The Georgetown Voice, December 10, 2010

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DPS IDENTIFIES LAPTOP THEFT SUSPECT PAGE 4

KING HENRY RULES THE FRONTCOURT PAGE 6

TINY FURNITURE, BIG DISAPPOINTMENT PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w December 9, 2010 w Volume 44, Issue 1 w georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

Happy e Holidays, Hoyas!

d f

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Voice Crossword “Finish Line” by Scott Fligor

comments of the week “Georgetown has been here since 1789. You knew what you were getting into when you moved here, neighbors. Suck it up or move away.”

—Alex, “Shocking news! Georgetown residents still hate student parties”

“There comes a point where you stop being drones to the system and begin to look for answers. It’s a scary thought that people who you pay to protect you may in fact be the greatest threat to your safety.”

—David, “Public Safety Alert: Your laptop will never be safe again”

“HOYAHAVOC BIG TIME ALL THE TIME!!! LOVE IT, LOL! LET’S GO HOYAS! NICE ARTICLE! LET’S GLIDEEEEEEEEE HOYAS!” —Kent, “Georgetown overcomes behind-the-arc woes,

trounces Utah State”

“I think it’s sad how few people vote for stuff like this and elections.

Whatever you think, you should be voting. ” —munchies, “How are you voting in the GUSA SAFE reform referendum?”

Talk Back

blog.georgetownvoice.com || georgetownvoice.com

answers at georgetownvoice.com 19. Found next to registers 20. Main course 22. Leisures, to Caesar 24. Rebellious Turner 25. “I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more ___” 28. College military grp.

31. Santa ___ Winds 32. Christopher of “Superman” 35. ___ Fighters 36. Give (out) 38. “You Betcha” impressionist 40. Mess up 42. No ifs, ___, or buts!

43. Mideast ally 46. Red dye 50. Zero 51. He saves the day?

53. “Dial ___ Murder” 55. EMT’s airway assist 56. Music file format 57. Where 27-down was won?

58. Audiologist’s worry 59. To be, in Pompeii

7. “Because it is my ___” John Proctor 8. Buyer’s caveat, “___-is” 9. Begin 10. “I can’t believe ___ the whole thing!”

11. Buy in 16. Western movie, in slang 17. Right-wing political commentator Coulter 21. UNC’s ___ Heels 23. Prince Valiant’s wife 25. Auburn QB Newton 26. Less than two 27. Napoleon’s last battle 29. You have ten of them 30. Shy

33. Acetic acid 34. Ewok’s home 37. Pitcher’s stat 39. Take for granted 41. “The One I Love” band 43. B.o.B declaration “I got the magic ___” 44. Go (through) 45. Superman’s love interest Lois 47. Big-billed bird 48. Homer’s neighbor, and others 49. Shallowest Great Lake 52. Auditor credential 54. Doctor’s asst.

Are you a logophile?

DOWN ACROSS 1. Kosovo politician Nexhat 5. Flipper 8. Largest continent 12. Nevada Native American grp.

13. Time period 14. Knight Bus conductor Shunpike 15. When the president gets angry, he turns into this 18. iPhone service provider

1. Gossip, or target for soap 2. Yours, in Paris 3. Soviet Ittrs.

4. Tattoo 5. Early childhood seizure type 6. Roth ___

Share your love of words and help us write crosswords.

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 44.1 December 9, 2010 Editor-in-Chief: Molly Redden Managing Editor: Tim Shine Editor-at-Large: Juliana Brint Director of Technology: Ishita Kohli News Blog Editor: Geoffrey Bible Leisure Blog Editor: Nico Dodd News Editor: Chris Heller Sports Editor: Nick Berti Feature Editor: Sean Quigley Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: Leigh Finnegan Voices Editor: Aodhan Beirne Photo Editor: Max Blodgett Design Editors: Nitya Ramlogan, Catherine Johnson Projects Editor: Brendan Baumgardner Crossword Editor: Scott Fligor Assistant News Editors: Rachel Calvert, Ryan Bellmore Assistant Cover Editor: Holly Ormseth Assistant Leisure Editor: John Sapunor Assistant Photo Editors: Julianne Deno, Matthew Funk

Associate Editors: Julie Patterson, Jackson Perry Contributing Editor: Keenan Timko Staff Writers:

Gavin Bade, Thaddeus Bell, Akshay Bhatia, Mary Borowiec, Tom Bosco, Kara Brandeisky, Matthew Collins, Matthew Decker, John Flanagan, Kate Imel, Satinder Kaur, Daniel Kellner, Matt Kerwin, Eric Pilch, Sadaf Qureshi, Rob Sapunor, Abby Sherburne, Melissa Sullivan, Mark Waterman

Staff Photographers:

Helen Burton, Lexie Herman, Hilary Nakasone, Jackson Perry, Audrey Wilson

Staff Designers:

Megan Berard, Richa Goyal, Lauren MacGuidwin, Ishita Kohli, Michelle Pliskin, Amber Ren

Copy Chief: Keaton Hoffman Copy Editors:

Emma Forster, Claire McDaniel, Kim Tay

Editorial Board Chair: J. Galen Weber Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Juliana Brint, Ethan Chess, Jonathan Flanagan, Hunter Kaplan, Ishita Kohli, Tim Shine

Head of Business: Kara Brandeisky 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 413 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

Newsroom: (202) 687-6780 Fax: (202) 687-6763 Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors.

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

On this week’s cover ... Photo Collage Cover Graphic: Holly Ormseth

the georgetown voice 3 NEXT UP: PROP 19

GUSA referendum: A good idea gone wrong One month ago, the Voice endorsed Georgetown University Student Associations’s proposal for Student Activities Fee Endowment reform. It was clear that the current club funding structure, which diverts half of the $100 Student Activities Fee to an endowment in hopes of eliminating the need for students to pay the annual fee, was no longer a viable plan. The endowment was not nearing maturity, as expected, and reforming the system was obviously the best course of action.

However, the final reforms that GUSA put to vote did not afford students the opportunity to fully express their will.

GUSA’s proposal to devote all $100 of the Student Activities Fee to campus clubs and activities was commendable, but bundling it with proposals that increase the fee by $50 over two years and peg it to the standard rate of inflation was an unscrupulous and unnecessary move. By their own admission, GUSA did so to ensure that the less popular portions of their legislation would pass. As

Senator Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) said, “If you divide the referendum question in two … people will vote yes on the first part and no on the second part.”

