10 11 2012

the georgetown

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oice

fall fashion 2012

2 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

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Voice Crossword “October Themeless Challenge” by Tyler Pierce

ARE YOU A LOGOPHILE? Share your love of words and help us write crosswords.

puzzle answers at georgetownvoice.com

ACROSS

48. Thin groove

1. Guarantee 7. Houston Congress woman Jackson Lee 13. Kinky 15. Computer program which sequences print jobs 16. American foreign policy since World War II 18. Commotion 19. Bitches about 20. Beast of burden 21. Icing alternative 22. Carbonium, e.g.

23. New beginning?

24. German statesman Wi l l y w h o w o n a Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 2 8 . B u r u n di neighbor 33. Eastern Asian flowering nettle plant 34. An expanse of short grass 35. Father of Thor 36. Lucy, formally 37. Breezed through, like an exam 39. Beget 40. Sent again 46. Christmas times 47. Small armor helmet with a point

DOWN 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Minor Peddle Cognizant of Application Where one might find a lemonade stand 6. Remark preceding “Have too!”

7. Bicyclist, confined to the gym 8. Jails, in the 19th century 9. A billion years 10. Hip bones 11. It’s more 12. Kind of dealer 14. Crap used car 15. Result of a sloppy pong game, maybe 17. Maintenant, in America 24. Douchey natty chugger 25. Speeder ’s bane 26. White liturgical vestment in the Catholic Church 27. Radical eight thousand one-hundred 29. Stays up for 30. Mother-of-pearl 31. Like craisins

32.

38.

39.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

Append Defeat decisively Leave in, to an editor “C’est la vie” Catbird seat?

Mix Short skirt Conception

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 47.9 October 11, 2012 Editor-in-Chief: Leigh Finnegan Managing Editor: Keaton Hoffman Blog Editor: Vanya Mehta News Editor: Gavin Bade Sports Editor: Kevin Joseph Feature Editor: Connor Jones Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Leisure Editor: Mary Borowiec Voices Editor: Claire McDaniel Photo Editor: Lucia He Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Projects Editors: Christie Geaney, Cannon Warren Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Assistant Blog Editors: Morgan Manger, Jamie Niu Assistant News Editors: Julia Jester, Matt Weinmann Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Almeida, Steven Criss, Keith Levinsky Assistant Leisure Editors: Will Collins, Julia Lloyd-George, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editors: Julian de la Paz, Matt Thees Assistant Design Editor: Lauren Ashley Panawa

Staff Writers:

Sara Ainsworth, Maitane Arana, Jane Conroy, Alex Lau, Kevin Levinsky, Jeffrey Lin, Shom Mazumder, Caitriona Pagni, Paul Quincy, Heather Regen, Abby Sherburne, Melissa Sullivan, Fatima Taskomur, Ambika Tripathi

Staff Photographers:

Max Blodgett, Kirill Makarenko, Tim Markatos, Gavin Meng, Tess O’Connor, Larissa Ong, Andres Rengifo

Copy Chief: Tori Jovanovski Copy Editors:

Patricia Cipollitti, Grace Funsten, Morgan Manger, Rina Li, Sonia Okolie, Caitriona Pagni, Ana Smith, Dana Suekoff, Kim Tay, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Rachel Calvert Editorial Board:

Aisha Babalakin, Gavin Bade, Patricia Cipollitti, Nico Dona Dalle Rose, Katerina Downward, Keaton Hoffman, Julia Jester, Linnea Pittman, Cole Stangler, Galen Weber

Head of Business: Aarohi Vora Business Staff: Sara Ainsworth, Zoe Disselkoen, Meghan Fitzpatrick, Charmaine Ng

The Georgetown Voice The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress,

online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

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 Web Site: 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. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover: “Fall Fashion” Cover Photo: Maria Miracle (SFS ‘14)

the georgetown voice 3 BADVERTISEMENTS

District should rally against Islamophobic ads On Monday, the American Freedom Defense Initiative installed a series of allegedly Islamophobic pro-Israel ads in the D.C. metro system. The ads read, “In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage. Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” Attempts to establish a dichotomy between “civilization”—always code for the culture deploying this bigoted rhetoric—and a “savage” culture are nothing new. In particular, the juxtaposition recalls the awful legacy of European colonialism in Africa and Latin America. It was deplorable then, and it remains so now.

Washington Metro Transit Authority tried to block the ads from being installed, referencing recent protests in the Middle East surrounding the Innocence of Muslims trailer. The District Court ruled that the ads do not qualify as hate speech and are therefore protected under the First Amendment.

This ruling is certainly in line with valuable principles of free speech, but the ads should not go unrebuked.

When these same ads debuted in New York City in September, they were met with varied public response. Egyptian-American activist Mona Eltahawy grafittied over the message. Two religious groups—Rabbis for Human Rights North America and the Christian group the Sojourners—installed an adjacent ad reading “In the choice between love and hate, CHOOSE LOVE. Help stop bigotry against our Muslim neighbors” and “Love your Muslim neighbors,” respectively.

This is an opportunity for local advocacy organizations to speak out against the ads and protest them by raising funds for competing ads to undermine their xenophobia.

The sentiments expressed here should offend regardless of anyone’s opinions about Israel’s

status in the Middle East. The problem is not the ad’s pro-Israel stance, but rather the manipulation of public sentiment that capitalizes on some of the most egregious prejudice in recent memory.

On campus, religiously affiliated groups of all faiths should publicly reject this depiction of Islam as an inferior or inherently violent religion. And make no mistake—this ad is invoking violent jihad to capitalize on post-9/11 Islamophobia. In defense of the ads, Pamela Geller, executive director of AFDI, denied that the ad denigrates all Muslims, insisting that they are specifically referring to radicals islamists practicing violent jihad, not the entire Islamic people. However, engaging on such emotional terrain, intending to provoke a response to a heavily stigmatized term, undermines any sort of religious acceptance, and the ads should not be tolerated as such.

“OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN”

Education reforms require public comment In August, the D.C. Board of Education submitted a proposal draft that changes the District’s high school graduation requirements, which, subject to a public review, will be finalized by the board in February 2013.

While the proposed changes are a mixed bag, it is essential that this public comment period is faithfully executed—with well-publicized, accessible meetings across the city.

Among the proposed reforms, high school students would still be required to earn twenty-four credits to graduate, but those credits would be allocated differently.

Instead of earning one half-credit in art and one half-credit in music, students would have to earn two credits in either art or music, depending on preference. Health classes and physical education requirements would also increase from one-and-a-half to two credits.

Other changes include the requirement of a thesis project and 50 hours of required physical activity.

To make these changes, the Board had to sacrifice credit requirements in social stud-

ies, a move that has been heavily criticized.

The requirements would be reduced from four to three credits, which means that World History would be reduced to only one class and U.S. History and Government would be consolidated into a single class.

The Board has not provided convincing and thorough arguments to support these changes. Jack Jacobson, a community activist and State Board of Education candidate, wrote in Greater Greater Washington that the proposal “only gives at most eight words of explanation for any of the changes.” Some of the Board’s rationale, including the brief“ promotes well-rounded students,” is uninformative and vague.

The Board also doesn’t have a strong history of enforcing its curricular changes. In 2007, the Board adopted a thesis project as a requirement, but never enforced it. D.C. Schools Insider writer Emma Brown reports that because this change wasn’t integrated into the overall curriculum, many students found out at

the 11th hour that they were in danger of not graduating.

It is critical that the Board make room for more comment and criticism from community members, parents, and teachers; and not just through Board meetings. According to Jacobson, most parents cannot attend these meetings, making it improbable that there will be enough people to contest bad proposals.

To make the period more efficient, it is necessary to bring this public comment period to the people and adopt new forums of debate in addition to the already established Board meetings.

Regardless of the curriculum decision, the Board should make a greater effort to enforce positive changes. Making reforms on paper is useless if the changes are not actually implemented. Our schools desperately need reform, but the Board of Education should remain conscientious of the opinions of the people who know students best—students, teachers, and parents.

YO QUIERO VOTAR

Venezuelan election signals future change Last Sunday night, Venezuela’s electoral council proclaimed Hugo Chávez of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela the winner of the 2012 presidential elections. Support for the incumbent Chávez, who will hold the presidency until 2019, surpassed that for the Table of Democratic Unity opposition coalition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski by a margin of almost 11 points. Despite the result, Capriles mounted the first legitimate challenge to Chávez’s long and dishearteningly authoritarian presidency, signalling a hope for change in Venezuela.

Portraying the face-off between the candidates as a battle between David and Goliath, as the Venezuelan opposition media did, is perhaps exaggerated, given Venezuela’s progress under Chávez. Most notably, the number of households living below poverty level fell from 54 percent to 26 percent from 2003 to 2008. Extreme poverty has fallen by 72 percent during his presidency.

However, socialism in Venezuela is inefficient and corrupt, and many of Chávez’s ser-

vices are poorly executed. The medical missions, for instance, are often rejected in favor of more expensive but more trustworthy private clinics by the very citizens they are meant to help. Chavez’s successes are arguably overshadowed by his poor record on crucial issues such as security and corruption.

This was an incredibly smooth election that saw the largest voter turnout in Venezuelan history. Accusations of fraud, levied from within in Venezuela and abroad and spurred by what many see as an impossibly large margin, are likely baseless. Touted by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter as “the best in the world,” Venezuela’s election process ensured transparency every step of the way. In addition, there was also a manual count of the almost 15 million ballots cast to ensure the accuracy of the computer’s tally.

Despite the success of the ballot counting, one could hardly call the whole process “fair.” Although TV ad space for electoral campaigns is publicly financed to ensure equity, Chávez clearly exploited state resources

for campaign purposes. At any given time, Chávez can, and did, monopolize the nation’s TV and radio airwaves to promote himself and his party rather than to speak about issues of governance. His addresses were injected with vitriol and violent rhetoric, producing an atmosphere of fear aimed at enticing supporters to take to the streets if Chávez were not reelected.

Nevertheless, the elections represented a victory for change. Compared to the last presidential elections in 2006, the opposition’s votes increased by more than 2 million, while Chávez’s increase was less than half of that figure. No previous candidates have achieved the level of mobilization that Capriles inspired in his whirlwind campaign tour of over 200 cities during the past months.

Although Capriles was unsuccessful in his bid for the presidency, he inspired a valuable movement for democracy, transparency, and progress that will continue on into the future.

As Capriles’s slogan goes, “Hay un camino”— there is a way.

news

4 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

GU improves recycling and waste disposal practices

by Alexandra Ma & Rebecca Anthony Over the past few years, Georgetown’s waste disposal programs have made considerable strides to minimize student waste and maximize recycling.

“In the past year, the University recycled over half of its solid waste, one of the highest recycling rates of any college campus on the East Coast, ” Audrey Stewart, Director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, wrote in an email to the Voice. In 2012, Georgetown recycled 52.5 percent of campus waste, a 3.5 percent increase since 2011, according to RecycleMania, a recycling competition between American and Canadian universities. Georgetown has participated in the North American challenge for the last four years.

