The Georgetown Voice, October 14, 2010

VOICE the georgetown

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FEWER PROTESTS, MORE MEETINGS FOR PLAN A PAGE 4

BRING IT ON: MADNESS OVERTAKES GEORGETOWN PAGE 6

SMALL BUDGET, BIG MONSTERS PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w October 14, 2010 w Volume 43, Issue 9 w georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

Hoyas, how long has it been?

LIVE

comments of the week “OMG! Best fall fashion yet. You guys totally took it to a new level of artistry and professionalism. Congrats. You all did an amazing job!”

—Chai,“Fall Fashion: Breaking the Fall”

basketball coverage all season.

“Are you kidding me? Columbus didn’t just “open” the continent cultural extermination. The man himself was a psychotic murderer. He certainly didn’t “civilize” the Americas in any way.”

—Really, “Oh Columbus Day, Columbus Day, why do you exist?”

“RUNNING A STUDENT RUN COMPANY IS EXTREMELY HARD. IT’S NOT LIKE DECIDING TO OPEN UP A LEMONADE STAND FOR THE DAY. IF YOU SAW WHAT GOES INTO MAKING EVERYTHING WORK, I THINK YOU WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE EMPATHETIC. IT’S NOT EASY. TRUST THAT WE KNOW WE ARE NOT PERFECT, AND THAT WE ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO BE BETTER..”

—A CORPIE, “CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, MY DAILY DOSE OF CAFÉ-AU-HELL”

“It’s simply a question of priorities, and simply put, the diversity initiative is not a priority of the provost’s office.”

—Anonymous, “Reaccreditation delays Diversity Initiative”

Follow us at www.twitter.com/GtownVoice and blog.georgetownvoice.com

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let the madness begin...

clarification In the Oct. 7 op-ed “Corporal punishment, my daily dose of café-au-hell,”author Julie Patterson failed to disclose the fact that she has previously applied for positions with the Corp. The Voice regrets the error.

Voice Crossword “Game’s Afoot’” by Mary Cass

ACROSS 1. 60s “Sunny” singer Bobby 5. Wall street degree 8. Salt’s musical counterpart

12. Ici ___ (Here and there, to Parisians) 13. Long period of time 14. Opera solo 15. College military org.

16. Singer King Cole

answers at georgetownvoice.com 17. Tiny bit 18. Tom Cruise breakout film?

23. French pronoun 24. Hair product 25. Petty cash?

32. Bug-eyed 33. OPEC member (abbr.)

34. Distressed cry 37. French wine classification 38. Part of a range (abbr.)

39. ___-wolf 40. Alter-ego Clark 42. Manila’s university 43. Queens stadium 44. Weekend apology?

49. Sis’s sib 50. Often found in a pod 51. One of the duo who created the first words of 18-, 25-, and 44- across 58. Foam footwear 60. Guy’s date 61. Home of the first caucus 62. Frisbee, e.g.

63. ___-lacto vegetarian 64. Ready for business 65. Mediocre 66. Triple ___ liqueur 67. Geek

DOWN 1. Frau’s partner 2. And you, in France 3. Diner orders 4. Unfinished business 5. Course list?

6. Feathered wraps 7. Against 8. Flowered pattern 9. Cupid’s Greek counterpart 10. Deep hole 11. Battery size 19. Casual yes 20. Science subj.

21. Grp. not associated with the feds 22. Nightfall, to poets 25. Hit on 26. Sherck’s people 27. People, places, and ___ 28. Like mashed potatoes

29. Greek New Age musician 30. Got together 31. Nintendo dinosaur 35. Roller coaster cry 36. X-ray blocker 41. Pipe filler 43. Radio choice 45. Elementary schooler’s big three 46. Seoul soldier 47. Bank abbr.

48. ___ Speedwagon 51. Grammatical case (abbr.)

52. They can easily be inflated 53. Rant 54. ___ Party (London band) 55. Obama’s keyword 56. Fancy pitcher 57. Atlas Shrugged author Ayn ___ 58. Music store offering 59. ___ de Janeiro

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

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 43.9 October 14, 2010 Editor-in-Chief: Juliana Brint Managing Editor: Molly Redden Editor-at-Large: Tim Shine Director of Technology: Alexander Pon Blog Editor: Chris Heller News Editor: Cole Stangler Sports Editor: Nick Berti Feature Editor: Sean Quigley Cover Editor: Holly Ormseth Leisure Editor: Brendan Baumgardner Voices Editor: Keaton Hoffman Photo Editor: Jackson Perry Design Editors: Megan Berard, Ishita Kohli Literary Editor: James McGrory Crossword Editor: Mary Cass Assistant Blog Editors: Geoffrey Bible, Julie Patterson Assistant News Editors: Emma Forster, Holly Tao Assistant Cover Editor: Marc Fichera Assistant Leisure Editors: Nico Dodd, Leigh Finnegan Assistant Photo Editors: Max Blodgett, Matthew Funk

Associate Editor: Iris Kim Staff Writers:

Thaddeus Bell, Tom Bosco, Kara Brandeisky, Matthew Collins, Matthew Decker, Kate Imel, Satinder Kaur, Matt Kerwin, Scott Munro, Sadaf Qureshi, Rob Sapunor, Abby Sherburne, Keenan Timko, Imani Tate, Tim Wagner, J. Galen Weber

Staff Photographers:

Helen Burton, Julianne Deno, Lexie Herman, Hilary Nakasone, Seun Oyewole, Audrey Wilson

Staff Designers: Richa Goyal, Lauren MacGuidwin, Amber Ren, Michelle Pliskin

Copy Chief: Matt Kerwin

Copy Editors: Emily Hessler, Tori Jovanovski, Claire McDaniel, Kim Tay

Editorial Board Chair: Hunter Kaplan Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Kara Brandeisky, Ethan Chess, Jackson Perry, Eric Pilch, Molly Redden, J. Galen Weber

Head of Business: Eric Pilch The Georgetown Voice

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Newsroom: (202) 687-6780 Fax: (202) 687-6763 E-Mail: 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 ... IDEV in Crisis Cover Graphic: Holly Ormseth

the georgetown voice 3

STILL IN DEVELOPMENT

Popular IDEV certificate deserves SFS support Less than two years ago, the International Development Certificate in the School of Foreign Service was thriving. It sponsored campus events, hosted résumé reviews, and helped students connect with alumni working in development-related fields. Today, 80 seniors in the School of Foreign Service are enrolled in the program, making it the most popular certificate in the SFS by far. But even so, the program is a mere shadow of what it used to be—and what it could be. Because of budget shortfalls, the SFS has slashed the program’s funding by more than 50 percent.

It is not too late to restore the program— but in order to do so the SFS must commit to giving the certificate the resources it requires and deserves. The certificate is incredibly popular, the cost of supporting it is not daunting, and its mission embodies the best of what the SFS is about. Increased funding would be a good start, but ultimately International Development should be more than a certificate. It is time to create a new program in International Development, open the program to students

in other undergraduate schools, and utilize Georgetown’s extensive alumni network in this field more effectively.

If International Development were a program, it would ensure that its students would have access to resources such as individualized career services, alumni networking events, and internship placement. It would also allow students in other undergraduate schools to receive a minor in international development. Given the certificate’s overwhelming popularity among SFS students, it is likely that students in other schools would also jump at the chance to learn about development.

Students studying international development at Georgetown have made a commitment to combat some of the most important challenges in the world today—global poverty and inequality—and deserve support for doing so. These students typify the Jesuit ideal of “men and women for others.” Through their work with organizations such as the World Bank, International Development

alumni increase the international reputation of Georgetown.

Instead of giving International Development students the support the deserve, though, the University has dramatically reduced its financial support for the certificate over the last two years. If it weren’t for the herculean efforts of a single program coordinator, Zara Khan (SFS ’07), students would have lost access to program resources long ago. When Khan resigned this week, the program lost its strongest voice and its only staff member. With Khan’s departure, the SFS will have to redouble its efforts to keep the program operating.

By so drastically underfunding popular programs, the SFS is alienating many of the students who have already committed to the certificate as well as future students who may be interested in pursuing the subject. The SFS must increase its institutional support for the International Development certificate, instead of abandoning one of its most popular programs to save a few thousand dollars.

IT’S BUSINESS TIME

Do they teach resource management in Hariri?

Imagine for a moment that it is 10 p.m. on a Tuesday during midterms week and you are meeting a few friends to review for an exam.

Traditional on-campus study spaces filled up hours ago. But the Rafik B. Hariri building is lined with rows of comfortable seats, tables, and discussion rooms that would suit your study group’s needs perfectly. There’s just one problem—the doors of the McDonough School of Business’s glittering new building are locked.

The Hariri building is one of the best study spaces on Georgetown’s crowded campus, but the University has intentionally put policies in place that make it very difficult for non-MSB students to study there. This is absurd, and Georgetown should allow students access to Hariri’s breakout rooms and facilities on a first-come, first-serve basis. Not only is the building inaccessible to non-business students after hours and on weekends, only

MSB students can reserve first-floor breakout rooms and spaces like the Shea Undergraduate Commons. Rooms on upper floors are reserved for graduate students, and are often empty and locked late at night when students living on campus could be using them.

Concern for the security of Hariri’s electronic equipment should not prevent Georgetown students from using the building and its resources. Other campus buildings such as the Intercultural Center are accessible even without a GoCard at all hours during the week. The University has solved the problem in this building by securing equipment with inexpensive locks and cables. If the University needs to make security arrangements before students can use Hariri, they should do so— on a campus constantly strained for a lack of resources, administrators cannot afford to let its existing facilities go underutilized.

Nowhere else on campus is there a building to which one undergraduate school has priority access over others. Tables in the ICC Galleria are not reserved for School of Foreign Service students, and College students do not have priority access to study carrels in Lauinger Library. With campus libraries overrun, the Intercultural Center lacking study space, and Sellinger Lounge unfit for quiet study, it’s difficult to find a suitable place to study in afternoons and evenings.

There is no conceivable reason why one portion of the student body should get special privileges based on their school affiliation when their needs are not much different from those of the rest of the student body. The Hariri building should be opened to students regardless of school affiliation or degree level.

Georgetown’s space deprived student body deserves nothing less.

AN UNCOMMON DECISION

GU admissions picks applicants over rankings As this year’s admissions process begins, thousands of high school students across the country will be applying to colleges using the Common Application, which an ever-increasing number of schools—including every school in the Ivy League—now accept. But none of those students will be able to send their Common Application to Georgetown University, which has recently garnered attention for being one of two U.S. News & World Report Top 20 schools that continues to use its own unique admissions application.

Georgetown deserves praise for sticking with its own application, which strengthens its ability to review applicants thoroughly while preventing the University’s application process from becoming overly inhuman.

Colleges claim that they use the Common Application to reduce the burden of applying to college and to increase accessibility to minority students, who filled out about a

third of the Common Applications created in the 2009-2010 admissions cycle. But prospective students, on average, fill out seven to eight applications apiece. This reveals that even making the application process easier does not reduce the workload for students.

