10 4 2012

VOICE the georgetown

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SEIU PUSHES TO UNIONIZE ADJUNCTS PAGE 5

SOCCER FINALLY FALLS TO UCONN PAGE 7

ANGELIKA FATTENS AND SATISFIES PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969  October 4, 2012  Volume 47, Issue 8  georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

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Voice Crossword “Do You Know Your Shapes?” by Tyler Pierce 34. Dashboard abbr.

35. Capital of Cyprus 36. Footless 38. Doggy-paddles 39. Capital of Venezuela 41. Olive or grape seed 42. Biblical suffix 43. One of the three shapes in the middle of this puzzle, maybe 46. CBS logo 47. Drum set piece 51. Crystal meth, in slang 54. Heredity unit 56. Destroy 57. Legal rights to have sex with your spouse 60. Bits 61. One of the three shapes in the middle of this puzzle, maybe 62. Building designed for drying hops to make beer 63. Units of work 64. Come clean, with “up” ACROSS 1. Pretends 5. Hallway shapes 9. Immediately 13. One of the three shapes in the middle of this puzzle, maybe 15. Dutch flower 16. Fixed monthly sums

17. At the peak of 18. Eggy Christmas drinks 19. Back muscle, slangily 20. “Go faster, horse!”

22. Hair hardener 23. One of the three shapes in the middle of this puzzle, maybe 31. Orville Redenbacher sound

DOWN 1. Not obtuse 2. Actress Moretz of Kick-Ass 3. Err 4. Not drink too fast 5. Airport posting, abbr.

6. Small finch with a fondness for hemp 7. Yellow waxy substance

puzzle answers at georgetownvoice.com 8. Tightly fitting 9. “A jealous mistress”: Emerson 10. Free ___ Party 11. On a boat 12. “Hey, you!”

14. U.S.S.R. successor 15. Put a name to a face, on Facebook 21. Fruit remains after pressing for oil or juice 22. Musicians show 24. Comic onomatopoeia 25. Go on a trip somewhere 26. Bible book narrated by Qoheleth, abbr.

27. Old French coin 28. ___ of Wight 29. Young female pig 30. Baller Steve 31. Agreement 32. Brilliantly colored fish 33. Dermatologist’s concern 37. Abbr. on a Cowboys scoreboard 40. Loud speaker?

41. Bonanza find 44. Ogling 45. Dress 48. Cars 49. Iranian money 50. Lt.’s inferior, in the Navy 51. Airport code org.

52. Outro 53. They may be split 54. Contracted 55. Buffalo’s county 58. Canine command 59. Stubborn one 60. Worldwide exchange rate co.

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

Email crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 47.8 October 4, 2012 Editor-in-Chief: Leigh Finnegan Managing Editor: Keaton Hoffman Blog Editor: Vanya Mehta News Editor: Gavin Bade Sports Editor: Kevin Joseph Feature Editor: Connor Jones Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Leisure Editor: Mary Borowiec Voices Editor: Claire McDaniel Photo Editor: Lucia He Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Projects Editors: Christie Geaney, Cannon Warren Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Assistant Blog Editors: Morgan Manger, Jamie Niu Assistant News Editors: Julia Jester, Matt Weinmann Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Almeida, Steven Criss Assistant Leisure Editors: Will Collins, Julia Lloyd-George, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editors: Julian de la Paz, Matt Thees Assistant Design Editor: Lauren Ashley Panawa

Staff Writers:

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

Staff Photographers:

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

Copy Chief: Tori Jovanovski Copy Editors:

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

Editorial Board Chair: Rachel Calvert Editorial Board:

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

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

The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

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Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice.

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On this week’s cover: “D.C. Comedy” Cover Design: Neha Ghanshamdas (SFS ‘14)

the georgetown voice 3 HOME RULE HOME RUN

D.C. makes positive move towards autonomy This week, all 12 City Council members signaled their support for a referendum that would amend the Home Rule Charter to give the District autonomy over its own budget.

Although the city’s Attorney General said this move is most likely illegal and D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has expressed lukewarm disapproval, the referendum is a step in the right direction.

If passed, it will, at the very least, affirm the District’s commitment to budget autonomy.

In the best of scenarios, it might go unchallenged by Congress, and the District will realize unqualified budget autonomy.

The referendum, which the Council is set to vote on by December, will allow the District to spend as much as $6 billion without any Congressional interference. This is a huge boon in a city where Congress has used the local budget to further its own social agenda. Last year, Republicans almost did away with the city’s needle exchange program, and Congress has been quick to restrict the District from spending local funds

on abortion programs for lower-income women.

Some have expressed concern that the Council’s new strategy of unilaterally seizing control of the budget will undermine Norton’s strategy of building Congressional support for a D.C. budget autonomy bill. However, past bills have included provisions to restrict pro-choice spending or liberalize D.C. gun laws—in each case anathema to the city’s social priorities. In fact, this strategy arose out of the National Right to Life’s promise to “score” any budget autonomy bill that goes through Congress.

Norton already has the support of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (D-Va.) and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). She should absolutely continue their attempts to eke out a compromise on District budget autonomy.

But in the meantime, the District government needs to assert the importance of this issue by acting independently of Congress. D.C. Vote’s Executive Director Ilir Zherka told

The Washington Post that the District should pursue budget autonomy on multiple fronts.

“I think all of us wanted to give that effort opportunity to succeed,” he said, referring to Norton’s politicking. “But it’s going to be harder and harder to get a budget autonomy bill through Congress, and we believe that the District of Columbia needs to embrace a new strategy.”

District Attorney General Irvin B. Natan has warned that the amendment mechanism being utilized by the Council might not be a valid way to give D.C. budget autonomy.

The potential legal challenge that might threaten this endeavor should not be cause to abandon this strategy. At this point, the District should explore every available option.

Budget autonomy is not only a matter of independence for its own sake, but also a question of maintaining important social programs that the District government is more willing to administer than the current Republican Party.

It is a way to secure these programs even in the face of shifting political power.

MASTERDEBATERS

National debates need third party perspective Last night, Governor Romney and President Obama faced off in 2012’s first presidential debate, but absent from the debate were the two main third party candidates: former New Mexico Governor and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The barbs exchanged by the two men on stage followed a predictable pattern, with both playing to the middle and reiterating points from the stump speeches along the campaign trail. In this respect, the absence of third party candidates was strongly felt.

Stein and Johnson were barred from the debates because they failed to fully meet the criteria established by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Since 2000, the CPD has required candidates to poll above 15 percent in five selected national polls in order to be featured in the national debates.

This is an absurdly high threshold, and one that prevents qualified but relatively unknown candidates (in the latest CNN poll,

Stein came in at two percent, Johnson at four percent) from making an impression with voters. In 1992, Ross Perot participated in the first Presidential debate with between seven and nine percent support in national polls. He went on to secure 19 percent of the popular vote. His presence in the debate brought his ideas to a broader audience, shifting the national dialogue and providing a viable third option to voters dissatisfied with the two major parties.

Today, when a wide majority of Americans express disappointment with both the Democratic and Republican parties, the value of third parties in the national debates is self-evident. On a whole set of controversial issues, the Democratic and Republican parties have settled into a silent truce. For example, the broad and unjustified scope of drone attacks in Pakistan goes unquestioned by the Democratic and Republican establishments, but faces deserved skepticism from Stein, and, to a lesser degree, Johnson. Obama’s

record on civil liberties—from the National Defense Authorization Act to his administration’s unprecedented war on whistle blowers—has gone unmentioned by the Romney camp. On this point, the debates could benefit from Stein’s perspective in particular.

Unless they can draw on vast personal wealth, as Perot could, third-party candidates will almost certainly not be able to garner more than 15 percent support going into debates. A more reasonable solution would be to allow candidates polling at a minimum 2 percent support to participate, as long as they have constitutional eligibility and are on the ballot in enough states to conceivably win. The threshold could rise for the later debates, so only candidates who have made a positive impression with voters are allowed to continue. Regardless of exact details, the Commission on Presidential Debates needs to establish criteria that aren’t designed to block alternatives to the mainstream candidates and constrict national debate.

RANK THIS

College rankings are pointless, not worth it Last month, Georgetown once again failed to crack the top-20 threshold in U.S. News and World Report’s overall college rankings. (And let’s not even mention Forbes, who placed us at an unconscionable 38th in its overall list of best universities.) But not to worry, Hoyas: there’s a silver lining in Georgetown’s apparent overall mediocrity.

In recent months, Georgetown has ranked in the top 10 of invaluable categories such as most hipster, preppiest, hottest, happiest, best college city, and most recently, most satisfying sex life.

It seems that despite Georgetown’s failure to make Newsweek’s rankings for “Most Rigorous” schools, in almost every other conceivable category this campus is all things for all people. These rankings probably don’t matter. In fact, no, no they don’t. It should go without saying that these quantifications of student life are little more than filler for publications looking to analyze universities in eye-

catching terms as opposed to job placement rates or test score. But in case anyone needed convincing, we present to you the disparate and contradictory distinctions Georgetown has garnered over the past couple of years.

Apparently someone at Playboy got a hold of the Voice’s “50 Shades of Blue and Gray,” because last week Georgetown made the list of colleges with the best sex lives, edging out sixth-place NYU for a spot in the top five. Perhaps this has something to do with HerCampus deeming Georgetown’s male student body the ninth-hottest in the country—most likely a combination of the “A” ranking given to our guys by College Prowler, our “sexy nerds,” and high-end location near shops tailored to fit all the needs of the boat shoe and salmon short-wearing gentlemen that comprise most of the male population of this campus.

Paradoxically, Georgetown is simultaneously the number-10 hipster college, accord-

ing to College Magazine, and the number one preppiest school, according to the Huffington Post. It might be that all these researchers just have different interpretations of an ironically preppy look.

All these findings beg the question: who is the target audience of all these magazines?

If it’s prospective students, then maybe the most salient analysis is Newsweek’s “happiest students” survey. Their methodology was to look at dropout and transfer rates, as well as reported student satisfaction with their overall experience. Beating out Harvard, which took 11th place, Georgetown students were ranked the sixth happiest in the country.

Of course, students base their opinion on their university on vastly different criteria, so even transfer rates provide an imperfect litmus test. But then, as proven by all the other rankings, trying to pin down the character of a university will send you chasing windmills.

So why rank at all?

news

4 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

On first anniversary, Occupy shuts down bank, K St

by Matthew Weinmann Starting this past weekend and throughout this week, Occupy DC is celebrating its one year anniversary. Last Saturday, Occupy Our

protest Bank of America’s dealings with Michael Vanzant, a community leader and founder of Faith Church, a church which accepted LGBT members and advocated housing as a human right.

GU Occupy celebrates the movement’s one-year anniversary.

Homes DC had actions at all the Bank of America locations across the District, aiming to shut them down for their Saturday business hours.

On Monday, Occupy DC held a protest in McPherson Square on K Street, the symbolic home of lobbying in the District.

As reported on Vox Populi, the actions on Saturday included one at the Bank of America in Georgetown. The Occupiers were there to

Lucia He

“To show up on a Saturday, I feel it’s the least we can do for Reverend Vanzant, who is an important part of the community, and has done a lot of really amazing things,” said Thomas Meyer, a junior at American University. “And foreclosure’s bullshit.

Ben was telling me that there’s like six homes for every one homeless person,” he said, referring to Ben Johnson, a sophomore at AU who organized the action in Georgetown.

Although the protesters were made to take their signs off of the bank by the police, there was no physical confrontation between police and the protesters. The bank remained closed for its entire hours of operation, from 9:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. The bank posted signs on the doors which read “Due to protest activity we will be delaying opening.” The Georgetown branch would not comment on its decision.

The protest on K Street targeted “the intersection of money and decision making,” as Mookie, a student at Montgomery University, explained. Starting from Farragut Square, the protest moved down K Street, stopping at various financial institutions and lobbying firms on the way to McPherson Square. The march ended in Freedom Plaza, where teach-ins were held.

Even as the Occupiers were making a statement about the culture of Washington, they were wary to outline Occupy’s goals.

