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FEW MINORITIES IN GU GRADUATE PROGRAMS PAGE 4

MEN’S BASKETBALL GETS FIRST WIN PAGE 6

DANCE EXHIBIT AT NATIONAL GALLERY FALLS FLAT PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w November 14, 2013 w Volume 49, Issue 14 w georgetownvoice.com

THE QUIET CRISIS

MENTAL HEALTH AT GEORGETOWN

by Julia Lloyd-George

2 the georgetown voice

november 14, 2013

A leisure article in the Nov. 7 edition of the Voice entitled “Hamlet dubsteps with Ophelia in this modern Shakespeare” misspelled an actor’s name. “Joel Napier” was written when it should have been “Joe Napier.”

A news article in the Nov. 7 edition, “Freshmen who attend seminars will receive housing points,” incorrectly stated that there is a total of 3,397 students in the class of 2017. There are approximately 1,600 students in the class of 2017.

Voice Crossword “Thanksgiving Oasis” by Tyler Pierce

Across 1. Pottery fragment 6. ___-bodied 10. Chillin’ lax dude 13. Eagle’s nest

14. Hints 15. Harry’s friend 16. That sweet and tangy red topper 19. Stampeders 20. After dinner sweets 21. In-flight info, for short

22. Coke or Pepsi 23. Popular Wingo’s sauce 27. Traveler’s stop 29. Aromatic cooking herb similar to thyme and oregano 31. Lucrative 35. WW II fliers 36. The exciting sports marathons 40. Clock part 41. Aspire to be like 42. Medieval Times weapon 45. Chilled 49. First-stringers 50. Invitation request 53. Negative conjunction 54. Bubble tea ingredient 57. Greek portico 58. The classic carbohydrate made by Grandma herself 61. ___-Wan Kenobi 62. Musical staff symbol 63. Rajah’s wife 64. Pale 65. The width of a cut 66. Lock of hair Down 1. Big Native American tribe from Long Island

2. Regarding this point 3. Noah’s landfall 4. Peel 5. Dexter’s sister 6. Plotted off 7. Anatomical sac 8. Oak___ sunglasses 9. To be, for Brutus 10. Violent 11. “Arabian Nights” menace 12. “The loneliest number” 17. Old name for Tokyo 18. General assembly?

22. Bed board 24. Trifling 25. Bleats 26. Amiss 28. I, for Brutus 29. Shit preceder 30. Pond organism 32. Sure-footed goat 33. It can be first or last 34. Kind of shot 36. Athlete’s ___ 37. Eye amorously 38. At the summit of

39. Restroom sign 40. Tax preparer, for short 43. Has a traditional meal 44. Asian nurse 46. Chant 47. Australian shouts to the lost 48. Rubs out 50. Cowboy 51. Speak derisively 52. Big wine holder 55. Eat like a bird 56. Doing nothing 57. Antares, for one 58. Do some yard work 59. Lawyers’ org.

60. Verb with thou

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

Email crossword@georgetownvoice.com

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 49.14 November 14, 2013 Editor-in-Chief: Gavin Bade Managing Editor: Connor Jones Blog Editor: Julia Tanaka News Editor: Lucia He Sports Editor: Chris Almeida Feature Editor: Patricia Cipollitti Cover Editor: Kathleen Soriano-Taylor Leisure Editor: Heather Regen Voices Editor: Ana Smith Photo Editor: Andres Rengifo Design Editor: Lauren Ashley Panawa Projects Editors: Alec Graham, John Sapunor, Cannon Warren Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Creative Directors: Madhuri Vairapandi, Amanda Dominguez Back Page Editor: Tiffany Lachonna Social Media Editor: Rio Djiwandana

Assistant Blog Editors: Minali Aggarwal, Isabel Echarte, Ryan Greene, Laura Kurek Assistant News Editors: Jeffrey Lin, Claire Zeng Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Castano, Brendan Crowley, Joe Pollicino Assistant Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Assistant Leisure Editors: Dayana Morales Gomez, Joshua Ward, Rianna Folds Assistant Photo Editor: Joshua Raftis Assistant Design Editor: John Delgado-McCollum

Staff Writers:

Tim Barnicle, Sourabh Bhat,Max Borowitz, Emilia Brahm, Grace Brennan, Emmy Buck, Shalina Chatlani, Steven Criss, Lara Fishbane, Mary-Bailey Frank, Abby Greene, John Guzzetta, Kevin Huggard, Kenneth Lee, Julia- Lloyd-George, Claire McDaniel, Dan Paradis, Max Roberts, Abby Sherburne, Jackson Sinnenberg, Deborah Sparks, Manuela Tobias, Chris Wadibia, Joshua Ward, Annamarie White

Staff Photographers:

Elizabeth Coscia, Robin Go, Alan Liu, Ambika Ahuja, Gavin Meyers, Annie Wang, Muriel van de Bilt, Katherine Landau, Annie Wang

Staff Designers:

Noah Buyon, Katarina Chen, Dylan Cutler, Corrina Di Pirro Mike Pacheco, Christina Libre, Pam Shu, Sophia Super

Copy Chief: Sonia Okolie Copy Editors:

Eleanor Fanto, Grace Funsten, Caitlin Healey-Nash, Morgan Johansen, Sabrina Kayser, Samantha Mladen, Dana Suekoff, Isobel Taylor, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Caitriona Pagni Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Emilia Brahm, Patricia Cipollitti, Lara Fishbane, Juan Daniel Gonçalves, Ryan Greene, Lucia He, Quaila Hugh, Connor Jones, Jeffery Lin, Ian Philbrick, Ryan Shymansky, Julia Tanaka

General Manager: Nick Albanese Managing Directors: Mary-Bailey Frank, Mollie Rodgers, Nick Mendolia, Allison Manning The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

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

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

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Gannett Publishing. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover: Mental Health at Georgetown CoverDesign: Kathleen Soriano-Taylor

the georgetown voice 3

AFFIRMATIVE INACTION

Grad School admissions lack racial diversity

Georgetown’s annual Official Enrollment Statistics report, released to University officials at the end of September, found that racial and ethnic minorities are shockingly underrepresented in the University’s graduate programs, particularly at the Law Center and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

According to the report, diversity at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is almost nonexistent: the school accepted over nine times more Caucasian people than people from any other racial or ethnic group.

The program currently includes 1,305 White students. The next largest group by race is Asian Americans at 140 students.

In the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, less than three percent of students identify as black and less than nine percent identify as Hispanic. At the Law Center, only about fifteen percent of students identify as non-white. The Medical school also shows

little racial diversity: less than seven percent of students identify as Black and less than five percent identify as Hispanic.

Racial diversity in Georgetown’s graduate programs is almost three times lower than in its undergraduate schools. In the the undergraduate class of 2017, eight percent of admitted students were African-American, while 11 percent were Hispanic, 13 percent were Asian-American, and six percent were biracial.

The underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in the University’s graduate schools is a widespread and pervasive problem that impacts universities across the nation. According to two studies presented at a conference for the Association for the Study of Higher Education in 2010, Hispanic people make up six percent of the nation’s graduate students and Black people account for 11 percent. In science and engineering the under- representation is even more exaggerated:

both Hispanic and Blacks make up about four percent of graduate students in those fields.

This paucity of non-white students across the board suggests that racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in applicant pools as well as in graduate programs. While this does not point to discriminatory admissions practices, universities still bear responsibility to create diverse student bodies and must work to expand existing affirmative action initiatives and implement new pipeline programs to bridge this gap between non-minority and minority students.

Rather than submitting to this status quo of inequality, Georgetown, which, according to the University’s website, has dedicated itself to educate “the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures and beliefs,” should lead the charge for fair representation of minorities in its graduate programs.

FOOD NOT FEUD

Petition calls for end to worker abuse at Epi

In a joint effort with campus advocacy groups such as Hoyas for Immigrant Rights and the Georgetown University Student Association, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee presented a letter and petition to Mr. Chang Wook Chon, the owner of Epicurean Restaurant. The petition and letter, which received over 500 student signatures, urge Epicurean management to end mistreatment of immigrant workers and publicly reaffirm its commitment to the Just Employment Policy.

This petition and letter have come in the aftermath of years of employee abuse in Epicurean. In 2010, two employees filed lawsuits against the company for failing to pay overtime wages, but they dropped the charges following threats of unemployment and deportation. Last fall the cases were reopened as a class action suit for wage theft and separate criminal charges for the threats from Chon made

against his workers in 2010. Ultimately, the settlement ordered Chon to pay the workers overtime wages and damages dating all the way back to 2007 in the amount of $14,450.

Despite this ongoing lawsuit, Chon insists that he upholds Georgetown’s Just Employment Policy. Clearly this is not the case. Chon’s continual abuse of his employees does not comply with the standards mandated by the Just Employment policy, and student activism on this issue is long overdue. If Chon wants to prove to students that Epicurean will no longer violate the rights of its workers, he should comply with the demands of the petition and publicly reaffirm his commitment to the Just Employment Policy.

Additionally, the petition asks for Chon to fully cooperate with the University’s attempts to enforce the Just Employment Policy. Even though it is important as a busi-

ness that operates on University grounds that Epicurean commit to following the Just Employment Policy, even an active partnership with Georgetown will not create the accountability workers deserve.

Throughout last year’s legal proceeding, the University failed to launch an investigation into Epicurean’s violations of the Just Employment Policy nor did it publicly consider any punitive actions against the management of Epicurean.

The petition and letter are signs of progress in holding the University, Epicurean, and all other on-campus dining services accountable for giving workers the rights they deserve. The University’s inaction shows that much work remains in enforcement of the Just Employment Policy, and this petition and letter prove that it remains up to students to keep both campus dining services and the University up to par.

BORDERLINE OFFENSIVE

Israel-Palestine student cooperation hits wall The Georgetown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine refused to participate in a joint film screening of The Other Son with the Georgetown Israel Alliance and the Jewish group J Street U last week.

The day before the event, the board members of SJP decided that the organization could not attend, claiming that they could not engage in an initiative that would normalize Palestinians with Israelis. Normalization refers to treating Iraelis and Palestinians as equals rather than oppressor and oppresed, respectively.

SJP primarily advocates for the rights of Palestinians, the return of the diaspora, and condemns the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel with the sanction of its government and armed forces. According to SJP president Albert Doumar (SFS ‘15), the two neighboring cultures don’t need understanding as much as they need to address deep, underlying differences.

The Georgetown chapter of SJP also decided to withdraw from the screening due to pressure from other SJP chapters urging it to reconsider its participation in the event.

One post on Georgetown’s SJP’s Facebook Wall features a comment from a Cornell student saying that “the SJP should not normalize with Zionist groups on campus”.

This attitude contradicts Georgetown’s ethos, which encourages cordial and active discussion about controversial topics such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. University chaplains Rabbi Gartner and Imam Hendi expressed their support of the event’s intentions, saying that it was a initiative not found at any other university and attempts to bring both parties together should only keep on going forward.

Despite the last-minute cancellations, the majority of the members of the 3 organizations chose to attend the screening

as non-aligned students, reflecting that individually they are far more progressive than their organizations’ doctrine.