And, as Georgetown’s Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon pointed out, Common Application administrators have not revealed the exact demographics of minority students who use their application.

The real reason colleges use the Common Application, though they rarely admit it, is to boost the size of their applicant pool. Thus, unless they simultaneously increase their acceptance rates, switching to the Common Application is often used by schools as a way to artificially decrease their acceptance rates.

Georgetown benefits from sticking with its own application. The University already has more than a sufficient number of appli-

cations, with roughly 10 applicants for every open spot. Switching to the Common Application would cause that ratio to swell, but as a result, applicants wouldn’t get as thorough of a review. An influx of applicants would also jeopardize Georgetown’s requirement that most applicants sit for an alumni interview. The only new applicants the Common Application would likely draw are students who are just applying to Georgetown because it’s easy, not because they truly want to study on the Hilltop.

Georgetown’s unique application sends the message to its prospective students that Georgetown values their individual application more than inflated ratings. That commitment to a thorough review of the whole applicant helps set Georgetown apart from its peers, and is a crucial first step in the University’s attempt to educate and value the whole person.

news

4 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

Plan A holding meetings with GU

by Gavin Bade & El Roberts Plan A Hoyas for Reproductive Justice, the reproductive advocacy group that drew attention this spring when its members chained themselves to the statue of John Carroll, is alive and well—but the average student would never know it.

Plan A was created last year to demand the on-campus sale of condoms, access to rape kits at Georgetown University Hospital, and a number of other changes to the University’s sexual health policies. This year, the group has abandoned its confronta-

tional approach in favor of a more private dialogue with University administrators.

However, administrators and Plan A members alike are staying tight-lipped about their discussions.

“I know there are colleagues who have been reaching out to have discussions,” Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson said. Olson would not specify which administrators have been involved in the meetings.

University spokeswoman Julie Green Bataille could not provide any details of the meetings either, but said that she anticipated a productive conversa-

cole stangler

Last semester’s protest at John Caroll’s statue might be the last of its kind.

tion between administrators and students.

“Plan A looks forward to working cooperatively with the university administration to make necessary changes to current university policies that negatively affect students’ sexual health,” a member of Plan A who wished to remain anonymous wrote in an email.

Plan A’s discrete conversations with the administration have gone unnoticed by students, even those involved with women’s rights groups.

Alex Miller (COL ‘11), president of H*yas for Choice, one of two groups whose leaders formed Plan A in the spring, was not even aware the group still existed. Although Miller was present at the inception of Plan A last year, she hadn’t seen any evidence that the group was active this year.

H*yas for Choice Vice President Morgan McDaniel (SFS ‘13) even said that Plan A “doesn’t exist anymore.” McDaniel is also one of the many students who was frustrated by some of the group’s highprofile tactics last year, even though she ultimately supported the group’s goals. “[Plan A’s strategy] is just

going to piss off the administration. It’s just going to piss off fellow students,” McDaniel said. “I think they sort of got caught up in the spirit of the revolution.”

The leading members of Plan A, including all four students who chained themselves to the John Carroll statue, were seniors.

McDaniel suspected that this contributed to the group’s radical strategic approach.

Even if the group has abandoned its most provocative tactics, the remaining members still have an uphill battle when it comes to convincing Georgetown’s Catholic groups and conservative students.

“It was complete, whether willful or unwillful, ignorance of, and disregard for, the thinking and understanding of Jesuit ideals, Jesuit mission and spirituality,” Kieran Raval (COL ‘13) said of Plan A. Raval is staff editor of the university’s only Catholic newspaper, the Georgetown Academy.

“I think it (Plan A) came out of a larger context: the unfortunate misunderstanding about what it means to be a Catholic university,” said Nick Cantirino (COL ‘11), the Academy’s editorin-chief.

News Hit

GU applies for bonds

Georgetown’s new science center could receive a major boost in funding thanks to a application recently submitted by the University for $90 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds. Associate Vice President of External Relations Linda Greenan announced the application at an Oct. 4 meeting of Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Comission.

Approximately $74 of the $90 million of the bond revenue is targeted for the science center, according to an email from Associate Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille.

The science center is a projected $98.5 million project, and is on track to open in the fall of 2012. The project was stalled due to insufficient funding, but it was revived by a $6.9 million federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

As DeGioia explained in a Sept. 1 interview, the biggest financial challenge for the University will be maintenance of the new science building once construction is completed. The addition of the bonds will enable the University to cover the cost of construction and support ongoing operating costs once the center opens.

—Emma Forster

On the record with potential Post pundit Conor Williams On Wednesday evening, Georgetown PhD candidate Conor Williams (GOV ’11) discussed his entry to the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” essay competition with the Voice. At the time of publication, Williams’ essay about the impact of the D.C. mayoral election on education reform, “Real Education Reform,” was in fifth place. Interview conducted and transcribed by Emma Forster.

Hi, how are you?

A little nervous! The gap’s closed quite a bit in the last 24 hours. I was in first place for quite a while, but as of about midday today I’ve been holding onto fifth by the skin of my teeth.

So why do you think that you should win the contest? What do you think sets your piece apart from the other people who wrote about education reform?

Well, for one, of all the pieces in the competition about education reform, I’m the only actual current teacher. I did Teach for America for two years, I taught in inner-city schools in Brooklyn, New York. …

I think that personal experience, that practical experience, is really what I can offer that really no other candidate can.

I also spend a lot of time writing and thinking about progressivism . … I probably fall somewhere on the spectrum between moderate and progressive. Although again, being anti-teachers’ unions makes that problematic as well.

I’m also very concerned and very interested in environmental issues. I spend a lot of time thinking about global warming and I’m working on a piece about American oil dependency and the energy crisis, particularly in the context of the oil spill in the Gulf. So I’m somewhere left of center, but I don’t think I’m very far left of center.

Are you interested in being a journalist, or was this contest a onetime thing?

Being in graduate school, I’m writing my dissertation right now.

My proposal is currently in the works. … So on the one hand I’d

really like to pursue a career in academia. The students I’ve had at Georgetown have been fantastic, the sections that I have right now are amongst the best students that I’ve ever had and there’s a lot of things in a personal aspect that appeal to me.

But at the same time, I wrote a piece for Dissent Magazine … and 8,000 people read it within about a week. There are very few academics professors out there who write something that gets that kind of attention. I certainly wouldn’t close the door to journalism. I also wouldn’t close the door to working in policy or D.C. think tanks.

So how did you find out about this competition?

I’m an avid reader of the Post. I’m also a former teaching assistant [for Post columnist] E.J. Dionne. That’s pretty much where I got [the idea] from. I sort of thought my piece was good enough to get me into the top 50, but I didn’t really think it would be anywhere near the running. But there it is!

What is your plan if you win the contest?

I hate to be trite about this, but on Monday I saw Waiting for Superman [and] I got really emotional, really choked up and passionate about what I had been doing when I was a teacher. … Whether I go back into the classroom ever to teach for the state again or not, I’m going to make education reform the absolute prime point of what I do. Whether

it’s in journalism or academics, that’s something I want to make the most important.

If I don’t win? You know, hey, I’ve got a couple of pieces— including another for Dissent Magazine, which will be going up in the next week or two—and I’m just going to continue to write things that are pertinent, that are provocative, and that are interesting to people.

courtesy conor williams

news

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the georgetown voice 5

Georgetown comes out of the closet GU leans Democratic

by Thad Bell “Come out, come out, come out!”

Echoing the words of famed San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk, that is what GU Pride Co-Programming Chair Lisa Frank (COL ’13) said when asked about the mes-

sage of Georgetown’s Coming Out Week.

GU Pride is hosting a series of events as part of National Coming Out Week for the sixth consecutive year. At Georgetown, organizers want the week’s events to increase the visibility of the University’s LGBT community on campus, especially among stu-

leXi Herman

GU Pride opened up the closet in Red Square as part of Coming Out Week.

dents who do not personally know gay people, JC Hodges (SFS ’11), the treasurer of GU Pride, said.

“Another goal is to show people who might not be out and visiting students that there is a LGBTQ community on campus,” GU Pride co-programming chair Rehana Mohammed (SFS ’12) said.

Nationwide, Coming Out Week is taking place shortly after several teens who were bullied because of their sexual orientation committed suicide. But members of GU Pride are not focusing on the negative this week.

“Every year, these things happen,” Mohammed said.

“We stick to schedule and we just come out.”

Events kicked off on Monday night with a performance of Dear Harvey, a play comprised of real letters sent to Harvey Milk or writings by the gay advocate, who was assassinated in 1978. According to the play’s director, Visiting Professor of Theater Susan Lynskey, the production aimed to “help shine a light on all of the events and programming of the entire week.”

It was a somber way to begin what Mohammed called “a week-long celebra-

Georgetown students need to work together The closer we get to the midterms, the less Democrats and Republicans can agree on. The Republicans are the party of no; the Democrats are the party of “maybe, after I’m reelected.” National leaders could use a lesson from our peers in the Georgetown University College Democrats, the Georgetown University College Republicans, and the Georgetown Israel Alliance.

The three groups recently announced their cooperation in outlining a common set of principles about Israeli-Palestinian relations. The resulting document, which will be fully revealed in an upcoming ad campaign, recognizes the state of Israel, calls for a two-state solution, and op-

poses Iran’s nuclear program.

According to Kevin Preskenis (COL ’12), the chief of staff for the College Republicans, the GIA approached the two political groups about the idea last spring. Over the past semester, the executive boards of all three groups had a series of meetings to draft the document.

The move is, of course, mostly symbolic. College students have little to no influence over foreign policy.

The document does not even necessarily represent the majority of members in College Republicans and College Democrats—the executive boards of each group, not the general memberships, voted on the proposal. But I still consider the document a very

positive step, if for no other reason, because it draws attention to the need for student groups at Georgetown to overcome divisions.

Georgetown is a very fractured campus. Many student groups keep to themselves or in rare cases partner with

saxa Politica

by Kara Brandeisky A bi-weekly column on campus news and politics

groups who have similar interests. United Feminists may work with H*yas for Choice, MeCHA may work with the NAACP, and GU Republican Women may work with Women in Politics. But rarely do two groups with diametrically opposed goals decide to

megan BerarD

The majority of the $71,115 donated by Georgetown employees to political campaigns or groups went to Democratic candidates or organizations. A recent study of university employees’ political donations from the Center for Responsible Politics showed that Georgetown’s data follows a nationwide trend in which American colleges tend to favor Democratic candidates. tion of the whole rainbow of identities.”

At Tuesday’s “Come OUT in Red Square,” GU Pride members, unmistakable in their matching purple t-shirts gathered in Red Square and talked to passersby and danced to Lady Gaga songs. Behind them stood a door that allowed

work together and find common ground.

In times of crisis, Georgetown’s fractures start to show.