“It’s very organic, it’s very spontaneous,” said Eric Lotke.

“It’s still mainly a meeting place,” Mookie said. “I would say that if people do come together, that is the most important thing, letting people know that there are this many people.”

“From what I’ve found out so far, it’s getting stronger, I mean the numbers are growing,” said Jeremiah DeSousa, who has been an Occupier for about a year. “Pretty much everyone I’ve been associated with and camping with for the past year is here and I came to support them.”

The frustrations which first gave birth to the movement are still strong. “I’m a middle class, middle aged guy with two kids. I’m a member of the PTA, I’ve got a job, I’ve got healthcare. I’m fine, thank you,” Lotke said. “But the powers aren’t listening to me either.”

One area in which occupiers say they’ve succeeded is shaping the national political discussion. “When we talk about changing the debate, the debate has been changed,” Lotke said. “Now in the 2012 election, even the namby-pamby Democrats are out there saying we need to raise revenue, we can’t solve deficit problems without raising revenue, we can’t do it all with cuts and you’ve got to go where the money is.”

Not everyone was satisfied with the events of the day. Kenny, who would only give his first name, wished the action had been more aggressive. “I was hoping it’d go like last time we took K Street … we put tents and tables and chair and palettes and newspaper stands and anything that wasn’t attached

to the ground was in the street with several hundred people” said Kenny. “I don’t think that anyone had an aggressive plan.”

The police presence was visible, but non-confrontational, with officers even helping to control traffic for the protesters. “The police are generally polite and well mannered, but very excessive in their presence,” Lotke said.

“They’re just letting us get in the street, you know say our chants, they’re stopping traffic for us,” Kenny said.

The police officers had been instructed to not offer comment to reporters.

But, in the end, most Occupiers judged the actions as successful.

With as many as 150 people in attendance, the protest was smaller than the demonstrations of a year ago, but still succeeded in shutting down small parts of K Street for short periods of time.

“I hope that people leave here with a better knowledge of what’s going on,” Kenny said. “The physical occupation was making a statement, but while we were here it was a new set of skills being acquired ...

I’ve learned as much stuff here, and I’ve been able to teach people stuff ... education is what it’s about.”

Additional reporting contributed by Miles Gavin Meng and Isabel Echarte.

College Dems and Repubs come together to host debate watch party

by Lindsay Leasor For the first time in recent memory, the Georgetown chapters of the College Democrats and College Republicans hosted a presidential debate-watching party together. The two groups came together in Lohrfink Auditorium Wednesday night to experience and discuss the event that would become the most tweeted political event in U.S. history.

In the opening sequence of the debate, the crowd started chanting “Obama! Obama!” at 9 p.m.. Debate moderator Jim Lehrer gave an opening statement, expressing that the discussion of the night would focus on on domestic issues. It was not long before the Georgetown students began interjecting their praise and criticism of each candidate’s responses.

In regard to the audience members, Chair of the College Republicans Maggie Cleary (COL ’14) called it “very respectful.”

“There wasn’t really any cheering or shouting,” she said. “That being said, even though we can be bi-partisan during debates, we can’t really be bi-partisan on election night. We’ll be in different places on election night, but it’s nice to share venues for a debate.”

The event drew a large crowd, filling almost every seat in Lohrfink. The audience reacted to compelling points made by the candidates and, as expected, any mention of student loans and the increasing difficulty for graduates to secure a job after college.

One comment Mitt Romney made really riled the crowd. “What we’re seeing now is a trickle-down government approach that believes it can do better than individual people pursuing their dreams,” he said. “The path we’re taking is not working: its time for a new path,” he said. Both candidates also claimed they do not intend to make any cuts to student loans, pleasing both ideological sets in the Lohrfink audience.

In reference to rising college student expenses, President Obama said, “we lowered and plan to keep low interest rates on student loans. It’s how we’re going to grow this economy over the long term.” For President Obama, he has four years of experience to defend his claim. Governor Romney, on the other hand, has years of experience working in Massachusetts, the state with the number one rated school system. After the debate, however, President of the College Democrats Joe Vandegriff (COL ’14) said he “can’t think of one Republican initiative that directly helps young people.”

Both Vandegriff and Cleary believed the candidates performed well and the bi-partisan event was a good way to bring together both viewpoints. “I thought the attendance was phenomenal and the debate was a very good back and forth,” Vandegriff said. “I was sitting next to the entire row of Republicans, but I thought overall it was Democratic. I didn’t expect it to be

too ruckus. Obviously Georgetown is a political school, but you don’t get that radical that you tend to see at other schools. I expected the enthusiasm to be where it was at.”

Cleary had slightly different expectations for the evening. “Honestly, I thought they were a little less crazy than I was expecting,” she said. “Because we usually have protestors at all of our events, so even having a huge group of Democrats could be seen as protesters viewing it in a different light, but they were very respectful. I think that may be in part to the introduction of the debate when they said that everyone should be silent, something that everyone in the audience would take to be a rule too.

Maybe that’s why it went so well.”

For the remainder of the campaign season, both the College Democrats and the College Republicans have plans to further their party’s efforts. Because Georgetown is a taxexempt university, student group funds cannot be used directly to endorse a candidate. Outside sources,

however, can contribute funding and both student groups have organized trips to battleground areas in support of their preferred candidate.

In response to the potential magnitude of efforts, Vandegriff said, “We have a larger base and I think young Democrats are more enthusiastic than young Republicans. You can really get into social issues, which I was disappointed never came up in the debate. I think, for example, gay marriage is a defining issue of our generation.” He hopes this topic will be addressed at a forthcoming debate.

As for Republicans, Romney’s performance has provided a necessary confidence. “I thought the night went really well and hopefully we’ll see a spike in membership and a spike in the polls,” Clearly said.

“That’s all I want.”

For the remaining three debates, the groups plan to hold bipartisan viewing events. The Vice Presidential debate watch is being held next week, Oct. 11, in the ICC auditorium.

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the georgetown voice 5

Adjunct professors move towards unionization with SEIU

by Vanya Mehta In response to the growing presence of Service Employees International Union organizers on campus, Georgetown’s provost Robert Groves addressed an email to all faculty members reaffirming the University’s respect and support of the right of employees to unionize. The SEIU, which represents 2.1 million workers in the healthcare, property, and public services sectors, began work this semester to unionize adjunct professors on the Hilltop.

“The policy, I was just reminded of yesterday, it’s really kind of cool,” Groves said to the Voice last week on Georgetown’s Just Employment policy. “The more that people have careful thinking and discussion on [the unionization process]…if there is some sort of vote with large participation, and everybody expresses their opinion, this would be a good thing for all of us.”

The Just Employment policy affirms the right for all working members in Georgetown to “freely associate and organize,” as well as the “rights of employees to vote for or against union representation without intimidation.”

SEIU Director of Research and Strategic Planning Anne McLeer was encouraged by the Provost’s email.

“I believe that they are going to stand by their ethical and religiously moral stance to respect workers’ rights to freely organize. I think that was a very good first step,” she said.

McLeer added that, so far, the response from Georgetown’s adjuncts has been “very positive.”

Adjuncts are part-time professors hired on a contractual basis.

The category is large, ranging from professors with no access to benefits to “visiting professors” who enjoy a status similar to those of tenured professors. Some of these benefits include health insurance, job security, office space, and paid research.

SEIU seeks majority support among adjuncts. According to University spokesperson Rachel Pugh, adjuncts teach 22 to 27 percent of main campus courses. “This excludes faculty who may have adjunct in their title but are not actively teaching and full-time employees who also teach courses,” she wrote in an email.

Seventy-five percent of instructors in America are adjuncts, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. This past February, American University adjunct professors voted in favor of unionization with SEIU. At AU, almost 50 percent of faculty members are adjuncts.

Georgetown professors are SEIU’s next target in their “metroorganizing” strategy to unionize as many colleges in the District as possible. “The philosophy behind the strategy is to represent the majority of the labor pool of part-time adjuncts in the city to really raise the standards of how part-time faculty are treated, compensated, and what benefits they have access to,” McLeer said.

Georgetown adjunct professor Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute, would like to see a union and is working with SEIU to represent adjuncts.

Eisenberg has worked at George-

Scab shenanigans

Last Monday’s “Fail Mary” will forever be inscribed into NFL lore, with the contradicting hand motions of the replacement referees— one signaling interception, the other incorrectly signaling touchdown—encapsulating the utter incompetence and confusion that has overshadowed the opening weeks of the 2012 season.

The scabs’ shenanigans, which single-handedly gifted the game to the Seattle Seahawks, resulted in millions of households across the country cursing greedy NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for refusing to simply give the league’s unionized referees a fair contract.

Even the rabidly anti-labor Gov. Scott Walker joined in on the calls

to “#returntherealrefs.” All in all, the episode gave us a crash course on why the lockout is unjust and dangerous.

It’s important to stress that the lockout—a fairly common practice of American business, not be confused with the strike—is inseparable from the decades-long war on workers. Lockouts reflect the confidence of employers to extract heavy concessions and ignore the demands made by unions, whereas strikes often signify the opposite.

And as Salon’s Josh Eidelson noted in a recent article, lockouts have risen dramatically since the 1990s, with the lockout-to-strike ratio hitting an all-time high last year.

Lockouts are a tool of business

town for 12 years and believes that adjuncts deserve better benefits.

“We have in higher education a serious caste system, in which the adjuncts are basically the untouchables,” Eisenberg said. He added that about 48 percent of Georgetown’s faculty is comprised of adjunct professors.

On WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show this week, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Peter Schmidt highlighted some of the main issues facing adjunct professors. “Sometimes we can’t even share work with other adjuncts,” Schmidt said. “You have

Sanchez said. “I have not considered organizing.”

Violand has taught at Georgetown for 11 years, but receives the bulk of her salary from a secondary job. Being an adjunct for Violand is “more like an enrichment opportunity,” she says, and she commits most of her work to her position as Chair of the Arlington Public School Board in Virginia.

“I think one of the characteristics of adjuncts is that we are, in a way, isolated,” Violand said. “I personally don’t know other [adjuncts].” For Violand, teaching at Georgetown is

GLaSSDOOR.cOM

The SEIU headquarters is located on Massachusetts Ave. near Dupont Circle. to play ball if you want recommendations and advancement.” Some adjuncts fear participating in a union may jeopardize their ability to move up the higher education ladder.

There is a contingent of adjunct professors who receive benefits or have very strong secondary jobs to support their lifestyle.

“Someone from SEIU stopped by my class last Tuesday, but I didn’t have much time to talk to him. He was an organizer,” adjunct professor of Linguistics Emma Violand-

a chance to engage with college students, not other professors.

According to Barbara Wein, a professor in the Georgetown’s Justice and Peace Studies program and spokesperson for SEIU, Georgetown allocates 2 percent of its overhead budget to adjuncts. Pugh neither confirmed nor denied this claim before the Voice went to print.

Wein believes Georgetown’s support system for adjuncts is minimal and unsatisfactory. “I don’t have an office for students to sit in. I just

to exploit workers and squeeze out as much profit as possible. But their consequences are felt by more than the locked-out workers themselves, since lockouts perpetuate wage repression. While an employer that

power plant. But that’s just what the energy company Entergy resorted to at one of its plants in Massachusetts this summer when it brought in hundreds of replacement workers.

As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sat on the sidelines and allowed the plant to operate, one of those replacement workers actually conceded to a journalist at the time that, “if there was a catastrophe on a scale like Fukushima, management would not handle it the way they should.” There’s also the case of Con Ed, which during a massive heat wave in New York City this summer, decided to lock out 8,000 of its workers rather than soften up its demands for the union to agree to heavy concessions on health care and pensions.

union Jack

by Cole Stangler

A bi-weekly column about national politics and policy locks out its unionized workers may provide some jobs to some needy workers, this kind of practice serves to drive down wages for everyone in the long run. What’s more, as we learned on Monday, lockouts are dangerous.