Cooperation between these organizations should not necessarily imply normalization, but it is indeed rather difficult to create an event that would not affect the sensibilities of any of the parties involved. The groups should come together and confront their differences to present a dialogue that would cordially educate the general public about the complexity of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

SJP’s decision not to participate denied the campus community of an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and demonstrated the need for more efforts between student groups on issues surrounding the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. However, until Israel changes its treatment of Palestinians, the SJP’s stance may not change anytime soon.

4 the georgetown voice

news

november 14, 2013

GSC presents letter to Epicurean Few minorities in GU grad programs

by Kenneth Lee & Deborah Sparks Georgetown Solidarity Committee, with student leaders from the Georgetown University Student Association, the Georgetown branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, delivered a petition on Monday to the owner of Epicurean and Co., Chang Wook Chon, demanding his restaurant abide by the university’s Just Employment Policy.

GSC’s petition garnered more than 500 signatures. It arose from concerns that Epicurean working conditions have not improved since the closing of a civil case brought against Chon by former employees in the fall of 2012. The case alleged that Chon, in an attempt to suppress a separate wage theft lawsuit, offered bribes and even threatened to deport employees who spoke out.

After receiving the petition, Chon asserted that its complaints were invalid. “I understand that there was an issue last year, but it has been taken care of. I think I have been [following regulations],” he said to the student leaders. “I got a lesson, and now am according to the well-being policy.”

He declined to respond to the Voice’s further questions on the petition after the student leaders departed, only expressing surprise. “I ask to give me some time to read the petition,” he said.

An Epicurean manager said Chon was unavailable for further comment on Tuesday.

The petition contains three core demands.

The University must run random wage audits on Epicurean. It should also interview workers

to ensure a quality workplace, and finally Epicurean employees should all undergo Just Employment Policy training so they know how to speak out for help.

However, the University holds it has already fulfilled requests. Associate Vice President and Chief Business Officer Deborah Morey said the University already conducts random wage audits and regularly speaks with Epicurean workers.

“We don’t [interview workers] in a formal way, but we do have ways that we check to make sure that employees, if they didn’t want to go to their union, their manager, or their supervisor, would have a phone number to call to lodge a complaint—and they do,” she said. “That really is a good feedback mechanism and it goes outside campus to a [Human Resources] specialist.”

Rachel Pugh, director of media relations, also wrote in an email to the Voice that the University had already “created a video explaining the Just Employment Policy that new employees are shown at orientation and that is available online to anyone.”

Regardless of the petition’s criticisms of the University, Erik Smulson, vice president for public affairs and senior advisor to the President, praised the efforts of the concerned students. “I thought that the petition was very well done and respectful. We all hold ourselves to a very high standard,” he said.

In addition to presenting the petition, student supporters gifted flowers and thank-you cards to Epicurean employees as well.

DeGioia announces new initiative

by Jeffrey Lin President John DeGioia announced the creation of a new initiative called “Designing the Future(s) of the University” in an email to the Georgetown community on Tuesday. Launching on Nov. 20, the initiative hopes to push Georgetown to the forefront of change in higher education.

“We really believe Georgetown has something distinctive to contribute to this conversation … [on] innovation in teaching and learning,” said Randall Bass, vice provost for education, in a press conference on Wednesday.

The initiative will host several events and invite speakers to discuss and incorporate community feedback. It will also fund large-scale experiments with new educational methods, such as online learning, at Georgetown.

Bass said that Georgetown created a new and distinct initiative because it saw its goals as large-scale enough to require input from the entire Georgetown community.

“In order to experiment with the kind of largescale packages that we’ll want to put into place, we really need to engage with the whole campus to think imaginatively about this,” Bass said.

When asked which issues facing higher education he planned to focus on, Bass highlighted “unsustainable” tuition growth as the primary concern, as well as the capability to reach new

students, competency-based learning, and online education resources.

Bass hopes to incorporate feedback from a course he will co-teach in the spring with Ann Pendleton-Jullian, distinguished visiting professor of design, called “IDST-325: The University as a Design Problem: Redesigning Georgetown for the Global Century.”

“The class … is going to take a very broad approach to trying to imagine what the world would be like in 2030 … and try to design a university based on that,” Bass said.

When asked about the financial resources the initiative will require, Bass was unsure of the costs in their entirety.

“We know that it will require some resources to bring thought leaders to campus. ... We know we’ll need to spend some money on research and development [and] really start on working the educational packages, and that will be a kind of investment similar to ITEL investment,” Bass said. “I don’t know if I can answer how many resources [this will require in total].”

The Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning refers to Provost Robert Groves’s initiative to develop and fund new approaches to interactive, online learning.

The first conversation will take place at 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 20 with Provost Robert Groves and DeGioia in the Fisher Colloquium.

by Manuela Tobias According to enrollment statistics released by the Office of the Registrar on Sept. 27, African American students currently comprise 2.57 percent of the 2,486 students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, while Latinos make up 8.89 percent.

These numbers are only released to University officials and other members of the University community upon request, according to Vice President of Institutional Diversity and Equity Rosemary Kilkenny. Like Georgetown, other private universities do not typically publish minority enrollment statistics, making it difficult to compare Georgetown to other institutions.

Other graduate programs at Georgetown University show similar enrollment numbers.

African Americans comprise 5.5 percent of students in the combined doctorate in law and masters of law programs, 5.7 percent of medical students in the Graduate School, and 6 percent of those pursuing MDs in the School of Medicine.

Latino students represent 5.7 percent of students at the Law Center, 4.7 percent of medical students in the Graduate School, and 3.18 percent of students in the School of Medicine.

However, 46 percent of law students did not report race or ethnicity in their applications.

It is possible that these numbers may be similar to the diversity of the applicant pool to Georgetown graduate programs. But, it is impossible to know for sure as Eric Smulson (C ‘89), vice president for public affairs and senior advisor to the president, did not authorize the release of applicant pool statistics.

Maurice Jackson, professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown, believes the numbers are not “spellbinding” but are generally in the norm with other schools.

“I think that like all other universities, our numbers should definitely be higher,” said Sheila McMullan, associate dean for administration and finance at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

McMullan said that student debt is a strong contributor to the low numbers of minority students in particular because it disproportionately affects minorities and deters them from taking on the costs of further education. According to a 2012 report entitled “The Student

Debt” from the Center for American Progress, 81 percent of African American students and 67 percent of Latino students who attained bachelor’s degrees were in debt upon graduation, in comparison with 64 percent of white students.

According to the report, “27 percent of black bachelor’s degree recipients had more than $30,500 in debt compared to 16 percent for their white counterparts.”

“If people have already amassed debt from their undergraduate education … at some point people are really scratching their heads and saying, ‘wait a minute, do I want to go to law school and incur a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand more in debt, with no promise of a job that will enable me to pay off those loans between five to 10 years?’” Kilkenny said.

The need-based financial support currently given to 38.7 percent of undergraduates is not applicable to graduate students, whose financial support is solely merit-based.

“We give out about, in scholarship support from the graduate school, maybe $10 million, and it’s just not enough,” McMullan said.

“The problem is, we are the nation’s capital, we have to do a bit better. One problem is the very rich schools, Brown, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, they offer much more money [for financial aid],” Jackson said.

Low high school graduation rates among Hispanics and African Americans significantly reduce minority representation at the undergraduate level, leading to a smaller minority applicant pool at the graduate level, especially for PhD programs, only offered in Georgetown at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

“The higher you go, the smaller the numbers get,” Kilkenny said.

As PhDs prepare students to teach at Georgetown and other educational institutions, diversity in enrollment is integral to creating a diverse faculty.

“You want that pool to be as diverse as the classroom. You want to make sure your professor is as diverse as the nation,” McMullan said.

However, low minority numbers are likely to persist without financial support.

“I understand there are some measures to go in and get more African American students, but nothing’s going to do more, unless we raise money,” Jackson said.

shalina chatlani

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 5

On-the-record with D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells

by Shalina Chatlani The Voice sat down with 2014 mayoral candidate and D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) for an interview on his policy stances, ranging from decriminalization of marijuana to resolving corruption in D.C. politics.

Why did you co-sponsor legislation decriminalizing marijuana?

It’s an issue of social justice.

Once you have a criminal charge, you can’t even work on a construction site or get a commercial driver’s license. You may even get kicked out of your housing. The charge dissociates you from society and limits economic opportunities. The ACLU reported that right now, there’s a disproportionate impact on African Americans, and it’s unfair.

How does your bill change current laws regarding the use of marijuana?

There would no longer be a criminal offense for possessing an ounce or less of pot. I believe we are probably going to do only a $25 fine.

Why not full legalization?

To legalize pot, we’re going to have to tax it, regulate it, and we still need to figure out how to do that. I’m not going to wait to decriminalize pot while we are still working that part

out. I am very open to legalizing pot.

It’s not about the substance. It’s about what’s happening to people that are criminalized by it. So I’m addressing the issue immediately.

The legislation will apply to those who are 18 and older, but Georgetown University will still punish students for possession and usage. Does this conflict with the bill?

Universities have always had code of conduct for their students. I don’t think that this is necessarily a shield for not abiding by a university’s code of conduct. It’s between the university and its students.

You voted against the Large Retailers Accountability Act and wrote your own bill. Did you have plans before LRAA to propose such a bill?

There was so much energy around the LRAA that I saw it as a huge opening, which didn’t exist before, to raise the minimum wage in D.C. The LRAA, the big-box retailer bill, was not a smart bill, but it created an opportunity, which I took ahold of. Now I have nine councilmembers, whose names are on my bill as co-introducers, so we have a veto-proof majority to pass it.

Many have argued that, due to the standard of living in D.C. a living wage

GUSA’s nanny state

Want better housing next year?

Just make sure you’ve paid your library fines, and double-check that you’re not a bigot. GUSA hopes to combat the destructive forces of discrimination through What’s a Hoya, a program that will incentivize students to attend University-approved seminars for a slight boost in housing points.

The topic of the first seminar will be “Women and Men for Others,” which will focus on mentorship. After that, the topics will be “Cura Personalis,” which will center on safety and well-being, and “Community in Diversity,” which will discuss issues of pluralism. The goal of the program is to make students more aware of issues affecting the campus community. After an hour long session, students will have to take a test online to assess how much they learned.

This entire exercise misses the point of how a university should promote healthy ideas. When information about any of these topics is presented to students in a school-assembly sort of way, the

material goes down like medicine. Georgetown students love to engage with new ideas and challenge their preconceived notions. We do it every day in class, and, for most of us, it’s why we came here. A program with a quiz afterward doesn’t resemble that form of inquiry.

What if a freshman reads over the topics and determines that the topics wouldn’t be worthwhile for her? She would have to go anyway—wasting her time—just to make sure she doesn’t end up in the basement of LXR. If the goal is to make campus a more accepting and healthy environment, then I doubt this program is the best way to do it.

My reservations with reagrds to the idea extend past worries about lost time. The larger problem is using the housing system to encourage people to attend.

Every freshman has a stake in the housing system. Having a better or worse dorm won’t determine how enriching your experience at Georgetown is, but it’s important. There are message boards and

Councilmember Tommy Wells spoke at Georgetown on Tuesday.

SHALINA CHATLANI

needs to be around $12.50. Why does your bill proposes a $10.25 living wage?