In offering only an up-or-down vote on all proposed legislation at once, GUSA forced students to make an unfair choice between improving campus life and spending their money sparingly. Ending payments to the SAFE alone would have doubled the money available to clubs, and students should have had the opportunity to approve that measure without voting to increase the fee at the same time. Furthermore, GUSA never demonstrated that the needs Georgetown’s clubs necessitated a fee increase.

There are now legitimate questions as to whether GUSA, which appropriates the money from the fee, will allocate the influx of new funds according to students’ best interest. The organization of the referendum has not inspired confidence in GUSA senators’ ability to best represent the students who elected them.

GUSA’s campaign to promote the legislation was discouraging, too. Signs urging students to vote in favor of the reforms papered Georgetown’s campus, but GUSA did not advertise valid opposition to the reforms. It maintained a monopoly on this week’s vote, from the phrasing of the referendum to its advertisement. At first, GUSA even weighed allocating $200 to itself to promote the reform.

Though they ultimately decided against the allocation, the fact that senators considered using Student Activities Fee money to run a one-sided campaign in favor of increasing students’ payments is troubling.

The Voice continues to support using the full $100 student fee for club funding.

But GUSA’s conduct in organizing and promoting the referendum was dishonest.

When the results come in and GUSA lays claim to a sweeping mandate, it would do well to remember that the results of its doctored process do not represent the true voice of students.

Like a lIttle

University website meets the 21st century This past week, the University launched a new Georgetown.edu website, a little over a year after administrators first solicited student feedback on the project. Both its cosmetic and functional changes are significant improvements over the last website, and it will serve the University’s current students and attract new ones for years to come.

After its first redesign in eight years, the website looks professional and vibrant compared to the drab old version. The construction and style of the new website resembles the design of three of the undergraduate schools and the medical center, providing more continuity across Georgetown’s web presence. In addition to being visually pleasing, the new user interface makes navigating to helpful pages much easier.

Throughout the redesign process, administrators made a conscious effort to involve the University community—a re-

freshingly open-minded approach from a school that does not consult students as often as it should. The Office of Communications launched a blog to keep students and faculty apprised of the process and conducted research sessions and tabling in Red Square to evaluate the current website and gather suggestions. Though the Georgetown community is used to constant delays for major projects on campus, the website went live with almost unheard-of punctuality, launching within a month of its original deadline.

Since many prospective students’ first impressions of the University are determined by its homepage, the look and organization of Georgetown’s website is critically important to attracting talented students.

The new site poses Georgetown as a quality, modern institution, while video features like “Living Jesuit Values” maintain the school’s

sense of tradition. The Office of Communications also wisely revamped the pages for admissions and financial aid.

But there is still work to be done. Since Georgetown does not use the Common Application, the website must make the online application process simple and undemanding. The University, which has not yet redesigned the core application website, should waste no time in expanding the redesign to the central application website, which is notorious for its poor organization and marginal functionality.

With the bold new look and improved functionality of the new website, it is clear that Georgetown appreciates the importance of its web presence as the face of the University. Perhaps it was too long in coming, but the University deserves praise for completing, on time, a crucial, successful project.

HOSTAGE CRISIS AVERTED

Back down on taxes, step up on START, DADT

On Dec. 6, after weeks of negotiation, President Obama announced a deal with Republicans that will extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans, including those who make over $250,000, for two more years. This “compromise” was undeniably one-sided. Obama surrendered on one of his central campaign promises—no new tax breaks for the top two percent of earners—and even agreed to additional cuts in the estate tax, another benefit to the wealthiest Americans.

In return, Republicans only agreed to extend unemployment benefits for another 13 months. The deal will increase the national debt by upwards of $500 billion, and because so many of the cuts go to the wealthy, who are unlikely to greatly increase their spending, the cuts will do little to stimulate the economy. If Obama truly had been concerned with improving the economy, and not

just passing legislation to create the appearance of effective action, he should have recognized the shortcomings of this deal.

Two years from now, when Obama is seeking reelection, it will not matter to voters whether he worked across the aisle or considered Republicans views.

What will matter is whether the American economy is still suffering or if it is growing. This type of legislation won’t spark real growth, and if Obama fails to win reelection in 2012 because of a stalled economy, any hope of effective fiscal stimulus will die with his presidency.

Obama, in defending his compromise, said now was not the time to play politics—but that is exactly what he did.

The Republicans had been playing politics for weeks, blocking progress on major legislation like the New START deal for nuclear arms reduction, the repeal of

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and the extension of unemployment benefits that are the only lifeline left for thousands of unemployed Americans. With this deal Obama is playing into Republicans’ hands, letting them obstruct and then scale back efforts rational legislators should support.

But now that the Republicans no longer have an excuse to avoid action on issues like the START deal, DADT, and the Dream Act, the deal offers Obama the chance to salvage key parts of his agenda and redeem a compromise that will add billions of dollars to the nation’s debt.

Obama has shown he is willing to negotiate. Now he has to make it clear that the Republicans have to do the same, and force them to take up these issues. If he can do that, then his capitulation and the billions of dollars of deficit spending to pad the pockets of the wealthy will not have been in vain.

news

4 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

Ad campaign vaults SAFE reform past 2,000 votes

by Rachel Calvert On Dec. 8 at about noon, the Georgetown University Student Association’s Student Activities Fee Endowment reform referendum reached the 2,000-vote threshold it needed for its results to be considered valid.

Voting began on Tuesday, Dec. 7, when the GUSA Election Commission opened student voting on the Senate’s SAFE reform proposals. Students can vote until midnight tonight on the single-question referendum, which is comprised of several measures.

One component will end the practice of deferring half of the

$100 annual Student Activities Fee to the SAFE, which has failed to become a self-sustaining fund that eliminates the need for the fee altogether, as was intended. Another will raise the Student Activities Fee by $50 over the next two years and then incrementally to keep pace with inflation.

GUSA Election Commissioner Adam Giansiracusa (SFS ’12) has publicly released vote totals twice a day, which he said sought to encourage voter turnout.

The GUSA Senate launched a vigorous get-out-the-vote campaign earlier this week, urging students to vote in favor of the reforms. Senators posted flyers,

Nitya ramlogan

stormed dorms, and installed themselves in high-traffic study areas like the second floor of Lauinger, the business school building [name the building], and Sellinger Lounge. In an email, Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) said, “a couple people even baked cookies to hand out.”

Although they initially considered allocating club funds for the campaign, GUSA senators ultimately financed the campaign themselves, collectively donating between $200 and $300. Laverriere said the senators did not want a political campaign promoting their viewpoint to be facilitated by student funds. There are no plans for reimbursement.