Whenever there is a bias-related crime, student protest, or incidence of insensitivity, the same groups come out and ask us to have a dialogue.

Then, despite their efforts to engage the rest of the student body, those groups mostly talk amongst themselves.

Many of us looked forward to college because we wanted to meet people who were different from us and encounter new perspectives.

Georgetown in particular trumpets its history as a center for interreligious dialogue. But as a campus, we don’t live our values. “Pluralism in Action” shouldn’t just be a slightly awkward New Student Orientation event. It should be a life-

people to symbolically come out. Blake Johnson (COL ’14), GU Pride’s publicity chair, said that students were encouraged to publicly declare their sexual identity with the door.

“Even for those who are out to family and friends, it’s another thing to say it publicly,” Johnson said.

style—but it isn’t.

Georgetown as an institution can only go so far in promoting dialogue and common ground among its various student groups. It’s easy to point a finger at the University for failing to foster a better community spirit—but current students need to accept some responsibility for actually engaging with their peers on important issues that affect campus life.

Kudos to the student leaders who reached across the political aisle to engage their opponents and find things they could agree on. We would all do well to follow their example with substantive projects that will make a difference in student life.

Want somebody who’s open to just about anything? Email Kara at kbrandeisky@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

Late collapse dooms Hoyas in double OT thriller

by Daniel Kellner The terrible feeling of defeat is never easy to deal with, especially after victory is within sight. On Saturday, the Georgetown football team fell victim to a fourth-quarter comeback for the second time this season, when they were outplayed by Wagner University and lost 22-16 in a thrilling double overtime classic at Multi-Sport Field.

Wagner is a non-conference opponent, and the loss will not impact the Hoyas’ Patriot League title chances. But that distinction will provide little consolation to the Hoyas, who lost out on a chance to celebrate a winning game on their home field.

Despite taking a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Hoyas failed to put the game away, leaving the door open for Wagner’s kicker David Lopez to drill a monstrous 54-yard field goal with six seconds left in regulation to tie the game. The kick was set up by an interception that prevented the Hoyas from potentially running more time off the clock.

After trading field goals in the first overtime period, Wagner’s Keith Davis intercepted an errant pass from junior quarterback Scott Darby. He took it 80 yards to the opposing end zone to seal the win for the Seahawks. It was the second time this season that the Hoyas lost on the final play, having lost to Yale in the third week of the season on a quarterback run as time expired.

“It was a crazy field goal, but they should have never have been in position to get that,” offensive captain and senior left tackle Dan Semler said. “We had a lot of opportunities to finish and that’s what we’re focusing on this week.

Just finishing the game.”

It was a frustrating day for Darby. Despite his impressive ball management skills this season, he had three interceptions on Saturday, including the gameending play. Darby finished with just 68 passing yards on 10 of 24 completions with no passing touchdowns.

But head coach Kevin Kelly said that a variety of things allowed Wagner to steal the game.

“It’s more than just Scott throwing interceptions,” Kelly said. “It was protection issues … he got hit and the ball pops up. So it’s not always the quarterback.”

In fact, Darby’s legs accounted for the Hoyas’ only touchdown of the game when he scored from 12 yards out to give Georgetown a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Junior kicker Brett Weiss added a 29-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give the Hoyas a 10-0 lead going into the half. The lead was held after a commanding performance by the Georgetown defense, which has still not allowed a score in the first half at home this season.

The defense stifled Wagner quarterback Nick Doscher, who was intercepted four times on the afternoon. This provided the Georgetown offense with some precious assistance as they struggled to move the ball against the speedy Wagner defense.

“Coach told us about making the team one-dimensional and we were able to do that,” said junior cornerback Jayah Kaisamba, who had a standout performance with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. “Once the ball is in the air, as defense, we got to act like we’re the receivers and we just go up there and get it.”

As for the offense, which was held to just 2.8 yards per pass and 3.4 yards per rush, the players re-

Georgetown let Wagner slip out of their grasp in the second half.

JACKSON PERRY

main confident from their early season successes, despite their struggles in recent weeks to convert crucial opportunities.

“The scheme ain’t broke,” Semler said. “There’s not going to be any major changes. If we do the little things we’ll be an explosive offense any day.”

The Hoyas will look to redeem themselves next week against a team that may be their weakest opponent in the Patriot

League this season, Bucknell University. Bucknell will enter the contest having won only one game since beating the Hoyas 14-6 last year. Nevertheless, Kelly is not underestimating his conference opponent.

“They’re 0-5, but those were non-league games for them,” he said. “They have the same goal that we do and right now they’re undefeated in the Patriot League.”

The game is a must-win if the

Hoyas hope to keep within sight of Colgate at the top of the Patriot League standings. Anything but a win would likely spell the end of the Hoyas’ exciting chase for the Patriot League title and give them their first losing record of the 2010 campaign. It’s familiar territory that Georgetown wants to avoid.

“It’s a Patriot League game and home game,” Semler said.

“We’ve got to win it, and we’re going to win it.”

The Sports Sermon “They’re reeling right now from Brett Favre’s assault.”— ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski during the Jets-Vikings Monday Night Football game

termined. It will also be the last time we see the backcourt duo of Chris Wright When the clock strikes 8 and Austin Freeman. Rep.m. on Friday and the doors cently confirmed to be peropen for Midnight Madness, forming, Washington D.C. it will signal the change of the rapper Wale will probably season for the Georgetown give the best musical perforsports fan. mance McDonough has seen Let’s be real, for most stu(sorry T-Pain). dents there are only two sports Can a celebratory season seasons on the Hilltop—baskickoff where the highestketball season and basketball stakes competition that will offseason.

Midnight Madtake place is a dance conness is the start of the better test between JTIII and Jack one. As much as I love talking the Bulldog tell us anything about recruiting and having about the upcoming season? the never-ending debate about There is no way we’ll be able whether the Princeton offense to tell if Henry is good for the Pete Rose Central Sims finally figHoyas or not, I’d Da bettin’ line ured out how to rather be sitting in play defense or the student section, Margin Dookies Hoyas whether Jason watching George(duh!) (underdogs) Clark retained his town destroy Duke (favorites) while hanging out Thiele Toilet Madness strong shooting Wale stroke from last with Barack.

Giants Doc-tober Halladay season. The only Not only is Hoyas Lady Hoyas] ]]]]]] Dance-off thing we can look Midnight Madfor is an omen. al thoughts. It doesn’t matter ness a great opportunity to We should’ve known our anymore that we lost to Ohio see new players, cheer for season was doomed last year and Rutgers last year—as of returning upperclassmen, after a misguided freshman Friday, the Hoyas will be unand maybe even get some stole a park police officer ’s defeated, and no one can take target practice in the bathgun and shot a toilet. The that from them—at least not room, it signifies a fresh demons didn’t show up until until the opening tip. start. After three consecutive the NCAA tournament, but Although Midnight Madpostseason flameouts, that is they showed up. ness is very similar every something that Hoya BasketThis year at Midnight year, with the same player ball fans have been dying to Madness, I’m not going introductions, a ridiculous get. The old adage “there’s to watch Austin Freeman Henry Sims dance routine, always next year” never shooting threes or Chris and a game of knockout, comforts a fan after their faWright driving to the hoop. there is always something vorite team’s season has just I want to see a distinct sign different. This year Greg ended disappointingly. It is that will tell me we will have Monroe will be absent from only when “next year” actua great season this year. I the festivities, at least in ally arrives that the fan is don’t know what that might uniform—whether he will happy again. be, but I have a feeling I’ll return to unveil his NBA jerAfter a humiliating loss to know it when I see it. sey himself is yet to be deOhio in the first round of the

by Nick Berti

NCAA Tournament, Midnight Madness is just what the doctor ordered for the Hoyas and their fans. Although the season doesn’t start until Nov. 12, when Georgetown will play at Old Dominion, the celebration will mark the end of last year’s disappointing finish and will be the start of what Hoya fans hope will be a memorable season. There is no better time to be a college basketball fan—well, besides March—but the entire season is ahead of us now.

‘Tis the season of ridiculous predictions and delusion-

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Soccer takes two on road trip The Georgetown women’s soccer team hit the road this week for a string of four away games, and so far they’ve come out the winners against two Big East opponents.

The team took on the Cincinnati Bearcats (7-6-1), whose offense got an early lead when they scored in the 13th minute. The Hoyas regained control late in the first half and evened the score with a goal by senior midfielder Caitlin Durkee from outside of the box. From then on, the stifling Georgetown defense held Cincinnati scoreless. With the momentum from the tying goal, Georgetown entered the second half strong and beat the Bearcats 3-1 on two goals, from juniors Ingrid Wells and Camille Trujillo, which were just five minutes apart.

After the big win against Cincinnati, the squad headed to Kentucky

KATHY SHABALOV

Road warriors: The Hoyas are finishing strong away from the Hilltop.

Re-playoffs

Somewhere in Major League Baseball’s excruciatingly long 136page rulebook, a provision in Section 9.2 reads, “If there is reasonable doubt that any umpire’s decision may be in conflict with the rules, the manager may appeal the decision and ask that a correct ruling be made. Such appeal shall be made only to the umpire who made the protested decision.” After a season marred by umpire miscues and the already controversial first week of the American League Division Series and National League Division Series, it has never been clearer: baseball needs instant replay so that a correct ruling can be made.

I’m as much a baseball purist as anyone. I hate the designated hitter.

I hate artificial turf. I hate steroids.

I hate over-the-top celebrations. I hate anything that challenges the integrity of the game.

While I used to believe that instant replay fell into the aforementioned category, I’m finding it harder and harder to justify that opinion.

All baseball fans remember the Armando Galarraga-Jim Joyce fiasco in June that caused so much controversy and debate. Galarraga’s name will be forever tied to Jim Joyce, and it will also forever be missing from the short list of 18 pitchers who have thrown perfect games since 1901.

The Galarraga incident is far and away the biggest memory of 2010’s umpiring miscues, but it’s not even the most important. Umpire mistakes have been rampant

On Friday, the Hoyas will travel to Pittsburgh, where they will play a weak Panthers team that is currently sitting at the bottom of the Big East standings. After their stay in Pennsylvania they will head for the mountains, where they will play West Virginia, a team that is currently 5-1-1 in the conference.

Nolan expects both games to be tough since the Hoyas have reached the point in the season where teams up their game as wins become even more valuable.

“We’re trying to fight for home field advantage in the Big East tournament and it’s going to be a good game, ” Nolan said.

Wells said that “playing away is never easy,” and that the team needs to focus on Friday’s game against Pitt and nothing else.

Still, it’s hard not to look ahead with the season in its home stretch.

“We still have four extremely important games left on our schedule,” Wells said. “It’s important [that] we get results on the road”.

By taking the season one game at a time, the Hoyas have put themselves in a good position for the NCAA tournament. At this point, the Hoyas need to buckle down and focus on finishing strong. Last year, the women had a comparable record at this point in the season, but they let a few games slip, and did not advance as far as they had hoped. This year, Wells and the Hoyas are back for the Big East.