If there is a bidding war on the amount of the wage, we miss out on an opportunity. Also, my bill increases the standard withholding for taxes, so citizens keep more of their money, and the minimum wage in reality is about $11 an hour. Because it will be indexed, we won’t have to pass another piece of legislation to raise the wage. It goes up automatically.

Walmart and other large retailers were in opposition to LRAA. Why would they be more likely to support your bill?

You know, I don’t care for Walmart. And, it’s not just Walmart. What’s going to happen to Burger King, McDonald’s, and Walgreens, which is the most anti-union of all of them? If they can’t afford to pay the higher minimum wage— then good riddance.

Facebook groups devoted to trying to get the best space possible.

People care about it.

So, when students go to What’s a Hoya, they make the housing selection of their peers relatively worse. The more people attend, the relatively worse each non-attendee’s selection number will be. Such a consequence resembles what happens to students who violate the code of conduct.

such a penalty. Under any sort of codified penal system, no one should be penalized for what they think under any circumstances.

I appreciate that the organizers plan on including a variety of perspectives to inform the discussion. As I’ve written before, trying to exclude certain points of view in a university setting runs counter to fostering intellectual dialogue. I find it suspect, though, that organizers plan on including a segment on “establishing positive neighborhood relations.” I wonder who pushed that through. I’m sure the events will contain a lot of valuable information otherwise, but it remains to be seen how much these sessions will be more of the administration-approved talk on not breaking the rules.

In the end, there are a lot of initiatives that would make the undergraduate community stronger.

All people have their pet projects, but not every program is worthy of tapping into the housing system. Should we reward freshmen with .1 housing point for every weekend they abstain from binge drinking the next 3 months? It

Saxa Politica

by Connor Jones

A bi-weekly column about campus news and politics Not going to a seminar shouldn’t result in what could effectively be a housing sanction.

Say, for the sake of argument, that there was a way to identify all the bigots in University housing with 100 percent accuracy. If one of the goals of housing placement is to promote diversity awareness on campus, should we place these students in the least desirable rooms on campus? It would serve the same purpose. While some of my more authoritarian peers might disagree, I would object to

How do you plan on taking corruption out of D.C. politics if you become mayor?

We have a major problem with the pay-to-play system. Many people believe that in order to get something from the government, you have to give money to constituent services funds or campaigns.

I’m not going to go out there and participate in this type of corruption. I will promote a bill that says that the council should not vote on contracts, and create a culture within my government in which corruption is not tolerated.

If you win the race, what are your top priorities?

My economic development plan is a full youth development plan is a full youth engagement program that the whole city is involved in, so that our young people are prepared for jobs.

Secondly, we also will continue school reform. I’ll knit the charter schools together with the public schools, so that parents will have predictability for middle school and high school. My third priority is to build a 21st century transit system that connects neighborhoods.

would surely make many Hoyas healthier, which is undoubtedly an important goal. The problems with such a scheme would be that it wouldn’t benefit everyone equally because not everyone drinks an unhealthy amount.

What about giving students with the best improvement in GPA the best housing numbers? It would only help students get better grades, which would arguably benefit students more than What’s a Hoya. The problem, however, is the same: It would help some students more than others.

I remain suspicious whenever GUSA is given a new tool to accomplish their ever-ambitious initiatives. I doubt that every freshman would stand to benefit from What’s a Hoya, and incentivizing everyone to go to these sessions is bound to waste at least some people’s time. Instead of holding students’ hands, GUSA should focus on getting students to want to learn about these issues, which, after all, are still important.

Wanna give Connor housing points? Email him at cjones@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

november 14, 2013

Men’s basketball finds shooting touch in home opener

by Brendan Crowley and Joe Pollicino After an abysmal shooting performance against Oregon (1-0, 0-0 PAC-12) in their season-opening game, where they shot 6.7 percent from threepoint range, the Georgetown men’s basketball team (1-1, 0-0 Big East) regained their touch in their home debut against Wright State (1-0, 0-0 Horizon). The Hoyas shot 50 percent from the floor against the Raiders on the way to a 88-70 victory, their first of the 2013-14 season.

The Hoyas wasted no time jumping out to an early lead, which they held for the entirety of the game, extending their advantage to as many as 19 points before the ten minute mark. Defense was the key for Georgetown in the first half. Wright State was forced into 11 turnovers, many of which led to points on the other end for the Hoyas. A 50-31 halftime lead proved too difficult for the Raiders to overcome.

Junior guard Kendall Griffin led Wright State with 15 points, while senior guard Miles Dixon and sophomore forward JT Yoho added 14 each. However, the scoring stopped there for the Raiders, as no other Wright State player achieved double figures.

“I told our team, [Wright State] is a very good team. [Head Coach] Billy [Donlon] does a terrific job with them. They’re going to be fighting for their league championship, they’re the kind of team you see in the NCAA tournament, and they’re a veteran team,” said Head Coach John Thompson III following the win, which improves his record in home openers to 7-2. “We were fortunate to get AJ Pacher in foul trouble early. That changed the dynamic of what they do, because he’s such a point of em-

phasis with a lot of things they do. But that’s a very good team.”

The strong guard play of the Hoyas caused problems for Wright State, as sophomore D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and senior Markel Starks erupted for 25 and 23 points respectively.

This point total tied Starks’ career-high. After shooting a combined 8 of 24 from the field in the season opener, the pair jointly shot a much improved 15-of-26 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from three-point land. However, their dominating performance did not surprise Thompson.

“It was what we expected, to tell you the truth. The last game was not who they are, so for them to come out here and play like they did today is what we expected,” Thompson said. “They both have the responsibility to score points, but also to get their teammates involved. For some people it’s easier than others to understand that responsibility - that they have to score points for us, but then they also have to get everybody else the ball in positions where they need it.”

After a strong debut performance against Oregon, where he scored 25 points, junior center Josh Smith had only six points in 17 minutes played. He found himself double-teamed almost every time he touched the ball. However, this opened things up for the rest of the Georgetown offense, particularly their shooters on the perimeter.

“We don’t mind the double.

We invite the double. He’s normally very strong with the ball.

Josh is a good passer,” Thompson said. “Josh getting doubled is something we anticipate happening this year. I think we can put shooters out on the court to get open shots, and we have guys smart enough to know when and

MARLA ABDILLA

Men’s basketball earned their first win of the year in blowout fashion.

how to cut.”

Among the beneficiaries was freshman Reggie Cameron, who after an unmemorable debut against Oregon, scored nine points, all coming from beyond the arc. Cameron also added three rebounds and two assists in his home debut, rounding out a productive 18 minutes played.

“Reggie can shoot, so Reggie did what Reggie does. I thought he was active and attentive defensively,” Thompson said following the win. “He got hurt a couple of times in the first half in their zone

where their bumps weren’t fast, but for the most part from a defensive perspective I thought he was attentive and active. He also has to rebound for us, but he’s feeling his way through it.”

Still suffering from jetlag after traveling halfway around the world in the last week, the Hoyas will have a week off, after which they will return to action against Northeastern (0-2, 0-0 CAA) in San Juan in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The three-game tournament posseses a stacked field with a potential second matchup against

either Kansas State (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) or Charlotte (1-1, 0-0 CUSA). And, if the Hoyas make it all the way to the finals, they could meet either No. 8 Michigan (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) or No. 14 Virginia Commonwealth (2-0, 0-0 A10), both Final Four participants within the last three years.

On a separate note, notably absent from the home opener was the familiar voice of Fr. William McFadden, the public address announcer for the Hoyas since 1973.

McFadden has fallen ill and the team hopes to have him back as soon as his health permits.

the sports sermon

“GM’s wish the draft was tomorrow.” - LeBron via Twitter after Kentucky/Michigan State and Kansas/Duke

by Chris Almeida Watching the Hoyas at the Verizon Center have been some of my fondest memories: going to see Mike Sweetney and Kevin Braswell’s teams with my Dad in my budding years as a sports fan; watching the Hoyas take down Duke in 2010 with President Obama in the stands; taking my high school sweetheart to the Syracuse game in 2011; and last season running on to the court after Otto’s Hoyas pounded the Orange into oblivion in the regular season finale, clinching a share of the Big East title.

This year, though, trips to Kansas and Madison Square Garden promise to be oncein-a-lifetime experiences for me. I feel bad for the new students who, due to this year ’s home schedule, may not get the live basketball experience that Hoyas of years past have enjoyed.

This year’s non-conference schedule is one of the most impressive in recent memory.

Matchups against Oregon and Michigan State as well as all the teams involved in the Puerto Rico Tip Off will all be played at neutral sites, as most high profile non-conference games are. Kansas, in the first year of a home-and-away series, will host the Hoyas at Allen Fieldhouse in December. This only leaves the cupcakes of the non-conference schedule (Lipscomb, anybody?) and the Big East schedule, which consists of nine home-and-away series.

Even with realignment taking its toll, there are strong games on the home schedule: Villanova, Creighton, Marquette, and St. John’s, to name a few. But there’s a catch. Gone are the Saturday afternoons at the Phonebooth. Want to see Marquette? How does 9 p.m. on a Monday sound? Want to see “protected rival” Villanova?

Don’t worry, they heard you liked that Monday night slot so much, they scheduled the Wildcats there also! Trying to catch a glimpse of All-American Doug McDermott? Tuesday at 7! But don’t worry, St. John’s is on a Saturday. During winter break.

The only games scheduled during the school year on a weekend are those against the formidable Colgate Raiders, the down on their luck Butler Bulldogs, and the Xavier Musketeers. It’s alright though. You can always make the quick trip up to Philadelphia to see the away game against Villanova.

Oh, that’s right, it’s scheduled during spring break.

Going to see Georgetown basketball is part of the student experience here. Attending an exciting game and soaking in the atmosphere is essential to creating the obsessive culture that surrounds Hoya hoops.

My roommate spent most of his life abroad and was unfamiliar with college basketball.

Even so, he was sold on the game after going to the Louisville thriller last February. The lack of a home schedule this year will stem enthusiasm for the season and will make the

activities of the team less of a collective experience. I will always enjoy a game, whether it’s live or on television, but the more casual fan is much more likely to get distracted or lose interest in a screen than in an arena full of 18,000 fans.

Freshmen will go through their first year without getting the taste of basketball they are due, while seniors will leave the Hilltop without a lasting parting gift. Not to mention the effect this will have on the Hoya team that will have to play in an empty Verizon Center for much of the year. Obviously winning is the main objective, but how much can you enjoy a victory when it is never in front of a full home crowd? How will it feel for Markel Starks and Nate Lubick to play their Senior Night on a Tuesday?

I’m not sure who is to blame for this year’s scheduling, but the lack of attention to the home slate is a tremendous failure.

No matter how high profile the non-conference schedule may be, nothing can make up for seeing a grudge match in person. For many, basketball is more than just an event, it’s a way to create lasting memories and fondly remember college.

Luckily, I have the opportunity to go to away games this year but, if I was the average student, I would be pretty damn jealous of my ACC and Big Ten friends who will be able to walk to their on-campus stadiums and see great teams play every week in front of a packed house.