In certain industries, scab labor can be extraordinarily dangerous—like say, at a nuclear

have to meet outside. There are no support services,” she said. “At American, they give a ton of support to their adjuncts. They offer to take a professional photograph, technological support training, orientation. I don’t get any of that at Georgetown, and obviously very little pay.”

According to adjunct professor of bioethics Erick Valdes, Georgetown offers adjuncts higher pay than American does. A course at American University will pay an adjunct $3,000, whereas Georgetown pays adjuncts about $6,000.

Valdes says even this number is not enough. “If you are teaching two courses … that means you should be able to live on $2,000 a month.

The system is perverse. The system forces you to rush between universities…and even by doing that you’re not able to get a living wage.”

Valdes juggles four jobs: American University, George Mason University, Montgomery College, and Georgetown. He chose not to participate in American’s union. “Unions are necessary, but they should change their method,” he said, citing what he saw as organizational issues within the unions at Montgomery and American, as well as a lack of tangible results for professors.

Even so, Valdes thinks something must be done to improve the lot of adjuncts.

“You have the same responsibilities and same obligations as full-time professors,” he said, “but the detail is, you don’t have the same rights.

You don’t have any kind of insurance, any kind of benefits. The only thing you have are responsibilities and obligations.”

While these labor struggles may not be as high-profile as the NFL lockout, the same dynamics are at play. Lockouts are dangerous and unjust, a stark reminder of the levels of confidence and power that run through the veins of of corporate America today. And while the high-profile nature of the NFL lockout may have resulted in a little bit of justice for the referees, the same cannot be said for the thousands of other currently locked-out workers across the country like the 1,300 grain workers at American Crystal Sugar or the 1,000 workers at Cooper Tire in Ohio. These stories are easy to ignore, but we’re all worse off because of them.

Pick Cole’s scabs at cstangler@ georgetownvoice.com.

sports

6 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

After Homecoming, football looks for win in Bronx

by Joe Pollicino Despite a packed Multi-Sport Field for homecoming weekend, the Georgetown football team (3-2, 0-0 Patriot League) struggled mightily against Brown, (2-1, 0-1 Ivy League) falling 37-10.

Sophomore quarterback Stephen Skon and the rest of the Georgetown offense had a rough day. Skon, who made his first career start for the Hoyas, struggled completing 17-of-31 passes for 147 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked 5 times and knocked down on many other occasions in a shaky performance for the offensive live.

“Things just didn’t go our way,” Skon said after the game. “They were a good team. They made some good plays on defense. We didn’t execute well.”

“It’s going to be a learning experience for him,” said Head Coach Kevin Kelly following the loss. “Last week, he was the backup. This week he was the starter. We’ll look at both games. We’ll see what he does well and what he does poorly and come up with a game plan for him moving forward.”

After a quick Hoya possession to start the game, Brown started its first drive with a short field at the Georgetown 42. Five plays later, Brown quarterback Patrick Donnelly completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andrew Marks with 10:58 left.

After another Georgetown punt, Donnelly led the Bears down to the Hoya 11 on two quick plays.

However, the Hoyas’ defense held strong, and Brown settled for a 22yard field goal from Alexander Norocea, which gave the Bears a 10-0 lead with 6:08 left in the first quarter.

On Georgetown’s next possession, Skon led the Hoyas down the field to the Brown one-yard line,

where the Bears’ defense stuffed the Hoyas on 3 straight running plays from the 1-inch marker. Matt MacZura capped off the frustrating 10play 72-yard drive with an 18-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter to put the Hoyas on the board, 10-3.

After both teams traded punts, Brown drove all the way down the field with ease as running back Spiro Theodhosi’s 18-yard run gave the Bears a 17-10 lead with 5:57 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Skon’s struggles began late in the first half as he threw two interceptions, the latter of which came with 35 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. Donelly and Brown took advantage and manufactured a quick 6-play 36-yard drive, which concluded with a 35-yard field goal from Norocea, giving the Bears a 2010 halftime lead.

“I was trying to take a couple of shots down the field,” Skon said. “It just didn’t work out for us.”

The second half was all Brown, as they outscored the Hoyas 17-0 and did not allow Georgetown’s offense to record a first down. The Hoyas had only 18 yards of total offense in the second half.

“They had the right gameplan,” Coach Kelly said. “They brought a lot of pressure. Their defense did a good job. We just didn’t execute.”

After both teams exchanged a series of punts to start the half, Donnelly led the Bears on an 8-play 75-yard scoring drive, ending in an 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tellef Lundevall, which made the score 27-10 Brown.

Immediately after a Georgetown three-and-out, Brown took a commanding 34-10 lead in the fourth quarter after defensive back Matthew Shannon blocked Matt MacZura’s punt and recovered the fumble in the Georgetown end zone for a Brown touchdown. A 34-yard

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Zach Wilke hopes to be celebrating a victory next week.

field goal for Brown by Alexander Norocea late in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for the game.

The Georgetown running game was virtually absent all day, as the Hoyas only averaged 0.4 yards per carry on 33 attempts for 63 yards.

The Hoya defense was unable to contain the Brown running game, as the Bears’ Theodhosi ran for 143 yards on 21 carries, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Donnelly was solid at quarterback for

Brown as well, completing 20 of 32 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

“Brown did an excellent job running the ball. It’s not like us to play like this,” Coach Kelly said. “It’s no fun when you get your tail kicked like we did.”

It is unknown who will start at quarterback for the Hoyas next week, as they look to bounce back when they travel to the Bronx to take on Fordham. Starting quarter-

Aaron Aiken are listed day-to-day with a concussion and sprained ankle, respectively. However, if Skon does get the starting nod again, he will be ready.

“I’m going to approach the game the same way, calm and confident,” Skon said. “Game experiences will help me learn from my mistakes and mature as a quarterback. I’m going to continue to work on reading the defense and leading this team.”

the Sports Sermon “I think it’s going to take our winning to a whole new level” - Ryan Mattheus on Teddy’s win in the Presidents race tinue to obsess—it’s their form of entertainment. After a certain point, I merely tired of listening to Adam Schefter and company rehash the same opinions, report minor injuries, and create sensational headlines of locker rooms being torn apart by a caustic word or two.

Overanalyzing occurs with just about everything though— sports, television, politics—as pundits talk about what happened, its significance, and what it means for the future ad nauseum. And it’s not a bad thing for those who follow it. But in a generation like ours, this kind of coverage can’t be avoided.

vation from the underdog stories and the motivational techniques On Sept. 21, 2001, New York they use, among other things. sports resumed for the first time With the special exceptions like since the attacks on the World Piazza’s homerun, the cynic in Trade Center ten days earlier. In me says to stay away from anyan otherwise mundane matchup thing more. While the result of between the Mets and Braves, last night’s game is great water the entire city came together in cooler talk and inevitably relsolidarity. It seemed they needevant to the enormous amount of ed that time, just to get away sports fans in our country, there’s from it all. Mike Piazza’s gamea limit, even if sometimes there’s clinching home run later in that that rare synthesis. contest only made that sentiTen years later, Piazza came ment manifest. out and said, “I think the special For a nation and a city reelthing about it is that it put to rest ing from the events of 9/11, it our fears and anxiety about bepresented an escape. This was a ing there. The fact that we did go special circumstance, of course, out there and have a great night but it does nothing for our team and Pete Rose Central to take away from the city was a real Da bettin’ line sport’s status as just blessing for us all.” that—an escape There was a certain Dookies Margin Hoyas from reality. fusion of worlds in (underdogs) (duh!)

But at the end of (favorites) that moment, one the day, that’s all it where the trepiT. Williams 6 TDs is. It’s certainly not a Geno Smith dation of the real Romo substitute for real life world merged with Wheels RGIII and, though a great the solace of the Goodell Competence Real Refs deal of elements of sporting world. both correlate to each other, they While it doesn’t prevent us from With sports and similarly should theoretically be separate. forming our own opinions, it covered topics, though, the Sports are real life for the athletes becomes a lot more difficult in main comfort is the simplicity who play them but just entertain- keeping them detached from of distancing ourselves from it. ment for the rest of us. other influential perspectives we The Mets are terrible this year?

Not too long ago, I used to read, see, or hear.

Stop watching baseball. Hate be a victim of failing to see this That said, a lot of these opin- the Republicans? Keep an eye dichotomy. Once a Giants game ions are simply separate from us. out on Gawker for Romney’s ended, for instance, I would anx- We similarly overanalyze that next gaffe. iously obsess over every min- bad breakup or some untimely Regardless of the situation, ute of post-game coverage, win death of a loved one, but those things like sports are always or lose, until next week’s game occurrences discernibly hit closer going to be there. Just wait unrolled around. to home. That convolution of real til next year—with sports, hope That tendency is gone now. life issues is what draws us back springs eternal. For the most I will still watch the games and to these other, plainer issues. part, real life doesn’t play that emphatically remain a fan of Does that inevitable idiotic state- game. There’s no mulligan for a these teams I grew up with; if ment Obama or Romney made costly mistake. There are some they win I will be slightly hap- last night have any significant rare golden occurrences, though, pier, and if they suffer a heart- impact on our lives today? No, where we get that reset button in wrenching defeat I will be oppo- but we’re sure as hell going to real life too. A clean slate is all sitely upset. But that’s the extent hear about it until our ears bleed. we can ask for, and it’s someof my fandom these days.

This isn’t to say the sports thing we—as sports fans and This isn’t to be pessimistic world isn’t applicable to our ev- real, emotional human beings— or bash on sports fans that con- eryday lives. We can take moti- yearn for.

by Kevin Joseph

sports

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the georgetown voice 7

Heartbreak for Hoyas vs. UConn Volleyball continues slide

by Chris Almeida The Georgetown men’s soccer team (10-1-1, 2-1-0 Big East) began the week ranked seventh and third respectively in the TDS and NSCAA polls, the highest positions ever achieved by the program. This was accomplished through the best start in program history, in which the Hoyas did not lose in their first 11 games, their only draw being a one-to-one double-overtime affair against the University of Wisconsin.

However, this streak came to an end after a controversial, hardfought game against the No. 2 ranked Connecticut Huskies. The game, heavily contested and mildly marred by officiating controversy, ended in a 2-1 loss for the Hoyas.

Head Coach Brian Wiese said of the game’s questionable plays, “These guys have handled the intangibles very well this year,” said

Head Coach Brian Wiese of the game’s questionable officiating.

“The referee, whenever you’re partial, you’re always yelling at the referee, no matter how good or bad the calls are. There are a couple things that we would have liked to have gone differently. I think the non-call on the second goal, as a former goalkeeper, is something you would like to see called and as a former goalkeeper, you probably should handle that a little bit better, but that’s a judgment call.“ The game was scoreless for the first 38 minutes, until Connecticut forward Mamadou Diouf scored on a free kick. UConn struck again in the 64th minute, when Allando Matheson scored on a header off a corner kick. The quickly Hoyas found the back of the net in the 66th minute, when senior midfielder Andy Reimer scored his sixth goal of the year. However, the squad could not find an equal-

Joey Dillon and the Hoyas simply could not equalize against the Huskies.

LUCIA HE

Jets spinning out of control Over the past few years, I’ve supported Mark Sanchez when others got down on him. Instead, I’ve blamed former Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and current offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, I’ve blamed the offensive line, I’ve blamed the receivers, I’ve blamed Rex Ryan.

And, a lot of the time, they’ve been the right people to blame.

Schottenheimer was an awful coordinator who didn’t understand how play-calling worked and ran the most predictable offense in the league, while Sparano’s offense has been a total mess. The offensive line has also regressed the past few years. Despite that Nick Mangold is still arguably the best offensive lineman in football, D’Brickashaw Ferguson’s play this year is a far cry from his Pro Bowl days, and Matt Slauson, Brandon Moore, and Austin Howard are all mediocre at best, though still an improvement over

former Jets lineman Wayne Hunter from last year. Then, just look at Sanchez’s receiving corps at the end of this past weekend’s game after Santonio Holmes got hurt: two guys named Jeremy Kerley and Chaz Schillens.