“Good teams find a way to win, and that’s what we need to do from here on out,” Wells said. ever since the calendar turned to October, the holiest of holies in the baseball schedule.

During game one of the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants series, Giants catcher Buster Posey was mistakenly called safe when trying to steal second base. Posey

Backdoor Cuts

by Tom Bosco

a rotating column on sports later came around to score the game’s only run later in the inning, helping the Giants win 1-0.

Similarly, in game one of the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins series, Yankees right fielder Greg Golson caught a line drive off the bat of Delmon Young with two outs in the ninth inning, but the

Steve Neumann

What Rocks

by Abby Sherburne

to face Big East foe Louisville (9-5-0).

Once again, Georgetown jumped out to a lead towards the end of the first half with a goal by freshman Alexa St. Martin. As in the previous game, Wells and Trujillo both scored in the second half to push the lead to 3-0.

The Louisville Cardinals managed to get on the scoreboard once before the end of the game, but their efforts were not enough to beat the Hoyas.

With the two wins, the Hoyas improved to 11-4-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the Big East. But they still have two more games on their road trip before they head back to North Kehoe Field.

While their schedule may look tough, sometimes playing on the road is better than being in the comfort of the home field.

“It’s easier to stay focused on the game because you can keep the team together,” head coach Dave Nolan said.

Courtesy SPORTS INFORMATION

While the Georgetown men’s soccer team has had many ups and downs so far this season, one player has been as steady as they come. Steve Neumann is far and away the team leader in points, with six goals and five assists. The second leading scorer only has two goals and four assists. What makes Neumann’s performance all the more impressive is that he is a freshman, and he has only started one game this season.

“He comes on and he knows his role is to change the game,” head coach Brian Wiese said.

“He plays to his strengths, and he’s just really good.”

In high school, Neumann played on a national championship-winning club team out of Philadelphia. Wiese said Neumann made that team run.

“I knew I could contribute,” Neumann said. “It’s just good to

umpire ruled it a trap. This allowed Jim Thome to step to the plate as the potential tying run.

Thome made the game’s final out and the Yankees came away with the win, but the umpires put the Yankees in a situation where one of the game’s greatest power hitters of all time could have tied the ballgame in the bottom of the ninth—even though he had no business being at the dish.

These instances—and the hordes of others—prove that the MLB should institute a fullyfledged instant replay system that covers every single call on the field except balls and strikes. (Balls and strikes will always be too sacred for technology to touch). Let each coach have two challenges a game.

Baseball—like any other game

be able to get out there and get some playing time.”

The freshman has been on an especially torrid pace as of late. Last Wednesday, Neumann scored two goals to lift the Hoyas past American University for a 3-2 victory. Over the weekend, he managed to score the lone goal of the game against Providence, giving Georgetown a Big East win.

On Wednesday, Neumann added two more goals and an assist in a blowout win over Seton Hall.

The Hoyas look to finish strong the final two weeks of the regular season, starting with a game at home this weekend against Villanova. With the fresh-faced Neumann coming off the bench, the Hoyas are poised to conclude the season with success— and maybe even a deep run into the Big East Tournament and beyond.

—Adam Rosenfeld

of antiquity—is resistant to change.

The game let the spit ball and steroids compromise the competition for far too long before it put an end to either of the now-illegal practices.

But it is too much to ask umpires to be perfect all the time. In a sport where the game’s best hitters succeed three times out of 10, it is illogical to ask umpires to be correct 10 times out of 10.

With an instant replay system, Major League Baseball can ensure that calls are made on what happened, not on what umpires perceived to have happened. They can ensure that calls are correct. And that is ultimately in the best interest of the game’s integrity.

Join Tom in his march to Selig at tbosco@georgetownvoice.com

feature

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feature

georgetownvoice.com

october 14, 2010

the georgetown voice 9

80

International Development

ARRESTED INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

27 17 16 16

A certificate program on the brink

by Jackson Perry Zara Khan (SFS ’07) has had enough. During her 18 months as the program coordinator of the International Development certificate—the most popular certificate in the School of Foreign Service—the SFS deans have repeatedly slashed the certificate’s budget, eliminating student services despite a meteoric rise in enrollment in the certificate. So yesterday, citing the SFS’s disheartening lack of commitment to the certificate, she resigned.

Enrollment in the International Development, or IDEV, certificate has increased substantially each year since its establishment in 2006. Currently, 80 seniors plan to graduate with the certificate at the end of this year, nearly three times the number of students who plan to graduate with the next most popular certificate, Asian Studies.

But despite its persistent growth, the IDEV certificate’s budget has continually suffered massive cuts. While the deans are not allowed to disclose exact figures, the SFS cut the program’s budget in half in 2009, even after a 300 percent increase in enrollment over the previous two years. For the current academic year, the budget was

sliced another 10 percent.

Since she took the helm of the program, no one has been more important in managing and running the certificate program than Khan. She fulfilled the duties of program coordinator even though the University only paid her as an hourly, temporary worker. This summer and for the first five weeks of the school year, she worked as an unpaid volunteer while the certificate director, Professor Maria Luise Wagner, unsuccessfully attempted to secure a full-time position for her. Since it is clear that no such position is going to materialize, Khan has decided to accept a post with a non-governmental organization in Rwanda that focuses on food security and strengthening agricultural value chains.

“My departure from Georgetown is not related to salary or budget cuts,” Khan wrote in her resignation letter. “I am leaving because the support from SFS which I had asked for did not materialize.”

Khan’s resignation will only increase the doubt surrounding the future of International Development at Georgetown.

Student enthusiasm for the program may be high, but with a

JACKSON PERRY

Showing the way: Wagner has directed the IDEV certificate since its inception.

meager budget, and the departure of one of the two core faculty members, the IDEV certificate is facing serious challenges.

And unless the University increases its financial commitment to the certificate, it may be headed for failure.

The history of International Development at Georgetown is a short one. Upon returning to Georgetown in 2001 after a sixyear stint at the World Bank, Wagner noticed that international development was absent from the undergraduate curriculum.

“I typed development into the Georgetown search engine,” she said, “and there wasn’t really anything worthwhile that was happening here.”

She first proposed an undergraduate certificate in international development to the SFS Curriculum Committee in 2002.

Two years later, President John DeGioia became interested in increasing Georgetown’s focus on global poverty after attending the 2004 World Economic Forum.

In the spring of 2005, DeGioia established a flagship course with then-Professor Carol Lancaster entitled “Ethics and Global Development,” for which over 100 students registered. Energized by the course’s popularity, Georgetown invited leaders in the field of development as guest lecturers.

As DeGioia initiated Georgetown’s first forays into development, student support for an undergraduate program in international development began to appear.

“This had the potential to be something more than just a student organization,” Jonathan Kirschner (SFS ’05), co-founder of Students for Development Studies at Georgetown, said. “[It was] something that could have

a broader impact on the University community.”

In the fall of 2005, to demonstrate to the University that SFS students were interested in an IDEV program, members of a student organization called Our Moment took impromptu surveys of undergraduates on the appeal of a development studies program and held an international development conference at Georgetown to promote awareness of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

During that time, the President’s Office actively engaged with students who were interested in an undergraduate program in development.

“They used to bring us for pizza,” Khan said. “They used to get five or ten of us, sit down with pizza, and have a talk about what we wanted to do about development.” The SFS officially approved the certificate in spring 2006.

In Fall 2007, the SFS, under then-Dean Robert Gallucci, increased the budget of the certificate to the level of a program in light of the increased student interest. In November of that year, DeGioia declared in a speech at the State Department, “Helping to promote human development is one of the most important functions for universities in this new century. … I’d argue it’s also our most important moral responsibility.”

Since 2007, however, the program’s budget has gone nowhere but down. The latest budget cuts, combined with Khan’s departure, mean that many of the services previously offered to students are no longer feasible. Unless more funding is allocated by the SFS, the program’s networking meet-ups, on-campus events, student résumé evaluation services, weekend skills workshops, career services, and internship placement program—offerings that helped make the certificate as popular as it is today—will all be eliminated for the next academic year.

The program’s budget problems partly stem from its unique status within the SFS. Every other certificate is associated with a larger program, which can help provide institutional support, manpower, and funding. The Arab Studies certificate, for example, is a part of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. But there is no larger program or center for international development at Georgetown.

IDEV’s isolation leaves it more vulnerable to shifts in SFS leadership and financial conditions. Unlike other certificates, the IDEV Certificate receives its funding directly from the SFS, which means its budget is overseen by academic deans who have many other responsibilities.

“We are living in constrained times in terms of budgets and have lots of priorities,” SFS Dean Carol Lancaster wrote in an email. “We are planning to do a review of the program in the next year and will consider all relevant issues, including budgetary ones.”

The budget cuts have been disappointing to students who were initially attracted to the

program’s impressive offering of services.

“I decided to be an IDEV Certificate candidate because it was the most robust certificate in terms of support and programming,” Josh Mogil (SFS ’09), the president of the SFS Academic Council, said. “I liked those requirements because they ensured that while I had a rigorous academic experience, I also had the support of the program and its mentors.”

Student organizations have also been affected by the budget reduction, since the certificate used to sponsor many campus events.

“The cuts to the IDEV budget are having significant effects on the quality of programming put on by student groups related to international development,” said Bridget O’Loughlin (SFS ’11), former President of STAND and an IDEV certificate candidate.

Last year, STAND could not hold DarfurFEAST, an annual fundraising event that showcased Sudanese culture and food, in part because IDEV could not sponsor the event.

Sponsored alumni network-

ing events—hugely important for students starting careers in international development— were central to the program. But Wagner has been forced to begin hosting these events informally at her house because there is no space in the budget for them.

Courtney Ivins (SFS ’10), an IDEV certificate graduate, had to host an alumni event in her Burleith townhouse last year for the same reason.

“It’s almost getting ridiculous,” Ivins said.

Last summer’s internship placement program was heavily competitive and highly popular because it placed certificate students in fieldwork positions with organizations like the World Bank.

“They were just incredible because of the fact that they were in-country,” certificate candidate Katalyn Voss (SFS ’11) said. “That experience is so valuable for any development work.”

But that program has suffered, too. Because of the budget cuts, Brett Nadrich (SFS ’12) was the only certificate candidate who was able to do a programsponsored internship last sum-

IDEV Certificate Graduates and Candidates

46 40

25 11 ‘08

‘09

‘10

‘11

Arab Studies Justice & Peace Studies Latin American Studies

15

80

‘07

Asian Studies

COURTESY BECKY BAVINGER

Rise up: Members of STAND demostrate interest in the IDEV program in 2005.

African Studies

Class of 2011 certificate candidates

10 10 10

Women & Gender Studies Muslim-Christian Relations

European Studies

8

Jewish Civilization

As of Oct 8; data from IBD, CANZ, MVST, CERES, PST not available. mer. He called the internship, work with a World Bank project in Colombia last summer, “the single best career opportunity I’ve had.” But he may be the last intern IDEV places. There are currently no plans to continue the program in 2011.