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Men’s soccer moves into postseason Women’s soccer seeks title

by Chris Castano Last Friday’s game up on Shaw field wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t the spectacle we’ve all come to expect from the Hilltop’s talented men’s soccer program. It wasn’t a game filled with attacking flair characteristic of the Hoyas. Thanks to an ultra-defensive opponent with a penchant for yellow cards, the Hoyas were starved for creativity. However, thanks to the Blue and Gray’s 1-0 win over the Villanova men’s soccer program (8-9-1, 3-6-0 Big East), Friday’s game secured Georgetown’s fourth Big East regular season championship in program history.

“You win them pretty and you win them ugly. That one was ugly,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese.

Any rhythm the Hoyas managed to find was usually broken by a harsh tackle, and subsequently by the referee’s whistle. However, due to the forecast and their opponents on the day, Wiese and his players weren’t surprised by the stopand-start nature of the game.

“There were a lot of calls. They have the most yellow cards in the Big East and I think they picked up another five here. They’ve got a lot of good players, but they’re all athletic and huge. I think they’re very smart in how they were trying to approach the game,” Wiese said.

Wiese and his team will be happy with how they dealt with their opponents. The only goal of an otherwise ugly game was beautiful.

In the 22nd minute, freshman forward Alex Muyl picked up the ball and ran down the line where he passed the ball off to sophomore midfielder Josh Turnley, who slid the ball across the box to sophomore forward Brandon Allen.

Allen buried the ball in the back of the net, got the Hoyas on the score sheet, and completed what was the most fluid attacking play Shaw Field saw that afternoon. According to Wiese, that first goal was crucial. “A second goal would have been nice, it just never came,” Wiese said. “Villanova

ANDRES RENGIFO

Men’s soccer hopes to claim the Big East title after losing in last year’s final.

Women’s sports lag in China

Living in Shanghai and attending a Chinese university has inundated this semester with cross-cultural comparisons. In terms of sports, some of these differences I could have expected and really haven’t been all too shocking, such as the near non-existence of baseball and the obsession with the Black Mamba. I would say that the most striking disparity while observing sports at my university though, is the near-absence of women in school athletics.

After two years of attending Georgetown and covering nearly every sports team we have, I started taking some things for granted, thinking that the athletics we enjoy is relatively standard, with 23 varsity athletic teams on top of various club and intramural sports teams. That 12 of our varsity athletic teams are female and that women enjoy ample opportunities to join club and intra-

mural teams never crossed my mind as unordinary. My two months in an unfamiliar sports environment gave me a fresh perspective.

Although basketball and soccer games are constantly going on outside on courts and fields across campus, regardless of time of day or day of week, you will never see a female student participating in one of those games. After two months of daily observation, not once have I seen even one female student playing in a game, let alone a game comprised solely of female athletes. As for intercollegiate women’s sports teams, you can forget about it.

Bothered by this lack of understanding, I set out to figure out why the athletic opportunities for female students are so drastically scarce.

I eventually wound up with two different explanations: the sociological analysis and the general student

was playing for their life and they made ending their season hard.”

Friday’s game was the last obstacle standing between Georgetown and the domestic title. Celebrations began before the game even started with the program honoring its winningest senior class ever. The members of the class of 2013 have racked up an overall record of 54-19-10. The win on Friday meant they also lead the Hoyas to a third Big East domestic title.

While they have much to be proud of and four excellent years to reflect on, the senior class doesn’t seem to want to slow down. As the regular season finishes, the team now looks forward to Friday’s Big East Championship semi-finals in Philadelphia. At 6:00 p.m., the Hoyas will be taking on the winner of fifth-seeded Creighton or fourth-seeded Providence in a game that promises to be challenging and exciting no matter the opponent.

While the tournament this weekend is on the minds of all members of the men’s soccer program, Wiese is adamant that all focus should be on one thing: getting the result in whatever game the Blue and Gray are playing next.

“It’s nice being able to win pretty. It’s nice being able to win ugly. It’s nice to just be able to find ways,” he said. “This team is doing a better job of finding ways to get the results.”

opinion. My sociology professor, who specializes in gender studies in modern Chinese society, agreed with the notion that societal pressures on women to avoid such types of physical activity cause female students to be averse to sports. In the United

All The Way

by Steven Criss A bi-weekly column about sports

States, we can count on sports as an essential weapon in fighting against socially constructed gender roles.

Girls can take the field just as guys do and battle for a win because expending physical effort and getting dirty does not define a gender.

The sports world in China, though, is dominated by men. Although, women have been progressively becoming more equal in spheres such as the workforce and

by Chris Wadibia After a tough loss to DePaul (13-5-2, 5-3-1 Big East) that kept them from advancing to the Big East Championship game, the Hoyas (15-2-2, 7-1-1 Big East) look to regain their confidence as they head into the NCAA Tournament.

In spite of not winning the Big East this year, the Hoyas still managed to set school records for both regular season wins and goals scored. Asked about the Hoyas’ regular season success, senior forward and All-Big East Second Team selection Kaitlin Brenn said, “I was very pleased with the team’s performance. …

Obviously we were disappointed with not winning the Big East crown, but we are glad to have made the NCAA Tournament and [are] looking forward to the games ahead.”

Additionally, the Hoyas believe they have the talent and team chemistry needed to achieve great success in the postseason. Sophomore goalkeeper and All-Big East Third Team selection Emma Newins affirmed her faith in the Hoyas’ potential. “If we play well I feel like we have all the tools to make a successful run in the NCAA tournament. An upset in the secfamily life, equality in sports severely lags behind. From a very early age, girls are primed with expectations to ignore athletics. Thus, these gender-based social pressures provide an end result of deficient interest. Compare that to the United States, where it is relatively common to find women’s sports on national television.

Recent efforts to help female students get more involved in athletics have surfaced, but most of the time these efforts only paint the same disappointing picture I see day after day.

All female undergraduates at East China Normal University are forced to participate in a physical education class of sorts, which includes running, stretching, and sit-ups. But let me place a heavy emphasis on the word “forced” because when speaking with one Chinese classmate, she made it clear that these activities are a requirement of every female undergraduate, not an elective. The intentions of this program are, of course,

ond round is definitely possible for our team, who has always played well against Virginia in the past,” she said.

Going into the NCAA Tournament, the Hoyas look to capitalize on the strengths they developed throughout the regular season. “One of our biggest strengths is that we play good soccer, we pass the ball around and are a very good tactical team,” Brenn said.

While the Hoya offense will undoubtedly play a leading role in helping the team enjoy post-season success, the relationship between the defense and goalkeeper will also be critical.

“My relationship as the goalkeeper with the defenders will be an important factor for a successful post-season,” Newins said. “My communication with the defenders is key in keeping the ball out of the net. I have a great amount of trust and confidence in my defenders and I think we will be successful at limiting goals and giving our team the best chance at winning NCAA games.”

With their eyes on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, the Hoyas look to their first matchup, which takes place against La Salle (15-4-3, 5-2-1 Atlantic Ten Conference). The game is set to kick off on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Shaw Field. positive, but the reality points out how serious this problem actually is, where undergraduate women would have almost no exposure to physical activity if not forced by an administrative order.

The brightest sign of hope for young women in sports comes in the form of a co-ed baseball club with about 25 members that meets once a week. Surprisingly, mostly women turn out. Yet even this seemingly unlikely baseball program is only a small step in the right direction. It is refreshing to see this group out there every Wednesday afternoon.

Struggling against a long established social construct is no simple task, though one that American sports has proven to be surmountable. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time before China makes the jump.

Battle social constructs with Steven at scriss@georgetownvoice.com

8 the georgetown voice

feature

november 14, 2013

NOT CRAZY, just A LITTLE UNWELL the realities of mental health at georgetown It begins with a form. There are several, all different colors. On the back of the yellow one, two columns of text sidle up to neat boxes: “Check all that apply.”

Stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, sexual assault, relationship troubles, and loneliness are just a few of the options.

Faced with identifying the common threads in your own thought process, you ink in the appropriate boxes and fill out the rest of your information while classical music plays in the background and a water feature quietly trickles in the corner. Every so often, you nervously scan the faces of those around you. Some of them are filling out the same forms on identical clipboards, while others distract themselves with a book or a phone, veterans of the system.

That’s what an initial visit to Georgetown’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services is like. On the outside, such a visit may appear trivial or commonplace, no different from the typical routine for a doctor’s appointment—but the decision to seek out CAPS at all can be monumental. To those affected, recognizing and addressing a mental health problem carries far greater weight than does of a physical disorder, since the stigma surrounding mental health is so deeply entrenched in our society.

“The mind is you, so to say that you are diseased is a very different thing from saying that the body that your mind and soul inhabit is diseased,” said Jack*, a junior in the College.

That kind of inextricable relationship between mental illness and the mind that it infiltrates—that place where personality, fear, and desire reside—takes part in breeding the common misconception that such problems constitute a fundamental flaw that can be attributed to personal shortcomings. It’s an attitude that forces the issue under the table, isolating the students who deal with these problems.

“If you’re seeing a mental health professional, there is an otherness attached,” said Jack, who has been going to CAPS since freshman year. “The strangest moments were when I saw people I knew and recognized.”

Amy*, a junior in the College, echoed a similar sentiment.

“It’s not that you look down upon people that go to CAPS, but you kind of whisper about it and judge them a little bit,” she said. “I don’t want to go to

CAPS and see people I know there.”

Though she has never been diagnosed or sought treatment, Amy believes she has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a serious condition that is often misunderstood and trivialized. Stereotypically associated with obsessive cleanliness or idiosyncratic habits like an inability to touch the cracks in the sidewalk, OCD can also be characterized by intrusive thoughts of violence or sex. Such is the case for Amy, who fights such invasions daily.

“I always struggled with the thoughts because I never understood where they came from or what it meant to have them,” she said. “I’d be waiting for the metro and thinking of pushing someone onto the tracks. I’d never do that, but why would I think it if I weren’t capable of it?”

Amy’s choice not to seek out CAPS for help with OCD stems from her relationship with the disorder. Constantly battling for control over her own thoughts, she prefers to tackle them on her own rather than seek professional help.

“I’ve gotten into this habit of making everything look good from the outside, so no one knows I have OCD. Going to CAPS would mean admitting that it’s an actual issue. I’m convincing myself that I can handle it on my own,” she said.

Speaking to Amy, I would never have been able to suspect otherwise. She’s open and animated, frequently smiling as

she describes all that’s going on beneath the surface, including thoughts of suicide.

As I wonder at the distinction between these outer and inner selves, I remember my senior year of high school, when my best friend, who also has OCD, attempted suicide and spent a week in a mental hospital. I did not find out until months later. Snapping back to Amy in front of me, who has stopped talking, I turn to my notes and continue. Does the mythology surrounding mental health make it more difficult to speak up about these issues?

“In my experience, when people talk about mental health, they talk about depression, and people are conditioned to think that depression is one of the most serious mental health issues,” she said.

“When I’ve told people I’ve had issues with OCD, they laugh it off.”

According to last year’s National Alliance on Mental Illness survey of college students, 27 percent of respondents reported problems with depression, 24 percent with bipolar disorder, and 12 percent with various disorders like OCD and autism. The rest of the spectrum included anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, and substance abuse. 36 percent of respondents said that social stigma was the greatest barrier to accessing mental health services and support. In many ways, Georgetown’s high-achieving culture bolsters this stigma.