Senate Speaker Adam Mortillaro (COL ’12) said other clubs and advisory boards participated in the campaign, including the Georgetown University College Democrats. Mortillaro was optimistic about the referendum’s success, adding that he thought GUSA’s conversations with students were the most effective component of the advertising campaign.

“The general consensus [among the senators] was that we received overwhelming waves of support,” he said. “I believe most of them re-

alize after talking to us about SAFE Reform that this plan will drastically improve Georgetown.”

If passed, the referendum’s measures will more than double the amount of funding for student activities. All of its proposals are posed in a single question, and voters must either accept or reject them as a package.

Mortillaro said that the singlequestion approach is necessary to move forward with the legislation.

“Getting it over with in one fell swoop will help us implement the legislation quickly,” he explained.

Senator Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) explained that GUSA grouped the questions because students would probably reject the fee increase if they could vote on it separately.

Dalvin Butler (COL ‘13), a member of the Student Activities Commission who endorsed SAFE reform, said he considered the fee increase an improvement. However, he believes that the two questions should have been separated.

“I believe the [question about] the money in the endowment would pass faster than the fee increase,” Butler said.

Nonetheless, Butler thinks the student body will vote in favor of the reform, which he believes

will allow Georgetown to compete with other colleges with higher activities fees.

“SAFE reform is long overdue,” he added. “More funds give more room to experiment and allow innovative ideas by groups that have been deprived of funds.”

SAC has not taken an official position on SAFE reform, according to SAC Vice-Chair-elect and Publicity Director Ruiyong Chen (COL ’13). But many commissioners have sent emails to club leaders they work with to inform them about the parameters of the referendum and urging the groups to vote.

The referendum will increase funding available to fulfill funding requests made by SAC, which receives only a portion of its funding from the activities fee. In the 2009 fiscal year, 12.68 percent of SAC’s funding came from the student activities fee, 79.16 percent from tuition, and 8.16 percent from Georgetown’s contract with Coca-Cola.

While members of the FinApp Committee often cite a lack of funding for startup groups as grounds for SAFE reform, Chen said that these clubs fail more often due to the rigorous, yearlong founding process than funding impediments.

“More funding for clubs is a good thing,” she said.

DPS, working with GWU, identifies theft suspect

by Jeffrey Niedermaier Georgetown University’s Department of Public Safety, working with George Washington University’s Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department, has identified a suspect in one of the many cases of laptop theft on Georgetown’s campus this semester.

DPS notified UPD, which believes that he may be a suspect in one of this semester’s many laptop thefts at GWU. According to UPD Chief Kevin Hay, the suspect is not a student at either university.

“We are grateful to Georgetown University police for identifying a suspect in one of their cases, [who] is also a suspect in one of our cases,” he said. “We are pursuing a warrant for his arrest at this time.”

Both Georgetown and GWU recently stepped up security policies in response to the thefts.

According to Hay, UPD has dispatched plainclothes officers to catch potential thieves. At Georgetown, DPS constructed a guard station last month outside the Village A apartment complex, where four thefts and two attempted burglaries have been reported since mid-October.

In a Nov. 5 email addressed to Village A residents, DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith and Residence Life Director Stephanie Lynch promised that the University had adopted new security measures, such as assigning officers to additional patrol routes in the area to keep the apartment complex safe.

“The Department of Public Safety is working closely with Metropolitan Police Department regarding the ongoing investigation of recent incidents and to enhance MPD presence in the areas adjacent to campus,” they wrote.

DPS officers also posted signs in Lauinger Library, where 16 lap-

tops were reported stolen this semester, to warn students against leaving their possessions unattended. However, current investigations remain under wraps.

“We are running undercover operations across campus and coordinating with local law enforcement and other university police and security teams,” Rachel Pugh, Georgetown’s director of media relations, wrote in an email. She added that investigations are ongoing.

At a Nov. 29 Advisory Neighborhood Committee meeting, MPD Lieutenant John Hedgecock stated that similar thefts were occurring at American University.

“We are examining them to see if there is a link,” Hedgecock said.

However, laptop thefts have only surged at Georgetown and GWU. American University Police representative Adam Cooper claims that laptop thefts on campus are similar to those in previous years.

“AU is always working with the other schools and sharing information with them,” he said.

“We’ve seen 20 cases involving 23 laptops.”

Cooper attributed American’s relatively lower levels of theft to a grant that funded a camera surveillance system in

the campus library, which aided an investigation that led to an arrest.

“Before the cameras were installed, 56 percent of thefts used to occur in the library,” he said. “After the system was announced in October of 2009, this dropped to 15 percent.”

More than 40 laptops have been stolen this semester.

Julianne Deno

news

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the georgetown voice 5

Diversity initiative: Slow, steady progress

by Thaddeus Bell Recently, when Georgetown Professor Maurice Jackson went to the University bookstore to purchase a book he had written to give to a friend, he received an unpleasant surprise: the store did not stock his text, African-Americans and the Haitian Revolution. It led him to examine the Faculty Authors section, which he found did not contain many books by black Georgetown professors.

“As I looked through the faculty things, I didn’t see any books there [by] African-American faculty,” he said. “Or if there were, I didn’t see them prominently displayed.”

Behind the scarcity of books written by African-Americans at Georgetown is a dearth of black faculty members, a problem acknowledged earlier last May by the Main Campus Diversity and Inclusiveness Initiative’s Academic Working Group. President John DeGioia created the group in April 2009 to address a lack of diversity and understanding of diversity issues perceived by many faculty and students.

But since the initiative’s launch, Jackson claims it has

been slow to have a significant effect on the makeup of Georgetown’s faculty.

Provost James O’Donnell, the co-chair of the initiative, explained that because the initiative has moved beyond last year’s series of town hall and working group meetings, its progress is less noticeable.

“What we did last year eagerly, we are now doing systematically,” he said.

According to O’Donnell, the initiative has already begun to affect the student body. In a Sept.

21 e-mail to students, President John DeGioia and O’Donnell said that funds provided by the Office of the Provost allowed more students to attend this year’s Hoya Saxa weekend, which “perhaps [contributed] to the significant increases in African-American students who accepted our offer of admission into the class of 2014.”

O’Donnell added that there have been changes in the way faculty are hired.

“Every search is a diversity search,” he said, adding that diversity should be reflected in “the aggregate of [University] choices.”