Georgetown’s recycling program has not always been this robust. In 2008, out of the six categories Georgetown competed in, it only placed in the top 50th percentile of RecycleMania’s “Waste Minimization” category. As of 2012, Georgetown has placed in the top 50th percentile in five of the eight categories it has competed in, and placed 23rd in the Grand Champion competition out of 265 schools.

The most significant improvements in the recycling program have occurred since Waste and Recycling Manager, Bill Del Vecchio, arrived five years ago. When Del Vecchio arrived, the recycling staff—separate from the Office of Sustainability—consisted of seven people and the program was making less than $20,000 in revenue by selling recyclable materials to companies that repurpose them.

Today, the staff has sixteen people, and the program has increased its revenue to $170,000.

But, even in light of this growth, a number of students remain skeptical. “I was just concerned that Georgetown doesn’t recycle at all,” wrote Cannon Warren (SFS ‘14) in an email to the Voice (full disclosure: Cannon Warren is the Voice projects editor). “This summer I was in Village B, and I brought all my neatly separated trash/aluminum/paper/ cardboard out to the trash area ... The sanitation workers told me to just throw everything into the back of the truck, so I don’t see any way how my waste remained separated.”

Del Vecchio flatly rejected Warren’s concerns. “I have sixteen people working for me and I can guarantee you that not one of them would say throw your

recyclables and your trash together,” said Del Vecchio. “They’ve been drilled to understand what they’re supposed to do.”

Del Vecchio also said student concerns may stem from employees not in the recycling program. “Now custodians on the other hand, there’s a perception out there that custodians go around and they throw all the recyclables with the trash and it goes down and it goes in the trash,” he said. “No, it doesn’t. They separate the recyclables out when they get down [to the trash room].”

Georgetown follows a recycling policy known as source separation, meaning that recyclable material is separated first, and then sent to a recycling facility. This method allows the University to calculate the exact tonnage of recycled materials that have been sent out on a daily basis.

After the recycling process, the Georgetown Recycling Center sends the remaining non-recyclable solid waste to Covanta Energy in Alexandria, Va. Covanta is a waste-to-energy company, meaning they incinerate waste from a variety of sources and use the heat to generate electricity.

Covanta is the largest WTE company in the country, and its environmental performance has

varied from state to state. In May 2010, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection discovered the Covanta facility in Wallingford, Conn. to have emitted “dioxin/furan... in the exhaust stream more than 250 percent higher than the allowable permit and regulatory level,” according to a statement by the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut in 2011.

The violation resulted in a $400,000 fine to Covanta, and the shutting down of one of three waste-to-energy generation units at the facility.

However, Covanta’s facility in Alexandria appears to be cleaner than its other locations. Located at 5103 Eisenhower Avenue, Covanta Alexandria processes over 330,000 tons of municipal solid waste to produce approximately 185,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually, or enough to power over 25,000 homes. According to a report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, between 2009 and 2012, there have been no violations of any environmental regulations. The City of Alexandria website says Covanta has “one of the most advanced emission control systems in the country.”

Additionally, Covanta Alexandria received the Gold Industrial Waste and Pretreatment Environmental Excellence Award last year from the Virginia Water Environmental Association. It was also named the Large WTE Facility of the Year in 2011 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

But even with the Hilltop’s non-recycled waste going to a largely environmentally responsible facility, Del Vecchio and Stewart emphasize that recycling is still the most sustainable option. In their eyes, students can still do more to ensure the maximum amount of waste is recycled.

“One of the common challenges of recycling is how to avoid contamination,” Stewart said. “Throwing out non-recyclable material, such as food waste, in any of the recycling receptacles taints the recyclables.

This leads to the outside recycling facility automatically rejecting the compactor load.”

Del Vecchio feels students need to know more about the recycling program to make better environmental decisions.

“The issue is educating everybody,” he said. “If you don’t want to recycle, fine, just don’t contaminate the recycling.”

Learning Community focused on Environmental Justice.

“Initially, Living and Learning Communities tend to be just living communities. They may have some learning components, but it is within a dorm room setting,” said Choe. “So what they [the Kennedy Institute of Ethics] want to move towards is having a more holistic ap-

During the talk, Iguchi highlighted that the problem of water is a multi-dimensional one, covering areas such as health, science, business, economics, politics, and ethics.

Iguchi emphasized the problem of water scarcity, giving as an example the fact that 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases, and that 40

water incited by the World Bank in Chochabamba, Bolivia in 2000.

“It scares the hell out of me,” said Iguchi, referring to the privatization of this scarce resource.

Iguchi is also working with the Georgetown Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship to develop a course on water issues.

“We will require students to work as teams, developing a framework for addressing selected water issues that take into consideration aspects of the political context, economic/business factors, health issues, and social/ethical/psychological considerations,” Iguchi wrote in an email to the Voice.

“In the spring, we hope to offer a course that will ask students to help us create a new interactive course on water. I hope my talk will invigorate interest and discussion on a topic that I believe to be one of the most important of our time.”

Iguchi also praised the University’s record on environmental justice.

“President DeGioia has certainly emphasized that this is a really important area,” he said. “He’s done a huge amount to support this initiative across campus.”

Dan Mathis (SFS ‘13), a member of the student group Georgetown Energy, was more critical.

“I think the University has been making strong moves in the environmental arena but still has work to do,” Mathis wrote in an email to the Voice. “Programs like solar street, the solar compactors, and energy monitoring in the dorms are awesome projects that promote environmental friendliness. However, there should be a stronger push to make students aware of these programs.”

Acknowledging the importance of environmental ethics, Iguchi said, “It is an area that I think creates better world citizens, and that is what I want our students to be. [Students] need to partner with others in the world to solve this problem and, for me, it is an issue of building an awareness of need and an awareness of what is outside the classroom.”

Upcoming talks will be on topics such as energy, food, animal rights, and social justice, and will feature faculty speakers including Profs. Hope Ferdowsian and Madison Powers.

Kennedy Institute kicks off environmental ethics education programs

by Lucia He On Oct. 10, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics kicked off its new Environmental Justice Salon Series, led by Margaret Little, as part of President DeGioia’s Engaged Ethics Initiative. This new series is aimed at bringing together students and faculty to learn about pressing issues concerning the natural environment, and engaging them in constructive discussions.

“The Environmental Justice Salon Series specifically provides an opportunity for students to participate by interacting with knowledgeable faculty and experts on some key topics in environmental justice, including water, food, energy, animals, social justice, and sustainability,” said Chong Choe, an Ethics professor at Georgetown and a Kennedy Institute of Ethics teaching fellow.

The KIE was founded at Georgetown in 1971 to “bring expertise to the new and growing ethical problems in medicine today,” according to Dr. Andre Hellegers, the first director of the initiative.

In addition to the series, the KIE is planning to establish a Living and

patricia cipollitti rodriguez

NHS Dean Martin Iguchi speaks at the Environmental Justice Salon Series proach with classroom and dorm room components. You will have courses that are lined up with living communities.”

The first talk, which focused on the topic of water, was given

by Dr. Martin Iguchi, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies.

billion hours per year are lost collecting water in sub-Saharan Africa, an amount the UN estimates is worth a year’s worth of labor by the entire workforce of France.

Additionally, Iguchi commented on the issues that arise in the property rights of water by giving as an example the privatization of

news

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the georgetown voice 5

Dance groups compete for a slot at the Verizon Center

by Jeffrey Lin Georgetown has finally caught on to the reality television craze.

Sponsored by the Athletics Department, Hoyas Got Talent is a dance competition among five Georgetown dance groups — Georgetown University Dance Company (GUDC), Black Movement Dance Theater (BMDT), GU Jawani, the Step Team, and Groove Theory. Georgetown students, using an app on the Athletics Department’s Facebook page, can vote for their favorite dance group, and the winner will receive the chance to perform during a halftime show at a Georgetown men’s basketball game at the Verizon Center.

Each group submitted a video of a past performance this year for placement on the Facebook page, and each group will have the opportunity to perform at Midnight Madness on Oct. 12 to sway the everimportant undecided voters.

Erica Pincus (SFS ’13) and Kara Thomas (COL ’13), the leaders of GUDC, have been preparing for the competition to win one of the performance slots at the Verizon Center.

“Ultimately, the competition is that the top three groups get to perform at the Verizon Center,” Pincus said.

Groove Theory performs its routine at Midnight Madness 2011.

GUDC has been practicing since early September in preparation. “We had two of our girls ... choreograph it,” Thomas said. “They decided to do a big, high-energy piece. We had a bunch of rehearsals and taught almost the entire company the dance.”

The other dance groups haven’t been slacking either.

Jason Thompson (MSB ’14), the Creativity Director for Groove Theory, helped choreograph the group’s performances used to persuade students to vote for them.

“We performed for the NSO Pep rally and Community Service Day,” said Thompson. “Once we had auditions so new people came on the team, we performed at the Homecoming tailgate and halftime at the Homecoming Game.”

Groove Theory has continued intensive training even after

Clearly unconvincing

On the evening of student government senate elections, student rights supporters scored a major victory in a referendum put forward by GUSA supporting a burden-of-proof alteration to the Student Code of Conduct. The recommendation for raising the evidentiary standard in all cases except instances of sexual assault was first proposed in April by the Disciplinary Review Committee. In the vote, the current “more likely than not” standard received a total of 93 votes, while the now welladvertised “clear and convincing” proposal received 2,507.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most policies overwhelmingly upheld by the student body, this referendum is not binding. Instead, the move was designed to demonstrate to University Vice President Todd Olson that the “clear and convincing” standard, which requires concrete evidence as opposed to a subjective judgment call, has an enthusiastic group of supporters.

In spite of approval by numerous students, faculty members, and

administrators, Olson has remained uncommitted and seemingly disinterested, citing the existence of an external review by representatives from Duke University, which uses a “clear and convincing” standard, and Loyola University that concluded at the end of September.

The audit was intended to review the Office of Student Conduct to determine whether a “clear and convincing” standard would fit the organization and improve investigations of the Judicial Hearing Board.

Despite the audit’s conclusion, Olson has refused to comment on his decision and on the opinion of the independent reviewers. To make matters more opaque, student media groups have been denied interviews with the Duke and Loyola representatives.

GUSA President Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) and Vice President Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13) have been the only transparent actors throughout this process. In an interview with The Hoya, KohnertYount stated, “[The reviewers]

MaX Blodgett

the Homecoming game in preparation for Midnight Madness.

“Since Homecoming, we have kept up a steady stream of advertising (primarily through social media) to bring in votes,” LaTara McLemore (COL ’13), a leader of Groove Theory, wrote in an email.