“We like to look like we’re the perfect candidates for everything—a job,

1 IN 4 GU STUDENTS WILL VISIT CAPS DURING THEIR UNDERGRADUATE YEARS

GRAPHIC BY LAUREN-ASHLEY PANAWA

by julia lloyd-george an internship, a marriage,” Amy said.

“Admitting that you struggle with mental health issues means admitting that you’re not the perfect candidate, and that makes you look weaker.”

In October, CAPS was awarded the JedCampus Seal by the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit organization “working to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among college students.” CAPS was received the award after completing a self-assessment on multiple criteria, including “increasing help-seeking be-

The waiting room seems to be a lot fuller these days havior,” “developing life skills and promoting social networks,” and “educating gatekeepers on campus.”

Every year, roughly 10 percent of students go to CAPS for help, according to Phil Meilman, the center’s director, while 25 percent will seek out these services over the course of their college careers.

“We provided over 10,000 visits to more than 1,600 students last year, not including the number of students we reached through our outreach efforts,” Meilman wrote in an email to the Voice.

“The number of students to whom we provide clinical service, the number of sessions, and the number of people reached through our outreach efforts have grown substantially in the last eight years.”

For Jack, that kind of growth in demand shows in recognizable ways.

“The waiting room seems to be a lot fuller these days,” he said. “The vibe I get is that they’re at capacity.”

During the second semester of his sophomore year, Jack went on a leave of absence after suffering from depression and having problems with classes. Diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, he also deals with anxiety-related compulsions like repetitively pulling out his hair.

Speaking in a crowded Starbucks, he rhythmically taps his leg. I do not no-

georgetownvoice.com tice this until later in our conversation, when he points it out to me.

“Issues of mental health always crop up during times of great stress, and the recession is a perfect example,” he said.

“The resources for coping go down because the money isn’t as flush, but the need goes up just as supply gets harder to deal with.”

Under CAPS’s current protocol, every student is allowed three sessions before having to pay. With Student Health Insurance, $10 co-payments are required for weekly services. Jack noted how he wouldn’t have been able to get adequate treatment without the coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act. Moreover, the Obama administration announced new regulations that would require health insurance providers to recognize full parity between benefits and treatment for both mental and physical health issues.

The challenges most students have found with CAPS, however, have little to do with money and everything to do with a more verbal form of exchange.

It was almost two years after first experiencing symptoms of depression that Joe Donovan (SFS ’13) came to CAPS. Unable to recognize the illness in himself at first, he saw it as a personal failing that he needed to overcome by simply working harder.

“Half of me was saying that this is a serious thing you need to pay attention to and other half said, no, this is self-pity,” he said. “There is no trauma that has happened and no terrible thing that you’ve been through, so you need to suck it up.”

At his lowest points, Donovan was unable to muster the energy necessary to complete the smallest tasks, much less seek out the necessary help.

“The first thing that depression takes away is the ability to reach out,” he said.

“It takes away the energy and ability to do what you need.”

When he finally did go to CAPS, however, he was met with a disheartening reception. Because he could not point to a specific event or cause of his illness, Donovan’s therapist was confused about why he was feeling depressed.

Lydia Brown (COL ’15), a disability rights activist, noted that this is a common experience for students with less prevalent disorders than depression, including mental disorders such as autism.

“CAPS is not equipped to be responsive to a broad range of services,” she said.

“There is a lack of welcoming reception and knowledge about many different disorders, which can be detrimental to the point of forcing some students to leave.”

Based on her own experiences and those of others she knows, Brown concludes that the treatment style of CAPS is inflexible and medicalized rather than tai-

feature lored to fit the individual patient’s needs, as she believes it should be.

“Mental health services need to be person-centered, so that they’re less about trying to fix you and more about finding ways to support you,” she said.

Bill*, an autistic Ph.D student in the History Department I interviewed in connection with Brown, was denied treatment from CAPS altogether. After going to them to refill his medical prescriptions, he was referred to the Student Health Center, which then sent Bill back to CAPS. “I was told, ‘We don’t deal with autism disorders,’” Bill said. “It is emotionally exhausting to be tossed around like that, and I came to the conclusion that any future dealings with CAPS would be bad for my mental health.”

Like Bill, Jack also experienced problems in dealings between CAPS and other on-campus institutions. On the tail-end of his leave of absence last summer, he was led to believe that he could come back to campus, but his dean, who declined to comment, had a different notion of what requirements he needed to meet in order to return. Jack ended up having to write a 1,000-word petition to return to Georgetown.

“There need to be more open lines of communication and a more efficient, transparent relationship between academic issues, administrative issues, and mental health,” he said. “If you don’t foster that kind of communication, you are left wondering.”

In addition, Jack emphasized the need for helping students to navigate the various mental health resources available to them.

“Yes, we should fight the stigma, but in the meantime, make sure people know what options are available to them and help people navigate those options. There are so many ways of dealing with it that if you don’t know how, you’re going to have trouble. [Finding support] was more difficult than it had to be.”

The conversation about mental health on campus, though rarely occurring around dinner tables at Leo’s, has been extended to the classroom through the Engelhard Project, which was started in 2005 to integrate health and wellness topics into the curriculum.

Emphasizing the importance of providing these resources in a setting where students can become informed about mental health issues behind the veil of anonymity, Engelhard Fellow and Biology Professor Maria Donoghue said that the greatest barrier to giving students the resources they need is the fear that they will be judged for seeking them out.

“We need to convince students that admitting that they have a problem can benefit them in the long run. How do we persuade students that seeking help can make them whole, and that they can still be loved?” she asked.

In the past few weeks, Georgetown University Student Association has been looking into ways to decrease that stigma by increasing outreach efforts on behalf of CAPS. According to Ken Nunnenkamp (MSB ’16), co-chair of GUSA’s Intellectual Health Committee, and Bridget Morton (MSB ’16), the committee’s CAPS liaison, they plan to use their positions as student leaders to make these resources more normalized.

“Students tend to listen to other students, so having students publicize these services can help break down any remaining barriers,” Nunnenkamp said.

Admitting that you struggle with mental health issues means admitting that you’re not the perfect candidate, and that makes you look weaker For Donovan, however, the most powerful remedy of all can be found in a group setting. Though conceding on the necessity of therapy, he advocates a more empathetic, community-based form of support.

“Therapy is incredibly important, but it’s also one-directional. The most meaningful thing for me has been making connections on a personal level—mutual vulnerability is important to not get trapped in negative patterns of thought.”

When asked what institutional change would best improve the culture surrounding mental health on campus, Donovan said that a similar approach on a broader, university-wide level would be most effective.

“For Georgetown to make meaningful strides in this area, there needs to be a space created where it can be okay to share,” he said.

“We have a shared responsibility to shift the culture so it’s not the people that are struggling that have to be self-advocates, because they have to carry too much of a weight as it is.”

Sitting in the corner of Sellinger, he gestures around the crowded room to demonstrate the significant likelihood that someone around us is dealing with mental illness. It’s a common observation, but one that’s difficult to understand beyond an intellectual level.

On his sweatshirt, golden letters spell out a familiar adage: “Not all who wander are lost.”

I wonder if he wore it with a purpose in mind.

* - Indicates a name has been changed.

the georgetown voice 9

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

november 14, 2013

Dancing the Dream fails to keep emotional images en pointe

by Isabel Echarte Rather than randomly hanging beautiful pictures of beautiful dancers, the National Portrait Gallery examines the history of dance as a visual art form in its exhibit Dancing the Dream, on display until July 14, 2014.

The exhibit finds its strength in discussing the historical significance of dance on American cultural identity. At the same time, this focus on history becomes overly intellectual at the price of beauty, which is where the exhibit finds its weakness.

The museum begins the exhibition with a series of historical portraits of dancers and vintage posters for their shows from the early 20th century. All of the dancers and choreographers in this first room, “Broadway and the American Dream,” were moving away from classical ballet and stepping into modern dance.

Perhaps the most striking image, one that sets the tone for the exhibit, is the first, a lithograph of a thin black woman, reminiscent of some of Mattisse’s figures, wearing only a skirt made of bananas. The description introduces the viewer to Josephine Baker, a dancer who travelled to Paris in the ‘20s to work in the then highly popular “negro vaudeville.” She soon became wildly famous and worked to curate her public image as exotic, actually wearing banana skirts and even walking a pet leopard down the streets of Paris.

While this print is beautiful and interesting alone, under-

standing its history—the racism of 1920s America and Europe—is entirely essential to truly appreciating the work and the dancer.

And this is where the exhibit overall falls short. Without reading the small-print descriptions next to sometimes unimpressive photos or prints, the viewer loses sight of their importance. If a visitor is not willing to read each description in detail, the room seems unimpressive and somewhat disorganized. Only two of six rooms and a hallway had accompanying videos. Considering the most important aspect of dance is movement itself, it’s surprising that these videos aren’t more prominent and thorough.

Those of us who are not familiar with the history of dance might become quickly impatient with Dancing the Dream. The lack of videos can be frustrating. A photo description calls one of Eleanor Powell’s dances “one of the most powerful ever filmed.” It does not follow that this dance is not shown in any of the videos.

The organization and history embedded in this exhibit redeem some of these logical flaws and sometimes not so exciting (okay, boring) visual material. The exhibit moves from early Broadway/ Vaudeville to Hollywood, where it brings in some familiar movie posters, like Dirty Dancing and Black Swan. These are strategically placed in one room with video, where the curator clearly understood that visitors would not pay much attention to detailed descriptions when John Travolta’s gyrating hips play on a loop in the background.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

“I’m going to be a great film star! That is, if booze and sex don’t get me first.”

The next rooms move into modern American dance, including Alvin Ailey’s famous dance theater and the rise of American ballet. These rooms are both visually and historically stimulating, but the last room, “Choreography goes POP!” is the most inventive.

While it contains posters of Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé, this room highlights the exhibit’s wide historical and cultural scope. An entire wall of the

room has QR codes, linking to YouTube videos of dance renditions and flash mobs. The use of QR codes piques guests’ interest and highlights the effect of technology and media on dance and dance culture. Dance is no longer strictly for high-class performances and skilled dancers. This last statement serves to highlight just how far American dance has come since the first steps of modern dance in the early 20th century.

A View to a Kill: Reading Bond

In a conversation about celebrity crushes this week, I guiltily admitted my lifelong infatuation with James Bond (Sean Connery being the pinnacle of all 007s, of course). While I’m a big fan of spy and political thriller movies, I hadn’t attempted the written versions of Bond’s glamorous trysts and travels. So I sat down with From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming’s seminal Bond classic. I expected a fun, quick read, but wasn’t expecting to get as swept up as I did. Just like the Bond films, the novel was fun, shallow, shiny and alluring, full of expensive alcohol, watches and cars, 60s misogyny and blatant sexuality, and scant political correctness—and, guiltily, I lapped it up.

