, or some of Georgetown’s more conservative policies, often choose to situate their arguments within the ideological framework of Catholic and Jesuit social thought. The Georgetown Solidarity Committee (GSC), appropriates Jesuit vocabulary, such as the concept of cura personalis, to bolster their arguments for worker justice.

Criticizing the University’s treatment of its workers, GSC’s recent “Work with Dignity” rally called on the University to revisit its 2005 Just Employment Policy “to show that the rhetoric around Jesuit values is more than just a marketing scheme.”

Others, with even more contrary views, use the language in a similar way. “I came to Georgetown because, to me, it is evident that cura personalis is in line with my prochoice views,” wrote Lily Westergrad (COL ’15) on H*yas for Choice’s blog on March 2, 2015. “In a perfect world, ‘care for the whole person’ would extend to sexual health, reproductive justice, and bodily autonomy. Our Jesuit identity should serve to bolster these principles, not as a reason to repress an important part of the human experience.”

A priest’s job “is not that of a doctor, a social worker, a polititian, or a union leader.”

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- Pope John Paul II, 1982 Another prominent case of groups not receiving access to university benefits due to the University’s Catholic identity is Greek organizations. “Honestly, we operate just fine without Georgetown’s recognition of our fraternity.

arr, in a discussion of Catholic education, explained the applicability of the Jesuit values in conversation with a variety of viewpoints and arguments by saying that a Jesuit education gives students the “moral vocabulary” necessary to have complex discussions about topics such as faith, service, and reason.

And so, as speakers like Cecile Richards continue to receive invitations to speak at Georgetown, the debate between the religious and academic aspects of this institution will continue. But this dynamic, with its simple dualism, fails to capture the depth of this question of identity at Georgetown. As groups such as H*yas for Choice adopt the language of Catholic social thought, and others call for an increased adherence to Catholic doctrine, the line blurs between what is religious and what is not.

Georgetown University, founded by an order that has long walked the line between old-school Catholicism and an embrace of liberal values, faces the challenge of holding its unique ground within the myriad of competing conceptions of modern Catholicism.

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Language Options Expand on Campus

by Margaret Gach

students studying in Icc galleria

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tarting in fall 2016, Georgetown students will have access to new language programs, with the opening of foreign language minors to SFS students as well as the creation of a Johns HopkinsGeorgetown partnership set to widen the options available for the study of languages on campus.

The new language minors are the first of their kind for SFS students, who previously have had only the option of interdisciplinary “Certificates” to supplement their chosen major. According to Anna Hernick (SFS ’16), president of the SFS Academic Council, SFS students will be able to take the same courses and have the same requirements as language minors in the College. SFS students must still fulfill the proficiency requirement, which includes an oral exam to demonstrate competence in a modern foreign language. SFS students must continue taking language courses until they have passed the exam, but many stop taking courses once they have fulfilled the basic requirement. Hernick says the language departments are hoping to see higher enrollment and possibly greater variety in upper-level language courses.

Professor Daniel Byman, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, wrote in an email to the Voice that minors have not been implemented before this point because SFS administrators believed the high number of course requirements already allowed for depth in interdisciplinary studies.

“There was a sense that minors were not necessary,” wrote Byman. “Students [already] must take history, economics, political science, and so on—so they don’t need to be exposed to another way of thinking. However, students made the case that minors would enrich their studies and make them more marketable professionally. Students drove the process.”

Hernick agreed that student feedback and petition were important catalysts for the implementation of the minors. Students expressed a need for an easy way to show their mastery of a specific discipline, along with the major on their diploma.

“It was definitely a student-driven initiative,” Hernick said. “We [the Academic Council] were able to complete a few surveys of the SFS student body that provided really strong justification for why there should be a serious discussion [about minors].”

Hernick and Byman both commented that allowing foreign language minors was a clear starting point for the new program in the SFS, as foreign languages are an important component of the SFS curriculum’s international foundations and interdisciplinary nature.

In addition to the language minors in the SFS, Georgetown is rolling out a new agreement for the wider student population with Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) allowing a small number of students from both campuses to take languages courses at the other.

According to the March 21 SFS Globe, a weekly update from the SFS dean’s office, up to 25 Georgetown SFS, College, or Graduate School of Arts and Sciences students will be able to enroll in SAIS Burmese, Hindi/Urdu, Indonesian, Thai, or Vietnamese courses.