Some of the problems identified by the initiative remain un-

Budgeting on auto-PILOT

Georgetown University caught a financial break last month when the D.C. Council approved its request for $90 million in tax-exempt bonds, most of which will fund the new Science Center. But the Council’s hearing also prompted some unexpected news, when Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) used it to float the idea of implementing a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes system for large nonprofits in D.C. Cheh argues that since nonprofits like Georgetown, which do not pay property taxes, can get favorable bond rates thanks to the District’s strong credit rating, they should be obligated to give back to the city. A PILOT program, in which nonprofits partially compensate local governments for lost property tax revenue, would be an ideal way to correct the imbalance and help with the city’s budget woes.

Although Cheh’s Chief of Staff

David Zvenyach said there is not enough time to implement a PILOT program that would help plug this fiscal year’s $188 million budget gap, it could be a useful way to help conquer the city’s projected $440 million shortfall for fiscal year 2012.

D.C. is stuck in a no-win tax situation. Maryland and Virginia residents who work in the District pay income taxes in their home states, eliminating a huge source of potential revenue and forcing the District to rely on property taxes. But the city’s 3,000 nonprofit organizations, coupled with land owned by tax-exempt federal or foreign governments, limit the D.C. government’s property tax revenue.

According to a recent study from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, PILOTs are most appropriate for municipalities that rely on property tax revenue and have a significant share of property

auDrey WilSon

Jackson was bothered by a lack of black faculty texts in the bookstore. resolved. The search continues for an African-American History professor. It also remains unclear how the proposed diversity core curriculum requirements will be implemented.

In October, Associate Provost Marjorie Blumenthal revealed that any potential diversity requirements will not be implemented until the University is reaccredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. When implemented, O’Donnell said any requirements would likely follow a “matrix” pattern, meaning they will be satisfied owned by nonprofits. Although the program can’t solve this fiscal year’s deficit, Cheh was wise to raise the issue. As congressional Republicans threaten strict control over city affairs, the need to find new revenue sources is particularly acute.

D.C. universities have never been subject to PILOTs, but Cheh’s proposal could find support from

City on a Hill

by Juliana Brint

A bi-weekly column on D.C. news and politics other local leaders. Alice Rivlin, a visiting professor at Georgetown who is currently advising Mayorelect Vincent Gray (D), lobbied for a PILOT program in the dark economic days of the early ‘90s. D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi also has a history of supporting PILOTs. In 2002, he successfully extracted contributions from the AARP and the National Education Association.

by a course which also fulfills another requirement.

“Given the nature of the requirements we have, if we’re not addressing diversity in a lot of those courses already, we’re doing something wrong,” O’Donnell said.

Jackson remains optimistic that Georgetown would successfully address the diversity deficit he perceives at Georgetown.

“That would be the bigger question which I think—which I hope—Georgetown is trying to address, although a bit slowly,” he said.

But while a PILOT program is an attractive option to the cashstrapped legislators, it won’t be as popular among nonprofits.

The Center for Association Leadership has criticized the PILOT model as “a tax by another name on tax-exempt entities” that “hurts many nonprofits’ ability to carry out their tax-exempt purpose.” No D.C. universities have publicly commented on Cheh’s tentative proposal, but American University President Neil Kerwin defended his school’s tax-exempt status earlier this year, telling the Northwest Current, “AU provides many in-kind services, including tutoring and peaceand-conflict resolution training throughout the city.”

While educational institutions and other nonprofits deserve credit for the contributions they make to D.C., they do little to help address the city’s budget deficit. A PILOT is not a silver bullet, but it will help bridge the gap without overburdening non-

NEWS HIT

Campus Plan yet to be filed With Georgetown’s 2000 Campus Plan set to expire on Dec. 31, negotiations about the controversial 2010 Campus Plan between University officials and neighborhood groups have ceased.

University administrators held “work-sessions” this fall with neighborhood groups, such as the Burleith Citizens’ Association, to discuss the plan, but suspended negotiations after three meetings.

“The University and the neighbors were in agreement that they were not in agreement,” ANC Commissioner Aaron Golds (COL ’11) said.

Georgetown expects to file with the D.C. Office of Planning by Dec. 31. The Office of Planning will make a recommendation to the Zoning Commission, who will hold public hearings.

According to Golds, the BCA has hired lawyers and zoning experts to build a case against the plan.

“Whether the Zoning Commission will listen remains to be seen,” he said.

—Ryan Bellmore

profits. According to The Center for Association Leadership, Cheh has suggested charging local universities $100 per student per semester. For Georgetown’s main campus, this would generate approximately $1.25 million in PILOT fees per year. That seems pretty steep—until you consider the $14 million the city would make in annual property taxes if Georgetown were not a nonprofit.

Georgetown and other universities couldn’t carry out their educational missions while paying such steep rates, but they have an obligation to help D.C. recoup its lost property tax revenue. Considering the upcoming fiscal year’ budget crisis, local universities and other large non-profits should cooperate with government officials to find a fair way to meet their neighborly responsibilities.

Want to know if Juliana’s PILOT program flies like a G-6? Email her at jbrint@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

After years of struggles, Sims becomes a regular

by Tim Shine Coming into this season, the No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas (8-0) had a gaping hole to fill in the frontcourt. Fortunately, there were a couple of talented freshmen who were expected to shore up their depth down low.

Hoya fans could be forgiven for mistaking Henry Sims for one of those newcomers. After a disappointing first two seasons, the junior center has been a revelation this year, finally realizing the potential that made him ESPN’s 32nd best prospect in the high school class of 2008.

The past two games have demonstrated just how far Sims has come, with head coach John Thompson III entrusting him with more minutes than any player besides the backcourt trio of Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Jason Clark. He rewarded Thompson by putting up 10 points and seven rebounds against Missouri and four and six versus Utah State. And those numbers don’t include the impact of Sims’s energetic defense.

“Coach told me over the summer, ‘Next season, Henry, your job is to play defense and rebound,’ and I’ve been trying to do that to the best of my abilities so far,” Sims said. “He said everything else will fall into place, which has been happening.”

His impressive development was hardly to be expected considering Sims’s career as a Hoya before this season. As a freshman, he suffered from inconsistency and struggled to adapt his play to the college game. Things got even worse during his sophomore campaign, with his playing time declining. Needless to say, Sims was not happy.

“He was frustrated with the situation,” Thompson said. “I was

frustrated with the situation. But we moved on. Last year was a very difficult year for Henry Sims. That’s not a secret. He hung in there and fought through it and he’s seeing some of the fruits of the adversity that he went through last year.”