In From Russia, Fleming is elegant, crisp, fresh, and quietly charming in his writing style, just as Bond is in dress and act. But more than that, the man can spin a really great story. You don’t even need the visually arresting on-screen accompaniment of Pierce Brosnan’s piercing blue eyes, or the acrobatics of Daniel Craig’s hand-to-hand combat on top of a speeding train, or Ursula Andress walking out of the crystalline shallows of the Caribbean in Dr. No. Fleming is successful at entertainment value in his own right.

In this genre, less is more.

Fleming masters Bond’s appeal by keeping him mysterious. He is little more than a chiseled jaw with a taste for adventure (sometimes driven entirely by sex drive). Bond is distant, unattainable, unreal, and (at least in literary form) one-dimensional.

This trend continues in William Boyd’s recent reprisal of Bond’s life in the novel Solo.

The Fleming estate approved another Bond adventure, placing Boyd with seven other distinguished authors—including Kingsley Amis, one of Britain’s foremost—to take up Bond’s storyline.

Boyd keeps the basics of Bond’s life the same, especially his one dimensionality. “Had it been stripped from a corpse, Bond wondered, and resold for profit? He didn’t particularly care.” Bond doesn’t care, as per usual, which we know thanks to our omnipotent narrator. This

Under the Covers

by Emilia Brahm A bi-weekly literary column distinct distance from Bond’s inner thoughts is deliberate. The narrator reveals only what Bond wants us to see. Bond is only vulnerable when it helps his cause. This is what distinguishes this sort of novel, a fun read, from so-called “serious fiction.”

Pulp fiction forgoes vulnerability for pure entertainment, if such a thing exists.

Boyd also maintains the glamour of the original Bond through selective details. First, the attire: “a jersey all-in-one navy catsuit with an ostentatious gold zip” and a wool suit fresh from a Savile Row tailor.

Then, the cars: dusty, rusty military Jeeps and a whole chapter dedicated to the imaginary, very sexy, Jensen FF. Finally, of course, the locale: from the posh Dorchester Hotel that has the best water pressure in London to the civil war-torn,

While this exhibition has depth in its history and factual evidence, it fails to indulge visitors in what they likely went to the exhibit to see: the sheer power and beauty of dance. There is a reason Degas lost himself in the magic of ballet, and this exhibit ignores that emotional force.

National Portrait Gallery 8th and F Streets, N.W. 11:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. daily npg.si.edu/exhibit/dance imaginary nation of Zanzarim.

But most characteristic is the array of drinks. Bond imbibes schnapps, whiskey, green star beer, gin and tonic, creek water, a bottle of sherry, Veuve Cliquot, a draught of strong black coffee, and a carafe of Barolo (with such drinking slogans as “slange var” and “proost”). Bond knows how to have fun.

Fleming is successful in sharing this fun with his audience, but Boyd fails to impress—Solo isn’t worth reading for much more than the drink recommendations (spoiler alert: it’s shaken, not stirred).

Not only was Solo boring, but it was startlingly, frustratingly objectifying in a manner that topped even Fleming’s originals. I know that what Fleming wrote and what is portrayed in the films is full of stereotypes and tropes. It is still a bit of fun, at least when at its least extreme, like in From Russia With Love. Dr. No, for example, is sometimes unbearable. In both the book and the movie, the racism is overt and unshy.

I don’t excuse Ian Fleming for his racism in this novel, but in From Russia With Love, it is generally hidden. In all his novels, the guns, gowns, and girls are campy and over-sexualized, but there is still something that pulls me in. Yet with Boyd, the story itself is so boring that every instance of misogyny and racism stand in relief. When it comes to classic Bond, indulge when you’re in the mood. When it comes to Boyd, don’t even bother. It’s all the guilt and none of the pleasure.

Talk Octopussy with Emilia at ebrahm@georgetownvoice.com

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“I’m engaging and smart. Once I add sexually experienced to the package, he’ll totally want me.” — The To Do List

Eclectic plates meet antique porcelain

by Sabrina Kayser As you enter Rose’s Luxury, a gilded velvet curtain is drawn aside to create a partition closing off the outside world. The hostess station showcases both a laptop and a bright red 1950s-era dial phone, but somehow the two work together harmoniously. An old mirror reflects the people eating in the dining area.

This place has its own eclectic style, part modern minimalism reflected in the natural materials and clean lines of the tables, and part retro in the 50s decorations and oneof-a-kind dishware. Modern accents like flower vases and succulents, unsigned photographs, and numerous pillows serve to balance out the rawness of the exposed brownstone walls beautifully.

Rose’s is a laid-back place. Employees, rather than wearing a uniform, dress in various professional yet distinctly artsy styles. The menu

starts off with a friendly tagline, “Ok, so here’s how this works,” guiding the diner through the various options until finally advising you to “eat, go home, come back tomorrow.”

Every meal begins with a loaf of warm, fluffy potato bread, served with potato skin and chive butter. For the more adventurous, Rose’s offers a popcorn soup with grilled lobster.

According to the restaurant’s blog, one customer even said, “In my next life, I’m coming back as a dog so I can stick my tongue in this mason jar to get it all rather than using my finger.”

While I cannot attest to the quality of that particular dish, Rose’s other unusual combinations are stellar.

The crispy octopus, seared to perfection, is served with lemon ash. The strawberry and ricotta pasta is sublime. At first sight it looks so much like typical spaghetti with tomato sauce that the sweetness is surprising, but the ricotta and black pepper balance it out perfectly.

rose’s luxury

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Each item is served in a different antique-style dish. The heavenly chocolate cremeux, served with vermouth and dusted with the restaurant’s namesake rose petals, is brought out on a charming dish decorated with delicate roses. This cremeux has the perfect texture to go with the smoothness of the vermouth and brittleness of the bread, and the sea salt subtly enhances the flavor without overpowering the dish, as so often is the case.

Rose’s also uses its own produce. The fennel-stuffed gnocchi are superior not only in their delicacy—so much in contrast to the standard heavy pasta dish served throughout America—but they also include fresh fennel sprigs from Rose’s own garden on the second floor of the building.

Although the approaching winter means that only a few ingredients are being harvested right now, come springtime a large percentage of the vegetables served will come directly from the garden. Rose’s garden also happens to be tended by the founder of Capital City Farm Co., Kate Lee. One can see the ethos of this restaurant reflected in a small, almost unnoticeable phrase at the bottom of the menu: “unattended or misbehaving children will be given a shot of espresso and a free puppy.”

Rose’s Luxury 717 8th Street, S.E. rosesluxury.com

the georgetown voice 11

Reviews, Haiku’d Catching Fire This girl’s on fire Oh snap she’s really flaming Who okayed this shit?

Black Nativity Langston Hughes poem, on big screen, music... Forrest Whitaker: LOOOOVE HIM Nebraska Will Forte art film?

Black and white and everything This ain’t MacGruber Delivery Man A remake so soon?

Vince Vaughn plays Vince Vaughn again Still, it’s heartwarming

Frozen Tangled déjà vu Snowy form of the same film Still gonna see it The Armstrong Lie Livestrong by lying Thought he could fool everyone Guess that takes more balls —Connor Buckley, Will Collins, Andrew Gutman, and Scott Lowder

Death, be not proud: The Book Thief illustrates Holocaust

by Emmanuel Elone Though Nazis burn thousands of novels in The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak’s tale itself is alive and well.

An international bestseller for over two hundred weeks, the book sets a high bar for its cinematic interpretation. Director Brian Percival works through the plot of the novel well, but taming a 576-page tome about the power of the written word into a two-hour movie proves a difficult task at best.

The Book Thief follows Leisel (Sophie Nélisse), a young orphan living in Germany during World War II, as she struggles with growing up in such turbulent times. She is adopted by an old couple named Rosa (Emily Watson) and Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush), and soon picks up a passion for reading. Sadly, however, Nazis begin burning most books

in the town, and the girl is forced to hide books and read them secretly.

It is this passion for books that gives her some happiness throughout the years of violence and persecution from Nazis.

With a story as passionate and suspenseful as this, I was worried that the movie would be full of clichés and unnecessary dramatization. Thankfully, audiences have no need to fret. The actors are powerful, playing their characters as if they actually lived during WWII. In a movie where all the characters are interacting with a little girl who just wants to have a normal childhood, there are plenty of scenes that could have easily crossed the line from heartwarming to cheesy.

At one point, Rosa cleans Liesel’s wounds and says, “You are just like your father,” to which Liesel replies, “Is that bad?” After a pause,

Rosa looks at the girl and says “No.” The young Nélisse makes this raw, emotional dialogue both believable and touching. The end result: a bit of the audience’s soul is crushed whenever something terrible happens to Liesel or Hans.

With Death as the narrator, it comes as no surprise that the movie’s mood is mostly sad, but it is counterbalanced somewhat with bright moments of comic relief. Rosa’s sassiness towards her husband, Rudy’s constant request for a kiss from Liesel, and Hans’ jokes about his wife come together to make the movie more emotionally authentic and to give the characters personality. At some point, they begin to feel less like characters and more like real people.

Unfortunately, the kid-friendly rating of the movie makes World War II far less violent than

it actually was. Bodies, even after they have been blown up, appear in one recognizable piece, and blood is only shed behind the scenes. For such a heavy subject matter—the Holocaust—this gloss detracts from the power of Liesel’s persistence. As Zusak

writes, “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” Percival attempts to translate words into film, and though he doesn’t quite make them right, he still leaves us with some heart wrenching illustrations.

imdb

Captain Barbossa is said to have abandoned ship to defeat Nazi Germany.

leisure

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november 14, 2013

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

Lady Gaga, Artpop, Interscope Records From her e.coli-flavored meat dress to her embryonic palanquin, Lady Gaga has always prided herself on big production and electrifying shock value. Her newest album, Artpop, is no exception.

Musically, the record proves incredibly complex. Its production varies wildly from track to track, drawing from a wide variety of genres, creating a provocative sound unlike anything else in modern pop. Songs like the title track “ARTPOP” contain exciting dance-floor-worthy EDM influences that push an abrasive and unforgiving soundscape on the listener. This variance is perfect for Gaga, who has spent the last few months marketing Artpop as an authentic expression of her absurd self.

One would expect similar nuance and development in her lyrics, which have traditionally been a strong aspect of her music. Upon listening past the complex and developed musical atmosphere, we find none of the desire or emotion that we’d expect from the enigmatic, multi-faceted pop star.

Instead we are presented with songs like “Venus,” which amounts to a glossy solicitation of recognition and introduces the theme of rampant sexuality at the core of Gaga’s concept of artpop. Distinct from the song and album, artpop is Lady Gaga’s kitschy philosophy on individuality and self-expression.

Lady Gaga’s attempt to brand her own sexual revolution is dumb.

Songs contain throwaway lines like “it’s Aphrod-isy/Act sleazy” and “Don’t you know my ass is famous?”

It’s pretty clear that through much of the album, Gaga wants to illuminate specific elements of her persona but as she tries to push her strange idea of artpop, she continuously fails.

Fortunately, towards the end of the album Gaga forgoes this concept and allows her own musical voice to shine through in the great display of introspection and vulnerability that is “Dope.” The song is simple, marked

by Gaga’s raw and imperfect voice accompanied with piano and sparse,

Let’s talk about sex, baby

It’s all in the title. Masters of Sex, a new series from Showtime that premiered in late September, is practically an invitation in itself. The ‘s’ sounds blend perfectly, rolling off your tongue as you say such an attention-grabbing phrase aloud. If you’re in a public place, heads might turn. Conscious of its obvious allure, however, the show does not rely on superficial appeal alone.