“The certificate is going to keep growing even after I graduate, and I don’t want to see people losing the opportunities that I had,” Nadrich said.

In addition, the one-credit course designed to give school credit to students with internships related to development, INAF-303, will no longer be available. All internship assistance, personalized career services, and close student supervision will end next semester.

The certificate’s financial woes will only be compounded

by Khan’s departure. Her energetic, engaging personality and over-the-top dedication to helping certificate candidates with everything from their studies to their post-graduation career prospects was a big factor in the program’s expanding popularity.

When he established the certificate in 2006, Gallucci was concerned that the SFS would not be able to provide the institutional support necessary to maintain the program’s staff. With budget cuts, he feared, administrators could be overworked, which would endanger the vitality of the certificate.

“One way to do something

interesting in the curriculum at Georgetown or anywhere else is to have people just work harder and do more,” Gallucci said.

“That’s not adding resources, it’s adding missions without adding resources, and that is not a good long-term strategy.

It takes advantage of people, it exhausts people, and ultimately it doesn’t institutionalize the addition.”

It is unclear whether the University will hire a replacement for Khan, but it is certain that the certificate program will miss her.

“I think that her leaving will drastically shape the direction of the program and its potential for impact,” said Nate Barker (SFS ’12), a certificate candidate and Vice President of UNICEF Georgetown. “Without Zara, all the features of the program that exist beyond just the classes are essentially eliminated or reduced to the point of not being effective. I really have serious doubts about whether the certificate will be able to exist beyond just a collection of classes in her absence.”

Wagner, too, will certainly miss the contributions of her former partner. “[Khan] has been the soul of the certificate,” she said. “We have been the most wonderful team that I could imagine.”

Although Khan meant a great deal to the program, students and faculty expressed confidence in Wagner ’s ability to run the program in her absence.

“Professor Wagner is one of the most incredible professors in the SFS today,” Mogil wrote in an email, “She is not just an intellectual powerhouse with the experience to back it up, but also a wonderful teacher, as well as a mentor and a friend.”

Wagner admits that it will be difficult to manage the certificate by herself. She has requested to meet with Dean Lancaster about the program’s financial and administrative future, but no such meeting has occurred yet.

Between continuously increasing enrollment, financial constraints, and the departure of Khan, Wagner said the program will have to undergo a process of “reorientation” to stay afloat.

Khan, however believes the program will survive in her absence. She attributes a large part of the certificate’s success to students themselves.

“The driving force behind the certificate’s growth and success has been the tremendous student interest in international development,” she said. “The certificate is merely a mechanism for students to channel their passion. … So long as the interest is there, the certificate will continue.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

Aloneinhisroom,Edwards creates Monsters

by Brendan Baumgardner

There’s nothing new about a young filmmaker venturing out on his own and making an independent pet project. Most of the time, these are low-budget affairs that shuck special effects in favor of small-scale stories and clever writing. Some are brilliant, but budgetary restraints and production limitations guarantee that most are just film festival fodder.

Clearly, Gareth Edwards never got this message. Edwards is the British writer-director behind Monsters, the independent science fiction flick that’s as slick as any blockbuster you’ll see. And it was all made for a few thousandths of the cost.

Edwards is part of a burgeoning group of filmmakers who have embraced digital technology to circumvent the obstacles that traditionally made filmmaking so prohibitively expensive for unknowns. Monsters, for example, features dozens of effects shots—from hundred-meter creatures to bombed-out cityscapes to exploding tanks—which were all created digitally by Edwards himself on his home computer.

While this does require a very specific set of skills, it also allows

a huge amount of creative control. It also means he will have an intimate understanding of his limitations and, ideally, an urge to exceed them.

“I’m honest, I did it because I felt that no one had made a film that they shot very guerrilla, in a very digital, lo-fi way but added large production values and computer graphics on their own,” Ed-

But you can’t mount an Everest expedition overnight, and you can’t succeed in low-budget filmmaking without a careful plan of attack.

“There’s a fundamental limit to the number of effects shots you can do [by yourself]. You can’t do War of the Worlds,” Edwards said. “It was then like, ‘Let’s play to our strengths. Let’s

tionship that develops between the two leads, a man and woman thrown together by circumstance who have to trek across the ‘infected zone.’ It’s a sort of romantic road movie, with subtle performances that draw more on Broken Flowers than Close Encounters—though Edwards admits that both movies influence the film strongly.

It turns out that the most vile monster of all is man ... Or maybe it’s that four-hundred-foot-tall octopus. wards explained. “I felt like we had to try and make that movie, because I felt we could.”

Edwards talks about making Monsters like sportsmen talk about climbing Everest. It’s an obstacle to be overcome, and not for the glory but simply for the sake of the accomplishment.

make the kind of movie Hollywood wouldn’t make.’”

For Monsters, that meant keeping the focus of the film intimate. While it is visually defined by destruction and death in an alien-ravaged Mexico, these are more setting than plot.

The heart of the film is the rela-

tic Night and interest from WGTB in broadcasting a live performance, the self-styled “piano rock” artist is pushing his exposure even further.

Now, as his time at Georgetown is ending and he closes in on a desk job, Ward has committed to going out with a bang. He bought himself a shiny new keyboard this summer, and in August, he released his first full-length album, Things That Fools Do, on iTunes.

“It’s always sort of been a hobby,” Ward said. “For the last three years that’s what it’s been. … I realized this year, this might be the last time I’ll have the time to do this.”

Ward’s story is very much that of the musician in the digital age.

He records all of his music himself on Apple’s Garageband, he promotes himself on Facebook, Myspace and Vimeo, and finds venues to play at over the Internet.

“I was like, I need to get a website up,” Ward said. And he did. Ward’s web presence now includes pages on Facebook, Myspace, and Vimeo.

But being a self-sufficient, Internet-based artist doesn’t mean Ward lacks a sense of professionalism, which is probably something he picked up in the corporate world. His Facebook page is clean, he always wears a sport coat, and there’s nothing NSFW about him. Despite his modest means, Ward’s confidence and earnestness is impressive.

“I like to style myself after a Billy Joel or a Bruce Springsteen type of act, in that I’d like a full band, and when I write music I write it with the idea that there’s a full band there,” he said. “I have to creatively go through and figure out how I’m going to make those sounds with the computer and the keyboard and stuff.”

Maybe he’s not up to Springsteen level just yet, but Things That Fools Do does hearken back to the works of successful piano-playing soloists like Vanessa Carlton.

Ward definitely has the chops and musical talent to work a song and please an audience, but

IMDB

One of the greatest successes of Monsters has nothing to do with the creatures. It is the way the subdued performances work together.

The relationships the characters build feel tentative and fragile and very, very real … despite the fact that there is constantly the threat of a giant, looming tentacle.

Edwards achieves this sense of reality in a few ways. First, he filmed in a renegade style, showing up at locations in the production van, hopping out, and capturing whatever he could. A number of secondary actors were simply bystanders who agreed to participate. Second, he shot hundreds of hours of footage (another benefit of the digital age: no buying film), which allowed him great freedom to construct an ambience during editing.

If the benefit of renegade, independent filmmaking is the freedom it allows, one of the biggest drawbacks is being overtaken by bigger studios. When Edwards initially planned his film, his idea was simple: “Blair Witch meets War of the Worlds.” Then Cloverfield happened.

He rallied, adjusting his idea to a world where the aliens have been around for a while and are a part of day-to-day life. When they arrived in Mexico to begin shooting, the Internet started to buzz about District 9. But Edwards persisted, and the result is a film that is not just unique in both style and substance, but inspiring evidence that low-budget filmmaking doesn’t need to limit its scope.

Bill Ward explains the Things that Fools Do

by Nico Dodd

Most seniors will spend their final year taking classes they’ve put off since they were freshmen, and then either applying to graduate school or frantically begging for employment. So Bill Ward (COL ’11), who already has a job lined up at Morgan Stanley, is liable to make his classmates pretty envious. In fact, his future is so secure that he’s committed the final nine months of his Georgetown career to his true passion: piano rock.

Ward began playing piano at six, and at 10 he composed his first song. He continued to compose his own original pop songs throughout high school. As a Georgetown student, Ward takes advantage of all that Georgetown offers its student musicians. He is a singer in the Phantoms and Cabaret, he’s been a staple of the New Student Orientation concert for the past three years, and he has a solo act in the Guild of Bands. And with an upcoming concert at The Tombs’ new Acous-

See everybody? We don’t hate everything about the Corp. the album leaves some room for growth and experimentation. He tends to write straight forward piano rock songs, though he does occasionally delve into modern pop. These groovier tracks are a bit more experimental, making ample use of his MacBook’s synthesizer capabilities.

Ward says he isn’t likely to per-

Jackson Perry

sue a musical career once he leaves Georgetown, but he isn’t shutting down his right brain. This time next year, Bill Ward might just bring a bit of creativity to corporate America.

Bill Ward will be playing Acoustic Night at The Tombs next Tuesday at 10:30 p.m.

georgetownvoice.com

“This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.”—Big Trouble in Little china

the georgetown voice 11

Bad haircut, worse movie Improv incoming!

by John Sapunor Ed Norton, in full prison garb, walks into a counseling office. He informs his parole officer that he has found religion. Suspicious, yes, but it appears that his epiphany has some degree of sincerity to it, and Ed has become a new man.

Sounds like American History X, right? But get this: Ed’s parole officer is Robert De Niro, he’s married to Milla Jovovich of Resident Evil fame, and he’s sporting cornrows. Yes, this film has Oscar-bait written all over. But Stone was doomed to sink from the start.

Directed by John Curran (The Painted Veil), Stone follows parole officer Jack Mabrey (De Niro) as he works through his final case before retirement. The man up for parole is the ominously named Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Norton), an arsonist who was complicit in the murder of his grandparents, and burned down their home to destroy the evidence.

Worried that he will miss his chance for freedom, Stone calls upon his wife Lucetta (Jovovich) to “convince” Mabrey that his transformation is genuine. Lucetta, the femme fatale of the film, succeeds in seducing Mabrey, despite his avid church-going and fanaticism for religious radio.

Simultaneously, Stone— whose religious awakening has always been suspect—undergoes a genuine conversion after witnessing a prison murder. As Stone’s parole hearing nears, both

leads aimlessly deal with their crises of morality.

One of Stone’s inherent problems is its refusal to choose its focus. De Niro’s character, whose fall is juxtaposed with Norton’s stereotypical prison conversion, represents the hypocrisy of Middle America’s religious right.

The critique of religion could have driven the movie, but the director takes a wider scope and unnecessarily complicates the plot—Mabrey’s issues with aging and depression are particularly frustrating. The film’s tone is inconsistent, too. Elements of horror and noir arrive at distracting points in the plot.

The film also fails to create any characters who are worth rooting for. The chokehold relationship between Mabrey and has his wife,

The first rule of getting corn rows? Don’t fucking get corn rows.