“And, of course, we are in the process of preparing for Midnight Madness … We will be in rehearsal every night this week to insure we deliver a quality performance for all the Hoyas present at Midnight Madness.”

BMDT prepared a new style to up the tempo in their performances. “We utilized more pop music and more mainstream music,” said Bernadette Nelson (SFS ’14), a performer for BMDT. “So the choreography is a little different from what you would see at a BMDT show.” seemed to be very understanding of the challenges the students face in interacting with the code of conduct,” referencing a meeting that occurred on Sept. 27, the day of the referendum.

A striking dichotomy emerges in the two approaches to the issue of the burden of proof.

Saxa politica

by Kirill Makarenko A bi-weekly column on campus politics and policy GUSA has actively campaigned for the amendment of the Code of Conduct following the DRC’s recommendation, using every forum from emails sent to student group leaders to large-print open letters to Olson posted in Red Square (one of which mysteriously disappeared).

Olson, on the other hand, as the only administrator capable of delivering the final verdict, has revealed nothing.

But the incentives for the competition are not just glory and the opportunity to perform at the Verizon Center. Nelson believes that Hoyas Got Talent gives Georgetown dance groups more visibility than ever before. “The Department of Performing Arts wanted to get more exposure of on-campus groups,” Nelson said. “I think it’s a really great opportunity for the on-campus performing arts groups to get more exposure not just through the shows we put on.”

The dance groups all hope to increase the popularity of performing arts on campus. “The dance and arts community in general on campus is so vibrant and so talented, but it’s not always the most recognized community,” Pincus said. “So I think it is great that the Athletics Department is collaborating with that community on campus.”

Not all dance groups, however, heard about the opportunity to participate in Hoyas Got Talent.

Sana Imam (COL ’15)—founder of Bindaas, a dance group that recently performed at the Mr. Georgetown Pageant—did not receive any notice for Hoyas Got Talent.

“The coordinators of Midnight Madness never contacted us,” she said.

The reticence, while eliciting some well-earned suspicion, may have a perfectly reasonable explanation; after all, Georgetown’s institutions operate primarily on an independent basis. Channels for communication and policymaking are in shambles, even in the case of the Student Code of Conduct itself.

Georgetown University’s Law Center, for instance, has adopted a “clear and convincing” standard.

Requiring less evidence under a “more likely than not” burden of proof may on the surface appear to be less time-consuming, but the end result is incredibly inefficient; under two separate conduct systems, Georgetown weakens its image. As a Jesuit institution aiming to promote truth and justice, two distinct measures of said justice lead to a devaluation of brand equity. A more consistent approach to student life must be upheld.

Olson cannot be entirely convicted of ignorance of Georgetown’s policies, especially under a “more likely than not” standard, though the impact of an impotent bureaucratic system on the matter cannot be discounted.

The Sports Promotion department of Georgetown Athletics apologized for its mistake.

“We did our best to spread the word as much as possible through the Performing Arts Center, Student Activities Committee, posting on HoyaLink, and speaking to groups who performed at campus events,” the department wrote in an email to the Voice. “This opportunity was open to any and all performers on campus. We deeply apologize if any group was unaware of the contest.”

Imam claims Bindaas would have refused the chance to compete anyways. “Even in the event that they had contacted us we would have said no anyways because we just did auditions and got our new team,” she said.

In spite of the miscommunication between the Athletics Department and some dance groups, Hoyas Got Talent provides a valuable opportunity perform on a larger stage than is available on campus.

“We are just really excited because it is great to have an opportunity to get the exposure of a basketball game, because dance isn’t that big on campus,” Thomas said. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to perform at a basketball game.”

Clearly unconvinced by the external audit, which appears to lean in the direction of the DRC based on Kohnert-Yount’s statements, Olson has been holding off on the change based on a by now largely irrelevant personal preference, perhaps one shared with other administrators.

As the DRC, GUSA, and a vast majority of students continue to throw support behind the “clear and convincing” amendment, glimpses of such ineffective University management are exposed.

Todd Olson must institute a “clear and convincing” standard and work to increase transparency. Anything less than bending to the will of most participants in the discussion erodes expectations of accountability and trust between the students and the administration; both concepts are far more difficult to come by under an outdated “more likely than not” burden of proof.

Make Kirill’s guilt clear and convincing by contacting him at kmakarenko@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

Soccer scorching, still undefeated in conference

by Chris Castano Dominance is the Holy Grail of sports--all teams or athletes aspire to successively crush their competition. What swimmer doesn’t dream of pulling a Michael Phelps? What football team doesn’t want to emulate the 1972 Miami Dolphins? Perhaps in a year’s time, we’ll be able to add the 2012 Georgetown women’s soccer team to this illustrious list of dominant superpowers.

The Hoyas have swept their Big East conference play so far, most recently culminating in a convincing win over the Pittsburgh Panthers (5-10-2, 0-6-2 Big East) on Sept. 30.

Georgetown defeated the Panthers by a whopping eight to nil margin. And if this superpower has a leader, it’s sophomore midfielder Daphne Corboz; five of the eight goals against the panthers found their way to the back of the net from her foot.

When asked about Corboz, Head Coach Dave Nolan lauded the Greenbrook, N.J. native.

“Daphne has great technique, and more importantly has a wonderful sense of the game. She is so quick to read the game and is usually two steps ahead of everyone else which makes the game very easy for her,” he said. “Her understanding with Kaitlin Brenn gives us a perfect 1-2 punch up top; some days Kaitlin scores the goals and on others Daphne does.”

On paper, the stats reflect Corboz’s dominance. She ended the game with five goals and one assist for a total of 11 points, which breaks a school and Big East record for the most points in a game. Corboz also tied the Big East individual record for most goals scored in a game.

Due to her record-breaking performance against Pittsburgh, Corboz, along with her teammate junior defender Mary Kroening, was

named to the Big East Honor Roll.

Corboz racked up further honors, being named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week.

Next, the Hoyas travelled to Cincinnati on Oct. 6 to take on the Bearcats (4-10-1, 1-7-0 Big East) in another conference showdown. The rain and high winds hampered Geoergetown’s effort, making this road victory much harder to achieve.

“It was a very difficult game in difficult conditions, with rain and wind on a tight, wet, turf field,” Coach Nolan said. “Credit to Cincinnati for setting up to stop us playing. They really closed down spaces well and worked hard to find counter attacks.”

The Hoyas would be outshot eight to six in the first half of the game, but earned a pair of corner kicks during the second half. The second corner proved to be the difference-maker for the Blue and Gray, as Kroening headed the ball past the Cincinnati goalkeeper to score the only goal of the game. In the end, the Hoyas outshot Cincinnati 16 to three, with 10 of those 16 shots coming from--you guessed it--Corboz.

Oct. 7 marked a number of firsts for the Hoyas when they took on the Louisville Cardinals, in a game that finished with a one-to-one tie. Georgetown scored first when Corboz dribbled across the top of the Lousiville box and unleashed a rocket of a shot. The Cardinals bounced back, though, when Louisville’s Charlyn Corral fired a shot that beat redshirt freshman goalkeeper Emma Newins to the inside of the post, marking the first goal Georgetown have given up in this Big East campaign. Despite the goal, on Oct. 8, Newins was named the Big East rookie of the week.

“Emma makes all the saves you would want her to and also has the ability to make big time saves as

ANDRES RENGIFO

Daphne Corboz registered five goals against Pittsburgh last week.

she has done time and time again this season,” Nolan said. “Her save at Louisville this weekend was just another great example. Considering she is still only a rookie, her future is very bright.”

The results of these three games leave the team with an overall record of 12-1-2 and a league record of 6-0-1. Barring disaster, the Hoyas are

well-seated to make it to the Big East playoffs this year.

The Hoyas are hoping that the luck of the Irish will run out when they face No. 24 Notre Dame (103-2, 6-0-1 Big East) tomorrow. The last time the two met, Georgetown emerged victorious with a 3-2 win.

The Hoyas will look to replicate their scintillating form as they bolster their

playoff credentials against arguably their toughest Big East opponent.

The Hoyas currently sit at the top of the Big East conference where they belong, but they’re just taking things one game at a time.

“We’re not focused on anything other our next game, which is a big one against Notre Dame at home on Friday,” Nolan said.

the Sports Sermon “Buddy, like I said, I’m trying to get through today.” -Derek Jeter to a reporter after learning of Pete Rose’s disparaging remarks toward him ventional wisdom says trekking to Chinatown is only necessary for the diehard fans.

But that’s not too much of a problem this season. For all the underwhelming games on last year’s slate, including a fairly dry Big East schedule that didn’t include a matchup against Syracuse, this year has plenty of headlines. The expected blowouts against teams like American and Towson remain, but they’re joined by vaunted matchups with Tennessee, Syracuse, and Louisville.

Still, it takes a little something extra to pack the Phonebooth before the Big East grind starts in January. Great preseason expectations could help that from the get-go, but as with last year, not too much is

top guys. So there’s plenty of evidence that indicates this year will The Hilltop faces a bit of a dibe similar to the past couple of lemma every year when basketyears,” Ramadan said. ball season rolls around. While But as with last season, Rathe Hoyas are a national powermadan realizes some significant house in an athletic sense, so too early-season matchups could is Georgetown University in an change that course of thinking in academic sense. That’s reflected a hurry. “Hopefully having such in the student body – a studious a good non-conference schedule, and intense group of future fifirst ever College GameDay apnanciers and lobbyists. pearance, and multiple weekWhen times on the hardend night games are enough to wood are joyous, take 2010’s heighten interest,” he said. win over Duke with President This year, as with every Barack Obama in attendance as year on the Hilltop, the genan example, we don’t really think eral trends will remain. Tomorabout that dichotomy. But on a row’s Midnight Madness will be random Monday night where we packed with freshmen eager to find ourselves losing to the likes catch their first glimpse of this of woeful South Florida with a year’s team. But you’re likely to half-full student section, that refind just a small sample of sophality becomes all too real. omores and juniors, perhaps Of course, perjaded from the rePete Rose Central haps our student petitiveness of their Da bettin’ line body’s composition first couple of exisn’t the answer. periences. I’ll be atDookies Margin Hoyas Maybe it’s not a tending my fourth (underdogs) (duh!) reflection of how (favorites) and final version of rigorous the school the event this seaD12 The Shaqtus son – it’s been an Lopez is; after all, Duke Natitude packs Cameron Inincredible celebraExperience Cards door Stadium to the Slauson Dirty player tion of the program Cushing brim for every home every year. But ungame despite a comparable aca- expected of the Hoyas. While fortunately, I’m the exception demic ranking to Georgetown’s. they bring back do-everything rather than the norm.