There’s an obvious element of voyeurism to any series that deigns to be about sex research, but there are so many subtle layers to Masters that saying it is a show about sex is as simplistic as saying Mad Men is a show about advertising. That may be the external situation, but the politics undergirding every scene are so intricate and the dialogue is so loaded with subliminal messaging that you can’t help but be turned on for reasons other than the obvious ones. Both Mad Men and Masters are combinations of workplace dramas and period pieces, though

they tackle the evolving nature of their eras in ways that avoid the clichés of the genre.

Based on a book that follows the story of William Masters, a pioneer in the field of sex research, Masters is set in 1950s St. Louis and revolves around the doctor and his magnetic assistant, Virginia Johnson. The show both effectively encapsulates the spirit of the era and demonstrates a keen eye for character, though it takes a few episodes for that skill to shine through.

While an ironically impotent Michael Sheen plays the eponymous Masters, the real star of the show is Lizzy Caplan’s Johnson, who is the true master of sex. She is the Peggy to his Don Draper, though in many ways, they change roles.

Though Draper is a pinnacle of masculinity and mystery, his sexual exploits and persistent problems with fidelity are a common thread throughout all the seasons of Mad Men. In contrast, Masters is the

refined production. “Been hurting low, from living high for so long,” she wails about her struggles with substances before coming to the conclusion that her fans got her through it. “I need you more than dope,” she says.

Ironically, it is not until this song that Gaga actually puts herself on display. In “Dope,” Gaga crafts a strikingly sincere ballad of her own faults and shortcomings. And that is artpop.

Voice’s “Gypsy”

Choices:

“Dope,”

—Daniel Varghese

Eminem, The Marshal Mathers LP 2, Aftermath Records Guess who’s back. Back again.

Shady’s back, and there has been a lot of hype surrounding the release limp noodle, his sexual innocence as much a cause of his curiosity about the subject as his medical maverick status.

When we’re first introduced to him, he’s looking through a peephole at a prostitute doing her business, meticulously taking notes about the various positions and stages of the, ahem, journey. In a following scene, he questions the same lady of the night about why women

Idiot Box

by Julia Lloyd-George A bi-weekly column about TV would feel compelled to fake an orgasm, wondering if it is a “common practice among prostitutes.” She responds tartly, “It’s a common practice amongst anyone with a twat.”

Needless to say, I wanted to freeze his facial reaction and make it my desktop background.

That’s when Johnson comes in, the sexual dynamo that she is.

Originally working as a secretary

of his latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The first Marshall Mathers LP was one of Eminem’s most important and definitive releases, inflating apprehension and excitement in its shadow. Fortunately, the legend is back and even better than before. MMLP2 is cold hard proof— hell, Kendrick is even on the album.

“There’s not gonna be, like, continuations of every old song on there or anything like that,” Eminem recently said in a Rolling Stone interview. “To me, it’s more about the vibe, and it’s more about the nostalgia.” And nostalgia is exactly what he delivers.

From the moment he starts rapping over the West Coast beat on the lead track, “Bad Guy,” it is clear that the real Slim Shady has stood up.

The lyrical Eminem leads off in this track, rapping about his pain and his grudges, referencing both the lyrics and emotion of much of his previous work. As the track develops, and a solid vocal hook is added, the distinctive, angry gruff in his voice comes out.

While the album is generally more positive than its predecessor, focusing on Eminem’s renewal, his “Survival,” and his “Legacy,” there’s no shortage of rage. On “Rhyme of Reason,” his facetious alter ego, Slim in the hospital where Masters is a renowned obstetrician, she finds a way to sneak into a job interview to be his assistant. From then on, she steadily grows more and more involved in the work behind the scenes, taking notes while watching Masters’ delivery procedures and increasingly offering a female perspective on sexuality.

Unlike the rest of the women on the show, Johnson stands out as a sexually liberated, empowered woman who knows exactly what she wants from men and isn’t afraid to ask for it. You can hardly turn away for a few minutes without noticing how she takes control of her surroundings, and the show is perhaps a little too eager to glorify that.

As one infatuated man that sleeps with her puts it, “That woman is magic.” That quality becomes her superpower on a show that is inevitably replete with disturbing gender politics, but it’s also her weakness in the face of difficult ethical decisions.

Though in many ways her connection to Masters can be construed

Shady, rants about his mother, an essential component of every Eminem record, atop a playfully syncopated percussion line. Eminem’s hate-fueled lyrics haven’t lost their humor with age as he continues to call out family members, ex-girlfriends, rappers, and celebrities in his songs. “I’d be the third person who screwed you today. Oh, four? Dre, Drake, Lupe? Oh, touché,” Shady muses in “So Much Better.”

Though his lyrics and temperament are as raw and fierce as ever, MMLP2‘s range of instrumental support is refreshing in today’s monotonous popular rap industry. On the song “Love Game,” Eminem collaborates with Kendrick Lamar, one of the biggest and most innovative rappers in the game right now. This track cleverly tells a hilarious story about two different terminally insane love relationships—nothing new for Eminem.

MMLP2 encompasses all the best aspects of Eminem in small enough doses that it’s not overwhelming. You’ll still lose yourself in the nostalgia, the music, and the moment.

Voice’s Choices: “Rhyme or Reason,” “Survival” —Vanessa Noble as a mentor-protégé relationship similar to that of Peggy and Don, the two pairs of characters handle very different manifestations of power, and there are many hints that their partnership will eventually become more than professional.

Therein lies the rub, as Johnson is forced to choose between losing her job and sleeping with the boss.

This is never a dynamic between Peggy and Don, who remain platonic even as their relationship deepens. Though Peggy starts out as a flustered and neutered secretary, she moves up the ranks to become a forceful presence on par with Don. It’s these kinds of duos, like Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, that interest me because they are so rare. Still, Masters is based on history and so must follow its trajectory. It’s just natural for me to root for the underdog and hope that she comes out on top, in more ways than one.

Set up some sexy time with Julia at jlloydgeorge@georgetownvoice.com

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— Dylan Cutler

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november 14, 2013

The Can Kicks Back kicks back: Stop this partisan hackery

by Nick Troiano Nothing is getting done in Washington because politicians of both parties are incentivized to wage war rather than solve problems. They interpret information in a way that is consistent with their ideology in order to play to their base and special interests. They use rhetoric to infuriate rather than conciliate in order to raise money and get on television. They question motives and cast aspersions.

The result is a system that perpetuates the status quo on nearly every major national challenge. Young Americans stand to suffer the most.

That is why, after years of watching Washington kick the can down the road on our growing national debt and increasing inequality in the federal budget, a group of millennials came together to launch “The Can Kicks Back” campaign.

The goal of the non-partisan campaign is to organize enough young people across the country and political spectrum to force meaningful, longterm action. The campaign visited

Georgetown last month for the final stop on a cross-country “Generational Equity Tour” to engage students on the economic threat we face. We talked with dozens of students who were fed up with the budget showdowns and eager for real solutions.

Yet, in an editorial last week, the Voice claimed The Can Kicks Back campaign misrepresented itself to students. It noted a partnership between the campaign and another organization, Fix the Debt, and claimed both are advocating for an “anti-student and anti-poor” agenda and are “publicly petitioning for broad cuts in welfare programs for America’s most vulnerable people, while simultaneously working to evade reasonable regulation and taxation.” The editorial criticized the College Democrats, College Republicans, and the Student Association for coming together to co-sponsor the event—when such collaboration should be commended.

These often repeated attacks are entirely baseless, although that seems not to matter. Is The Can Kicks Back partnered with Fix the Debt? Yes, but

our founders’ advocacy work began three years before Fix the Debt even existed. Does The Can Kicks Back receive funding from Fix the Debt? Yes, but a majority of our modest budget comes from dozens of other donors whom are all listed on our website.

In fact, the tour in question was organized and funded independently of Fix the Debt. That’s all beside the point, however, because neither organization is even remotely advocating for what the Voice claims.

Austerity is the frequent straw man in the debate over the debt, even though these groups agree it is far from the solution. Indeed, drastic budget cuts and tax increases are precisely what we are trying to avoid by making sensible, modest, and gradual changes now to slow spending by reforming entitlements, raise revenue by closing tax loopholes, and accelerate economic growth by replacing the senseless sequester. We’re not in this to hurt the poor, protect the rich, avoid taxes or destroy social programs. We’re in this to reduce the deficit, revive the economy and restore generational fairness

to the federal budget. We’re in this because our shot at the American Dream is slipping away.

Why claim otherwise? Many critics on the left interpret any discussion about the national debt as a concession to their own values and policies. Thus, fabricating an agenda and attacking the messenger becomes a key tactic in avoiding discussion on the merits altogether (many conservatives engage in the same tactics over climate change for the same reasons). These attacks become effective because they are repeated so frequently in the online echo chamber that they begin to stick. The denial and hysteria must stop.

Critics must realize that the current trajectory of our federal budget is a bigger threat to their priorities than the other party. Consider that within the next two decades federal investments will reach their lowest level on record, annual interest on the debt will exceed one trillion dollars, and Social Security will stop paying full benefits. In addition, as health care costs continue to climb and our population continues to age, more resources will

ing about it made it get a whole lot worse. I jumped out of bed and collapsed in front of the trash can, dry heaving. That sucked.

The same feeling of anxiety and nausea hounded me for at least a week, which was handy in helping me realize that I really do hate being nauseated. I was also incredibly emotional. I would cry at the slightest provocation, or get irrationally angry at nothing. I thought about going to Student Health, but it was midterms. There was no time for that. I had to just deal with it.

Late at night the day I turned in the last big paper of the week,

I was sitting with a good friend of mine, just chatting. I started to tell her how I was feeling. She was the first person I’d told simply because I had been too busy to stop and talk to someone. She just looked at me quietly. “It’s stress,” she said with a slight shrug.

This floored me. I simply couldn’t wrap my head around it. I was a rising senior and a pre-med, Biology major. Believe me when I say I know stress. Stress and I are very good friends. I thought that I reveled in it. I complained about the workload, as we all do, but part of me enjoyed that I thought I could cope with it all. I was not weak, I was strong. I was strong enough to cope with the stress. I was strong enough to excel in spite of it.

But being nauseated for a week is not “winning” the battle against stress. Feeling clammy and faint for a week is most definitely not coping well. Crying uncontrollably in the women’s bathroom on the third floor of Regents for an hour is not reveling in stress.

The word “stress” is used in such a banal way that we forget that it has real, physiological impacts. Headline after headline warns against the effects of chronic stress on the

body, blaring out threats of heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, and all sorts of other unpleasant things. And yet, these warnings go unnoticed by our generation. We embody that ever-youthful confidence in our physical invincibility.

Why do healthy young people need to care about the diseases of the old?

Let’s be real here, that is an absurdly naïve paradigm. And, it needs to stop. Being 20 years old is not the world’s best vaccine, inducing immunity to stress. As any doctor or, hell, even a blood pressure cuff will tell you, even at our young, supposedly healthy age, we can suffer from the physical and mental effects of stress. Blatantly ignoring the symptoms of stress will do nothing good for our health— not now, not decades from now.