The no-saline-solution blues

The hardest-working organs in any college student’s body are probably the eyes.

They are continuously glued to a computer-screen lit in harsh, artificial light, gazing at power-point slides during class lectures, pouring over glossy textbook pages into the early morning, or adjusting to the strobe-lights at a Saturday night party. Despite all that they do for us, our eyes are among the most abused and neglected parts of our bodies.

This is especially true for those of us who couldn’t survive a day without our contact lenses.

Almost everyone who owns and depends upon contact lenses has been guilty

for example, plays out like a Lifetime featurette. It’s something of an accomplishment that the film can have such colorless leads despite featuring the two of America’s favorite actors.

On the bright side, Norton plays his character with a kind of ambiguity that keeps the audience wondering whether his conversion is genuine. De Niro and Jovovich did as fine a job as they could, but the script limited the possibility of any standout performances. Your money would be better spent on a second viewing of The Social Network, but if you’re really craving some jailhouse drama, Conviction comes out this weekend and features Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell, and will probably suck a lot less than Stone.

of sleeping without removing her contact lenses, wearing her two-week lenses for two months, and rinsing her lenses in water after forgetting to pick up a new bottle of saline solution on her last trip to CVS. Since the occasional transgression seems to do no harm, and our contacts lenses continue to work just fine, we are easily seduced into making a habit of these offenses.

And it is okay to take the occasional catnap with your lenses in. Being too lazy or too tired to pop out your lenses on a regular basis, however, is not okay. This is especially true if you’re recovering from a night at the bar, because your eyes need oxygen

IMDB

almost as much as your lungs do. Corneas are transparent because, ideally, they doesn’t have any blood vessels flowing through them. But as a result, it needs to get its oxygen directly from the environment.

rub some Dirt on It

by Sadaf Qureshi

a bi-weekly column about health If your contact lenses are always glued to your eyes, oxygen cannot get in, and carbon dioxide, a waste product of the cornea, cannot get out. When that happens, your amazingly intelligent body will build blood vessels around the cornea in an attempt to provide your eyes with the necessary oxygen. That

by Mary Borowiec There’s a whole lot to look forward to this weekend— convincing your visiting parents to buy you everything you can’t afford, kicking off the basketball season with Midnight Madness, and seeing Despicable Me in the ICC auditorium. But for those of you still looking to fill your planners, there’s the Georgetown Improv Association’s first show of the semester.

The entirely improvised comedy show will take place this Saturday in Bulldog Alley, and features scenes which heavily rely on audience participation. Anything the audience suggests, from broccoli to Britney Spears, could become the focal point of a scenario. Jed Feiman (COL ’12), one of the group’s directors, explains that spontaneity is at the heart of improv’s appeal.

“Improv is exciting because every scene has never been performed before and will never be performed again,” Feiman said.

So how can they rehearse for an event that is supposed to be totally improvised? According to Feiman, preparing for an improv event more closely resembles a sports practice than a play rehearsal. The actors perform exer-

means you wake up the next morning with a pair of not-soattractive, bloodshot eyes.

Add alcohol to the mix and your problem gets worse. Alcohol dehydrates your whole body, including your eyes. Your contact lenses stick more tightly to your eyes as a result, which could lead to an infection.

An even easier way to contract a nasty eye infection is to use tap water to clean your lenses when in a fix. How many times have your resorted to using the water fountain or the bathroom sink to clean a lens when it falls out between classes? Unfortunately, our water isn’t entirely pure. It contains minerals and residues that don’t belong on your lens or in your eye, which means you’re

cises that emphasize staying in character and building off of each others’ actions. One activity involves an actor “building a room” through mime, while the other actors in the skit interact with the invisible room.

This Saturday kicks off the Georgetown Improv Association’s 2010-2011 season, which consists of three shows this semester and culminates with the spring’s annual Improv Festival—a two night event featuring both the Georgetown Improv Association and performers from other universities.

This year, the group is especially excited to be working with Washington Improv Theather programming director Murphy McHugh (COL ’03). McHugh has led the group in one workshop so far, and hopes to continue to share what he has learned since he first started improv while at Georgetown.

So this Saturday night, after you’ve nursed your postMidnight Madness hangover and engorged on a nice, expensive dinner from your visiting parents, continue your weekend festivities with the Georgetown Improv Association, which is sure to add an unscripted, unpredictable night of hilarity to your weekend.

better off leaving your contact out if you can manage.

Just because you can’t see or feel the negative consequences of misusing your lenses doesn’t mean your eyes aren’t being damaged. Wearing your lenses past their prime can hurt your eyes in ways you won’t know about until it’s too late—when a full fledged infection develops and puts your vision in danger.

Even if money is tight, this isn’t the place to be stingy. In fact, your best bet is to save a little extra cash and invest in a sturdy pair of glasses for late-night studying, lazy Sundays, and ranout-of-saline-solution Mondays.

Got your bloodshot, inflamed eye on Sadaf? Let her know at squreshi@georgetowvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

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

Mount Eerie, Song Islands Volume 2, P.W. Elverum & Sun Song Islands Volume 2 is like an ice cream cone completely covered in ketchup: there’s something of value in there somewhere, but you’re so afraid to take that first bite that you’ll never find out exactly what that is.

Mount Eerie frontman Phil Elverum tries to represent a wide variety of styles with his compilation album, Song Islands Volume 2.

Jazz, punk, folk, and many other styles all make surprising appearances on the monstrous 31-track album. Sadly, pairing tracks like the smooth jazz- and bluesinspired “Mystery Language” with tracks like “Instrumental”—which is the aural equivalent of getting a vasectomy via roto-tool—destroys any sense of

cohesion. Elverum has some serious talent as a guitarist, which shows at the end of “Where’s My Tarp” and throughout “Mystery Language,” so it’s majorly disappointing that he uses his talents so sparingly.

The compilation is not a total waste. Some of Elverum’s experimentation works. “In the Rain” is musically disappointing, but its lyrics, which evoke the widelyregarded agrarian man-of-letters Wendell Berry, are not. The proscriptive tone of the album is particularly noticeable in “Get off the Internet” and “Don’t Smoke.” On “Cooking,” a song about a greedy and self-entitled generation, Mount Eerie promotes their press release’s claim that it will include “raw poems barely accompanied on acoustic guitar.” But the same song makes me think that Elverum might feel more at home at a slam poetry session than in the recording studio.

Song Islands Volume 2 makes some strong cultural critiques and wins points for attempting to convey its themes in an eclectic manner, but it often feels like the music is getting in the way of the lyrics. This it the chief failing of the album—art needs an appropriate medium to be effective.

Glee is bigger than Jesus

In 1966, when John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” people went nuts. They burned records, boycotted public appearances, and religious groups pounded home the argument that Satan loves rock and roll. A little ironically, the Beatles have since become so canonized that these days comparing any musical act to them—or, God forbid, declaring any act superior to them—is decried as blasphemy. So when I logged on to Yahoo! News last week and the homepage greeted me with the headline “Glee More Popular Than the Beatles,” I expected, at the very least, a human sacrifice or two.

But there was no such backlash. Why? Because, America, this particular piece of sacrilege is founded in truth: This week, the Glee kids put their 75th

single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, outscoring the Fab Four’s 71. And since Glee’s cast members are all living, that gap is only going to increase.

American television has spawned some embarrassing phenomena in the past. A Shot at Love, Dog the Bounty Hunter, any Sarah Palin interview, and the like. But this? Shame on us.

Plenty of events foreshadowed Glee becoming the dangerous behemoth of a television force it is now. A few years ago, we were living in the age of High School Musical, where even kids who had long outgrown the Disney Channel found themselves bopping their heads to “Breaking Free” and developing secret obsessions with Zac Efron’s deadly abs-and-sideswept-hair combo. As its stars matured into rom-com celebrities or got entangled in nude picture scan-

This is why da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa on a canvas and not on a piece of tree bark. Without a proper vehicle, something inspiring and amazing can become, well, something like Song Islands Volume 2.

Voice’s Choices: “Mystery Language,” “Where’s My Tarp” —Sam Harman

Belle & Sebastian, Write About Love, Rough Trade Few bands embody the rise of independent music over the last decade better than Belle & Sebastian. This Scottish seven-piece began their career as the final project of front man Stuart Murdoch’s college music class in 1996. Since then, Belle & Sebastian have been hailed as the triumphant return

dals, the High School Musical hype died down and became contained to a younger demographic. Real-life high schoolers could move on.

But Glee, which is also a musical that takes place in a high school, has demonstrated a staying power that the HSM monstrosity never had, thanks

Warming Glow

by Leigh Finnegan

a bi-weekly column about television to its more adult, soap operaesque plots and somewhat embarassing, nuance-less tackling of social issues. The Quinnand-Finn pregnancy scandal definitely would not fly on the Disney Channel, nor would the racial divide, homophobia, and disability-related complications that plague this small Ohio high school. Glee’s audience, being primarily high school-age, give

of classic British pop, with each successive album receiving more praise then the last. This week, they are returning from a fouryear break with a new record, Write About Love. The record is poised to become an instant classic for longtime fans, and is sure to turn the heads of a few new ones as well.

Write About Love explores Belle & Sebastian’s quintessential sounds, and is more an album about textures rather than melodies or catchy choruses.

The music shimmers with the sunny British Invasion gleam of the ‘60s, but has a darker, more contemplative core. The jangly drums and twangy, open guitar work on tracks like “Write About Love” show a healthy early Beatles influence, a vibe that’s further enhanced by a neat little organ solo. “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John,” which features Norah Jones crooning in her smoky baritone over some lush jazz, is another magnificent track.

At times, the record draws on the band’s dream-pop roots.

Tracks like “Read the Blessed Pages” and “The Ghost of Rockschool” turn the volume down to explore glowing vocal and in-

or take a few years, find these plots lines controversial and titillating enough to hold their interest. They’ve outgrown cutiepie Troy’s struggle to decide between basketball and theater, but they haven’t outgrown cutie-pie Finn’s struggle decide between his pregnant cheerleader girlfriend and the obnoxious glee club goody two-shoes.

And did I mention that even the kids who get made fun of all the time are all really good-looking?

That never hurts.

But the main reason why the Glee cast has surpassed John Lennon’s popularity in the first place is the singing itself. The show is set around a glee club, or a high school show choir, which performs and competes in singing popular songs. You know, the kind of club where the kids are all ridiculously talented singers and dancers who can learn complicated harmonies and choreography within a few hours. Your high

strumental textures. But when the band decides to lay down straighforward pop songs instead of exploring their more abstract side, the result is insatiably nostalgic.

Belle & Sebastian aren’t afraid to embrace the undeniable fun of upbeat, soulful rock tunes, and they do so better than just about any other band putting records out today.

Write About Love is a greatly balanced album with a diverse mix of everything from nightdrive ballads to flat-out singalong Britpop hits, all of which fit together perfectly.