What is this, a comedy routine? Even with Holmes, rookie Stephen Hill and tight end Dustin Keller all playing, there’s not much to get excited about. Holmes is glorified, but nothing more than a number two guy. Stephen Hill has potential, but is so raw that he could have a game where goes for 89 yards and scores 2 TDs (see week one) then has zero catches next game (see weeks two and three). And Dustin Keller’s scored just three TDs in his last 15 games.

Guys like Braylon Edwards, Plaxico Burress, and Jericho Cotchery from years past weren’t big-time names either, at least by the time Sanchez was throwing to them.

Then there’s the absolute enigma that is Rex Ryan. Obviously

izer, despite pressure throughout the second half.

Senior captain and midfielder Ian Christianson, though, was able to put the season in perspective.

“This was the best start to a season in program history, so it was great to be a part of that,” he said.

“But we’re still hungry, and we want to go to South Bend and get a win.”

The Hoyas outshot the Huskies 18-14, but struggled to find a way past the nation’s top goalkeeper, Andre Blake. Blake made seven saves, six in the hotly contested first half.

“I thought the guys responded really well,” Wiese said. “We just ran out of time, ran out of legs. It’s hard to chase the game like that, but we created plenty against a really good UConn team. I think they conceded three goals in ten games coming into this one. We replay this one, maybe we score two or three if the finishing is a little better, but again, they’re a complete team.”

The Hoyas need to recover quickly, with a matchup at powerhouse Notre Dame this weekend which will headline the remainder of the season, which contains more challenges from the Big East, including a meeting with No. 8 Marquette at North Kehoe on Oct. 13.

“I told them, you have to act like this is a long weekend. You have Notre Dame on Saturday,” said Wiese. “This group, so far, has been really mature. We have a great group of seniors who have handled things really well, so we expect to be ready for Saturday. It’s an important one to bounce back on.”

you can’t knock a guy who’s been to two conference championship games in two of his first three years too much, but it’s tough to tell whether he’s actually improving as a coach, or whether his loudmouthed style is starting to lose its effect on players.

But if you’re going to play the blame game, there’s no way you can leave the quarterback out. Sure, there’s the lack of targets to throw to, but that doesn’t

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

by Alex Lau A bi-weekly column about sports necessarily merit having the worst completion percentage of any starting quarterback in football. Sure, the offensive line can use some work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should be fumbling the ball like it’s your job. He’s starting to look like

by Keaton Hoffman The Georgetown women’s volleyball team (6-11, 0-4 Big East) had a rough Homecoming weekend in more ways than one, dropping two home matches in four sets against Seton Hall (15-2, 3-1) and Rutgers (15-4, 1-3) to extend their losing streak to 10.

While the team has a lot of areas for growth in terms of passing and setting, one bright spot has been the rising star of sophomore middle blocker Dani White. The Mission Viejo, Ca. native hit above .300 in both games over the weekend, and racked up a match-high 15 kills against the Pirates to help win the Hoyas a set over the then Big East leader.

White has also been one of the few consistent defenders at the net. During the weekend’s games White assisted on nine blocks, raising her season total to a team-high 66.

When asked about her success, White credits her teammates. “Volleyball is one of those sports where you can’t have a Kobe Bryant who can take it all by himself. Every action is dictated by previous actions so I can’t do as well as I am now without my teammates being just as good.

You see the games where I go off, that’s a reflection on the other five women on the court with me.”

none other than Tim Tebow, who was crucified for his accuracy, but at least won games. I don’t necessarily think that there are too many quarterbacks with a worse offense than Sanchez, but it’s also tough to find someone who’s been as ineffective as Sanchez has this year and is still starting.

So who’s to blame? I think the simple, correct answer is that everyone’s to blame. Look at this team on paper, parse through the depth chart, and even if you include a now-injured Darelle Revis, they’re no more than an 8-8 team. No offense and an aging defense doesn’t get you very far in the National Football League.

Obviously, it’s the easy way out to blame the most visible player on the team, and doing so wouldn’t necessarily be the wrong thing to do. But before you call for Sanchez’s head, just take a look at the rest of the organization. Why did General Manager Mike Tannenbaum allow team cancers Holmes and Antonio Cromartie to stay, and then trade for Tebow immediately after

One significant influence on White has been the team’s other middle blocker, senior team captain Lindsay Wise, who has been a respected leader on this team in her final season as a Hoya. “I came in with Lindsay last year. We were the only two middles on the team and so we just had this automatic bond,” White said.

White specifically thanked Wise for teaching her how to be a better teammate. “Being able to relate to my teammates and be able to pull them out of their ruts and be able to help them get better, that’s definitely something that Lindsay Wise has taught me,” White said.

Head Coach Arlisa Williams reiterated Wise’s special light and spirit on the court, describing her as a “nurturer.”

“We’re going to miss Lindsay a lot when she’s gone. She has been a huge part of us building this program. She’s got a huge presence on the court for us,” Williams said.

When asked about her experience here as a Hoya and what this final season means to her, Wise burst into tears leaning on her teammate for support. It seems the Hoyas can’t find the words to describe what this loss will mean for them, as they look to rebuild after a season that has been filled with all too many losses already.

signing Sanchez to a huge deal?

Why not make changes after finishing 8-8 the year after coming one game away from the Super Bowl? Take a look at how Rex Ryan has babied and mishandled Sanchez over the past few years, calling him the team leader but never letting him throw the ball more than 10 yards; if your boss never let you do more than make copies after giving you a huge salary and naming you an executive wouldn’t you have some confidence problems?

Frankly, the talent isn’t there, management has done nothing to make them better, and the coaches don’t know how to respond. It’s not wrong to blame Sanchez, but football’s a team sport; just as an individual can’t take all the credit for success, one can’t take all the blame for failure either. That’s why the question of whether to start Sanchez or Tebow may be the least of this team’s worries.

Get Alex propelled at alau@ georgetownvoice.com

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8 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

Funny business D.C.’s second-tier comedy scene

By Julia Lloyd-George

Walking into Penn Social, an E Street bar, on a Sunday night provides a glimpse into your average D.C. watering hole. Helmeted football players sprint across several flat-screens while young urban professionals mingle and cheer on their favorite teams with beer in hand.

Nothing seems to be amiss here, and yet it’s a sore sight for any local comedy fan’s eyes.

What once was a premier comedy theater with two floors and a 300-person capacity performance room is now

night at Penn Social. “All the comedy clubs are hurting since fewer people are going out. The Internet also makes it easier for people to see standup acts online for free, but there’s really just generally less demand for comedy.”

This nation-wide trend, however, has particularly damaged the District’s relatively small comedy scene. While D.C. Improv and the Arlington Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse across the Potomac continue to thrive on making laughs, these are the only major local venues that consistently

Tonic, a bar in Foggy Bottom, hosts weekly open mic nights, which local comedians frequent. a bar with televisions mounted on the walls and a game room where headlining stand-up comedians had previously graced the stage. Anyone stopping by the former Riot Act Comedy Theater for a drink after work would never know it was once one of the few leading destinations for comedy in the District.

Though the politics surrounding the club’s closure are more related to the departure of one of its owners and ensuing legal battle, D.C. comedy clubs in general struggle to hold up against dwindling audiences for local comedy.

“It’s really an effect of the weakened economy,” said Paul Schorsch, who recently started up a weekly open mic

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fill their seats with paying customers.

Wayne Manigo, a local comedian and co-founder of the D.C. Comedy Writers’ Group, points to this severe lack of venues as the greatest weakness of the local comedy scene. “Having enough venues to promote the local comedians,” he said, is essential for making D.C. comedy stronger. He claims that having D.C. Improv as “the only venue available on a mainstream level” makes it difficult to declare with any conviction that comedy has a strong presence in the District, despite the number of talented comedians in the area.

“If you’re a local comedy club, you should be nurturing the local talent,”

Manigo said. “Featuring the same 10 local people at the Improv isn’t enough.”

The realities of the economy and the entertainment business, however, mean that the Improv frequently stick to its role as a venue for comic celebrities as a means of generating income.

Having celebrated its 20th anniversary over the summer, D.C. Improv has clearly perfected a method of effectively drawing both audiences and comedians to its intimate basement venue near Dupont Circle. Contrary to what some local comedians may have to say about the D.C. scene, the Improv still has a rosy perspective from the top. The club’s manager, Allyson Jaffe, insists that “D.C. is a great place for comedy, and the local comedy scene continues to thrive here,” in spite of the economic downturn and lack of venues.

While D.C. Improv typically headlines comedians who have toured nationally or have appeared on television networks such as Comedy Central, Jaffe emphasized that the venue “also [has] local comics appearing as emcees and feature performers prior to the headliner” and has showcases in its Lounge.

When asked about changes she’s noticed in the comedy scene over recent years, Jaffe pointed to the growing number of open mic nights in the District as a positive trend that is “great for the comedy scene because comics can basically get out and perform almost any night of the week.” The growth of open mics over the past few years has come in conjunction with the Improv’s own shift toward headlining more national acts.

Having performed at the Improv since the ‘90s, D.C. Improv instructor Chris Coccia says this change is essentially a consequence of the weak economy. “Early on, you might have seen more local acts headlining there, but it just doesn’t seem to work anymore. It’s had to become more of a business,” Coccia said. “It’s nice to be able to bring in a local guy who is funny, but, again, if you can’t fill those seats, it’s just not going to work.”

The commercial nature of show business is a frustrating reality for many local comedians, yet the Improv has remained a successful comedy club over the years for both its shrewd business

practices and its ability to build a lasting relationship with comedians.

National comics such as Dave Chappelle and Georgetown’s own Mike Birbiglia (C’00) got their starts at the Improv, and the club has managed to keep bringing such luminaries back. “It’s one of those clubs that really knows how to create a relationship with its performers,” Coccia said.

According to Coccia, homegrown celebrities who would otherwise perform in larger theaters “keep coming back because they appreciate what [Improv] done for them.”

This reciprocity makes the Improv such a thriving success, yet relationships like these are difficult to cultivate for local comedians trying to break into this higher level of performance.

The high pedigree of the Improv means, however, that the vast majority of local talent simply isn’t up to scratch.

Reggie Melbrough, another local comic who runs an open mic at Looking Glass Lounge and other venues, feels that the Improv’s longtime success is even a clear indicator of its superiority in the district’s comedy scene. “There’s a reason why Improv is going strong and honestly, I don’t think there are that many local comics who actually deserve to be on the Improv stage.”

According to Melbrough, complaints from local comics will only “fall on deaf ears,” so impatience and frustration at the Improv will go nowhere. “We’re not the gatekeepers,” he said.

Racking up a solid resume is the only viable way to get noticed. “They want people who have credits—have you worked with headliners? Have you worked with multiple venues?” Coccia said. “Have those venues brought you back? They don’t want to see that all you do is run an open mic.” It’s difficult enough for local comedians to develop material for the open mic stage, but understanding what is necessary for the club scene is a different matter entirely.

Eddie Bryant, a local comedian who may be best known for his YouTube video mocking gentrification in D.C., recognizes that transitioning to a club venue like the Improv from open mics is much harder than it looks. “You really don’t have any training grounds,” he said. “A

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georgetownvoice.com room is one thing, but a club is a totally different bind. You really have to train to do that, and the learning curve is a little off.” This learning curve has as much to do with talent and experience as it does with understanding the way the entertainment business works.

With the knowledge that D.C. Improv is a principal comedy club booking out of L.A.-based agencies, Bryant explained that the networking process is harder for local comedians who don’t have this kind of agency representation. “They’re the big boys on the block,” he said of D.C. Improv. “And, in their eyes, you have to grow until you’re a big boy.” Having managed to perform on the Improv stage a few years ago, Bryant noted that his ability to “bring (his) own clientele” to the audience is likely what got him noticed by “the big boys.” Even now, though, he is constantly performing at local gigs in order to build his career without relying on the support of the Improv and other comedy clubs.

“It would be nice if the Improv had a local night,” he said, “but it is what it is.” This is a reality that every local comedian has to reckon with.