There’s a communal spirit at Georgetown, a camaraderie formed through the mutual recognition of relentless academic work, internships, jobs, and ambitions. I firmly believe that community is absolutely necessary to survive in this stressful environment. But, as a community, we thrive on that stress, and we perpetuate it.

We consume unhealthy amounts of coffee and laugh at

simply be transferred from the young to the old. Ultimately, America will be unable to pay for the promises it made in the past or fund critical investments in its future. All we have to do is, well, nothing.

For those who care about spending government resources productively, protecting social insurance programs for the young, and ensuring intergenerational justice, the status quo can simply not be an option. But that requires acknowledging the problem we are going to inherit and opening up cross-partisan and cross-generational discussions about how to solve it. It requires our generation moving beyond the kneejerk partisan warfare in Washington, not mimicking it.

Student leaders of the Voice should lead by example rather than by defining the problem. Enough with the distractions.

Nick Troiano is a master’s student studying American Government.

He originally co-founded TCKB to introduce Hacky Sack into low-resource neighborhoods.

Dear students, stress levels do not measure success

by Claire McDaniel I woke up one day last semester at 6 a.m., an ungodly hour I try to avoid being awake for at all costs.

As I laid there in bed, staring at the light starting to creep in through the blinds, I tried to figure out why I had woken up so early. The fact I’d gone to bed at 3:30 a.m. should have meant I’d sleep straight to my 8 a.m. alarm, but that was unfortunately not the case. I didn’t feel well, I knew that. I felt anxious, my pulse was racing, and then there was the nausea. It wouldn’t go away, and then somehow think-

Chicken Madness backorder causes mass student panic.

LEILA LEBRETON

the jitters, headaches, and short tempers that accompany a caffeine addiction. We compete to beat the curve, and internalize that crushing pressure. We anxiously and frantically seek to excel, and in doing so push the very limits of our bodies. Simply put, we make ourselves sick with stress.

There is such a thing as too much competition, and there is such a thing as too much stress. I’m not quite naïve enough to believe that the ethos of competition will ever not pervade Georgetown. Hell, I’ve partaken in that competitive spirit enough to know that it’s here to stay.

But, I am naïve enough to hope that we won’t succumb to the damaging symptoms of stress. I hope above all that we’ll channel that competition not into debilitating physical and mental effects, but into productive and healthy manners of coping.

Because unless we come to the realization that we actually need to work on dealing with stress, it won’t be long until it will affect us all.

Claire McDaniel is a senior in the College. She wants us to let you know that as the head of GERMS, you better listen to her, or else.

voices

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the georgetown voice 15

Did you remember it’s Native American Heritage Month?

by Andrew Vondall November is Native American Heritage Month, and most of Georgetown doesn’t even know it. Before I transferred from the University of Arizona, I was used to seeing Native Americans everywhere I went. Where I come from, every state university has a Native American club and a Native American Studies program. These schools are supported by Native teachers and have dozens—if not hundreds—of Native American students.

From the University of Montana to UCLA, Arizona State to Minnesota State, Native American students are present. Georgetown was the first campus where I thought to myself, “I’m probably the only Native American here.”

Where were all the Native American student organizations and programs?

My story is quite familiar to Indian Country. With more and more opportunities to leave reservation life and attend schools elsewhere, Native Americans like me are starting to explore other options.

CHRISTINA LIBRE

The Voice knows your pain. One time we weren’t even told the fair was happening.

MTV’s not dead, yet

Our generation screwed over MTV. We rewarded the movement towards reality television by religiously watching every move of stars like Heidi Montag and the Jersey Shore crew. MTV, in fact, aired the first true reality program with the 1992 premiere of The Real World, described by many at the time as innovative and definitive of a generation.

Additionally, our clever ways of downloading music illegally forced the industry to adapt to a changing digital world. Platforms for illegal downloads have been replaced with free or inexpensive services that pay royalties for each song played.

The reality, however, is still the same: music videos used to be springboards for record sales, but with the advent of YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, and

other streaming services, music has become instantly and legally obtainable at virtually no cost.

While it’s fashionable to decry reality television as a hallmark of the destruction of culture by Generation X, we need to recognize that MTV is merely adjusting to this shift, redirecting its musical expertise into other facets of its programming— and into the subconscious of its viewers.

With record sales in steady decline, the next-best stream of revenue artists can receive is an indecent amount of exposure—commercial spots, television series promos, episode soundtracks. While the overall value of MTV’s television shows leaves a lot to be desired, one truth is undeniable: their music supervision is on point.

Let the Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences, and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves the right to edit submissions for accuracy, length, and clarity. To submit, email voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office in Leavey 424.

Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily reflect the views of the General Board of the Voice.

Many cities across the country have always had sizable Native American populations dating back to the Indian Relocation Act of 1956.

Indians were encouraged—and forced—to leave the reservation to become “civilized.” The authors of this bill claimed that it encouraged Native Americans to acquire vocational skills and assimilate into the general population, but it actually forced these changes and exposed those who were left to severe racism. Although more opportunities were available beyond the reservations, they were unachievable.

A generation later, Native Americans began attending college. Many were relocated to L.A., New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City. They began enrolling their children in college and teaching their communities about real Native America. Washington, D.C. was not one of those cities. Native Americans were still largely unwelcome in the nation’s capital.

Colleges and cities became the battleground for Native pride Lauren Conrad’s “acting” in The Hills may cause viewers physical pain. But one of the series’ highest-rated episodes featured an acoustic cover of Rihanna’s “Umberella” by YouTube sensation Marie Digby, thrusting Digby into the spotlight. Shows ranging from Jersey Shore to Awkward have been consistently showcasing rising artists with the help of tickers at the bottom of the screen displaying the name and artist of the song playing during the scene. MTV’s

Carrying On

by Julia Jester A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

Soundtrack blog includes an even more comprehensive list of songs from each scene, ensuring that music is featured as prominently as the reality show content.

Additionally, MTV’s abandonment of music video programming has also driven artists to get more creative with their music videos. There is no incentive to spend money on a bland music video since there is no guarantee it will gain exposure,

during the 1970s, giving birth to Native American civil rights groups like the American Indian Movement. AIM drew national recognition for Indian Country when it staged a series of brave takeovers of Alcatraz Prison, Mount Rushmore, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in D.C. During the siege at Wounded Knee in 1973, Indians throughout the country were inspired to rediscover their roots and proudly express themselves for the first time in decades. College campuses were the only refuge where one could openly express Native culture.

The first Native American Studies program was offered at Princeton University in 1970. Students of Native American ancestry were encouraged to gather and plan events to celebrate their culture rather than assimilating to their surroundings. Colleges and universities throughout the 1970s and 1980s began welcoming Native Americans and paving the road for generations of Native students to attend. Rather than having to shed their own culture in exchange for a regardless of how popular the artist is.

Did MTV start this trend of bringing background music into the foreground of modern television? Certainly not. The CW realized the inextricable link between memorable moments and memorable music within television shows, as seen in the success of The O.C. I guarantee anyone who has ever watched The O.C. can’t listen to the song “Champagne Supernova,” without thinking of the iconic Seth-Summer Spiderman kiss scene. As music was a major feature of One Tree Hill, the fan bases of many of the artists grew significantly.

More and more cable networks are placing a stronger emphasis on music supervision, and MTV has been using its authority as music television to continue the cause of giving artists their big break, and taking them to the next level. For example, subtle advertising through TV spots is also one of the main reasons why indie music has exploded. Instead of force-feeding its audience the same music overplayed on the radio, MTV has provided opportunities for fans to find music for themselves, thus giving them a sense

college degree, Native Americans could find a niche of their own while attending the nation’s best universities.

Georgetown comes up lacking in Native professors and Native students, especially when compared to other institutions. With so many different communities in D.C., Georgetown’s rich history, and our diverse student body, efforts to establish a Native American presence can be easily overlooked.

In the spirit of Native American Heritage Month, the Native American Student Council is reaching out to everyone of Native American ancestry. It’s time for Georgetown to give a voice to the most underrepresented group at Georgetown and start finding ways to integrate Native American culture, students, studies, and professors into the Hoya fabric.

Andrew Vondall is a grad student in the SCS. He can be reached at adv22@ georgetown.edu for a neighborly cup of sugar any time.

of ownership over their musical tastes.

We need to remember that cultural musical touchstones are essential to generational identity. We are scattered throughout an increasingly diverse world of music. Regardless of personal taste, MTV’s music video programming helped unite a generation through pop music. Now, MTV provides the best of both worlds: expanding opportunities for unknown artists through its program soundtracks and its new MTV Artists app, while still pioneering the potential to connect with favorite artists through programming such as the reality show Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life and the Video Music Awards.

When MTV transformed most of its programming from music-centric shows to reality TV, it was rewarded with the largest boost in ratings in over a decade. Its television shows may be stupid, but their soundtracks are providing opportunities for rising artists that were simply not available a decade ago. Music supervision is becoming an increasingly key component of the television, advertising, and film industries—which may be the best news for artists in years.

t h g i l t o p S t s i t r A How did you get started?

I always messed around with piano in high school. If there was a song I liked, I would just learn it quick. I didn’t really know much other than it was fun. It was fun for me even before I got more musical. Now I’m in a band, The Ripples. I’m a songwriter, and I play the keyboard.

So I know you’re a transfer. What brought you to Georgetown?

Honestly, for the music. My friend Tyler Pierce and I used to play a lot together whenever we could back in high school, but then he came to Georgetown and I went to Northwestern. Toward the end of our sophomore year, we started talking more seriously about how much we missed the music. I knew that I wanted to be able to practice more seriously as opposed to trying to get started up after college.

Why not wait?

The beauty about college is it offers a space to practice and gain momentum in a relatively riskfree environment. We have a few years here to focus on the band before we have to be working, surviving musicians.

In retrospect, how have you felt about transferring?

I liked Northwestern. I had good friends, and it was nice. But being able to be here and play with my band makes up for everything I might have missed out on. I’ve made good friends at Georgetown too. I’’m a lot happier here.

So what’s the latest with your band?

We have an album coming out on Nov. 23. We have a few shows coming up, too. It’s pretty cool because all of the band members and myself take this pretty seriously. We want to pursue our music.

We want to be musicians.

Tell me a little more about The Ripples.

When Tyler and I started playing, we were strictly folk. Tyler writes the music and I write the words. We’ve started to get into folk-rock. It is pretty interesting because folk can be a lot like poetry whereas folk-rock has more of a pulse - it is more danceable.

Sounds like you’re quite passionate about your art!

WIll Heu ser Music The B Influen ce: Poetic and Paolo Influen Favori Neruda ce: The O te Spot bserva : tory

Music has definitely changed for me. I think I’ve been falling for music these last few years. I think, growing up listening to the same songs I do now, I hear them very differently. I used to hear music as one sound, now I can hear the multiple parts moving and weaving — really understanding and appreciating that concept has made the difference.

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facebook.com/theripplesmusic Tyler Pierce

Sacha Millet

Anthony Albanese

WIll Heuser

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Contact Tif at tdl25@georget o with your sug wn.edu gestions!