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything new from Belle & Sebastian, and all of that time has raised expectatations to staggering heights. With Write About Love, the band proves that is up to the challenge, crafting an album that is simultaneously familiar and refreshing. It’s a standout among their catalogue, and it’s the kind of album that reminds us why we fell for Bell & Sebastian in the first place.

Voice’s Choices: “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John,” “Write About Love” —Matthew Decker

school had one of those too, right?

The episodes’ musical themes also fit the show’s demographic, as evidenced by the 2010 mass Internet freak-out of “ohmygaah Lady Gaga Night on Glee!” It’s the fastest, easiest way to a teenage girl’s heart these days—Kidz Bop with hormones.

And throw in some overly dramatic backstory, fancy dance steps, and a few butchered bars of the Queen classic “Somebody to Love”? Effective, yes, but completely shameless.

And that’s how we, fellow television viewers, allowed a bunch of over-trained, bratty teenagers to become more successful than the men who brought you “Revolution.”

Who’s joining me on my pilgrimage to Strawberry Fields to beg for forgiveness?

Do you want a “Ticket to Ride?” Send Leigh an email at lfinnegan@georgetownvoice.com

georgetownvoice.com

fiction

Jeff Whitman

By Leigh Finnegan Continued from last week’s edition..

A

s an afterthought, he put his arm around her waist. He expected her to move, to take a giant step to the other side and tell his parents she was sorry, but she’d never even spoken to their crazy son before and hadn’t the slightest idea what was happening. He expected a swift slap across the face, that ring scraping a small piece of skin off his temple, and an R-rated threat discouraging him from ever touching her again. But shockingly enough, she stayed put. He looked at her. Her face was frozen and her eyes were wide with surprise, but he thought he saw a sparkle of intrigue. He was thankful—the Whitmans could easily mistake the expression for that of a girlfriend whose secret tryst had just been unwittingly exposed. He turned back to his mother, whose Botox and forced composure were unsuccessful at masking her own shock, outrage, humiliation. “Jeffrey,” she spat through clenched teeth in a hushed voice.“We’ll talk about this later.”

“No, Mother,” he snapped back, louder than he’d intended. “We’ll talk about this now! I’m done hiding from you.” He shifted his eyes toward Andrea, slightly tightening his shaking hand’s grip on her waist, and then back to the table.

“We’re done hiding from you.”

The rest of the room had looked up from their salads and omelets, and stared at the Whitmans with surprise and vulture-like interest.

Jeff noticed Mrs. Flynn in the opposite corner, contorting her face to keep from smiling. He hadn’t had an audience like this since his fifth grade school play, and found himself oddly exhilarated.

He looked down at Andrea and was taken aback. She was even prettier up close. “What is it now, two years this August?”

She stared back up at him and smiled warily, biting her lip. After a second’s pause, she nodded, her smile growing wider, and he thought he detected a small, silent laugh.

Her face was radiant. It looked authentic. Perfect.

It occurred to Jeff that he could very well be getting this poor girl fired. The club manager took the

conduct of the waitstaff seriously, almost to an absurd degree, and Mr. Whitman’s brother had once gotten some poor college kid booted for dropping a glass of red wine too close to his wife’s white tennis sneakers. But with that nod, with the way she smiled back at him with all the affection of a long-time partner, the way she still hadn’t moved his hand off her waist despite the fact that he’d been gradually pulling her closer, she’d made herself complicit.

She wasn’t just a prop in his little fantasy play anymore; now she was his leading lady.

would react? She might not be so keen on the charade when it was at the expense of her job, one that she might need to pay tuition or fill her car up with gas or buy skin care products, because if that glowingfrom-within look wasn’t natural, it couldn’t possibly come cheap. Alright, Jeff thought reluctantly, time to wrap this up.

He put his other arm on her shoulder, and turned her towards him.

They were inches apart, and she was smiling a mischievous grin, displaying all of her perfect teeth, like she couldn’t resist the thrill of a room full of blue eyes nailed to her. It was almost blinding. He didn’t think before he acted. He put a hand on either side of her face and kissed her.

Maybe it was because she had just broken up with some jackass who drove a Camry. Maybe it was because she’d gotten sick of spending her workdays in the suffocating world of Lakeway and was the kind of person who loved to screw with

Amber ren

Mrs. Whitman’s face was turning red, like a cartoon character about to blow smoke out its ears. Jeff didn’t know how much further he could take his ruse, even though his mind was rapidly spinning tales of their first meeting—their eyes locking with one another ’s in a music festival crowd—of his sneaking out of his house to see her, of her pleading with the club manager to hire her, even though she had no experience and no qualifications, just so the two could look at each other once a week and sneak a kiss behind the clubhouse. It was only a matter of time before her boss took notice, and then who knows how Andrea

everything in her path. Maybe it was because of the smoldering hatred in her eyes whenever she was summoned to his table, like she had an idea or two as to where Mrs. Whitman should shove that fork whose cleanliness was in question.

Whatever the reason, she kissed him back. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know why he was putting on this show and she was probably going to get fired. But she kissed him back. It didn’t feel like they were two strangers trying to piss off his parents. It felt like they had actually been together for two years, and were finally letting the world know that they were young and

the georgetown voice 13

daring and absolutely insane about each other, despite every stupid, antiquated societal law they were breaking in the process.

He suddenly remembered where they were, and that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy his family’s reaction if he continued, if he stood in the middle of the dining room and kissed the waitress for all eternity. He pulled back, her face still in his hands and barely nose-distance away. He realized he’d stopped breathing. He was reeling and a little dizzy. After a second to regain composure, once he was confident he could stage a believable ending, he spoke in a hushed but audible voice, still staring into her giant eyes.

“I love you Andrea Alexandra Cerullo.”

The rest of the name had come clean out of the sky. Alex Cerullo lived across the hall from him freshman year, but his parents wouldn’t know that. It just seemed to flow well, and sounded more believable than just saying what was on her name tag. He hoped it wouldn’t offend her that in addition to making her his longtime surreptitious lover, he’d also taken it upon himself to name her. She heaved one silent breath of laughter.

“I love you too Jeffrey Whitman.”

He could have kissed her again.

He almost did, but he was interrupted. Mrs. Whitman had stood up from her seat, sickened by the display of young love between her insubordinate, obviously delusional son and this uncultured piece of riffraff wearing Target-brand flats.

“Jeffrey, we’re leaving.”

He looked back at his family for the first time in quite a few minutes, and noticed they were all standing. Mr. Whitman had finished his breakfast-time cocktail down to the ice cubes, and Kelsey, with a gaping mouth, was baffled and a little frightened. He wondered how long it’d been that way, or why she hadn’t reapplied her lip gloss.

He took Andrea’s hands for the last time.

“I’ll call you tonight.”

A smirk. “You better.”

He turned around, ready to strut towards the car with his shoulders thrown back for the first time in newfound liberation. But with a sideways look at his family without the imaginary support of his fictitious girlfriend, reality slugged him like a practiced fist between the ribs.

That was fun, but nothing was different. He cast his head downwards and crossed his arms as he walked, fingernails instinctively going right into his skin. It was going to be a long car ride home. It was going to be an excruciatingly long summer.

voices

14 the georgetown voice

october 14, 2010

Deserving of respect, legacy students enrich the Hilltop

by Morgan Brown Everyone at Georgetown has one precious memory in common: opening a deceivingly small letter to find out that you had been accepted. I remember that day so clearly. I knew it was coming that Monday, March 29, 2010. I forced my mother to drive to my school with the letter in her hand so I could run to the car between my classes and rip it open. When I read it, we both started screaming.

I could not have been in a happier place. I had just found out that I had been accepted to the school of my dreams. I could whip out my HOYA SAXA shirt and flaunt my blue and gray in front of all my friends. I could wave goodbye to the waves of college-related anxiety that I had experienced over the previous three years. But I also knew I would have to endure social torment, and that morbid judgment that was about to take

over my life. Why? Because I am a legacy.

Being upset because a friend has been accepted to a school that rejected you is understandable. But it is a little too much when a friend tells you, to your face, that you didn’t actually deserve your acceptance letter.

Throughout senior year, everyone knew that my first choice was Georgetown. But whenever I would worry or express any anxiety to anyone about getting in, they would say the same thing: “Oh come on Morgan, you know you’re going to get in.

Your parents went there!”

Well gee, thanks. Thanks for telling me that all of my hard work, my boatload of extra-curricular commitments, and my GPA don’t count for anything.

When I did get my letter—when I could not have been happier— the same thing happened. “She only got in because she is a legacy,” friends would say. Again, thanks a bunch.

I can understand what my classmates are moaning about.

Because I am a legacy, I did have a real advantage in the admissions process. But the exaggerated portrayal of legacy students as undeserving pricks who are leeching off of their parents’ collegiate successes is completely unfair.

Being a legacy is not the same as being an idiot who relies on Daddy’s money. Every one of us worked extremely hard in high school. We took advanced placement and honors classes, while carrying on our shoulders the responsibilities of clubs, sports, and student government.

Doesn’t that put all of us at a similar level? Haven’t all of us, regardless of whether we are legacies or not, established ourselves as top-notch students? I did not give a wink and a big fat check to the admissions committee. And if I remember correctly, it was I, not my parents, who worked through over

three years of intensive college prep classes.

Believe it or not, others have advantages in the admission process, too. I suffered word daggers to the heart, but no one made wounding comments to the future Harvard soccer star.

I faced the judging eyes of my peers, but the musical prodigy didn’t. What about the high school football star? What about men? After all, women make up the majority of college students and elite schools strive to maintain gender parity.

It’s the world of college admissions. There is nothing wrong with telling the school who you are and why you are special. Are you really asking us—and when I say us I do not just mean legacies, but all college students—to omit these unique qualities on our application?

Should I really purposely not write down where my parents went to college? Should the lacrosse players have declined

to send tapes of their best games to recruiters? Should MexicanAmericans just say that they are Caucasian? Why should we have to do that? We shouldn’t.

Plenty of us have advantages, but it would be silly of us to hide them. This may come as a shock, but there is actually more to getting into college than your GPA and SAT scores. Legacies, students with athletic ability, and people of color bring diversity to this school.

I am a legacy and I am proud of it. I am in no way denying that I had an advantage in the admission process. But so did a lot of people. 10 percent of the class of 2014 are legacies, and I think they ought to be pretty proud of it too.

Morgan Brown is a freshman in the College. Enrolled at birth, she has been part of the Class of 2014 for the last 18 years.

The Corp responds to criticism, recognizes faults

by Brad Glasser The Corp is not perfect.

That’s why feedback, like last week’s Voice op-ed by Julie Patterson entitled “Corporal punishment: My daily dose of café-auhell” is so important to us. While I take issue with a great deal of the author’s commentary—and all of her blatant falsehoods—the article was not useless. The criticisms leveled in the piece were vague and emotional, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the author, a Corp customer, had enough bad experiences with our services to label us the worst organization at Georgetown.