Though D.C. Improv is usually the only establishment that people recognize with stand-up comedy in the District, there is a vast underground scene of open mics that has grown from comedians’ desires to kickstart their own careers. Almost every night of the week, comedians at every level of experience can be seen on display in restaurants, bars, and hotel backrooms. Though audiences can be sparse, any brave soul can get stage time any day of the week.

Brian Parise, a local comedian who has performed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and who is being featured in D.C. Improv’s upcoming Comedy Lounge Show, pointed to

BRIAN FRIEDMAN

Mike Birbiglia broke out of D.C. Improv.

the georgetown voice 9

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Attendance at local shows has been in the decline in recent years, especially since the recession. the abundance of “chances to get up and get better” as one of the comedy scene’s greatest strengths and as a way to fortify the local talent that exists under the radar.

“You see a lot of really talented people come out of D.C.,” he said. “The fact that you can get up on stage a lot definitely helps that.” Making weekly rounds at open mics in the Topaz Hotel and other venues, Parise has evidently been taking advantage of those opportunities since he started his comedy career five years ago.

Some of the most successful local open mics, including RFD in Chinatown, are able to both draw large crowds and rack up a long waitlist of comedians hoping to perform because of their insistence that a large variety of comedians are able to come through.

“We have a strict policy in our room where nobody can perform two weeks in a row, which keeps up the cycle,” said producer Ralph Cooper. Intentionally keeping the waiting list “very random” helps keep the choice of comedians “impartial.” This rotation provides a truly mixed bag of comics for the audience every week.

This transience in open mic shows is also a reflection of the wider comedy scene. Curt Shackelford, who runs open mics at Rira Irish Pub, Topaz Hotel, and the Hyatt, noted that the “incredibly diverse mix of people makes this town highly transient—there’s a new influx of people every year that keeps the scene fresh.”

Tony Woods, an internationally touring comic who has been featured on channels like Comedy Central and HBO, also points to this shifting mix of comedians as one of D.C.’s greatest strengths. “Some of the best comedians in the country, or even around the world, come out of D.C.,” he said. “It’s really an eclectic think tank of comedians, as most people in D.C. are from somewhere else and everybody has a different point of view.”

This level of diversity, though, can mean that the comedy scene can be fractious and can split between both

comic cliques and different audience demographics.

“We are definitely cliquey,” Melbrough said. “Unless we see a new comic making people laugh, we’re not necessarily going to welcome you into the community. Even though we respect anyone who gets up and tries to make people laugh, we have this mentality that you’re not one of us.” This attitude keeps local comics competitive with one another and often breeds a kind of arrogance among local comics, according to Cooper.

“Every show producer thinks they can do this better than the next person,” he said, while questioning whether open mics are truly inclusive. “They ban people and are funny about who they let on stage,” he said of certain local open mics before adding, “There’s a lot of cronyism, backbiting and conjecture.” The divisiveness in the comic community, however, is even more evident in the split among audiences. Rather than cater to a cohesive and diverse crowd, many open mic shows in the area pander to a specific demographic.

“There’s a lot of segregation in comedy,” Melbrough said, “where white comics don’t go to black rooms and

black comics don’t go to white rooms.”

Known as “cable segregation,” this can create the perception that comics can find their niche audience and make no attempt to move beyond it into the mainstream.

It can also betray a subtle form of racism. “If you’re a white comic making jokes about black people only when they aren’t in the audience,” he said,“you’re not pushing the envelope or contributing to the art form, just making hate speech.”

Finding less of this problem in the D.C. scene, he thinks, would make comedy stronger in a city that can be known for being split among comic genres and demographics. “You don’t see a lot of crossover, but when you do, those people are truly funny because they’re just there to make people laugh regardless of race.”

Understanding a variety of audiences is the key to success anywhere, but especially in the eclectic city that is Washington, D.C. Comedy is both a business and an art form. Balancing those two components of the industry is fundamental to succeeding anywhere, yet any effective D.C. comedian must learn how to straddle both before being launched onto the national stage. The District’s inescapable identity as a “stepping stone” for the grander forums of New York and L.A. may be the city’s greatest roadblock. That the most successful comics flood out of the District to seek fame and fortune is a reality of the entertainment business, yet many local comics hope to see the city build a reputation that is truly on par with the amount of talent present here.

“The greatest weakness of the comedy scene here is our inability to recognize it for what it is,” said D.C. Comedy Writers’ Group co-founder Mandy Dalton. Pointing to the rise of Chicago as a comedy hub in spite of its detachment from the entertainment business, Dalton emphasized the need to embrace D.C.’s unique comic identity over imitating that of cities better known for comedy.

“There’s a voice here that influences everybody once you’ve been here for a while,” she said. “We just need to embrace that a little more.”

Local comedians have trouble breaking out of the local open mic circuit.

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leisure

10 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

Junk food and movies: The American dream at Angelika

by Alexandra Golway The glass walls and marble floors of the Angelika Film Center and Café give the impression that this art-house complex would be more at home in New York City than in Fairfax, Va., and rightly so—the original Angelika debuted with Soho in 1989. But this upscale movie theater is out to take the D.C. area by storm, starting in Fairfax’s trendy Mosaic district. With its eclectic selection of films you’ve never heard of (think indie knockouts, vintage classics, and foreign films) and a gourmet menu designed

by Chef Lee Anne Wong of Top Chef fame, Angelika attempts to make going to the movies a high-end escape from the drudgeries of daily life.

The towering three-story complex is home to a café, a lounge, and a concession stand—not to mention immense theaters equipped with stadium seating and the latest sound

technology. Angelika is the perfect intersection between food and film: the comfortable café area reminds the customer that going to the movies is an experience in itself, not just a distraction from worldly cares. The music alternates from French accordion to smooth jazz to New Age, a perfect ambiance for enjoying intelligentsia coffee and dessert with friends. It’s a charming place that would perform well on its own: the chocolate caramel crumble is rich and decadent, and the coffee is smooth and palatable.

Angelika is a hybrid of class and hipster, and it indulges in its sophistication edging on the ostentatious—Does your local movie theater offer San Pellegrino to wash down your kimchi hot dog? Does it boast a three-tier crystal chandelier? Does it call the box office a “concierge”? When the only movie title you recognize in the “Now Showing” queue is The Perks of Being a Wallflower,

you know you’ve stepped into a film geek’s paradise.

Upstairs, the concession stand offers gourmet snacks to entice the palates of moviegoers and foodies alike. The hallmark of these is The Junk: a gooey, caloric pile of rice krispie treats, potato chips, pretzels, popcorn, and bacon drizzled in chocolate ganache and caramel sauce. (Bacon was an extra $1, but the concession stand workers encouraged me to get the “full experience.”) It’s a guilty pleasure that lives up to its name—salty and sweet and incredibly unhealthy. While I enjoyed eating it, I couldn’t help but think that something this delicious could be easily recreated in a dorm room at 2 a.m.— albeit with lesser-quality ingredients, but it would certainly save the $11 price tag.

Price is a definite concern of the entertainment-hungry college student; with $13 movie tickets (except on Tuesday evenings, when $9 buys students admission and unlimited

sequent disillusionment with the transcendental bible of his youth.

Throughout the play, Okada, traverses time and a minimally -staged space to converse with his younger self. Okada’s role is split not only between past and present, but also amongst four different cast members.

play the playwright’s anxious and indecisive self. Okada shares the stage with the ghost of Henry David Thoreau and real-life visionary Kyohei Sakaguchi, author of the book Zero Yen House for which the play is named.

Sakaguchi’s book chronicles the rise of Walden-style shan-

popcorn) and food designed by a celebrity chef, Angelika can easily break the bank. Making a trip to see a matinee may be worthwhile for the intrepid film buff, but be forewarned: reaching Angelika is a journey involving seven metro stops to Dunn-Loring and a 15 minute walk along the highway, which isn’t a journey I expect to make often.

Angelika stands tall among the developing shops and restaurants of Mosaic, enticing customers with the experience of “going to the movies” with great food and entertainment. While the path to get to Angelika is no red carpet, the complex itself is a welcoming oasis that promises a show you’ll enjoy.

Alexandra Golway

Angelika has finally figured out that all you have to do is put “cafe” in the title.

Zero Cost House: Japan, Walden, and animals, oh my!

by Liana Mehring This past weekend I was lulled into a peaceful reverie by two people dressed in rabbit suits and playing ukuleles. This moment was brought to me by the Pig Iron Theater Company’s production of Toshiki Okada’s Zero Cost House at the Davis Performing Art Center.

Founded in 1995 in Philadelphia, The Pig Iron Theater Company is known for productions that are experimental, physical, and fun. Zero Cost House more than lived up to this company’s reputation, as the rabbits in the play’s opening scene hint at the eccentricities to come in this unusual but appealing production.

One part Okada’s autobiography, one part an ode to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, and one part panicked aftermath of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, the play is a compilation of seemingly unrelated parts; however a cast of incredible actors bring a sense of cohesiveness to Zero Cost’s unusual storyline.

The play jumps back and forth through Okada’s life, from the days of his Walden-worshipping adolescence to the playwriting success of his late 30s and sub-

Livearts-fringe.com

“Taylor Swift made her backup singers wear animal costumes! Why can’t I?” From scene to scene a different actor slips into Okada’s decidedly uncomfortable skin to

ties around Tokyo in the aftermath of the tsunami that are solar-powered, ‘zero yen,’ and

totally self-reliant. As Okada’s 38-year-old self struggles with a newfound condescension and naiveté in his re-reading of Walden, his sagging idealism is buoyed by Sakaguchi’s green-energy, subsistence-living enthusiasm. For all its roleswitching and time-hopping, however, the play is remarkably cohesive, shot through even as it is with some pretty bizarre imagery.

The dialogue and acting in Zero Cost House are characteristic of Okada’s other plays. In the original Japanese, his characters speak in the informal and abbreviated vernacular of Japan’s younger generation. Translated into English, the dialogue retains all of its inarticulate, drawn-out, and roundabout charm. Broken speech is accompanied by disjointed body movements and his trademark use of multiple actors for the same role. Okada is also fond of his meta-moments and self-conscious scene breaks, such as when his character opens the first scene with the polite inquiry, “May I begin?”

A seasoned playwright, Okada has achieved international if not polarized acclaim.

His play, Enjoy, was voted the

“worst play of the year” in his native Japan, but was taken up on its titular offer on the other side of the Pacific in New York, where it got rave reviews. Despite numerous translations of his previous work, Zero Cost House was Okada’s Englishlanguage world premier.

The costumes are casual and at times bizarre, with characters wearing everything from baggy sweatshirts to full bunny suits.

The play deploys equally casual and arresting staging—characters roll or walk silently across stage, seemingly at random, breaking the narrative flow and producing an aura of endearing awkwardness. The stage lights remain on for the majority of the performance, highlighting the informality and directness with which the audience is engaged.

At just under two hours long, the Pig Iron Theater Company’s Zero Cost House is a patient and poignant production. The takeaway is a stirring commentary on the transformation of self and imagined alternatives to life as we know it. Oh, and the rabbits—I believe they symbolize the average person content to burrow deep into a comfortable, untroubled life.

Still no read on the ukuleles.

georgetownvoice.com

“where the hell did you get him? Psychos r’ Us? ” — Lethal weapon

the georgetown voice 11

Liam Neeson kicks ass in Taken 2 Hilltop Horoscopes

by James Gadea Taken 2 is the kind of movie that most people will immediately deride as another cheap money-grab by a cash-hungry film studio. Well, those people are partially right. Inevitably, as with all sequels, part two is not nearly as original as the first blockbuster action flick, which starred Liam Neeson as a kickass dad on the hunt for his abducted daughter. Nevertheless, those who claim that Taken 2 is nothing more than a rehash are wrong—it’s easy enough to deride any formulaic action film sequel, but it’s undeniable that Taken 2 is pure entertainment.

The story itself focuses on Bryan Mills (Neeson), a former CIA operative accepting a job in

Istanbul, only to see that his entire family is faced with mortal danger as the family of Mills’s victims from the first film seeks revenge.