Courses will count towards a student’s degree credits at Georgetown, but not factor into their GPA. Jeff Connor-Linton, Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Strategic Planning for Georgetown College, helped broker the agreement with Johns Hopkins.

“The collaboration with SAIS will extend Georgetown students’ language learning opportunities,” wrote Connor-Linton in an email to the Voice. “[It will also] bring new [SAIS] students into some of

Georgetown Flickr

Georgetown’s ‘smaller’ language courses—a win-win proposition!”

While Georgetown offers more than 20 languages, some students have found it severely lacking in terms of South Asian language representation.

Bhavya Jha (SFS ‘17), president of Georgetown’s South Asian Society (SAS), wrote in an email to the Voice that the SAIS partnership is a good step toward remedying this situation, although she hopes that the programs will be open to more students in the future.

“When I came to Georgetown as a freshman, there was barely any conversation about South Asian languages and regional classes,” wrote Jha. “I’m definitely glad to see the changes coming about slowly but surely.”

Asha Thanki (SFS ‘17), Public Relations Director of SAS, agreed that the partnership was an exciting opportunity, but thought that Georgetown should not stop there.

“Looking ahead, we still want to see further integration of South Asian languages into Georgetown academics,” wrote Thanki in an email to the Voice.

“We’d like to see these languages taught directly on Georgetown’s undergraduate campus and these grades counting toward students’ GPAs.” Hernick and Byman noted that students are generally happy with Georgetown’s strong language program, but were also the driving force behind the ongoing discussions that culminated in the new changes.

“Georgetown’s language offerings are a jewel, among the strongest of any university in America,” wrote Byman. “We can always offer more, but students have an array of language riches before them.”

With the new course offerings, Georgetown students should be able to access an expanded and diversified language program to supplement and enhance their studies.

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By Brooke Dudek

Guiding Forces Before arriving at Georgetown in September 2014, David Patou (COL ‘18) and Alex Mitchell (COL ‘18) noticed something missing from the college touring process. As a result, they created Campus Sherpa, a tour guide agency that pays its guides and works to match high school students to college students with similar interests.

“The idea for this service really came early in our college careers, so we were fresh out of the experience ourselves,” said Patou. “At schools where I had a family friend, I would try to meet with that person, to say, ‘Why did you choose so and so?’ Looking back on our touring process, we found that at times when we had that additional component, we just knew the school so much better.”

Campus Sherpa pays students to give a look at the university tailored to a particular student’s interests, which can fall into categories such as dorm life, specific majors, or activities on campus.

Sherpas, as the tour guides are called, are encouraged not to advertise the university, but to be very honest about their experiences. “[Sherpas] give a very honest and open view of what it’s like to go to the school,” said Patou. “We think that’s very important for high school students to hear, even if the outcome is, you know, ‘I’m not a good fit for this school, I should go to a different school.’”

“I was reliant on the info session and the official tour, which kind of give you a picture perfect [image]” said Patou, about his own experiences touring. He explained that Campus Sherpa focuses on showing incoming students different sides of the school that are not usually highlighted in standard tours.

Georgetown’s traditional tour guide service, Blue and Gray, differs from Campus Sherpa in several ways. “We always call ourselves complementary, but not substitutional, for Blue and Gray,” Patou said. “The existence of Campus Sherpa is not a critique of Blue and Gray; it’s not a criticism of them in any way. Blue and Gray does a great job.”

Blue and Gray’s guides are trained through a process that includes memorizing a 40-page manual, a mentorship program with experienced guides, and several tours where new guides are shadowed by their mentor. This learning process can take up to half a semester, varying with each tour guide.

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Patou acknowledged that this rigorous training process provides Blue and Gray guides with important information. “The [guides] have to know the history of the school, and official statistics and numbers and things that your average student at Georgetown wouldn’t know,” he said. “So in that way, when someone goes on a Blue and Gray tour, they’re getting a lot of official but also important information that they’ll use in their application process.”

Allie Heymann (SFS ‘16) explained that the manual is updated every semester with adjustments to tours. Construction plays a major role in how tours are changed. Last semester, when the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation worked to rename Mulledy and McSherry Halls, one of their demands was adjusting the tours to highlight Georgetown’s black history. The increased construction proved to be challenging to this attempt. “I think there were some difficulties in trying to incorporate these new pieces, just because the tour route has been changed so many times due to construction,” Heymann said. “I think that some of the intention of including this black history was lost in the shuffle of trying to reroute the tour route again and again.”