If Sims can continue to avoid that adversity, he could push an already talented Georgetown team over the top. He may never be a dominating big man, but as long as Sims can crash the boards and provide hustle off the bench, the Hoyas don’t need him to be. This team belongs to the aforementioned guards, who produce the vast majority of the offense. That’s fine by Sims.

“It’s great, because whenever they get the ball all the focus just goes straight on them and I’m able to move around and do what I want to do,” Sims said of his teammates in the backcourt. “I’m 6’10” but I’m a little agile—so I can sneak in there a little bit and get any passes they drop off.”

Sims’s role is hardly limited to cleaning up after Wright, Freeman, and Clark though. As the tallest player on the team, he has all the tools to become the kind of center Georgetown teams have historically relied upon. He’s not there yet, but his teammates have noticed how far he has come.

“He’s starting to feel confident and know that he can play with anybody,” Wright said. “That’s important. Once you have confidence at this level, a lot of things are possible. You’re capable of doing whatever you want.”

The Hoyas will need the confident Sims tonight against a Temple team (5-2) known for its grinding defense. Georgetown’s scorers may not be able to find many shots, making the bruising work Sims and his fellow front-

MAX BLODGETT

New number, new identity? Sims has looked the part early this season.

court players in the paint all the more important.

In last season’s home opener, Georgetown barely gutted out a 4645 win, shooting just over 35 percent from the field. In comparison, the Hoyas have yet to shoot worse than 42 percent this season.

This time, Georgetown travels to Philadelphia, for yet another hard road test in preparation for the rapidly approaching Big East season.

But, as far as they are concerned,

this is the only game to think about.

“I’m not looking at Temple as a test,” Thompson said. “This is a terrific team that we play on the road, again, and we’re going to have to play extremely well.”

Sims will be prepared. Of course, he knows that on this deep Hoya squad, it very well could be Julian Vaughn’s big game. And with freshman center Moses Ayegba coming back from suspension this weekend, there’s no guarantee that

Sims will continue to see the minutes he has been getting.

Don’t expect a return of the discontented Henry Sims should that happen. This is a new player, one with enough belief in himself to weather whatever comes his way.

“Focus and confidence is the key,” Sims said. “I can’t control what coach does. He does things for a reason. I’ve proved to myself already that I can compete at this level. All I can do is get better from here.”

The Sports Sermon “I was not hungover. ... I mean, I go out every Thursday night.”

— Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

before, with his teams earning a reputation for playing a slower style of game. But this season he On Saturday afternoon, folhas the tools for the press in his lowing the Hoyas’ triumph over outstanding trio of guards, and Utah State, John Thompson III he’s not letting them go to waste. stood in the Verizon Center pressAnd Thompson is bestowing room answering questions, just as some of the decision-making rehe has for the past six years. But sponsibilities on his players. after answering the final ques“We go for feel,” senior tion, Thompson didn’t move—he guard Chris Wright said. wanted to make something clear.

“Coach sometimes makes the “I want to say something,” call, sometimes I feel something Thompson said. “This is related to and I make the call.” a lot of your questions. With our Thompson understands that group, with our team, for us to be sometimes certain things happen good, we all have input. It’s not on the court that you can’t see like I’m one of these coaches [who from the sidelines, and he gives says] this is what we’re going to his experienced do. We come to timePete Rose Central guards the freedom outs, we come to Da bettin’ line to make their own sidelines, we come decisions. By giving to practice—Chris, Margin Dookies Hoyas them this liberty, he Austin, every once (duh!) (underdogs) has allowed Wright, in a while Henry— (favorites) Austin Freeman and ‘What do you see, Marriage Lance Bass Swisher Jason Clark to flourwhat do you think?’”

Big Ten Izzowned Big East ish. Wright is averIt seemed like Georgetown Columbia Altoids aging 6.8 assists per Thompson was game—11th best in the country.

Thompson’s system. Not every speaking to more than just the Freeman is averaging 20.1 points player that has walked through people in the room that day—it per game and lighting it up bethe Healy Gates in the last five was like he was talking to the crithind the arc, as is the junior Clark. years has reached his full poics of his coaching.

When all is said and done tential, of course. But so far this When he arrived at Georgethis season, who knows what season, Thompson has done town, Thompson was tasked people will think about Thompmuch to silence his critics. Alwith revamping a moribund son? There will always be critics. though the Hoyas have played former powerhouse. Since then, Something is different this year, only eight games, this campaign Thompson has had six conthough. Coming into the season, already looks like it could be secutive winning seasons and many were worried how the Thompson’s best as coach, in brought a good amount of hardcoach would adjust to a guardterms of Thompson’s ability to fit ware back to McDonough, none oriented team, especially when it his players to his system. greater than 2007’s Final Four seemed Thompson would never When the Hoyas were tied banner. But with all his success, stray from his system. If the curwith Utah State in the first half, there are still a fair number of rent trend continues though, a 24-5 run sparked by a suffocatcritics. In the years following Thompson won’t have to clarify ing press put the game out of the Hoyas’ Final Four run, some anything. He’ll let the record reach. Thompson has never rebelieve Thompson has underspeak for itself. ally broken out a full-court press achieved, with each season end-

by Nick Berti

ing prematurely by Georgetown standards. The most common criticism of Thompson is against the Princeton offense he runs and his alleged inability to incorporate players’ skills into his system. That fire was fueled last season by the comments of a former Thompson player.

“At Georgetown I would run the same thing over and over, and it became so repetitive,” exHoya Jeremiah Rivers told the Indianapolis Star. “I really became like a robot there offensively.”

Rivers, a role player on the Final Four squad, transferred to Indiana likely because of

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Hoyas hit storm before Big East The Georgetown women’s basketball team will face the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers tonight in a game that marks the opening of Big East play. So far this year, the Hoyas have been a force to be reckoned with in non-conference action, reaching a lofty No. 11 national ranking this week. The team looked to bring a four-game winning streak into Piscataway, N.J., but those hopes were derailed earlier in the week.

The Hoyas had gone south on Tuesday to play the University of Miami, where they came out on the wrong end of a fast-paced, evenly matched game. The Hurricanes leapt out of the gate hot—fueled by the excitement of playing a highly-ranked opponent in front of their home crowd. Initially, sloppy play and a quick pace favored the Hoyas, who were able to chip away at Miami’s early lead.

The back-and-forth half ended in a 30-30 tie.

Just as in the first half, Miami got off to a hot start after the break, beginning with a 6-0 run. The sharpshooting of the Hurricanes from beyond the arc, combined with Georgetown’s foul trouble, made it difficult for the Hoyas to keep the game close.