Instead, it could simply be a re- forward Otto Porter and his talNevertheless, all it takes is sult of a poor out-of-conference ented sophomore classmates, a few wins to really wet stuschedule. the Hoyas face the same inexpe- dents’ whistles. An opening “You can love Georgetown rience that haunted them head- win against Florida on an airwith all your heart, but is it re- ing into last season. craft carrier or success at the ally worth leaving to trek out Those hopeless expectations Legends Classic a couple of to the Verizon Center to watch were quickly put to rest with weeks later would go a long IUPUI’s best rumble with our Henry Sims and Jason Clark’s way. Hoyas can get hyped for Hoyas?” said Hoya Blue mem- emergence early on in the season. events like Midnight Madness, ber Bruce Thomas (SFS ’13) of But that came after the deadline but ultimately, they expect suclast year’s schedule. for season tickets. Even if those cess. If they see it early on, the Thomas, though acknowl- students on the fence purchased Verizon Center shouldn’t have edging the weak scheduling last tickets, it’s a stretch to say they any attendance problems this season, really hit home with one would have improved atten- year. Thomas, for one, is cerof the main issues: getting to the dance during that uninspiring tainly optimistic.

Verizon Center. Freshman year, early-season schedule. Another “This year, with an imit’s an adventure, and every- Hoya Blue member, Adam Ra- proved schedule, I expect larger one’s motivated to go. By sopho- madan (SFS ’14), sees the simi- crowds, hopefully Mr. Fresh can more and junior years, though, larities to last year and thinks it get the party started right durwe tend to discover cable. If it’s could be another troubling start. ing Midnight Madness so we easier to just watch an expected “Once again, we won’t be can keep Dougie-ing through 50-point blowout of IUPUI, con- ranked. Once again, we lost our March and beyond.”

by Kevin Joseph

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Revenge at forefront for Hoyas Volleyball falls just short

by Brendan Crowley Since the start of the 2012 season, the Hoya men’s football team (3-3, 0-0 Patriot League) has had one game circled on their calendars: Oct. 13, 1 p.m., versus Lehigh University (6-0, 1-0 Patriot League). After falling to the Mountain Hawks in last year’s de-facto Patriot League title game 34-12, the Hoyas have been hungry for a shot at revenge.

“We’re all excited for this game, this is the biggest game of our year,” said senior linebacker Robert McCabe. “This is where our Patriot League schedule starts and this where we start our road to our goal of winning a Patriot League championship.”

Junior running back Nick Campanella, who leads the Hoyas with seven touchdowns on the year, echoed McCabe in his description of the fierce mentality in the Hoya locker room this week.

“There’s a spark, ‘cause they took us out last year in the conference championship, so we definitely want to pay them back,” he said.

The Mountain Hawks, however, will be a tough opponent for the Hoyas to right the sinking ship. Undefeated and ranked 10th nationally, Lehigh will be looking to continue its dominance against Georgetown, to whom it has yet to lose to since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001.

The Hoyas, however, seem closer than ever to a breakout game. After struggling offensively in their loss to Brown (3-1, 0-1 Ivy League), the Hoyas posted 31 points against Fordham (4-2), their second-highest total this season, a change Campanella accredits to the maturation of the offensive unit as a whole.

“Our [offensive] line is really starting to step up and [sophomore quarterback] Steve Skon is really being a leader now,” said Head Coach Kevin Kelly. “This is his second start, and he really showed what he could do last game.”

Coach Kelly also had high praise for his offensive line, a group made up of four upperclassmen.

“They’ve done a terrific job.

We challenge them every week

Zack Wilke and the Hoyas hope to break a two-game losing streak.

ANDRES RENGIFO

Sarsak’s stand refreshing

On the Internet, everyone’s a celebrity. From snarky Twitter accounts to anonymous blogs, the accessibility of news and production in the modern day has made it easier for individuals to have their voices heard. Due to universal sports fandom and press channels entirely devoted to them, sports stars of today are inevitably publicity magnets. With some having over six million Twitter subscribers, the social media clout of these athletes is undeniable.

Because of their multilateral platforms, these stars can publish their thoughts completely non-related to sports and these thoughts are instantly transmitted to people all around the world. Spheres of influence overlap, and the most trivial of James’s opinions are more widely read than the most recent Ezra Klein article, merely because of this elevated status.

Recently, the sports world has become more and more in-

terwoven with politics. This is partially due to American politics being at the forefront of conversation, but also because of the ease of instant communication.

American sports stars use their fame as a platform to advocate for their candidates and to share their opinions about policies that they may (but more likely do not) have any idea about. Some do this effectively, while some merely use their platforms to push uninformed opinions.

For example, Michael Jordan has been a vocal supporter of President Obama and has used his position to raise money for his campaign by throwing fundraisers. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Wes Welker, who likes to tweet back and forth with his teammates about how any candidate would be better than Obama.

While my boy Wes may be trying to exploit his platform to influence his followers, there are

and Coach [Brian] Miller has done a great job with the O-line,” he said. “We’re a lot more aggressive and are moving people off the line of scrimmage and that’s why we scored 31 points last week.”

Defensively, though, the Hoyas have been plagued by inconsistency in their last two outings, giving up an average of 37.5 points per game.

“Defensively, at times we play well, but then there were times that we didn’t,” Coach Kelly said.

“I always feel like if we score 31 [points], we should keep them under 31.”

Amidst the defense’s struggles, McCabe’s play individually has been spectacular. He had 15 tackles versus Fordham, and currently leads all players in the Football Championship Subdivision in total tackles with 83, which translates to 13.83 per game.

McCabe, however, was quick to divert the attention away.

“As a defense we pride ourselves in being fast and running to the ball, getting eleven maniacs to the ball. That’s just what I’m trying to do,” McCabe said. “I’m doing my role in the defense. We’ve got to be more consistent in order to put a complete game on the field.”

When the Hoyas face off against visiting Lehigh this weekend, Coach Kelly sees no reason why excitement shouldn’t be at its all-time peak.

“They’re nationally ranked, they’re undefeated, it’s our first Patriot League game, it’s home.

For a lot of reasons, our guys are very excited about playing.” some athletes who are using their considerable clout to actually enact social change. Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian soccer player, made headlines this summer for going on a hunger strike for 90 days while he was being held in an Israeli prison without charges for three years. Organizations across the world called for his

Sporty Spice

by Abby Sherburne A bi-weekly column about sports release, including Amnesty International, and he was finally released in July.

Obviously the Israeli-Palestinian conflict doesn’t frequently headline ESPN, but Sarsak effectively used his position to leverage awareness for his cause. His individual stance, albeit shared

by Keaton Hoffman On Saturday the Georgetown women’s volleyball team (6-11, 0-5 Big East) extended its losing streak to 11 in a four-set loss at home to Villanova (8-10, 3-2 Big East).

Georgetown trailed the Wildcats throughout the first set; the Hoyas were out-blocked, out-aced, and committed more than twice as many hitting errors. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Johnson had a record low hitting percentage of -.300, with four errors and one kill on 10 attempts. In the end, Villanova easily took the first set 25-19.

In the second set Head Coach Arlisa Williams moved Johnson to the back row and put in junior outside hitter Brooke Bachesta to take her place.

The switch worked. Bachesta racked up five kills in the set that, when coupled with some successful serving runs by sophomore libero MacKenzie Simpson and junior outside hitter Elizabeth Riggins, led the Hoyas to a convincing 25-18 victory in the second set.

“Brooke came in off the bench and was able to hit at a higher contact point for us on the outside,” Coach Williams said of the substitution.

Bachesta, who has been cheering from the bench the past couple of games, was glad to make a difference.

“I’m happy that I was able to come in and make a contribution

by 2,000 other hunger strikers, garnered attention from international organizations that did have the power to make a considerable difference in both his personal situation and the largescale conflict.

His release, though, was not the end of his political crusade.

Last month, he was invited to attend the October Clasico match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. But Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier and former prisoner of war, was also invited as an honored guest. Upon hearing of this, Sarsak rejected FC Barcelona’s invitation. Palestinian soccer clubs rose up in support of Sarsak, as did Spanish solidarity organizations. FC Barcelona quickly backtracked, but the damage was already done and Sarsak vocally opposed the event.

The event attempted to bridge differences between Palestinians and Israelis, which is admirable but misguided. Large organizations do not gain any acclaim by marginalizing differences in at-

and give Alex a break because I know it can be exhausting when you’re the primary hitter all the time,” she said.

Unfortunately, the spark of the second set fizzled as the game progressed. The team dropped the final two sets 25-20 and 25-18.

Nevertheless, Coach Williams recognized that the team is improving. “We played better today. We took care of the ball in places that we needed to,” she said. Faster setting by junior Haley Lowrance led to better kill totals from senior middle blocker Lindsay Wise and junior opposite Annalee Abel, at 10 and seven respectively. Blocking, too, improved, as the Hoyas managed 11 team blocks against the Wildcats.

Still, a loss is a loss. When asked what the team will need to do to end the losing streak, Bachesta said “Staying confident and composed in the last five points.

It’s just all about finishing the last couple points.”

Johnson agreed. “Push at the end and realize that these last six to seven points, which are where we usually struggle, are the most important. We can play all game but we really just need to pick it up in the last few points,” she said.

The Hoyas will look to implement those changes as they hit the road against Pittsburgh on Oct. 12 and USF on Oct. 14 before returning home to battle Notre Dame on Oct. 19.

tempt to smooth over conflict.

On the other hand, the impetus behind the actions of Sarsak is certainly laudable because of his history and personal interest with the cause. His deep investment in the cause lends merit to his stance and opinion, whereas the propaganda-fueled position of the club was not as genuine.

The growing convergence of politics and sports is rapidly increasing because of media traction and influence. While this may be used for trivial purposes, some have used their spheres of influence to enact changes in popular opinion and transform social currents. Political statements via sports channels can be an extremely effective way to publicize for a cause. And it’s always nice to see that our beloved sports stars care a little bit about what’s going on outside the world of cheerleaders, beer, and scab referees.

Get into some conflict with Abby at asherburne@georgetownvoice.com

Courtesy Sports Info

8

Matthew funk

nitya ramlogan

8

The Georgetown Family It’s that time of year again, and the Georgetown Family is out celebrating the very best the fall season has to offer. Dressed from head to toe in chunky knit sweaters, bold accessories, statement coats, and buttersoft leather, the Georgetown clan is ready to head back to the Hilltop. While some family members take a stroll through

10

the historic cobblestone streets, others indulge in newfound fall romance. Hand in hand on the hunt for the perfect townhouse, ladies bundle up in preppy plaid and soft chambray set against the quintessential M Street while their guys take to the streets in Oxford button-downs and bow ties, perfectly outfitted for the transition from summer to winter.

Top: (Irene) dress & sweater, H&M. shoes, model’s own.

(Charles) jacket, Zara. bowtie, H&M. all else, model’s own.

Bottom: (Lucius) all, model’s own. (Stefane) coat & scarf, H&M. suspenders, Zara. all else, model’s own.

Top: (Zoe) coat & pants, Zara. shirt, H&M. necklace, model’s own.