“The history of slavery on campus is not a positive part of the university, but it’s something that’s really honest,” Ari Goldstein (COL ‘18), a current Blue and Gray tour guide, said. “I think people really appreciate that. It’s something they’ll probably remember from tours, and it does highlight student activism and the receptive administration that wants to engage with the students.” However, as of right now, the official training manual does not contain any information about Georgetown’s black history or relationship with slavery.

The changes to the Blue and Gray manual had little effect on Campus Sherpa and the guides, as their approach is oriented more around high school students’ questions and preferences.

Unless the Sherpa is a part of the Working Group or the student specifically asks for more extensive information about activism on campus, the issue may not come up.

Changing Tours on Campus

Blue and Gray’s reaction to the creation of Campus Sherpa was hesitant at first, according to Patou. “We’re in a tricky industry, because it’s one that hasn’t really had much innovation,” he explained. “College tours have not updated on campuses … they’re very traditional in how they are, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that the industry is not necessarily ready for new things to come in.”

The former president of Blue and Gray, Jack Moore (SFS ‘16) spoke to the group’s reaction to Campus Sherpa. “Blue and Gray’s core mission is [centered around] service for the student body, regardless of background, of socioeconomic status … We just think that Blue and Gray’s mission of service, the underlying thesis of that, is that we don’t receive compensation from the visitors,” Moore said.

Blue and Gray recently instituted a clause to their contract prohibiting their guides from working for both Blue and Gray and Campus Sherpa. “We decided in September after a few conversations with Campus Sherpa and with our liaisons in the admissions office that we wanted to make sure that those stay in separate spheres. We just think that Blue and Gray’s mission of service, the underlying thesis of that, is that we don’t receive compensation from the visitors,” Moore said.

Blue and Gray prides itself on being a volunteer-run organization. “There’s a huge pride within Blue and Gray about being volunteers and about not being paid for services, but I think that there is some controversy in not being paid as student employees”, said Heymann, a former Blue and Gray guide. “It’s obviously a very competitive application process, and the notion of volunteering your time to do this is a point of pride.”

Patou expressed frustration with the policy. “People are always going to take the official tour,” he said. “I tell people to take the official tour, and half of your tour guides realize that. I was incredibly frustrated that Blue and Gray set up that barrier, and unfortunately it’s a barrier that still persists.”

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Nomadic Tells A Tale of Self-Discovery with Happy

By Claire Smith

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re any of us truly happy? It seems like most of the time, we smile when we are sad, and try to have a positive attitude even when we are angry. In a way, happiness is a social construct. Such is the main idea of Nomadic Theatre’s Happy, written by Robert Caisley.

With a Pop Art–inspired set designed by Adam Bacigalupo (COL ’16), and 1960s classic rock radiating from the speakers, the show is hippie-dippy: rebellious but beautiful.

Directed by Alice Neave (COL ’16), the one-act show depicts a dapper college professor, Alfred (Greg Keiser, COL ’16), his equally perky entrepreneurial wife, Melinda (Cristina Ibarra, COL ’17), and their bizarre visit to Alfred’s friend Eduardo’s (Connor Canning, COL ’16) dinner party. Upon arriving at the apartment, however, Alfred meets Eva (Kate Ginna, COL ’18), a 22-year-old starving artist (she literally does not eat in the presence of company), who schemes her way into Alfred’s life, attacking all of his insecurities.

Neave states that one of the reasons she chose to direct the play is her love for “living room dramas with a twist.” Another aspect of her directorial vision is to see the true human nature behind characters, and to see their façade break down, as Eva attempts to do with Alfred. Her director’s note states that “We are at once drawn to and horrified by her (Eva’s) torment of Alfred as the play continues, and this inner conflict is, I think, where the real heart of the show lies.” The show has heart, but it is partially hidden behind malicious jokes and snide comments.

The four-member cast feels like a dysfunctional family.

From the beginning, the audience senses that Eva is a live wire.

She immediately tells Alfred many of her personal details, such as her brother’s suicide and her parole record, and later tells him that she views happy people as phony and devious. She consistently forgets everything that Alfred tells her in order to irritate him and unmask his true emotions, which he is able to resist for a time. Both Eva and Eduardo do not appear to care enough to remember Melinda’s real name, instead calling her Belinda or not saying her name at all. From Eva’s black sheep to Eduardo’s chip-on-his-shoulder persona to Alfred and Melinda’s cheery, mainstream Americanness, the two couples are polar opposites.