“Our play gave Miami confidence, especially their shooters, and they thrived on that confidence,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We didn’t execute and it cost us the game.”

After falling behind by nine, the Hoyas began a steady climb back.

Three-pointers from the dynamic backcourt duo of sophomore Sugar Rodgers and junior Rubylee Wright, helped Georgetown bring the score within one point.

With just over four minutes to play, a three from senior Monica McNutt gave the Hoyas their first lead in the second half, 63-62. The lead did not hold for long though. Miami responded by taking a three-point lead that

JACKSON PERRY

Sugar Rodgers will lead the Hoyas into Big East play averaging 17.8 ppg.

FIFA red-cards America

FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s announcement that the 2022 World Cup would be hosted by Qatar was a slap in the face to American soccer fans.

The United States was prepared to cement its place as a legitimate soccer power with its 2022 Cup bid, which by all accounts was without any major deficiencies. Instead, FIFA denied us, a devastating blow to the growth of soccer in this country.

Some have dealt with the decision by accusing FIFA and the Qatari bid committee of bribery and backroom deals, but no amount of whining will change the unfortunate reality that Qatar will host and the U.S. will not.

After this summer’s World Cup in South Africa, soccer was poised to take a momentous step forward in America. Landon Donovan’s exhilarating stoppage time goal against Algeria to secure Team USA’s advancement to the second round was arguably the sporting highlight of the year. Meanwhile, U.S. television coverage set countless records for viewership, with the finals between Spain and the Netherlands becoming the most watched soccer match ever. In the wake of the World Cup, the coverage of the sport’s club season has never been greater, with matches from the top European leagues available on numerous cable channels.

would hold until the final minute of the game.

With just under 30 seconds remaining in the game, however, the Hoyas, down three, inbounded the ball. Rodgers received the pass, pump-faked, and knocked down a clutch three, sending the game into overtime with the teams tied at 68.

“After I hit that shot, I really thought we were going to win, but it just didn’t happen in overtime,” Rodgers said.

The Hurricanes dominated the extra period, taking control after a disputed intentional foul call. When the dust settled, the Hoyas lost 81-72.

“Dissecting Miami is simple,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We can’t give up 81 points and the ball over 23 times and expect to win. No team will win against a good team playing like that.”

Despite the tough loss, the Hoyas are focused and ready to begin Big East play against a robust Rutgers squad.

“It’s our first Big East game and the beginning of conference play. Our players don’t need anything to get up for that,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Historically, the Hoyas have struggled against the Scarlet Knights, with a 3-16 all-time record.

Perhaps the toughest of those 16 losses was last year’s defeat in the Big East Tournament. Rutgers beat the Hoyas 63-56 in double-overtime, a disappointment the players have not forgotten.

“I’m excited about tomorrow’s game,” Rodgers said. “We feel like we owe them something from last year, and we want to pay them back.

It should be a good game.”

Soccer has certainly come a long way since the first time the U.S. hosted the World Cup. When it held the competition in 1994, MLS had yet to be formed and Team USA had not been close to competitive on the world’s biggest stage since a shocking 1-0

Backdoor Cuts

by Daniel Kellner

a rotating column on sports victory over England in 1950.

Since the 1994 World Cup— which still holds the distinction as the most attended World Cup in history—U.S. soccer has improved exponentially, with the subsequent development of MLS and an increased migration of American players to European

What Rocks

by Adam Rosenfeld

Chris Kinney

Senior and two-time AllAmerican Chris Kinney began his last season on the Hilltop hot off the blocks, winning the men’s 60-meter hurdles at the Navy Invitational on Dec. 5.

“Being the first race of the year, I was naturally excited,” Kinney said. “Up until the gun, my entire focus was just to race.”

Not only did Kinney finish first, he set a facility record with his preliminary round time of 7.84 seconds.

Since coming to the Hilltop, Kinney has not wasted any time leaving his mark on the program.

In his sophomore year, he was the Big East champion in the 110-meter hurdles and accomplished the same feat in his junior year for the 60-meter hurdles. Kinney owns the all-time Georgetown record in both events with times of 13.77 and 7.83 respectively. His progression over the years along with his fast start this year have impressed coaches as well.

clubs strengthening the talent pool for the national team.

Another World Cup would surely increase America’s appetite for the sport. Still, America loves a winner. If soccer ever wants to compete with more established sports, the national team needs to make a big impact at a World Cup, perhaps even win it.

The year 2022 looked like the right time to do so. Throughout the history of the World Cup, host nations have performed extraordinarily well, winning six times in 19 tournaments and usually fairing no worse than a quarterfinal appearance. As hosts, the U.S. would have been a team to fear, potentially replacing the memory of Donovan’s goal with an American captain hoisting the trophy in the Rose Bowl.

Courtesy GU SPORTS INFORMATION

“I think it’s a great start,” assistant coach Marlo Mincey said.

“It just really shows his dedication to do all the small things during preseason.”

The Big East took notice and recognized Kinney’s early season feat by naming him the conference’s Male Athlete of the Week.

That’s only the beginning for Kinney though, as the men’s indoor track team still has six races, including the Hoya Invitational on Jan. 14. He has bigger goals he wants to achieve before the end of his senior year, like becoming the NCAA hurdles champion.

“To win a national title against the best runners in the country would be the biggest honor ever,” Kinney said. “As it is my senior year, I want to make the most I can out of it. Hopefully I will be able to continue to run after college. … [But] I have to put a lot of work in this season.”

—Melissa Sullivan

Last week’s decision ensures that America is unlikely to realize these dreams anytime soon.

Instead of a home-field advantage, Team USA will probably face some of the tournament’s most hostile crowds when it takes the field in Doha. The U.S. remains a safety net for FIFA as a backup host if Qatar or Brazil, which is hosting the tournament in 2014, cannot fulfill their commitments. But Americans should not get their hopes up. FIFA has made it clear that developing American interest in the sport is not a priority, giving America another reason to turn its back on the world’s game.

Help Daniel prepare for 2026 at dkellner@georgetownvoice.com

feature

8 the georgetown voice Get Him to the Greek Universal Pictures

Greenberg Focus Features

Restrepo National Geographic Entertainment

Despicable Me Universal Pictures

Harry Potter 7 Warner Bros. Pictures

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december 9, 2010

Shutter Island Paramount Pictures

127 Hours Fox Searchlight Pictures

Toy Story 3 Walt Disney Pictures

the georgetown voice 9

Inception Warner Bros. Pictures

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Though it lacks the sweet sincerity of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, spinoff sequel Get Him to the Greek features the same mix of gross-out humor and emotional resonance that have made Judd Apatow’s films so popular. Russell Brand, playing the same rock star that debuted in Marshall Marshall,, proves that his character is more than a hilariously freaky British guy who says unnecessarily lewd things. His character’s somewhat depressing exploration of the drawbacks of fame and celebrity are an interesting addition to the story, making the film more than just another sex and drugs comedy.