This time, though, Mills has even worse luck, in that he is captured and must first escape before rescuing his family.

Playing Mills’s daughter Kim is Maggie Grace, here taking a more active and independent role than she did in the first movie— it’s difficult to make an impression when you’re a teenage girl thrown into a prostitution ring and riddled with drugs. Grace fits in well into her new role as an action heroine, fighting the forces of the European underground alongside her overburdened dad with panache.

A lot of the most surprisingly funny scenes in Taken 2 occur be-

imdB

Run Liam, “Love Actually does exist,” even if you kill one hundred bad guys.

First Lady fashion: fierce

Fashion and politics lie on opposite ends of the spectrum, right? It is difficult to imagine that these two could possibly go hand in hand, since a ‘strong political figure’ is one who wears solely black and gray suits with an occasional touch of color in the form of a tie.

Fortunately, there are those who stray away from the typical stereotype and march to the beat of their own drum. And as Mayor Vincent Gray recently stated during D.C. Fashion Week 2012, the District is transitioning from a political city to one where fashion and politics unite to create a vibrant metropolitan area.

From Jackie Onassis to Michelle Obama, First Ladies throughout American history have stood in the public spotlight not only as important political figures, but also as fierce fashion icons with

style, talent, and flare in their wardrobe creations.

As one of the most iconic women to ever walk the face of the earth, Jackie Kennedy Onassis created a new look for the traditional First Lady, adding her own personal touch to the title. Jackie O arrived on the political scene with prim and proper skirt suits, white gloves, pill-box hats, and classic clasp handbags. Her signature look included enormous sunglasses, lace headscarves, and fabulous retro jewelry. When planning for the campaign trail, she mastered the art of looking gorgeous without raising too many eyebrows. For Jackie O, with her simple and monochromatic looks, it was not the dress that made the look, but her powerful, star-studded presence.

It is very difficult for a First Lady to follow up with a ward-

tween the interactions of Grace’s character and Neeson’s. However, there were some problems in the script which strained the quality of the onscreen relationship between the father-daughter duo. More than once, in fact, the dialogue was inadvertently laughable. And that’s not a bad thing.

Multiple times, I found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculous things that were being said.

And if you see this movie, you’ll laugh, too. Honestly, it’s impossible to take Neeson seriously when he’s desperately chasing around his kidnapped female relatives.

But those moments are welcomed points of relief where you realize that this is a popcorn flick whose purpose is to be enjoyable on every level, not to delve into the pressing social issues of the day. In essence, the people who come to this movie expecting it to be a fun action movie will not be disappointed.

However, if there is one thing that can be said, it is that Liam Neeson can make a movie worth seeing. Whether he’s staring down an Albanian drug dealer or unintentionally producing laughs though his poorly written lines, he makes Taken 2 worth facing the downpour of negative criticism. In the end, this is the movie to watch if you want to see Liam Neeson at his actionpacked finest.

robe as stylish and inventive as that of Jackie O, and in no occasion is the pressure to measure up more daunting than the inaugural ball. This important affair introduces the first lady to the world and serves as a snapshot into the American Presidency.

Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton,

Haute mess

by Julian de la Paz & Neha Ghanshamdas a bi-weekly fashion column

and Laura Bush all attempted—and failed—to capture that classic, American look Jackie O so perfectly executed. It almost seemed impossible for anyone to ever live up to her legacy.

Enter Michelle Obama.

Today, she rocks the political runway with her nouveau style.

Cancer: 6/22-7/22 Make sure to rest over Columbus Day: It’s the season for Corp coffee desensitization.

12/22-1/19: Capricorn Chicken Madness will satisfy more than ever, but Midnight Madness will bore thoroughly.

Leo:

7/23-8/22 The name of your zodiac suggests you’ll be eating a lot of Leo’s. Luckily, they passed their new health inspection.

1/20-2/18: Aquarius You’ll test-tube birth your true love in Reiss. That, or you’ll be Georgetown’s Walter White.

Virgo:

8/23-9/22 You will grow closer to your friends, but the Leavey Center still fails to be a decent student union for you to hang.

2/19-3/20: You did not vote in GUSA elections, so you cannot complain about or relish in Cannon Madness.

Libra:

9/23-10/22 Buy your Thanksgiving train ticket back to Jersey now. DeGioia won’t reimburse the crunchtime inflation price.

5/21-6/21: Gemini While your significant other throws molotovs on their Cairo studyabroad, you finally have the time to do hot yoga.

Scorpio: 10/23-11/21 Befriend that cool freshman in your ethics class: his parents are here next weekend and you’ll get a free meal out of it.

4/20-5/20: Taurus Dayglow passed you by, but don’t fret: Parents Weekend is sure to fulfill your desire for drunken debauchery.

Sagittarius: 11/22-12/21 If you’re reading this, you survived midterms. If not, you still don’t get to be buried in the Jesuit Graveyard.

3/21-4/19: All of your favorite bands come during midterms. Blame Leo’s, DeGioia, or the Corp.

Take your pick.

Our current first lady is certainly making a run to live up to Jackie O’s stylish legacy. Since her debut on the Hill, she has dared to make one statement after another with her glitz, glam, and vibrant flair.

She has brought new and upcoming designers to both the political and fashion scene, and she has sported many affordable creations by brands such as J. Crew and GAP. Unlike traditional first ladies of the past, Michelle has been able to make much of her style accessible to all Americans.

Yes, she loves her Naeem Khan gowns for galas and balls, but she also sports all-American affordable fare daily.

Mrs. Obama embodies the American woman of today with her versatile and accessible garb.

She exemplifies the fact that politics and fashion are not on opposite ends of the spectrum. In fact, Michelle’s choice of dress is very much related to her political ide-

Pisces

Aries

als. She chooses her designers carefully, often in line with her democratic pitch to the middle class of America. For one, she has been known to sport Tracy Reese designs, a self-made African American businesswoman whose mid-priced frocks are far from the four figure price tags characteristic of classic First Lady fair.

Mrs. Obama’s apparel choices put her under the spotlight, and serve as inspiration for many women of America today, but in a more accessible fashion than perhaps her predecessors.

However, both Jackie and Michelle have demonstrated that the Hill is not just a place for red, white, blue, and the occasional seersucker.

Start a Lady O fan club with Julian at rdelapaz@georgetownvoice. com & Neha at nghanshamdas@ georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

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

How to Dress Well, Total Loss, Acéphale Records Nick Krell, under the moniker How to Dress Well, is at his best when his music feels personal and heartfelt. And on his sophomore release, Total Loss, Krell is undoubtedly at his best.

Opening the album proclaiming, “You were there for me when I was in trouble, you could understand for me that life was a struggle,” Krell uses Total Loss as his confessional to the listener. The lyrics are rife with pain—he concludes “Cold Nites”: “I pray for myself again.”

Pain and loss act as two major themes of the album. In some ways the lyrics serve as an elegy to those he lost, including friends and family.

Before coming to the final stage of acceptance in the last song, “Ocean Floor for Everything,” Krell grapples

with happiness lost, bemoaning that, “you loved me like no other did.”

The delivery of these pain-ridden lyrics is flawless. At times ascending into dizzying falsettos and then mellowing back to a hushed whisper, Krell voices the beautiful lyrics with the power and respect they deserve. Other times, the lyrics almost fade completely into the accompanying rhythm and melody only to subtly reemerge from the walls of synth into the foreground.

Only in these moments do we truly gain an appreciation of Krell’s mastery over his craft.

How to Dress Well’s sound has always been best described as airy and ethereal, but several of the album’s compositions also consist of snippets of samples and Krell’s keyboard. The combination of the two sounds creates a unique ineffable feeling of familiarity with the song while simultaneously being unlike anything you’ve heard before. For example, the subtle R&B influences are obvious, but it’s impossible to pinpoint a single moment in the album that is undeniably R&B. Krell employs cymbals and bells on a few of the tracks, too, often serving to highlight his falsettos and create an even more euphonic experience. The cymbals are the tip of the multilayered iceberg. All

I’ve seen those English dramas

This summer, I found myself taking a class at Fordham University that converted me from a skeptic to a believer. No, it wasn’t the standard philosophy or theology class that usually leads its students to classroom epiphanies. This was a class on early 20th century British literature, with a professor who was merciful enough to show movies or television shows during one of our inhumanly long classes per week.

And I didn’t find God or purpose, but I found Downton Abbey.

Back in January 2011, when PBS first decided to take Downton from its native BBC and into living rooms across the pond, it became a miniature phenomenon among, well, people who watch PBS. And I, who like to consider myself somewhat of the anti-TV snob TV snob—I love The Wire, but am not ashamed to admit that I’ve seen every episode of Flavor of Love— refused, somewhat on principle, to get into a show on the channel

that airs a series about antiquing.

A reference on an episode of Modern Family, where the pretentious Mitchell refers to “Downton Disney” instead of “Downtown,” and I figured the show, which, from what I gathered, was about a stuffy British family and their stuffy British servants, wasn’t for me and the rest of the American TV masses.

But those two episodes we watched in class had me changing my tune to something that sounded distinctly like “God Save the Queen.” And so I joined the subset of the population that is big enough for PBS to continue premiering the show into its third season, which opened to its largest audience yet on Sept. 26.

Downton is certainly not the first or only British import to enthrall American audiences, but it is unique in its distinct Britishness.

Doctor Who would be a favorite among sci-fi nerds regardless of the characters’ country of origin, and

the songs have subtle layer on top of layer, each exposing sometimes completely disparate influences, and hints of classical layered under loops of Krell’s voice are true ear candy.

This collection of beautiful lyrics and carefully shaped songs make listening to Total Loss a total gain.

Voice’s Choices: “Cold Nites,” “Struggle” —Michael Mouch

Muse, The 2nd Law, Helium 3 Before Muse’s latest album dropped, front man Matthew Bellamy announced it as a “Christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia.” That may sound like a bunch of attention-starved gobbledegook, but the album The 2nd Law Monty Python’s hilarity is based mostly on universal knowledge and sense of humor (who doesn’t love silly walks?). But Downton’s premise itself is one completely foreign to us Americans, who—and I mean no political statement here— aren’t familiar with the concept of aristocracy. But the trials of Lord Grantham and his family, as well as the servants with whom they are

idiot Box

by Leigh Finnegan

a bi-weekly column about television unexpectedly friendly and cordial, have entranced American audiences for reasons that go well beyond an affinity for cute accents and period costuming.

The biggest reason for this, if I may be so bold to say so, is Dame Maggie Smith. To members of our generation, this absurdly talented actress first crossed our screens as the beloved Professor McGonagall of all eight Harry Potter movies,

lives up to this bizarre description.

Managing to sound both like an iconic Muse album and an amalgamation of only the most diverse musical styles, 2nd Law descends into chaos while miraculously preventing the absurd mixture of influences from becoming repulsive.

“Supremacy” begins the LP with heavily distorted guitar riffs and a staccato string ensemble. The heavy instrumentation unexpectedly cuts out to a marching snare beat accompanied by a legato violin melody and Bellamy’s soft vocals, which build to a howl as he takes 10 seconds to sing the word, “supremacy.” The result is a powerful, familiar Muse track.

“Madness” follows with a style more representative of 2nd Law. The vocals are backed only by a whomping dubstep beat before switching to a guitar solo and a choir that in any other situation would seem to have wandered into the wrong studio.

Tonal transitions surprisingly manage to seamlessly blend one section of the song into the other, providing a whole, aesthetically pleasing work.

Similarly, “Follow Me” begins with vocals surrounded only by barely audible electronic rhythms that gradually transition into full-throttle dubstep rivaling Skrillex.

The melting pot of genres occasionally produces tracks bordera strict British schoolmarm who just so happened to be able to turn herself into a cat. But as Violet, the outspoken and old-timey grandmother of the Crawley family whose disdain for modernity and anything un-English drips from her every snarky, almost singsongy syllable, Smith has made us all but forget those times she wore a pointy black hat. Week by week, her scenes are among the show’s best, as the septuagenarian outshines the fresh, beautiful faces of the show’s younger cast members.