It’s cheesy, but the Corp refers to the student population of

Georgetown as our shareholders.

My friends in the McDonough School of Business will be quick to point out the misuse of the term, but it encapsulates our relationship with the Georgetown community: ultimately, we are accountable to and responsible for serving our fellow students. So, although “shareholders” is only an analogy, it seems like last week’s article offers a good opportunity to highlight to our shareholders some of our most recent efforts to improve in some of the very areas Patterson complained about.

One particularly pungent ingredient in the author’s daily dose of hell was pricing at Corp services. Regular customers of any

KIM TAY

Vital Vittles is a fine democratic institution that is run by students, for students.

of our storefronts know well that labeling our prices as “inflated” is not just a mischaracterization, but a gross misstatement. Additionally, the author seems to oversimplify the heavily nuanced issues related to price structure and inventory management.

We often brag about our $1 Cokes, so I’ll avoid beating that dead horse. Our staple drinks at Uncommon Grounds, MUG, and Midnight MUG—teas, coffees, lattes, mochas, etc.—undercut both Starbuck’s and Saxby’s prices. You may have also noticed an increasingly wide variety of new, affordable prepared and frozen products at Vittles and Snaxa, an effort to better meet the daily needs of our fellow students.

Other Corp offerings, like our Storage and Shuttle services, provide a level of affordability that is unmatched by any competitor.

Finally, over the past two years, we’ve focused heavily on consolidating our vendors, which has and will continue to cut prices across our services. While I can’t promise we’ll ever be able to match the prices of international chains like Safeway and McDonald’s, I can promise that we’ll continue to work toward that end, and we’ll continue to pass our savings on to our customers.

Patterson also mentioned poor customer service, another area where self-awareness is important for the Corp. In the past two years, we’ve expanded and standardized

our training across all Corp services. In the revamped model, training is pointed and comprehensive, and employees spend 400 percent more time in training. Beyond that, we’ve updated the mechanism we use for internally incentivizing good performance and addressing poor performance in a timely and direct fashion, going beyond what many of our larger competitors like Safeway and Giant do in this area.

Most importantly, our Corpwide management team is finalizing a model of evaluations in which all employees are involved as both subjects and contributors. These efforts are relatively new, and I know that they haven’t achieved the goal of ensuring universally high standards, but we are actively working to that end.

Finally, the author derides the component parts of the Corp, that is, our employees. These generalized claims were extremely disappointing. To label all Corp employees, or any subset of this campus community, as entirely “pretentious and indie” or to question the intelligence of our employees is simply unfair. The Corp is not removed from the exceptional atmosphere that Georgetown cultivates, as even a limited interaction with any of our employees will demonstrate. In my admittedly biased view, it is our student employees who truly set the Corp apart from its competitors. We share your midterm misery, we’re just as pleasantly surprised by

Hoya football’s strong showing as you are, and we can recommend a good Micro teacher right before Add/Drop ends.

I’m not excusing the Corp’s failings. I’m certainly not suggesting that the Corp deserves a free pass because of our unique student-run structure or non-profit status. Nor do we deserve a blind eye because of our philanthropic donations to the Georgetown community. I’m contending that it is only through constructive, pointed criticism that we can continue to identify and correct our internal issues and ultimately serve Georgetown better.

So keep the comments coming through our virtual outlets (sweetideas@thecorp.org, comments@ thecorp.org), through my inbox (ceo@thecorp.org), or by registering feedback with employees on shift. In the meantime, we’ll continue to find new ways to serve you, like Corp Catering’s new group package for students or our free advertising opportunities for campus organizations. For helping the Corp improve, for your continued support, and for holding us to high standards, I say a big “thank you” to the Georgetown community. The Corp’s not perfect, but we’re working on it.

Brad Glasser is a senior in the College. If he were to describe the Corp as a specialty drink, he definitely wouldn’t choose Evil Empire.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Sharing the Shabbat: Interfaith experiences at Georgetown

by Stephanie Cohen Transferring to Georgetown from U.C. Berkeley has been a culture shock. I have never seen so many polo shirts or boat shoes in my life, I find I miss Thursday night frat-hopping, and readjusting to dorm food has multiplied my appreciation for my George Foreman grill.

However, the campus attitude toward religious life and interfaith activities has been a breath of fresh air, and I feel far more connected to Georgetown than I ever did to Berkeley.

My friends at Berkeley frequently ask me if the crosses on campus freak me out and if I feel alone as a practicing Jew in a Catholic university. I’m not going to lie—I’d had a secular, public education until now, and seeing crucifixes in my classrooms did freak me out the first few times I saw them. It has taken some getting used to, but I consider them part of Georgetown’s charm—one more reminder that religion is a central feature of student life.

Still, they are a daily reminder that I am not Catholic and that my identity is differ-

ent from that of the University and the majority of the student body. Leaving a school where Shabbat dinners drew over 100 Jewish students, staff, and faculty for a school where similar meals pull in 30 students on a good night, I knew, would not be easy.

“

What really stands out at Georgetown, though, is the value placed on meaningful interfaith relationships between the various religious communities.

Active Jewish life takes place in a much smaller circle than I am used to, and I have had to go out of my comfort zone to get to know people. I wish that more Jewish students would show up for Friday services, especially those who are not as religious as me or did not grow up always identifying as Jewish.

What really stands out at Georgetown, though, is the val-

School is for learning?

As I was on my way to New York City for Columbus Day weekend, the guy next to me on the bus decided to strike up a conversation.

“How do you like Mill?” he asked.

He was referring to On Liberty, which I was furiously marking up with my pen. I had already decided I was going to spend the weekend tackling the flood of homework headed my way. It has been a tough semester, but I always try to get the best grades I can.

As such, I wasn’t too keen on letting this random guy distract me from my work.

Nonetheless, I knew the polite thing to do would be to at least pretend that I was interested in talking to him. When I did, I learned that he had gone to George Washington University to get his Masters in Political

ue placed on meaningful interfaith relationships between the various religious communities.

In my first week on campus, I was invited by my chaplainsin-residence to attend an iftar, the evening meal where Muslims break the fast during Ramadan. I am embarrassed

Economics. That’s also when he told me something that bothered me all weekend.

“Yeah, I thought the curriculum there was a joke,” he said.

“I actually began sabotaging my own papers in order to test how far I could get with faulty arguments … I still kept getting As.” He said he did this because he wanted to make sure he was being academically challenged, to confirm whether or not his advanced degree was the result of academic coasting.

At first I didn’t think much of it, but as the bus sped toward New York, and I worried about getting back to Mill, I realized how unbelievably narrowminded I have become. I care so much about grades that I never stop to think about whether I’m actually learning, or whether the professor is challenging me to do my best. I interpret every

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to admit it now, but I was extremely nervous about attending the dinner.

Although I was involved in some interfaith dialogue at Berkeley, political events during the year had strained relations between Muslim and Jewish students and I left Berkeley upset and extremely disillusioned with interfaith activities of any kind. I came to Georgetown unsure of what the religious dy-

good grade as a job well done and agonize over every low grade, as if I just lost the Battle of York.

At a place like Georgetown, there are bound to be students who are obsessed with figuring out the tricks of the tests or “what the teacher wants.” I should know, since I’m one of them. But to tell you the truth, I’m sick of it. I literally fantasize about finishing college, not to get into the real world and finally live like an “adult,” but to

Carrying On

by Satinder Kaur A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

finally be free from some of the pressure of working for grades and what I perceive to be the approval of my professors.

But maybe “job well done” just means I have an easy professor, and maybe “lost battle” is another way of telling me that I can do better. We’ve all heard people telling us to learn the material and truly interact with it, to not worry about the grades. Most of us will also remember rolling our eyes at that advice. I know what I’m about to say will probably elicit a simi-

namics would be like, hoping they would not be as hostile as those I had left behind.

That dinner has, in all honesty, helped me regain some of the optimism I thought I had lost. At the iftar, the campus Imam and representatives from the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish chaplaincy all spoke about what fasting means in their religions. The respect and genuine admiration I felt in the room when these leaders listened to each other speak about their faiths was rare and special. There was a connection that doesn’t exist every day or on every campus. I went to the dinner expecting to feel alienated or judged; instead, I learned that Georgetown has the religious je ne sais quoi I had been looking for.

If it seems like I’m wearing Hoya Blue-colored glasses, I’m not. I’m well aware that Georgetown isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. When I read about the bias-related incident involving swastikas drawn in the residence halls, I prepared myself for disappointment.

When my friend’s dorm was publicly vandalized with mul-

lar response, especially since it’s cliché, but I think it needs to be repeated until people get it. If we could just focus on learning for the sake of actually picking up a thing or two from that class, the grades will figure themselves out. Maybe we won’t have to worry about GPAs or getting into graduate school or whatever reasons we have for working as hard as we do.

Though students often end up approaching classes from the wrong perspective, part of the problem of obsessing over grades instead of actually learning is also how some classes are structured. After all, a big lecture hall with three tests a semester does not encourage students to really engage with the material. A small discussion class in which the teacher is sitting across the table waiting for your substantive contribution does. Universities should do away with big lecture hall courses whenever they can and focus more on small discussion classes.

After all, students in big lecture classes are more prone to freaking out about grades because they don’t have enough feedback to gauge where they stand. Students in the smaller courses get feedback every time they go to class. Where the kids

tiple large swastikas during my last semester at Berkeley, the campus newspaper told my community to “ignore the ignorance” and move on.

I expected the Hoya and the Voice to take similar stances or ignore the incident completely.

Both publications’ responses, however, impressed me and showed how thoughtful Hoyas can be, and how empathetic they are to one another.

Georgetown isn’t immune to the intolerance and ignorance that pervade our world, but we have an opportunity to change this campus and one another for the better. I’ve realized that the only way for me to move forward from these events is to remember that we have a lot more in common with each other than we imagine. I definitely miss some of the amazing things about Berkeley, but each day I find one more reason to be ecstatic that I am a Hoya.

Stephanie Cohen is a junior in the College. Her latkes are never lumpy and everyone is invited over to taste them.

in the lecture hall study and worry when it’s time for a test, the kids in the smaller class are naturally more concerned with actually interacting with the material in preparation for every class they have. I myself have experienced this difference in lesson structure. I read everything for my weekly seminar of 15 students but I only crack open my economics book before the test.

That random comment from that random dude on the bus put things into perspective for me. I know I will still work hard, but now I’ll think of the guy with the weird accent and remember that the whole point of going to college—aside from other, ahem, equally important experiences—is not to become perfect. It’s pretty cheesy, but college is about pushing your intellectual limits and, if you’re really good, transcending them.

Next time we’re sweating over our grades—and I know this is going to sound radical—we all need to remember that college is about learning.

Satinder Kaur is a junior in the College. She thinks only trucks should care about grades, especially those above six percent.

T H E V O I C E friday october 1st * 6 p.m. * leavey 413 * free pizza

OPEN HOUSE