Too bad the other leads are Jonah Hill and Diddy.

—Akshay Bhatia

Whiskey and ice cream sandwiches: those are the only things on Roger Greenberg’s grocery list.

Greenberg is about a neurotic 40 yearold (Ben Stiller) recovering from a mental breakdown while housesitting for his brother in Los Angeles.

Stiller is a natural fit for the script— he’s at his best when playing tightlywound, obsessive-compulsive characters. Director Noah Baumbach’s distinctive style of relationship-based storytelling keeps the film moving, but it’s the discomfort of watching Stiller’s capricious interactions with old friends and his strange sexual tension with a vulnerable woman (Greta Gerwig) that makes Greenberg worth watching. It’s the best character-driven film of the year.

—Luke Howley

Tracking a platoon of U.S. Army soldiers battling the Taliban in Afghanistan over the course of a year, Restrepo is war journalism in its most extreme and powerful form. Filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington thankfully refrain from editorializing on the morality or necessity of the war, instead letting the alternately traumatic and post-traumatic rhythm of the soldiers’ lives speak for itself. It feels like a real-life version of The Hurt Locker, mercilessly intense and occasionally horrifying, but, in the end, unforgettably moving. And as an apolitical war documentary in an increasingly polarized political climate, it’s a vital look at the terrifying human experience of modern warfare.

—Sean Quigley

Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

1

Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam No one loomed larger over the second half of 2010 than Kanye West. His G.O.O.D. Friday releases dominated music blogs for months.

His 30-minute music video-cum-art film, Runaway, was broadcast simultaneously on MTV and BET. Throughout the year, whispers kept creeping around the Internet about the magic that Kanye West and his co-collaborators were creating out in Hawaii.

When the album dropped, it was instantly lauded as a classic, and Kanye’s damning 2009 outburst at the VMAs all but forgotten. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is an impeccably sequenced, beautifully orchestrated epic, the sound of a genius shooting for the moon and making it. Lyrically, West manages to capture the loneliness and despair of a man—himself— who has lost the ability to maintain functional human relationships, giving the album an emotional resonance that that his previous effort, the melodramatic, robo-achy 808s and Heartbreak tried (and failed) to convey. He’s finally broken free of the producer-rapper stigma, with bitingly humorous and defiantly bombastic rhymes supported his most controlled, refined flows to date. Despite its masturbatory song lengths and grandiose self-indulgence, it’s the most gorgeous-sounding rap album in years, and by far the best album of 2010.

—Thaddeus Bell

The Arcade Fire The Suburbs Merge

With Pixar in the middle of a three-year run of sequels, Universal chose a wise time to enter the animation game. If they had turned out a Dreamworks-quality snoozefest, we’d have no choice but to sit back and watch talking toys for the third time. But they mercifully granted us a reprieve: Despicable Me is hilarious, charming, and fantastically animated. The voice cast puts in an excellent performance, but it’s the goofy minions and lovable orphans who make the film. Never cloying, they find the perfect balance between endearing and hilarious. So Pixar, go ahead and make RataTWOy—I’ll RataTWOy—I’ll RataTWOy —I’ll be waiting to see what original concept Universal can deliver on next.

—Matt Collins

After the disappointing misstep that was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Prince, diehard fans of J.K. Rowling’s books—myself included—worried that part one of the series’s final installment would betray the original text just as much as its predecessor.

Thankfully, director David Yates delivered a film that allowed its trio of leads to develop emotionally and stayed (mostly) faithful to the book it’s based on. Audiences got to see Dobby as a free elf, and even an imaginary HarryHermione love scene. Is it still too early to start counting down for part two?

—Iris Kim

There’s nothing subtle about Shutter Island. From the blaring score to the supersaturated cinematography and delightfully over-the-top acting, every facet of Martin Scorsese’s latest noir-thriller is designed to overwhelm the audience—and that’s a good thing. The film is a mess of clichés and B-movie tropes, but they’re woven together so slyly that audiences will never question the dashing federal agent with the dark past or grow frustrated with the extended dream sequences. Instead, these elements are disconcerting in their familiarity. Like storm waters crashing against its titular landmass, Shutter Island sweeps its audience away, leaving only awe in their place —Brendan Baumgardener

Painful to watch? Yes, but also painfully good. 127 Hours depicts the true story of trapped outbacker Aron Ralston (James Franco) and his five-day struggle with his arm pinned under a boulder. Franco carries the film, portraying Ralston with a level of precision that may well earn him an Oscar. Danny Boyle’s directing propels the film towards its grotesque conclusion—Franco’s amputation of his own arm with a dull pocketknife—which notoriously left several audience members at screenings passed out. Elegantly acted and beautifully shot, 127 Hours one of the year’s best. Just keep a brown paper bag within reach.

—John Sapunor

Revisiting the franchise that introduced audiences to computer-animated film, Pixar’s Toy Story 3 centers on what happens to the toys as Andy, their owner, prepares to leave for college. As they find themselves in a daycare where they meet some friendly and some not-so-kind fellow toys, Woody must gather up the original gang to team up against a stuffed bear. Perhaps because the same kids who loved the original are now just as grown up as Andy, the movie, this time in 3D, manages to hit the same poignantly touching and funny notes as the original.

—Megan Berard

Christopher Nolan went for broke and scored big with Inception , this summer ’s dreamy, ception, mind-twisting blockbuster. The film’s high-paced concept of dream-heist was at times overwhelming, but its quick-moving plot only piqued audience interest. With unmatched special effects (upside-down fight scenes!), big-name actors, and a big sound, thanks to an earblasting score by Hans Zimmer and a slowed-down Edith Piaf song, IInception nception captivated the world’s audiences. Not since The Matrix has a sci-fi action film looked this good.

—Nico Dodd

TOP 10 OF 2010 Sufjan Stevens The Age of Adz Asthmatic Kitty

Big Boi Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty Def Jam

Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid Bad Boy

Jonsi Go XL Recordings

Titus Andronicus The Monitor XL Recordings

Toro y Moi Causers of This Carpark Records

1

Columbia Pictures Forget about Facebook. Forget about Harvard. And definitely forget about Mark Zuckerberg. The Social Network is about a nerd who just wants some love.