But Dame Maggie is by no means the only reason why Downton is so captivating. Although audiences largely agree that the show’s second season lagged plotwise—with Matthew and Lady Mary’s “will they or won’t they?” non-romance taking center stage in far too many episodes—the show keeps its audience’s intrigue with scandals that might not shock us right now, but which make the turn-of-the-century British aristocrat we all have living inside of us

ing on perfection. “Panic Station,” for instance, begins with a scaleddown “Another One Bites the Dust” bass intro and Queen-esque vocals that transition into upbeat electric guitar riffs. As a brass section comes in over the slowly evolving guitar melody, the listener is encouraged to dust off those ‘80s dance moves before rocking out to a distorted solo that surges into an attempted disco revival.

The album ultimately builds to a set of two entirely dubstep tracks: “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable” and “The 2nd Law: Isolated System.”

Both feature an attractive instrumental passage combined with a deep synthesized backdrop and remixed quotations from the second law of thermodynamics. However, the absence of Bellamy is all too obvious; the two songs contribute nothing.

Even with the faux pas of the album closers, The 2nd Law remains simply and unpredictably exciting.

By expertly cramming centuries of musical evolution into 53 minutes, Muse proves that no amount of fame can throw the band’s continually evolving sound into stagnation.

Voice’s Choices: “Panic Station,” “Explorers” —Kirill Makarenko spill her tea in shock. Lady Sybil’s rebellious nature, culminating with an illicit romance with the family’s Irish revolutionary chauffeur, gripped our attention (or maybe just mine, and possibly because of a sizable crush on said chauffeur) almost as much as any heated conflict on The West Wing did.

Lady Mary’s sex scandal, which the writers were savvy enough to include in the first season’s third episode, was shocking enough to the show’s characters that audiences don’t mind its lasting effects two seasons later, despite that any American show would credit it one episode’s reflection, maybe two at most.

And that, to me, is the most enticing thing about Downton and its goings-on. Because after watching an embarrassing number of seasons of Flavor of Love, it’s nice to enter a world where you’ll be scandalized by a good ol’ premarital affair.

Build an aristocracy with Leigh at lfinnegan@georgetownvoice.com

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— Teddy Schaffer

voices

14 the georgetown voice

october 4, 2012

In an age of ambition, humanity is falls by the wayside

by Sydney Browning In the words of 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy, “Ambition is the willingness to kill the things you love and eat them in order to stay alive.” This type of cutthroat ambition is celebrated throughout America, and especially here at Georgetown.

Part of the egocentric American dream, ambition is prized as the motivation to help you climb the social ladder. But with this objective comes the betrayal of those around us. Our society is prizing the wrong qualities, encouraging people to become psychopaths who lack not only regard for their fellow human beings, but the drive and passion that we need more of in America.

Ambition is not simply the will to be the best; it’s the will to crush all competition without pause or concern for those who fall underneath you. It is the desperation for success, power, prestige, or money. Ambition is the animalistic instinct of kill or be killed. It’s the product of this capitalistic meritocracy in which we live.

The problem with ambition is that it directly corresponds with a disregard for others. Ambition is an unrestrained ruthlessness that destroys compassion and ignores any duty to help those in need, or those with less. In other words, ambition is contributing to the destruction of America’s humanity.

And yet, we continue to betray that humanity. The halls of government and the boardrooms of America are filled with these animalistic sociopaths because our economy—and, by extension, our larger culture— is devoid of empathy. Ambition is a capitalistic institution designed to keep men at each other ’s throats, blinding them to the true impacts of their actions. In the business world and in politics, the only way to get ahead is through egocentricity and cold-heartedness. This specific “intelligence” has been bred and encouraged for years, selected for in individuals, thereby creating a race have no respect for civilization.

In this time, when corporations are crushing their employees in an unrelenting cycle for

higher profits and the government is slashing programs that benefit the disenfranchised, we need to change the way people see their success and see others.

Rather than enshrining ambition, we need to mold this country and this world into one that is centered upon human need instead of greed.

In my mind, there is an important distinction between ambition and drive. Drive still implies the will to succeed and the desire to be great, but in place of the ruthless nature of ambition, drive is accompanied by compassion. Drive is a combination of will and reflection on what that will is doing to both yourself and those around you. A driven person is conscious of the needs of the people, not just his peers or family, but also of the downtrodden. Drive is the will to succeed without inhuman parasitism. The passion to attain your desires makes you human, as does the willingness to sacrifice for others; the willingness to extinguish those around you is not.

As for me, I’ve never been an ambitious person. It’s always been a characteristic that I’ve

lacked, so much so that I shied away from competitions and groups that emphasized trying to the best at something. And then I discovered the concept of drive, and realized that success doesn’t preclude empathy.

Take my grandfather as an example. A staunch conservative and capitalist who spied on communists during the Cold War, my grandfather is the most driven person I know. I could not call him ambitious, for even when he was reaching for success, he concerned himself with those around him.

He grew up in a family where he was the sole provider. Against his family’s wishes, he went to college. He paid for his education and sent money back to those he left. When he was a manager of his company, he drove one of his employees to a far away hospital to visit his sick son instead of heading straight home.

This compassion for the people around him and for those who were in worse situations than his did not impede his success or make him less of a businessman.

Drive is essential for the human condition, as is compassion; ambition is not.

ket, and are vehemently critical of her administration. Both Clarín and La Nación also have spotty histories, including allegations of collusion with Argentine dictators in the ‘70s and ‘80s and conspicuous silence about the ‘dirty war’ the despots waged against their own citizens.

Even the two newspapers’ acquisition of the publishing company is still under dispute in court. Opponents, including CFK, claim the military junta conspired with the papers to force the leftist owner, David Graiver, to sell Papel Prensa in 1976. Some members of the Graiver family confirm Kirchner’s claims, while others have taken out full page advertisements in La Nación and Clarín refuting them. Local media

studies (of course, contested by the papers) indicate that up until 2010, Papel Prensa would routinely sell paper to the two large outlets at a 25 percent discount, allowing them to be more competitive than their opponents.

Given all these problems, it must have seemed only natural to the Peronist president to intervene in the media market as she did last year. But she didn’t go in and break up the monopoly outright. Instead, CFK and her legislative allies wrote up a law that demands Papel Prensa satisfy the entire domestic demand for newspapers. If it does not, the state has the right to increase its stake in the company (currently a bit less than 28 percent) to help it fill the void.

Supporters echo Kirchner’s claim that she is trying to ‘liberalize’ the media market, while many journalists and other opponents see the act as a thinly-veiled attempt to bring the two largest papers under government control.

I’m not Argentine, but I can’t help but be suspicious about both sides of the debate. As a leftist, I’m naturally inclined to support trust-busting, especially in the media. With so much of the market under its control and so many uncomfortable questions about its history, I too probably would have wanted to break up Papel Prensa if I were in Kirchner’s thousanddollar shoes.

But instead of eliminating the private monopoly, Kirchner seems inclined here to transform it into a public one. A particularly contentious line in article 41 of the law referring to the government’s power to help the publisher satisfy domestic demand admits “...the State’s shareholding in Papel Prensa S.A. will eventually increase through this mechanism.” That, of course, does much less to liberalize the media than give the government the power of the press.

Furthermore, the advisory commission set up to oversee enforcement and implementation of the law includes representatives from all the nation’s newspapers except La Nación and Clarín, the two outlets it targets.

In essence, the government is relying on an enforcement body under the purview of its Finance Ministry and stuffed with Papel Prensa competitors to tell it if and when it should take a majority stake in the two newspapers most critical of it.

If that all sounds a bit backwards to you, you aren’t the only one. But, Argentine reporters rarely get the chance to ask the president about media policy, or any policy for that matter. As famed Argentine journalist Jorge Lanata put it on his Facebook page last week, “Hecho: CFK ganó las elecciones sin dar una

Surely, the current global political climate rife with rebellions, uprisings, and riots led by those who are fed up by a culture predicated on ambition should teach us that to create a harmonious world, we need to care about the people around us.

Georgetown prides itself on its ambitious students, who go off to become the future leaders in finance and politics. However, the University should not be encouraging this behavior.

If our university and our country produce individuals who are driven advocates for humanity, then we can change the status quo of socioeconomic disparity. I think all can agree that we cannot continue along the path we are on, and something must change in our culture. And that change starts when our society finally eradicates the myth that ambition is a virtue, and recognizes it for what it is—a vice.

Sydney Browning is a sophomore in the College. She has only one ambition in life: to be as kickass as her grandpa apparently was.

The Media v. Kirchner: The case for a free Argentinian press

by Gavin Bade You won’t hear me say this a lot, but Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) has a point about the media. It’s just not the point she meant to make when she came to the Hilltop last week.

For those of you who don’t follow Argentine press politics (including me, until last Wednesday), a little background is in order.

President Kirchner has long feuded with the media in her country, especially Clarín, the nation’s largest paper, and La Nación. Both papers are owned by Papel Prensa, the sole domestic publishing company that controls more than 75 percent of the mar-

KAREN BU

And you’d better not have any grammar mistakes, either. She’ll kill you.

sola entrevista,” or “Fact: CFK won the [presidential] election without giving a single interview.” I figure that limited access is why the Argentine press jumped all over me last week when I asked the president why Georgetown students had the opportunity to ask her questions when she doesn’t speak freely to journalists at home.

In the end, I think I understand Kirchner’s reasoning when it comes to Papel Prensa. But here, as in other places, she has the politics right and the policy wrong. If Kirchner really wanted to foster a free and independent press in Argentina, it would have been easier and more effective to slice the media conglomerate up, separating the papers from the publisher and calling it a day. If the president ever makes good on her offer to fly me to Argentina to see a press conference, this is the first question I’d ask. And until I have an answer from CFK or her surrogates, I’ll stand with the millions of Argentines suspicious that the president wants to be the not only the commanderin-chief, but the editor-in-chief as well.

Gavin Bade is a junior in the SFS. Interestingly enough, he likes his wine like he likes his media expertise: Argentinian.

voices

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the georgetown voice

15

A college Facebook deserter’s search for friends IRL

by Connor Jones Sometimes I look around at my peers at Georgetown and think, “Huh, these must be the people who actually enjoyed high school.”

In that, I mean Georgetown students love the prescribed path.

They like doing what has been done before and doing it well. They value competence and realistic thinking.

They take comfort in their GPAs and knowing how they’ll fit on the grading curve, and savor the factoids about how many spots Deloitte is going to offer this year.

This being the case, Georgetown students love Facebook. Not only does it allow them the opportunity to network (apparently, we’ll all be important one day), Facebook allows these students to force every-

one they’ve ever met to learn about their progress on their most recent venture. I glean the core bits of all my friends’ resumes from their Facebook postings—Tom: MSB ’14, Marketing, 3.8 GPA, intern at R.T.C. and Marriot. Helen: SFS ‘15, IPOL, 3.6 GPA, intern at the State Department and this nonprofit.

In fact, it seems like I know more about my friends’ resumes than their personal lives, which is fine, of course, except that it makes everyone seem more impressive than they really are. You see, not everyone loved high school. Some of us spent high school angsty, frustrated, and, at many times, alone.

Maybe I was just a lame high schooler, but I didn’t go out most weekends. I usually stayed home and spent time with my family,

We all know the horror of waiting for someone to like your mupload.

KAREN BU

Recruiting goes both ways Last Friday, like many Hoyas, I managed to overcome some serious pre-post-grad anxiety and make my way to the Fall Career Fair in the Leavey Center. What greeted me there was a pretty overwhelming sight: The ballroom was full of recruiters singing their firms’ praises, alumni waiting to be networked, and students wearing varying degrees of adherence to Western business attire norms. Tables upon tables of employers offered a future of excitement, fulfillment, and, in some cases, lots and lots of money.