(Stefane) shirt & pants, model’s own. jacket & scarf, H&M. Bottom: (Isaac) jacket & pants, Zara. all else, model’s own.

(Kimmy) sweater, Zara. dress, model’s own.

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From left to right: (Sophie) skirt, H&M. all else, model’s own.

(Kelly) skirt & cardigan, H&M. all else, model’s own.

leisure

14 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

Talking tough with Wire writer George Pelecanos

by Julia Lloyd-George While working at his father ’s D.C. diner as a teenager during the ‘70s, writer George Pelecanos had already identified a physical line of segregation between urban city dwellers. Referring to the diner ’s counter as a tangible barrier between the working class— the immigrants and minorities—and the paying customers who were mostly white professionals, Pelecanos could see a microcosm of society within the confines of an unassuming small business.

It’s no surprise that the observations he made growing up in this environment would come to color the tremendous social commentary of his later works, including a host of crime novels and HBO’s The Wire, one of the most critically acclaimed television shows of all time.

lez’hur ledger

by Justin Betrus On Columbus Day, I ventured to Pennsylvania Avenue and scouted out some of D.C.’s best culinary offerings at the 2012 “Taste of DC” festival. More than 50 of the District’s top restaurants opened small stands and sold specialty items from their menus. The plethora of options made it difficult to choose between all the enticing flavors.

Not surprisingly, I was “that guy” who walked back and forth in search of the most appetizing entrees, surveying unique food that expanded both my palate and my cultural horizons.

The food scene in D.C. has traditionally lagged behind that

Speaking to an audience at Gaston Hall on Tuesday night as part of the Lannan Center’s Reading and Talks Series, Pelecanos answered questions about everything from advice for an aspiring filmmaker to the secret behind his prolific writing habits. In addition to providing an extended Q&A session, organizers played the Emmy-nominated episode of “Middle Ground,” which Pelecanos co-wrote with the show’s creator, David Simon. Providing a glimpse into the urban landscape of Baltimore that Pelecanos and the other writers of The Wire set out to portray, the episode explored the tension between city institutions, a subject which serves as a major theme of the show.

Speaking about the writers’ aim for the show and the source of their material, Pelecanos pointed to the realities of the Baltimore streets and the social commentary

they provide. “The atmosphere we presented as completely accurate – the scenes weren’t sets, but locations,” he said about the filming of the series.

This realistic approach extended to the material. “We tried to tackle the drug war in Baltimore,” he said, adding, “collectively in the writers’ room, we feel it’s one of the major blunders in terms of policy in this country.”

Tackling this kind of gritty subject matter required an exhaustive writing process and extensive research, as Pelecanos and the other writers were “always in the room, trying to work out what to do next.” As with Pelecanos’ own works of crime fiction, research involved “going out onto the streets” and picking up information before hunkering down to write.

Responding to questions about the beginning of The Wire,

Pelecanos pointed to the collective experience of the group of writers. With his own background as a crime fiction writer and others’ experiences in crime reporting and police work, he noted that they were “experienced writers writing about the urban condition, so there was a lot to bring to the table.” This extensive knowledge about the world they wanted to portray gave them an undeniable advantage, but so did the amount of breathing space that their lack of fame provided.

“When we were starting out on the show for the first two seasons, we didn’t know The Wire was The Wire,” Pelecanos said of the show’s beginning.

“We just had our heads down and were trying to make something good.”

Rather than being bitter about their early lack of acclaim, Pelecanos emphasized that the

writers used this as an opportunity to grow. “I feel like we caught lightning in a bottle,” he noted of the series’ genesis. “We weren’t getting a lot of praise in the beginning, so we just did our thing and learned a lot from that trial-and-error process,” he said. “It was a perfect way to start, really.”

Ten years after the show’s end, and decades after he first started work at his father’s diner, Pelecanos continues to learn both from that initial work on The Wire and from his own personal experience. Whether it’s on shows like Treme or his own fiction, a strong work ethic motivates him to keep writing. “My dad turned the key on his diner everyday at the same time, and I open the door to my office everyday at the same time and go to work,” he said. “I’m not going to retire, so I just want to keep getting better.”

Taste of DC: The battle for the culinary crown

of other large American cities.

Fortunately, this gap is narrowing. The global roots of D.C. residents have fueled the growth of the city’s international food market. D.C. is making itself known as a culinary city that is on par with Chicago, San Francisco, and even New York. Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Sietsama recently noted that the cuisine of D.C. even “beats New York in a few categories.”

The first booth I stopped by was Cedar, a restaurant that employs classical French techniques to create contemporary American cuisine. The Lobster and White Chocolate Soup, which bore an uncanny resemblance to lobster bisque, intrigued me. Although

Justin Betrus

If they don’t make it through Georgetown, at least GUGS grillers have a fall back.

it was delicious, it lacked the distinctive chocolate zest I was anticipating. According to an employee at the counter, the sugar in the chocolate is removed before the chocolate is added to the broth, giving the chocolate a butter like quality.

Soon after, I ordered the 3 Flavor Chicken with fried rice from Tara Thai. As advertised, the dish was sweet, sour, and, in the Thai tradition, spicy. However, it didn’t outperform favorite Georgetown locales like Mai Thai and Bangkok Joe’s.

Next, I visited a Salvadoran and Mexican restaurant called Sisy’s that specializes in pupusas, thick handmade corn tortillas filled with cheese. Despite the dish’s simplicity, the authentic ingredients and humble approach distinguished it from more mainstream Latin food stands. Call it the right plate at the right time, but of all the foods I tried at Taste of DC, the pupusa was my favorite. It was quickly becoming apparent that I would need a reverse gastric bypass to increase the size of my stomach.

A thicker wallet would also prove to be handy. Although I enjoyed Taste of DC, it was an expensive excursion for someone on a college budget who scroung-

Justin Betrus

Crowds of D.C. residents stress-eat now that Romney is a distinct possibility. es through couch cushions looking for spare change. The festival charged a $10 entry fee, and most of the appetizers ranged from $3 to $5 in value. With tiny portions and larger price tags, I could only ogle the charred octopus with potato confit from Station 4 and the Bacon Mac-n-Cheese Tart from Co Co. Sala. It was also devastating to bypass the Ethiopian and Jamaican treats, which tempted my taste buds.

Although I couldn’t try every intriguing dish, it was worthwhile to witness the emergence of D.C.’s cuisine. By asserting D.C.’s gastronomic greatness, Taste of DC brought our city together. While D.C. may be more divided than ever with the election around the corner, food is universal. Obama

and Romney fans alike prepared dishes that were native to their cultures. As I walked along Pennsylvania, I was struck by the diversity that defines both the city and its culinary identity. Families of all ethnic groups offered a taste of their homelands, shedding a light on their indigenous customs.

Friendly camaraderie was another undercurrent of this festival and, by extension, the larger D.C. food scene. The District is characterized by a sense of warmth that its competitors—Manhattan—may lack. As I approached an Italian restaurant, a woman actually sang to me about the virtues of meatballs.

Needless to say, I was completely charmed. D.C.’s restaurant scene has certainly arrived, with singing proprietors to boot.

georgetownvoice.com

“it is that hard to make us look cool?” — Almost Famous

the georgetown voice 15

Artists retell history at National Gallery’s Shock of the News

by Mary Borowiec “Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray / South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio.”

If the National Gallery of Art’s latest exhibition, The Shock of the News, were to be captured in a song, it would be Billy Joel’s battle cry “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” as this astonishing exhibit wraps up a century’s worth of cultural history in its collection of 65 works featuring artists who have drawn on the newspaper as both a medium and subject matter.

The Shock of the News, which opened in the National Gallery’s East Wing on Sept. 23 and runs until Jan. 27, 2013, chronicles artists’ response to the newspaper from the turn of the 20th century, when Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Pablo Picasso began incorporating the newspaper into their work.

While Marinetti relied on the newspaper to publish his futurist manifesto and Picasso used a page of newspaper in his collage “Guitar, Sheet Music and Glass” (1912), their works initiated a new movement of artists who would draw upon this medium in innovative ways.

As the press release for Shock of the News explains, art-

ists following Picasso and Marinetti began “to think about the newspaper more broadly—as a means of political critique, a collection of ready-made news to appropriate and manipulate, a source of language and images, a typographical grab bag, and more.”

nAtiOnAL GALLerY OF Art

Malcom X refused to take a nonviolent approach to newspaper delivery.

Organized in systematic chronology, The Shock of the News impresses not only for the caliber and diversity of artists featured, including Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol, but also for the well executed story it tells, which highlights the arc

Breakfast at Tombs

Dear Emlyn, I’m a sophomore and it’s housing selection time for me. I live in Southwest Quad with one of my friends from freshman year, but this semester we haven’t been that close and even disagree pretty frequently. I don’t want to live with him next year, but I don’t really know how to break the news. Advice?

-Gloomy Roomie

Dear Roomie, I think the worst thing you could do would be to say, “I don’t want to live with you, sorry, dude,” because that’s a little too blunt. It stings. You do, after all, have more than a semester left with this guy, so you want to deliver the news in as kind a way as possible so that you don’t wake up covered in honey or shaving cream, à la The Parent Trap.

Instead, consider your options and get an alternative living situation lined up as quickly as possible.

of the newspaper in modern and contemporary art amidst the most influential events of the 20th century.

With a short but comprehensive description next to each work in the three-room show, each piece is a window into the life of an artist, the significance

Ideally, choose someone laid-back, busy or involved on campus (so they’re not ALWAYS in the room), and into good music (because do you really want to hear the Fray constantly blasted throughout your Village A next year? Didn’t think so). Anyway, once you have your future roommate(s) all figured out, tell your current roommate the following: “Hey, so I don’t know what your plans are… but (insert name or names here) and I are going to live together next year I think! Just a heads-up. If you’re looking for a roommate still, I’d be happy to ask around for you.” Boo-yah, you’re free as a bird.

You can even use that as a script if you want; I don’t copyright. It’s friendly, it’s helpful, and most importantly, it’s not combative. Just make sure to tell him this as soon as possible so that he has adequate time to figure out his living plans for next year and you’re golden.

of an art movement, and a moement in history. From Emory Douglas’s documentation of the Black Panthers to Laurie Anderson’s examination of Sino-American relations as they evolved after the Vietnam War to Hans Richter ’s large-scale Hi Emlyn, So, I’m a freshman and I’ve fallen in with a pretty crazy friend group (we all like drinking, smoking, hooking up, whatever). I love them and I’m having a blast, but my parents are very conservative and are coming to campus this weekend for Parents’ Weekend. I’m afraid that they are going to find out that I’ve been partying a lot. What do I do?

- Parent Problems

You’ve Got issues

by Emlyn Crenshaw a bi-weekly advice column Hi Problems!