Eva’s teasing becomes aggravated when Melinda, the polar opposite of Eva arrives. While Eva is young, cynical, and alternative, Melinda is optimistic, mainstream, and settled in her life. The two women clash when talking about their love lives, and in their own personal beliefs. Eva is wild and has had a tumultuous time in love, while Melinda has been with only Alfred for 14 years after meeting him in college. Ibarra’s Melinda is freakishly calm and collected, able to diffuse a stressful situation by merely closing her eyes, opening them, and repeating the action until she is relaxed. Her nonchalance seems juvenile, almost capricious-the antithesis of Eva’s jaded outlook.

And then there’s Eduardo. The attempted peace-

Nomadic Theatre’s Happy features a talented cast

keeper of the show, Canning delivers a fantastic performance, both innocent and world-weary. Eduardo knows why Eva behaves as she does, but also wants to pacify Alfred and Melinda, welcoming them into his home. Perhaps even more enigmatic than Alfred or Melinda, Eduardo addresses his feelings while simultaneously trying to match the energy of his guests. Canning’s repression and calming personality show his conflict between wanting to love Eva while also entertaining his friend of 14 years.

Ginna steals the show, resembling a little girl lost in a mainstream world. Eva still seeks her dream of becoming an artistic genius and does not want to become complacent in a humdrum life like Melinda and Alfred. Her brazen tone and fast-talking, cynical attitude help her alienate herself from every other character. She emits an aura of being too cool to do anything normally, like eat in the daylight or welcome guests to her apartment. Keiser’s staunch impassiveness also shines, as he has to endure her jokes with a straight face.

Adding to the sarcastically chipper tone is the lighting, designed by Lucy Slevin (COL ’18). Besides an industrialized, bright tone, Slevin says, “It is a slow build-up of intensity as the characters unravel, while the spotlights for the statues also intensify throughout the show. The end is bright and almost uncomfortable, just like the show ending.” She wanted the lights to reflect the emotional roller coaster of the show, bright and almost blinding throughout.

CAITLIN MANNERING

Every designer did a fantastic job, from the flattering and normal costumes to the realistic and understated hair and makeup, to the pre- and post-show folksy sounds. Producer Velani Dibba (SFS ’17) succeed in forming a production staff that felt supported, comfortable, and welcome, and using them to make theatrical magic.

Happy does not want you to feel comfortable throughout the show. In accordance with Nomadic’s mission to bring “contemporary, socially engaged, thought-provoking theater” to the Hilltop, Happy keeps you on the edge of your seat, cringing during awkward memories, and sympathizing with the characters. Happy feels like an audience-mandated experience. With a reverse-thrust stage that surrounds the audience, and Eva’s artworks on the two peninsulas, one can fully participate in the show. Just seeing the show seems like an act of rebellion, with spray-painted Mona Lisas and stenciled spray-paint decorating what would be industrial cement walls.

In Respect for Acting, Uta Hagen references the ideas of emotional and sense memory, in which actors must recall how they felt in order to depict an emotion on stage. The character of Eva is basically emotional and sense memory personified, using her words to manipulate Alfred’s seemingly nuclear life.

The show is meant to keep you on your toes and to force you to reevaluate your own life. In a way, we are all Alfred and Melinda, but we all are also Eva. We see the falsity of positivity, but still forge on in order to find something more, and avoid complacency.

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Melissa McCarthy

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Melissa McCarthy is funny—this may as well be taken as fact. She made everyone fall in love with her on Gilmore Girls and surprised us when she scored an unexpected but fully deserved Oscar nomination for her role in Bridesmaids back in 2012. By that point, her particular brand of bawdy, brash humor had already achieved thorough mainstream acceptance. Since then, she’s graduated from a strictly supporting actress to a bankable lead, appearing in comedies that have capitalized on her abilities to achieve great success, notably in The Heat and Spy, both re-teaming with her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.

She has, however, also had the occasional dud role in films like Tammy and Identity Thief, which basically squander their star’s abilities. The Boss is, sadly, in the second category, and fails to make use of its talented cast.

McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a wildly successful, pulled-up-by-her-bootstraps business tycoon, whose life of wealth and privilege comes to a halt when her rival and ex-squeeze Renault (Peter Dinklage, perhaps the most wasted talent in the cast) rats her out for insider trading. After completing her brief prison term, Darnell finds that her corporation has been gutted, and she’s forced to crash with her former assistant, Claire (Kristen Bell). While in her slump, she learns about Claire’s daughter’s Dandelion Troop cookie sales operation (a stand in for the Girl Scouts). She decides to start a cookie-selling scout troop of her own, but with more attitude (denim jackets and combat boots abound) and cutthroat business know-how. The last act spirals into confusing character choices and a very ill-advised action sequence, but the film manages to hold its own for most of its middle, at least—one highlight includes a street fight between rival Dandelion and “Darnell’s Darlings” troops.

While The Boss manages to keep the good laughs coming through much of the movie, it also has no shortage of jokes that fall completely flat— and it just keeps on making them.

One recurring gag in particular involving the “freakish” frame and appearance of two decidedly normal-looking girls begins to grate about as soon as it shows up, but continues on for several scenes to the point where it simply seems mean. There’s also a weird focus on Renault’s “fasci-

APRIL 8, 2016

Deserves Better than The Boss

By Andrew Gutman

nation” with Japanese culture (which is about as paper-thin and obnoxious as you can imagine) that seems to exist only to facilitate a drawn-out and uninteresting katana battle at the film’s climax. It’s almost as if The Boss doesn’t understand its own strengths; there are moments of pretty good slapstick and banter scattered throughout the film, but it mostly builds around cheap and lazy laughs that have never really worked in the first place.

McCarthy is, of course, the film’s greatest asset, but sometimes it seems like she’s simply phoning it in. What’s great about her in her best performances is her surprising range and subtlety—she didn’t get an Oscar nomination just for shouting and being crass.

Here, though, she coasts along with little effort, making basically the same joke over and over again (cursing people out with excessive readiness). The same can be said for her co-stars: Peter Dinklage, an actor who deserves every great role he gets, is allowed almost nothing by his dull and unimaginative character, and spends most of the movie looking stern and sputtering out nonsense about samurai. Even Kristen Bell, who usually can bust out charm in every opportunity, is basically inert here. This isn’t necessarily any of the actors’ faults— they’re all quite talented—but they aren’t able to make full use of their talents.

The Boss isn’t the worst movie, admittedly—there are a couple laughs to be had—but the point is that there needs to be a higher standard of comedy at work. Melissa McCarthy is one of the biggest and best comic actresses, so why should she be starring in these second-rate, low-execution wannabe blockbusters? When she’s teamed with Paul Feig (as she will be again later this year in their Ghostbusters reboot), she usually does well, but when she’s paired with her husband Ben Falcone (director of The Boss as well as Tammy), not so much. Ideally, better, more talented filmmakers will take on McCarthy and give her the environment to duplicate and surpass her best successes, so here’s hoping no one’s willing to settle for what The Boss has to offer.

IMBD

14

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Fails to Innovate, Parquet Courts Shows but Lyrics Stand Out Depth and Diversity

By Carlos Miranda

LEISURE

Weezer’s White Album Punk Stars Cry, Too:

By Michael Bergin

Eight years and four albums later, Weezer has returned to its tradition of color-themed selfIt’s easy to write off punk rock as grimy, distorted music dependent on high-energy titled records with Weezer (White Album). Producer Jake Sinclair told Rolling Stone he wanted and fast, palm-muted guitar. The songs are often short, the lyrics unintelligible. But to return to the band’s original sound from the Blue Album, but frontman Rivers Cuomo wanted some musicians manage to master this style and translate it into compelling, emotional to create something new. White Album is not very innovative for Weezer, but despite its mostly works. In their latest ablum, Human Performance, Parquet Courts accomplishes this, unremarkable music, the lyrics make the record stand out. to an extent.The record tells an interesting story of loss, entrapment, and idleness and White Album is one of Weezer’s more thematically focused albums, drawing on romantic boredom by taking full advantage of the subtle nuances that the punk genre offers. relationships to contrast hope, loss, and longing. Each song seems to have a specific inspiration, From group-shouted choruses to punk ballads, the unique vocals stand out to make revolving around a specific idea. Cuomo has said that he searched for such inspiration on the this album particularly captivating. Lead singer Andrew Savage, known for his spoken-style dating app Tinder. singing, shows a range that depends on the emotion in his voiceemotional over singing For some tracks, it’s easy to speculate about the story that might have inspired it, while others ability. On the short track “I Was Just Here,” Savage’s voice is deep, bassy, giving the song an are more open to interpretation. The more optimistic “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” and “Wind eerie, disturbing tone. The vocals suddenly change on the track that follows, “Steady On In Our Sail” clearly draw on positive dating experiences, while the darker “Do You Wanna Get My Mind,” in which Savage morosely whispers out the lyrics as if he is on the verge of tears.