But while I appreciate that companies probably sent us their friendliest, most welcoming representatives, in every interaction there was necessarily a power imbalance. Businesses do need to take on new employees, but ulti-

mately they can be pretty picky about whom they hire, and as a result most lay out a laundry list of often nebulous qualities the ideal candidate should possess: leadership, resourcefulness, motivation, etc.

These high expectations can be hard on students’ self-confidence in interview-esque interactions. My friends can attest to how proud I was of myself after having visited—get this—four whole tables. (And yes, I am aware that stopping by a table at the Career Fair is not the same as a job interview.)

I hate to see my classmates so stressed; Hoyas are smart, driven, accomplished, and College Prowler seems to think we’re all pretty good-looking, too. So just for fun, I’d like to reverse the pro-

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which I know now is only normal.

Sure, I had friends, but, because of Facebook, it always seemed like I didn’t quite have as many as everyone else did. When all communication is public, when even the number of friends you have is displayed and quantified, it’s easy to feel that way.

I sweated over every status update I wrote. Whatever you say will be read by everyone you had a longer-than-average conversation with, so it better be snappy. And people better like, comment, and share it, or else you’re a loser.

I would look on Facebook and I would see my classmates’ smugly clever status updates, and all their friends would publicly recount what they all did without me. Though I knew it was irrational, I could only think about how I wasn’t invited and how I wasn’t doing something with my friends as well.

On Facebook, people only share their successes while hiding their setbacks and frustrations, which gives the false impression that users’ lives are more interesting and successful than they are. Every award, victory, or grade is carelessly posted as if they prevailed by power of their own skill. This culture teaches people to hide their emotions and failures more than they should be expected to. A 70 on a test suddenly becomes more shameful

when your online diet consists of people subtley boasting about their SAT scores and records at the state championships.

High school is a classically difficult time of life, but Facebook only makes adolescent stress more severe. It pushes people to value appearances over substance, forcing them to distill themselves into a few preset categories. If people paid less attention to it, then I firmly believe people would feel more comfortable pursuing their passions instead of thinking they need to compare well against their peers.

This online culture even affects offline social interactions. With Facebook, the public image of an event becomes more enjoyable than the event itself. In high school, I went to parties where we only took pictures.

Instead of enjoying being together and having that stand for itself, we only looked forward to seeing these pictures on Facebook. At that point, the impression of having friends, of being social, surpasses the actual utility in having friends at all. Facebook morphs the goal of friendship into appearances, for people who we aren’t even close to.

Facebook caters to the human desire to be impressive, and the company becomes more profitable as you spend more time on their website, the worst consequence of which has been the slow, inevitable implementation of timeline. A

cess and outline what I would like to see in an employer.

First of all, I’d like to be able to dress really coolly at work.

Some people are into the whole power-suit thing, but my ideal job wouldn’t limit me to blazers and skirts. Instead, I’d have the freedom to look as rad as an ‘80s ski instructor (the heyday of the ski headband) or the drummer in a girl band.

refurbished warehouse and provides its employees with organic lunches and free yoga classes for their dogs.

My dream job wouldn’t be too cushy, though. I’ll admit it, even if my Hogwarts acceptance letter hadn’t gotten lost in the mail all those years ago, I still probably wouldn’t have been sorted into Gryffindor once I got there. But I do think it’s important to challenge myself, so there should be some element of danger involved in my work. Take the life of a war photographer. You travel to the world’s most dangerous places and risk your life to show everyone at home what’s going on there, and actually make art in the process. My employer should mix up my routine and put me in harm’s way every once in a while, just to make sure I’m on my toes.

In fact, I really hope there’s an opportunity for a little rebellion in what I do for a living. Nothing too illegal, just throwing the Man for a bit of a loop—maybe channeling my inner Banksy and leaving anonymous antiestablishment messages all over town.

My ideal job would of course require some brainpower, because not many things sound worse to

Carrying On

by Tori Jovanovski A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

On a similar note, you can’t go wrong with an awesome job title. I know “Supreme Commander of the Rebel Alliance Fleet” is already taken, but something along those lines would be much appreciated.

Workplace aesthetics are important, too. Having grown up on romcoms set in hip, modern office buildings, how could I accept working in some dark, dingy cubicle? I wouldn’t mind being hired by one of those trendy tech companies that operates out of a

relatively new online phenomenon, cyberstalking involves scouring an acquaintance’s Facebook profile for bits of information on their personality, and, for some dumb reason, people take this online personality as an unbiased representation of oneself. Whereas before, cyberstalkers were forced to click and click to wade deep into their subject’s past, Timeline streamlines the process.

Now, Facebook sinisterly offers up all of their users’ pasts for public view and commentary. Facebook does not only hamper social interaction and trivialize human experience. It destroys users’ abilities to move on from their old selves and change for the better.

After Facebook phased Timeline into my profile, I decided it was time to leave. I couldn’t comfortably go about my life without any semblance of privacy. So I deactivated my account. Although I haven’t found the resolve to completely delete my account yet (Facebook makes it exceedingly difficult), I’ll just say, I haven’t “missed out” on anything yet. I don’t need the Internet for social interaction. I have friends for that.

Connor Jones is a sophomore in the College. The problem with not having Facebook? No one knows when it’s his birthday. me than being forced to wake up early to go to a job I find boring-if I’d rather be in CPS lecture in the ICC auditorium, you’re doing something wrong. I’d like to feel a nerdy joy out of accomplishing something at work. Like, who gets to design the model cities at Legoland? Is “Lego Engineer” a real job? If it is, I want it. If it’s not, it should be.

Of course I understand why companies can (and certainly to some extent, why they should) be so selective about the people who work for them. But faced with a list of seemingly unattainable qualifications, it’s also easy to see why this time of year is such a stressful one, for seniors in particular. Too often the job hunt is a one-sided process, with students tearing their hair out over whether potential employers will like them. My requests are silly and unrealistic, but maybe some lightheartedness is what we need around Career Fair time.

Tori Jovanovski is a senior in the College. She’s still bummed that Eastern business attire is shunned at the Career Fair.

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

I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Mike! Mike!” I shouted. My whole world was coming apart around me. What was happening? Standing there in shock, I couldn’t bring myself to cry out but just remained fixed to the floor.

Finally after taking a deep breath, I walked over to Mike only to have my worst fear confirmed; he was gone.

With my mind racing a mile a minute and my heart keeping pace, I turned around to Corinne to say something, when a piercing sound invaded the somber scene. Only when the sprinklers went off did I realize that the shrill interruption was actually the fire alarm. Scared, confused, and wet, I was in my own little world until I felt a hand take mine and lead me towards the door. With my vision slowly coming back into focus I saw Corinne’s concerned face looking back at me. Before I knew it, we were walking past the crowd in the Henle Fishbowl back towards Leavy.

With that, she squeezed my hand, and everything seemed a little better. “Now let’s go get your phone.”

We walked silently back towards my apartment.

Coming up on Copley lawn, we saw some shadowed figures huddled together on the ground back by the Virgin Mary statue. As we got closer it became obvious there were two individuals hooking up on the lawn. Under the moonlight we could see them getting serious. I was just about to look away when I noticed the guy reach for an open container of ice cream.

He took a spoon and trailed it down the center of her body. Transfixed, Corinne and I watched as he drew the ice cream across her stomach, and into her navel. He then laid her down and followed the line of ice cream down her body, lapping up the sticky melting cream as he went. I could see him murmur something in her ear as he leaned over, grabbed her hands, and pulled her upright until she was practically sitting on him. Then nuzzling her neck, he began to lightly bite down, and as he flexed his hips, I could see her smile and curl her fingers around his jaw and throat, holding him fast for a moment.

Continuing to Village B, I was trying to figure out what I knew already and how we could make it through the rest of the night. Lost in my head, I bumped straight into a streetlamp on the corner.

Looking up, I saw an advertisement for a big-band show at the Kennedy Center to be led by my favorite saxophonist. The thought of his smooth jazz made me long for the comforts of Michigan, listening to records in my backyard guesthouse. No matter what, I always felt safe in the Little House.

We entered my apartment and I picked up my phone. Sitting with Corinne on the couch, I decided to call Ryan first and break the news to him. Mustering the strength to dial, I put the phone to my ear and waited. “Hey Tony, what’s up? Mike and I saw you leaving with that hipster chick you’re obsessed with.

Did you seal the deal? I had $20 bet that you’d blow it; please don’t tell me I owe that asshole money.”

“Ryan,” my voice cracking on the line, “I have some bad news.”

“You blew it didn’t you?”

The figure ahead of me stopped running and took shape. It was Ryan! I had never been so happy to see him in my life.

“Dude, some guy broke into my apartment and tried to jump me.”

“What? Did you get a good look at him?”

“No, man,” he said rubbing the back of his head. “He had a ski mask, but got me pretty good in the back. I managed to grab my kendo stuff from behind the closet door and fought him off with it. The bastard didn’t see that coming. The weirdest thing was that he was holding this.” Ryan held out a crumpled piece of paper that brought back all the pain.

I can’t stand being made to wait; Patience is the virtue that I most hate; My instructions were a simple scrawl; But as this goes, more friends will fall; For each further delay is a tempt of fate.

“I’m sorry, Tony.”

Finally, I snapped out of my moment of voyeurism, and continued down the path with Corinne. “I can’t believe what we just saw,” I said.

“No, it’s about Mike and Brett.”

“What’s up then?”

“Dude, you’re not going to believe this,” and with that I explained the evening’s nightmare to Ryan with Corinne by my side.

“I wasn’t sure what we should do, but once the sprinklers went off, I knew the RAs or fire department would walk in.”

“I know, right on the lawn. What the hell?”

“Mike and Brett are…”

“Holy shit, Tony, what are we going to do?!”

“Tonight is just too much for me!”

“Hold on a second,” Ryan interrupted me. “I just heard a weird noise. Hey, who the hell are you?”

“I don’t know ,man, but now we can work this through together.”

“I don’t even know what the right thing to do is anymore,” I sighed. Then Corinne took my hand and whispered, “You know I understand how you’re feeling. My dad died in an accident ten years ago. I know what it’s like to lose someone close to you, and I won’t let you face this alone.”

“To be honest though, I’ve kind of always wanted to try using food in sex though…” Her voice trailed off. As I sighed, my ears perked up at the familiar sound of the squeaky wheel of Wingo’s Guy’s cart.

Seeing that vigilant vagrant on his rounds filled me once again with a sense of calm. Amidst the static of his radio I could make out the lyrics, “She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor.” We kept walking towards him. “That guy’s weird. He creeps me out a bit,” Corinne whispered. Our paths finally crossed as we reached the front gates and he walked towards Healy. Just before he was out of earshot, I turned around to face my mysterious, chicken-distributing, twilight companion and heard the sound of Nelly Furtado cracking from the radio “She’s a maneater, make you work hard” before he changed the station. As I turned back towards the gates, I noticed Corinne staring at him.

“Ryan?!?!” Panic struck me.

Stepping forward, Corinne said, “And now that we know this is the killer, you’re our first witness.” Hope started to well within me. As long as Ryan could talk to the police, Corinne and I could be exonerated and find some closure. My mind was suddenly jarred by that all too familiar squeaking. This time the cart was blaring a classic from the Eagles “You can’t hide those lying eyes, and your smile is a thin disguise.”

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” I replied.

“Whoa, dude, what the f….” Then I heard a loud crash and a thud.

“Ryan!” I screamed, but heard no answer. I hung up and grabbed Corinne’s hand. “Come on, we’re going to find him.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“I think someone just tried to kill him, too.” I knew this would be too much for me. Three dead friends in as many hours was unfathomable. Running through the stairwell, adrenaline was the only thing keeping me together. With Corinne in tow, I ran out of the vestibule and towards campus. Sprinting across Healey lawn, I noticed a figure running towards me.

Not sure whether I was about to fight for my life or just collapse, I kept running until I heard “Tony!”

“That guy is awesome,” Ryan said. Then looking over at Corinne, I saw her scowling deeply in his direction. Regardless, I knew there was hope for us yet, and we set off to catch whoever was trying to terrorize us.

— Smorgasbord