First of all, your parents will think that you’re a sad loser with poor social skills if you don’t introduce them to anyone, and you will get depressingly encouraging emails from your mother in the months that follow. The parentals are here to see what your life is like – and

collage documenting the Third Reich’s plans to remap Europe, Shock of the News proves a fascinating lesson in history from a cultural lens. In this way, this collection is as hard-hitting as it is informative.

The diversity of works on display proves another merit of the exhibition, bringing together collages, paintings, drawings, sculptures, artists’ newspapers, prints, and photographs in an unusual but striking way. One particularly entertaining piece is Dieter Roth’s “Literaturewurst,” a sculpture resembling a sausage but actually composed of newspaper, gelatin, and spices in a sausage casing filled with the pages and images from authors he particularly disliked.

Amidst classics such as Dalí’s personal newspaper and Picasso’s collages pointing to the use of the newspaper as a form of high art as well as outliers like the “Literaturewurst,” Robert Gober ’s more recent work is another standout. In a stack of newspapers that risks going unnoticed in one corner of the exhibit sits what looks a bride’s photo cropped from the New York Times’ Sunday Styles section. However, upon closer examination, it is actually Gober ’s face beneath the

friends are a big part of that—so you can’t get out of letting them meet a few people. Just explain everything in advance to the few friends that you may invite out to dinner. Remind everyone not to curse or talk about how they slut it up on the regular.

This is actually pretty easy— Parents’ Weekend is all about Georgetown and how you’re liking it, so conversation-wise your friends can stick to talking about classes and their extracurriculars without much trouble. Parents will eat that up.

Also, don’t forget to clean your room extensively before they arrive—recycle any red solo cups or beer cans, hide your super short skirts in the back of the closet, whatever you gotta do.

Lastly, be wary of the lessacknowledged Georgetown tradition that I like to call “Hide the Hangover Parents Weekend Brunch.” I have lived through it, as

hair and veil, juxtaposed with the only story remaining on the page titled, “Vatican Condones Discrimination Against Homosexuals.” A description of this work reveals that Gober altered the original headline, leaving the article’s body to make a point about the Church’s treatment of homosexuals. While his message is controversial, his co-optation of the Times resonates as one of the exhibit’s most memorable pieces.

The final work of the exhibit, “Modern History: April 21, 1978,” proves an excellent finale, as the work examines the differences in international coverage of the former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro’s kidnapping. By removing the text and only preserving each paper ’s master head and photos on the 45 prints showcased, this piece allows viewers to step back and absorb the diversity of international political commentary arranged on a massive exhibit wall.

While an anonymous quote painted on the exhibit’s wall affirms that newspapers may be “just chimney soot on chopped up trees,” The Shock of the News artfully illustrates how newspapers can also be inspiration to an entire era of artists—or turned into sausage.

have many others. Basically, your parents are going to want to have a “late” brunch on Sunday around 10 a.m. You are going to want to go out on Saturday after you shuffle your family back to the Holiday Inn. That’s fine, but I suggest taking it easy this weekend.

Drink lots of water, maybe call it a night before shotgunning a beer or four—again, do what you gotta do. In the morning, take a shower and two Advil.

Walk to meet them at the restaurant so that you’ll wake up and get going a little bit. Order water/juice/coffee and eggs (a non-obvious hangover food).

It’s likely that your parents have been hungover before, and without effort on your part, they’ll probably be able to tell how many liters of fun you had the night before.

Send your drunken Parents’ Weekend memories to Emlyn at ecrenshaw@ georgetownvoice.com

leisure

16 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

C r i t i c a l V o i ces

The Script, #3, Phonogenic Records As a judge on The Voice UK, The Script front man Danny O’Donoghue ought to fully understand the difference between passable music and efforts that don’t quite measure up.

Unfortunately, this logical assumption does not hold; the Londonbased outfit swung for the fences and grounded into third on its arrogantly entitled LP #3.

“Good Ol’ Days” kicks off the album with O’Donoghue’s four high-pitched kick drum-and-clapbacked “whoo-hoo”s, which annoyingly become more frequent as the track wears on. The song itself is an all too repetitive and stereotypical carpe diem-themed rap filled with pub crawls, drinking, and dancing in the rain.

The equally hackneyed “Give the Love Around,” highlighted by a bright violin melody, fails as

well. Detailed lists in the chorus which outline all the people deserving of love become tedious, and place the track in immediate danger of being skipped.

The self-betterment anthem “Hall of Fame,” which opens with pleasant piano runs and a will.i.am verse, stands just above the rest of the album’s overwhelming mediocrity. Members of The Script have little to do with the track’s success, aside from the scaling down of the omnipresent “whoo-hoo”s; in fact, O’Donoghue manages to partly ruin the song with a list of professions in which the listener can succeed. In the end, “Hall of Fame” is will.i.am’s track. His inclusion gives just enough legitimacy to an otherwise poorly crafted single.

A personal touch from O’Donoghue and guitarist Mark Sheehan on “Six Degrees of Separation” nearly puts #3 on the path to recovery. The lead singer’s strained vocals provide a powerful account of his breakup with model Irma Mali which, when accompanied by strings, a series of keyboard melodies, and guitar riffs, results in a proper mainstream rock song.

Sheehan’s “If You Could See Me Now,” dedicated to the guitarist’s late parents, similarly adds much-needed emotional appeal to the LP. “I don’t know if we

Cookbooks are literature, too!

Even as Amazon packages filled with copies of International Economics and the Oresteia arrived on campus, almost every Georgetown student was still missing a crucial text. If you already own a college cookbook, you can stop reading now. Go make yourself some mushroom risotto and study for midterms.

While I hate to add another required purchase to the already long and horribly expensive list of schoolbooks, a cookbook is more important than Plato. We may philosophize in class, but we eat and sleep and earn our GPAs in the cave, so Julia Child and Mark Bittman count as true scholars.

The necessity of owning a cookbook in college is less a function of training for a culinary masters program and more a function of simply feeding yourself. It’s certainly possible to live off of Ramen noodles and Easy Mac alone,

but that diet is guaranteed to eventually make you sick and/or fat. Most of the time, frozen meals aren’t the result of some passionate love for reheated green beans and plastic wrapped palak paneer. Microwaves are a matter of convenience, and a well-stocked freezer readily answers the eternal question: “What the fuck should I make for dinner?”

Phrasing the culinary conundrum this way is certainly crass, but when Zach Golden asked it on his website, the aptly titled whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner. com, he saved the diets of a thousand college students. The site answers its own question on a Spartan interface of large Arial text laid over a plain white background, but that’s all it needs. Every time you refresh the page, it ends the phrase “Why don’t you make some fucking…” with a different dinner idea.

Even vegetarians benefit from

will ever find the right moment to play that live,” Sheehan said, unable to even listen to the song due to its personal nature.

This inability to listen to a single song can, for the most part, be extrapolated to The Script’s third studio album as a whole, but in a far more negative manner. Stuffed with clichés and left to simmer on a light hip-hop beat for 39 minutes, #3 is a largely forgettable record.

Voice’s Choices: “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Broken Arrow” —Kirill Makarenko

Ellie Goulding, Halcyon, Polydor Records If Ke$ha embodies the crass and gaudy character of American electropop, singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding brings a British sensibility and sensitivity to the genre, assertGolden’s genius recipe-producer, as it churns out meat-free meals when you click on “I don’t fucking eat meat” at the bottom of the page.

The Internet overflows with recipes—Golden’s site links to hundreds of them—but a computer with a WiFi connection can never take the place of a solid cookbook. Google won’t solve a

Plate of the union

by Heather Regen a bi-weekly column about food lack of culinary creativity; it will only worsen mealtime indecision by producing a million iterations of pasta salad. A good cookbook gives you plausible meal ideas, not just a list of the ingredients needed to put them together. Which is why it comes as no surprise that What The F**K Should I Make For Dinner? showed up on shelves as an ink and paper cookbook shortly after Golden launched the website.

ing that, in the words of Downton Abbey’s Lady Grantham, “vulgarity is no substitute for wit.” In her sophomore release, Halcyon, Ellie Goulding showcases her strength as a subdued vocalist, building upon her recognizable brand of synthetic, high-energy folktronica. Lyrically, however, the album lacks originality and fails to channel Goulding’s voice into anything more than sweet, medium-paced dance records—a style she’s already perfected.

Goulding’s voice is featured prominently on each song in the album, and her delicate yet dynamic vocals are the only constant aspect of her style that keep the listener’s attention. Any harmony or bass is always secondary to her soaring refrain. In the fourth track of the record, “Only You,” Goulding hums a bass melody before breaking into the chorus, and, in a move typical of the album, the song transitions to her upper register, forcing emotion into its closing lines.

Few other tracks in Halcyon deviate from this pattern. The lead single, “Don’t Say a Word,” begins with soft, buoyant chords that echo electronically into the singer’s following syllables. The ethereal instrumentation and indefinite background moaning and humming of “Don’t Say a Word” reflect the dreamlike tone carried throughout the album.

Different cookbooks will benefit different students, but for most of us, what we keep in our dorms and apartments shouldn’t be the same as what we keep at home.

I didn’t bring my Fannie Farmer cookbook to Georgetown because I don’t stock all of the ingredients its recipes call for. And unless you’re willing to buy thyme and gouda on a regular basis, encyclopedic cookbooks like Bittman’s How to Cook Everything won’t get you very far.

Instead, smaller themed and targeted cookbooks serve college students better. The Hungover Cookbook bills itself as “a gastronomic comedy, a burlesque homage to the possibility of snatching hope from failure, triumph from despair, laughter from tragedy,” and it might just prove useful on Saturday mornings.

In my Village B, I keep The I Love Trader Joes Cookbook because I can get every single semi-prepared ingredient at the same store. Even when I wander the

For the first minute of “Don’t Say a Word,” Goulding continually trails off and repeats the words, “If you never said anything,” emoting thoughtfulness and sensitivity. Although the pace picks up two minutes in, the only lyrics she sings evoke a sense of mystery in attempt to sound emotional: “And if I save us, and I fall down / I will leave your words behind now.” However, her words amount to little more than superfluous philosophizing, ultimately leading to the album’s downfall.

While Goulding formed her style on Lights, drawing on luminous vocals that incorporate medium-paced, dreamy electronic beats, she fails on her sophomore album to break out of this mold. Listening to Halcyon beginning to end becomes tiresome, as each song rehashes a different mix of synthesizer, bass, vocals, and humming. Certain songs are wonderfully well done, but Goulding needs to break from her established style in order to develop as a singersongwriter. Though Halcyon lives up to its peaceful name as an effort in light, airy synthetic pop music, what it achieves with Goulding’s ethereal voice, it lacks in creativity.

Voice’s Choices: “My Blood,” “Figure 8” —Connor Jones grocery’s aisles and pick up a pastiche of snacks and fruits and starches, the cookbook never fails to make order out of my random pickings. Recipes like its asparagus tart are ridiculously easy to assemble—chopped nuts, oil, and cheese get thrown over a Trader Joe’s artisan puff pastry—but they end up looking gorgeous and professional.