High?” is more cryptic. Cuomo demonstrates his talent as a songwriter in how absorbing each This emotional range seen in Human Performance is impressive. Abstract mettrack is. As the singer in “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” describes the “jingle, jingle” of Hare aphors slowly tie together to reveal a character who has lost love and now handles Krishna’s tambourines and plans for a destination wedding in Puerto Rico, he makes the listener feelings of loss and confusion. “Captive of the Sun” and “Berlin Got Blurry” reflect connect with the joy his newfound love gives him. It’s this kind of immersion into each song that how one can feel trapped as a stranger wherever he or she goes. Lyrics like “Funny makes the record feel almost like a collection of vignettes. how a sameness cannot be distinguished/Strangeness is relieving when you’re pointed The lyrics are the most gratifying element of the record. Having a clear unifying idea through out,” hint at sadness in the album’s story. Periods of high energy drop off into each song allows the band to make ludicrous leaps within the narratives of songs. “Thank somber verses with more introspective lyrics in several songs on the album.

God For Girls” opens with a very detailed description of a girl making a cannoli The tone of the album appears cohesive after a listen or two, but often and ends with a version of the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib. And the lyrics the message of the album gets lost in tracks that appear incoherent themselves can be comical in the details that they expand on. In a particularly with the work as a whole. Sure, there needs to be room for fun erudite twist, “Wind In Our Sail” references Darwin, Mendel, and Sisyphus, tracks that come out hard, loud, and fast, but the track order of an and “L.A. Girlz” quotes Through the Looking Glass. It showcases Cuomo’s album like this is key. The entertaining “Two Dead Cops” transicreativity as a lyricist, keeping the words engaging and even humorous. << “California Kids” tions directly into the similar song “Pathos Prairie,” making the If one of Weezer’s goals was to create something “radically different,” “Thank God For Girls” latter seem like a generic punk song thrown in for the hell of it. as Cuomo said, White Album is only a tepid success. There are some Although Savage’s words dictate the tone, the tracks do attempts at experimentation, but you would be forgiven for thinking not depend on vocals alone. The rest of the band, including some of the songs were repeated from previous albums. “King Of The “One Man, No City” >> Savage’s brother Max, the band’s drummer, creates the perfect World” is a particularly flagrant offense, relying on the distorted guitar for which Weezer has come to be known. The final track, “Endless Bummer,” background that allows listeners to understand the often outland“Outside” is one of the rare Weezer songs to use acoustic guitar, but ending the album ish ideas expressed in the lyrics. This includes usage of different with an acoustic song imitates their second album, Pinkerton. punk subgenre techniques, notably surfer punk and psychedelic style.

That being said, some songs do manage to depart from Weezer’s usual style.

The album’s introductory track “Dust,” among others, features simple, “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” is a refreshing change, with its cheerful tone, higher beachy riffs and steady drums that become the core of the song. The more tune, and focus on the lead trippy elements of the guitar. The use of keys is also a album come from a refreshwelcome addition to Weezer’s ing usage of soft keyboards, usual quiver of instruments. as in album’s titular track.

Maybe Sinclair and Cuomo Human Performance didn’t completely succeed at marks Parquet Courts’ fifth altheir goals of replicating the bum release in six years. Punk success of Weezer’s first two revival stays alive through albums while creating a new bands such as this. The Rasound. But White Album is mones turned out fourteen still one of the band’s better albums in only nineteen years, albums. Weezer (White Album) all short, fun, and passionate highlights the signature sound with running times typically that Weezer has developed over under 45 minutes. Parquet their two decades and showcases Courts shows a growing maRivers Cuomo’s strength as a turity in this album and is lyricist. steadily on its way to achievIf nothing else, this record ing a status comparable to the will increase fans’ anticipation Kings of Rockaway Beach. for Black Album.

Voice’s Choices

B-12.00 -- Trim to 10.00Wx11.00D - CMYK - Georgetown

15

All-Time Uhh...

Did you know there are a lot of kinds of bulldogs?

Coach Thompson, What kinds of changes are you going to make to turn this team around?

PB