College cookbooks are good for students’ wallets and stomachs. They save us from wandering aimlessly around the kitchen or impulsively walking down to Sweetgreen to grab a $10 salad between classes. So buy yourself a cookbook and you may find that college staples like André double in recipes like risotto. Now, with Leo’s as the bar, there isn’t too much to hold you back, go make some fucking dinner and happy midterms studying.

Find the full risotto recipe online at georgetownvoice.com.

fifty shades of blue and gray

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the georgetown voice 17

50 shades of blue and gray Here’s the fifth installment of the Voice’s serial romance novel-cum-murder mystery, 50 Shades of Blue and Gray. The next chapter of this steamy thriller is all up to you — send your 1000 to 1500-word submission, under your real name or your fake one, to editor@georgetownvoice.com by Monday night at 10 p.m., and we’ll pick our favorite for next week’s back page.

Tony was always walking past me. Chance encounters, brief glances, sly smiles. He was handsome, with his black hair and a crooked smile. He was 6’1” and broad-shouldered and mysterious and perfect. I hated him. I hated myself for being attracted to him.

So when I heard of a party at his friend Ryan’s house, I had to go. He found me, and when we finally kissed it sent a thrill of passion and accomplishment.

Once we got into his Village B, it all happened a little too fast. In two minutes he had my dress off. I straddled him, unbuttoned his shirt, and he threw it to the side. Crash. The lamp had fallen and landed next to the body of Tony’s roommate. Shit.

My surprise was genuine in finding Brett’s dead body in the room. As we looked around, you could tell it was a job done in haste. Tony was in shock. I slipped out to the living room to check my phone. I had a new message: “More time.” I knew what I had to do. Walking back into the room in only my bra and thong, a tear rolled down my cheek. Tony wrapped his muscular arms around me. I had him.

I unzipped his jeans and we stumbled over to the couch. Our kiss deepened as our bodies came together. “Yes. Right there,” I murmured. I couldn’t help myself – he was good. I felt every inch of his thrusts and could feel myself losing control.

“Oh, Tony.” Going faster, his throat let out a deep guttural sound as my nails dug into his back, and it put me over the edge. Fireworks went off in my head and all over my body.

We lay on the couch as our heartbeats slowed. He looked angry, sad, guilty, and confused. I studied his face as he talked about calling the police. The police! I suddenly remembered what happened earlier in the night, and what could go wrong.

“Okay, I need to talk to Mike,” Tony told me.

“Where is he?” I asked, trying my best to control my expression.

“Henle 20.”

Perfect. “Okay, I live in Henle, too.”

Once outside, I couldn’t dial my phone fast enough. “Henle 20,” I said and I heard the other side answer, “My pleasure.”

I ran back to my apartment and put on a sweatshirt. “Get a hold of yourself, Corinne,” I thought. “Stop being weak.

Sure, he’s different from what you thought.

Sure, he’s the best sex you’ve had. But you need to focus. ” I got us into the building, and Tony ran up the stairs and into Mike’s apartment to find his lifeless body hanging by a scarf. I stood in the doorway as I got a text.

“Still here.”

Panic set in. I had to get Tony out. I ran back into the stairwell and pulled the fire alarm. Grabbing Tony’s hand we walked past the Henle fishbowl and headed back to Village B.

I looked up at the sadness in his eyes. I melted. Suddenly I was holding his hand and rambling about how I understood how he feels. What the hell, Corinne. Stop it. You don’t like him.

The squeaking cart interrupted my thoughts. It was the homeless Wingo’s guy, playing his radio. He pushed his cart past us as he looked straight at me. Like he knew. I held my breath until he passed us.

Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater” started blasting from the old radio.

We got back to Village B, Tony immediately called Ryan. He screamed into the phone.

“I think someone just tried to kill him, too!”

Tony pulled me out of his apartment and ran across the front lawn towards Ryan’s.

Ryan was alive and running to meet us. He told us how some guy in a mask had tried to jump him and how he had fought him off, and showed us the cryptic poem left behind by the attacker.

“Now that we know this is the killer,” I told Ryan, “you’re our first witness. We should go back to your house and see if we can find anything.” I led them back to Burleith.

They tore the place apart looking for evidence. I excused myself to the bathroom and checked my phone. Nothing.

I opened the door and found Ryan standing in my way. “Where’s Tony?” I asked.

“He went to get some fresh air.”

He took a step towards me.

“Did you find anything?” I cautiously inquired.

“Yeah.” He stalked closer, trapping me in the bathroom.

It was the first time I really paid attention to Ryan. A foot taller than me, blond hair, muscular, icy blue eyes, with a dangerous smirk. He saw right through me.

I slowly stepped backwards, but he only continued to get closer. I had nowhere to go. His hand was suddenly around my neck, pinning me to the wall. He stared into my eyes with a brutal expression on his face. Why am I so turned on right now? My eyes locked with his. I let my sweatshirt slide off my arms, and he broke his gaze to look me over. Our hungry eyes met again for a split second before he kissed me hard and passionately. He pressed his body into mine as I softly bit his lower lip. He easily lifted me and set me on the sink counter, spreading my legs apart and pushing my dress up to my waist as I unzipped his shorts.

“Wait,” I said breathlessly, reaching into my purse. “I have a condom.”

His eyes were closed as he kissed my neck. All he heard was the crinkling of a wrapper and felt my hand on the back of his neck before he cried out in pain.

Ryan stumbled backwards and saw the empty syringe in my hand. He clutched the side of his neck. His face was turning green. He opened his mouth to say something but was dead before he could. His eyes were still open as I gathered my stuff and ran out of the house.

On the corner across the street, a figure in a hooded sweatshirt was holding a black ski mask and smoking a Nat Sherman. I turned and nodded my head. The figure pointed back toward campus.

I walked fast to find Tony. I was two blocks away by the time I saw him walking away from the Wingo’s cart. “Look what that homeless guy just gave me,” he shouted, handing me a coupon flyer. On the back, another message was written.

Although kisses are sweet, Don’t trust all those you meet.

Lies are in your path, Before you face my wrath, Figure out what clock you have to beat. ...This wasn’t part of the plan.

— Mr. & Mrs. JK

voices

18 the georgetown voice

october 11, 2012

Adrift in a sea of causes, Occupy needs to set a course

by Sara Ainsworth October 1st marked the oneyear anniversary of Occupy D.C. and, in celebration of the movement, the group occupied a number of lobbying firms, banks, etc. around K Street. The lobbying firm where I work was one of them. The events of the day were as follows: about 20 protesters arrived at 9:30 a.m. to protest against the firm’s lobbying on behalf of oil companies, then, approximately 30 minutes later, they left and didn’t return. I have one thing to say to Occupy: commit to your issues, or don’t talk about them at all.

When Occupy came to D.C., it had some real issues to raise.

Here was a movement that looked to change the long-running stance of the government, a real movement for change.

However, it has since yielded few results, and at this point it can no longer even protest effectively, The movement that held so much promise and was supported by so many floundered due to its inability to effectuate a vision for change because it could not grasp a common, compelling message.

The Occupy movement at its start was well supported nationally. It has since seen its popularity wane in direct response to its failures as a movement, and it is now considered directionless.

The question that the movement raises is, what does Occupy stand for?

At its inception, the Occupy movement wanted increased financial regulations in response to the unethical investing practices perpetrated by bankers leading up to the Great Recession. As the movement went from city to city, it began to amalgamate the issues that affected each different population. Now the movement demands universal healthcare, international environmental standards, the reduction of working hours, etc… All of this sprung from the issue of the regulation of Wall Street.

While Occupy does have goals, they are too broad-based and there are too many of them.

The movement went from a single-issue reformation of Wall Street to muddying the waters with other extraneous calls for change. It has been co-opted by a number of disenfranchised groups. The original message about economic accountabil-

ity has become lost in a sea of other messages, all fighting for “change.” The meaning of Occupy has been diluted; Georgetown students now refer to spending a day in the library as “Occupying Lau.” Reading the Global May Manifesto put out by the global Occupy movement is like reading the manifesto of the Liberal Utopia.

While an argument can be made for most of the change they demand, it’s no way to run a movement. Movements have to be focused around a singular issue, be able to be summed up into a few words, and have a clear goal for effectuating change. Feminism was about women’s rights, the civil rights movement was about equality, and the Anti-War movement was about ending the war in Vietnam. The Occupy movement is about “global change.”

What exactly does that entail?

If the movement wants to fulfill its potential, it will have to focus and start somewhere. Going back to its roots and focusing on financial reform would be extremely beneficial to the movement. It would allow its members to stand in front of the cameras and say “This is our major demand.” Now, this in no

way means abandoning all of its ideals and principles. Rather, it means focusing on one thing before moving onto another. Without this kind of direction, it ends up like someone with too much on their plate—nothing gets the full treatment that it should. By focusing and simplifying, the movement will accomplish more than a change in the national dialogue.

The movements of the 1960s changed the national dialogue, but they also led to actual change from inside and out.

The same can be said about the Arab Spring, an inspired movement in its own right. The Arab Spring began to yield results when key government officials joined in the protests. There is only so much that can be done from the outside; at some point internal change is necessary and required. The Occupy movement is selling itself short by not gathering people who can change the system from inside.

This is where the Occupiers can learn from the Tea Party.

The Tea Party got people elected in states all over the country. Its members are in state legislatures and Congress introducing legislation that affects how the coun-

If that means I don’t get a full night’s rest, so be it. Last Tuesday, I stayed up late studying for a French midterm I had the next morning after going to see Two Door Cinema Club.

Now, you may think I am insane for giving a large amount of my life to something I could do easily while studying. At least, that’s what many people have asked me. Because going to a concert is just listening to music, right?

But you cannot understand the music to its full extent until you hear it from the band live, in the context of being surrounded

by hundreds of fans. At concerts, the culture and experience are equal to the music itself.

At a concert, you get to see a side of the band you do not get from a YouTube video or their LP. Concerts are not prerecorded messages that have been edited over and over again to make sure they’re perfect.

Concerts are live, visceral experiences where whatever happens, happens. The band gets to play with their music and with you as a witness to their craft.

The best live bands interact with their audiences, make jokes, and talk back to people. It’s an intimate experience that is unique to each new show.

Some bands go beyond performance and put on a spectacle. Everyone knows the elaborateness of a Lady Gaga concert, but Ms. “Born This Way” isn’t the only artist who adds theatricality to her productions. Marina & the Diamonds, Amanda Palmer, and Of Montreal all create something akin to a performance piece whenever they go on stage, making the experience even greater.

I go to concerts for the fans more than I go for a band.

There’s nothing like dancing to The Wombats with a crowd of people. Dancing with a part-

ner is great, but dancing with everyone in a club to Marina & the Diamonds? It’s infinitely better. And it may be cathartic to sing along with the radio, but you never feel closer to understanding the meaning of life and humanity than when singing along with Nate Ruess and everyone else to Fun.’s anthem “We Are Young.”

Moreover, the diversity and character of the other fans makes concerts an experience far superior to a Spotify-filled study sesh. At concerts, I’ve danced with people I would never even have thought existed and had conversations with some of the most incredible people. Someone even wrote a song about me and my friend and the experience of waiting outside in the cold for James Blake’s signature.

Concerts give me a space to anonymously profess my love for a band or their music in a very physical sense. There, I can sing at the top of my lungs and be drowned out by a crowd doing the exact same thing in unison. I can make a fool of myself and let my body react to the music, and not be judged because everyone around me is dancing just as ridiculously. I almost always walk out of a concert hoarse, soaked in sweat (not all

try works as a whole. Where are the Occupiers? Eating bagels in MacPherson Square.

Occupy is not the first movement, nor will it be the last, to have structural issues. However, it has enough members and visibility to still make a difference and get things done. The first step is recognizing that its current model is not working.

While the debates may now focus on the economy and the middle class, financial regulation has sunk into the background of national discourse and business’s hand in campaign finance is as influential as ever. Occupy needs to recognize that it’s time to get people elected and focus on one issue before dealing with other grievances. Feminism, the civil rights movements, and the anti-war movement spent years fighting for change and the Arab Spring is still fighting. Pick an issue and go with it. The bottom line is: you can’t change anything in 30 minutes.

Sara Ainsworth is a junior in the SFS. Mornings are just bad for her- you should hear her yell at the Westboro crazies before she’s had coffee.

Play that funky music: A tale of unabashed love for concerts

by Johan Clarke People who know me (or at least are friends with me on Facebook) know that I go to a lot of concerts. The Black Cat staff probably knows me by face, if not name; I basically live in the 9:30 Club, and I may be an unofficial member of the 6th & I Synagogue thanks to the number of concerts I’ve attended there.

I have been asked many times how I have the time to go to all of these concerts, and my answer is always the same: “I make the time.” And it’s true.

This has to be the best “light at the end of the tunnel” ever.

KAREN BU

of which is mine), and barely able to walk.

When I go to a concert, I always go straight into the middle of the crowd. Sometimes I force myself closer to the band, but as long as I am right in front of the stage with everyone else, I know I’ll have a good time.

I’ve been on the balcony, and though it was a nice, calm night with my mother and The Cranberries, it did not have the same feeling as being right in the middle of the action.

Some people may question the absurd number of concerts I go to, and some people may think it’s a waste of money.

But I’ve had some of the greatest moments of my life at concerts. Some of my greatest stories come from them. My phone background is a picture I took of Ingrid Michaelson, and my timeline cover is my own picture of Two Door Cinema Club.

I do not plan on changing either any time soon, because both came from two of the greatest nights of my life.

Johan Clarke is a sophomore in the College. He’s heard all of the Sound of Music puns, thank you, so don’t even go there.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

19

Standardize this! A frustrated student’s plea for change

by Claire McDaniel I had one of the most upsetting experiences of my college life the other afternoon. Sitting at my desk, eyes glazed over, staring at the mind-numbingly boring online lecture for my MCAT prep course, I realized that something was very, very wrong. I had unwittingly fallen through a hole in the space-time continuum and had ended up back in high school.

After having a minor panic attack about missing homeroom, I realized that time travel is, unfortunately, not yet possible. Yet, I couldn’t think of any other reason why I was being spoken too

by the MCAT TA’s disembodied voice like I was a stupid teenager.

Here I was, a junior in college, being treated as if the past few years had never happened. None of the activities that I’d thrown myself into meant a thing, nor did the lectures I’d loved, or the labs I’d suffered through. Midterms, finals, and the glorious few days at the beginning of the semester with no work, all gone.

Once again, I was sent head-first into the horrible stupidity of the worst parts of high school. And no, I’m not talking about the politics of where to sit in the cafeteria.

From the Presidential Physical Fitness award to the SAT, be-

If only there was a way to spell out “Fuck it all!” in answer boxes.

KAREN BU

The truth hurler on the ditch This past weekend, I went to Syracuse to visit a friend. Every time I was introduced to someone, and they found out I go to Georgetown, I’d get an “Oh… that’s awkward…” or some form of a disapproving exclamation. I fail to see the awkwardness my being a Georgetown student, or why I was being victimized on the basis of something I don’t really believe in—sports.

These comments aren’t limited to Syracuse students; when I mentioned to Georgetown friends where I was going for the weekend, I got comments about how I was betraying my school or how much Syracuse sucks.

At the root of these comments is the Georgetown-Syracuse basketball rivalry, but I have never understood how this sports-based issue can affect people’s personal relationships

or feelings towards an entire school. To be honest, I’ve never understood the appeal of sports in general.

I don’t know if it’s the concept of organized, team sports that I don’t like– having a group of people running up and down a field or court following a small ball for over an hour seems wildly pointless – or if it’s the effect it has on people.

Perhaps coming from a place like Singapore where sports are not really a priority has affected my opinions, but I can’t get my head around the amount of time and energy people are willing to dedicate to following their favorite teams. People act like they are personally acquainted with the athletes, and can discuss with such animation all aspects of the game. There is an entire vocabulary of sports terms that were created to dis-

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fore college it seemed like the only way to measure myself was by some soulless exam. I still shudder when I think about having to do those pull-ups, and standardized testing gives me nightmares of broken No. 2 pencils and improperly filled-in circles. It felt like everything that I was assessed by was graded on some impersonal scale that failed to take into account things like how much I hated running, or whether or not I understood some inane passage.

I’ve always hated standardized testing, from equal parts boredom and a horrible feeling that I was being condensed into a series of ticked boxes. For the SAT, there was no way that choosing option C on a question could possibly explain that I really was a smart person and deserved to get into college. I was just another faceless applicant with a number assigned on a scale up to 2400. Now, with the MCAT, I’m starting the whole disheartening process again.

I understand that tests like the MCAT, the LSAT, and all those other horrible acronyms are intended to level the field, making it fair for all applicants. I struggle though to accept that the only way to do so is by demoralizing students, reducing them to flat representations

of their true selves. I am so much more than answers on a test trying to see if I was listening in that one Foundations of Biology lecture two and a half years ago, and I refuse to believe that the results the testing provides are sufficient to decide if I get to become a doctor.

Almost every professor I’ve had here at Georgetown has insisted on how I need to be able to truly understand what we were studying, instead of robotically memorizing and reciting factoids. I’m simply at a loss for why the MCAT, arguably the biggest test of my undergraduate career, is just throwing that advice out the window.

It’s not just the MCAT and nerdy pre-meds that suffer, though. Almost every field of study after college has an exam, and it’s a huge stumbling block for future plans. One test can mean the difference between becoming a lawyer, a doctor, or a PhD candidate, invalidating all the hard work put into every other aspect of your academic life.

This perverse insistence on standardized testing is an embarrassment to higher education. I’m not sure how we got to a place where being able to take a test is favored over well-rounded intel-

cuss various sports; a plethora of words that are irrelevant in any other area of life except to be utilized in sports discussions.

Sports fandom may instill some form of community, but it separates people as much as it brings them together. Support for a specific team creates a certain strain on one’s relationships with others who might support a rival team. When so much emotion and energy goes

and such a strong disdain for or shock at people uninterested in the topic.

What baffles me the most is the emotional commitment people make towards watching a game. For example, last year, a bunch of my friends gathered in a Henle apartment to watch the Georgetown-Syracuse game on TV. (I went because I thought it would be entertaining, but mainly because one of my friends promised she would be providing everyone with homemade mac & cheese.)

It ended up being quite a fun experience, because we were all hanging out and enjoying good food. But there were points in time when some people would start shouting belligerently at the television, or have to turn away from the screen because of their ‘frustration.’ When we lost, the majority of the people in the room were basically unable to function socially – a number of them stormed out, so upset and angry they could not even speak. Sure, I was disappointed that we lost, but the intensity of their emotions was incomprehensible to me.

While watching the game, fans go on the emotional roller coaster ride of crying when we miss a point and screaming

Carrying On

by Kim Tay A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

into supporting certain teams, one undoubtedly feels resentment towards supporters of an opposing team.

There is also the separation between avid sports fans and those of us who are indifferent to sports: when I reveal my lack of knowledge of sports terms, I get called out for being ignorant. It is one of very few aspects of culture that manages to create such a sense of zealousness in its supporters,

ligence. It’s shaping generations of doctors, lawyers, and graduate students who care more about choosing the right option on a test than actually knowing anything, and that is unconscionable.

I’d like to think that there are some brain cells relaxing somewhere between my ears, and that I’ve been known on occasion to put them to good use. In fact, that’s a statement that could be used to describe Georgetown students on the whole. We study more than is healthy, we read journals for fun, and we argue with visiting dignitaries. We all know that we all have at least a modicum of intelligence, yet these tests won’t give us the chance to prove it when we most need to: for the sake of our futures.

My dream of becoming a doctor depends on how well I do on this one test, and I’ll grudgingly admit that I know I have to take it. I only hope that someone gets the bright idea of doing away the A, B, C, D, or Es of standardized testing and instead goes for none of the above.

Claire McDaniel is a junior in the College.

She’s just mad that since the writing section is gone, she can’t submit this to the MCAT for a grade. elatedly when we win one. And in the end, all of these feelings mean nothing, depending on whether their team wins or loses. It’s as if their best friends are out there playing for their lives Hunger Games-style, when in reality, they don’t know the players on the teams and in the big scheme of things, their lives are not truly affected by the outcome of the game.

Perhaps it’s the thrill of watching the underdog rise in a game that seemed doomed from the start, or the anticipation and hope felt during a tied game going into overtime.

Perhaps it’s the sense of kinship with all other supporters watching the game, or the feeling of being a part of the team without requiring any athletic ability. But to me, I cannot understand how any of this could be worth the waves of emotions that people undergo, or how it could be worth the time, energy, and other resources spent on predicting othe outcomes of games that will be revealed anyway in the near future.

I don’t think I’ll ever see the fun of being so invested in something that you have absolutely no control over. Just let me know if the Hunger Games is ever a thing. I’d watch that.

A special thanks to: fashion editors Julian de la Paz & Neha Ghanshamdas; photographers Daniel LaMagna & Maria Miracle; models Genevieve Burgoyne, Will Collins, Christopher Day, Zoe Disselkoen, Chloe Jones, Irene Kim, Charles Lee, Lucius Lee, Tiffany Lewis, Isaac Mishlove, Kelly Mosser, Sophie Snowden, Stefane Victor, Kimberly Yam, Raaghav and Dev Kirpalani-Vaz, & Rocco; crew Katherina Shabalov and Sebastian Sotelo

Turn to page 17 for the latest installment of 50 Shades of Blue & Gray