Too bad he’s enough of an asshole that even a few billion dollars can’t help him get any.

Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s latest, a fictional account of Zuckerberg’s rise to social network glory, is meant to warn a generation that was raised in the shadow of dot-com entrepreneurs who made a shitton of money. What happens when you hit the jackpot? You lose your girl, fight a nine-figure lawsuit filed by your best friend, and hang out with a coke-addled Justin Timberlake. Some trade.

Zuckerberg yearned for two elite worlds: one of hoity-toity Ivy League eating clubs, and another of drug-fueled parties on the West Coast. But after Facebook vaults him past both, he’s alone.

The Social Network is the best movie of the year because it owns that message: a billion dollars may be cool, but it sure as hell won’t buy happiness.

—Chris Heller

Deerhunter Halcyon Digest 4AD

Waka Flocka Flame Flockaveli Warner Bros.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On The Suburbs, The Arcade Fire maximized their range of songwriting and put out one of the best albums of the year. The indie-rock eight-piece squeezed an impressive amount of sound on each track of the album, making personal feelings about suburban isolation sound meaningful and even heroic. Taking full advantage of what they are capable of in a recording studio, the band’s signature piano, guitars, and full rhythm section drive the album from its pensive beginning Suburbs’s to its lonely finish. The Suburbs sonic and emotional depth made it a deeply satisfying release.

—Nico Dodd

Once adored for crafting quirky folk music with lush instrumentation, on his newest album, The Age of Adz,, Sufjan Stevens has gone off the deep end and into a whirlwind of self-reflection and fruitless contemplation. Lucky for us, he’s manifested his existential crisis as one of the most expansive and intricate albums released this year. Equipped with what sounds like the backing band from Hell’s version of Disney on Ice, Stevens orchestrates a colorful montage from the wreckage of his former selves. The result is an album that drastically surpasses the limits of what we had previously thought possible in his songs.

—James McGrory

When Jive Records told Big Boi they wanted him to write the next “Lollipop,” he did what any self-respecting MC would do—he walked away from the label completely. Their loss. Big Boi’s longawaited solo debut, Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, is everything fans have wanted for years. The album eschews some of the quirkier elements of Outkast’s style, bringing track after track of speaker-rattling Southern rap. Big Boi’s flow is complex and dynamic, dropping catchy club hooks as easily as complex puns, and making the absence of Outkast bandmate Andre 3000 hard to notice.

—Matt Decker

Though it is nominated for a Grammy for “Best Contemporary R&B Album,”—one it deserves to win—calling The ArchAndroid rhythm and blues is a bit misleading.

This album defies genre classification: Prog-soul? Art-funk? Neo-pop?

Dance-punk? Afro-futuristic glam rock? All are valid, and yet none of them even come close to capturing the disparate range of sounds on this album. This is a neo-soul record with the heart of a Bowie concept album and the vibrant thump of an Outkast release. It’s a 70-minute cyber-punk epic which gazes so far into the future that it ends up with something timeless. Who cares what genre it is?

—Sean Quigley

The ethereal, experimental music of Sigur Rós may not be for a mass audience, but lead singer Jonsi’s solo album Go is a beautiful composition that incorporates the best aspects of the Icelander’s songwriting in a more accessible manner. The album begins with the standout “Go Do” and subsequently takes readers on a mysterious and sonically adventurous 40-minute tour. Jonsi is never dull, and while you might not always be able to understand his lyrics—most are in the nonsensical invented language “Hopelandic”—the energetic, layered arrangements of Go will likely compel you to do exactly what the title suggests.

—Eric Pilch

Titus Andronicus’s second LP, The Monitor,, is one of the rowdiest, most booze-fueled diatribes against suburban despair in recent memory.

It boasts the cleverest, most venomous lyrics one moment and undercuts them with sardonic humor and pop culture shout-outs the next. Frontman Patrick Stickles’ gritty vocals are topped off with shredding guitars and merciless drums, bound together with a (surprisingly unpretentious) Civil War motif. On The Monitor, Monitor the band sees there is no winning in this world, but says “fuck it” and battles on anyway. Even if they are resigned to losing, Titus Andronicus puts up one hell of a fight.

—Brendan Baumgardner

Though there is still a good deal of controversy over what exactly the genre “chillwave” signifies, South Carolina’s Toro y Moi—also known as Chaz Bundick—has in recent months become a kind of paragon for the movement. Causers of This This, Bundick’s first LP, harnesses a full range of styles. By meticulously chopping up and sampling piano riffs and hip-hop beats, he creates a rich and woozy sound panged with wistfulness. It’s funky, melodic, and danceable, but it is Bundick’s attention to detail and musical craftsmanship that set him apart from chillwave contemporaries content to make nostalgiaand reverb-drenched beach tunes.

—Luke Howley

Halcyon Digest is one of those albums best experienced in one continuous listen, not a string of disjointed singles—a rare feat in the iTunes era. Perfectly crafted to hold the listener’s attention, it is a beautiful record that seems to shape-shift into a different sound with each listen, from melancholy moodiness to uplifting resilience. Powered by a strong vocalist in Brandon Cox and consistently varying musical tones, Halcyon Digest was one of 2010’s strongest indie releases and a highlight in Cox’s incredibly prolific and increasingly broad discography.

—Paul Quincy

Halfway through Flockaveli, you would be forgiven if you can hardly tell one gunshot-filled track from the last. This wouldn’t be a compliment for most debuts, but Waka Flocka Flame’s first effort succeeds because of its focus: an hour-long immersion in producer Lex Luger’s apocalyptically aggressive crunk. In this sea of oppressive, surreal violence, he drops the Wale-featuring club hit “No Hands”—the only breather he provides—simply to prove he can kill the charts as easily as the motherfuckers he spends 16 tracks threatening. His name might be ridiculous, but underestimate Waka Flocka Flame at your own risk.

-Matthew Collins

PHOTOS FROM IMDB, WIKIPEDIA, FILM FILIA, WALT DISNEY PICTURES, NEW YORK PRESS, AND FILMANIA

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10 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

Tiny Furniture brings little to the table

by John Sapunor

Indie films tend to isolate their fans. While some audience members will cry “genius!” most will call bullshit. With her new production, Tiny Furniture, Lena Dunham has created a shallow micro-budget flick that, despite a few bright spots, fails to break away from the pretentious culture it came out of.

Tiny Furniture follows Aura, played by writer-director Dunham, as she moves back into her family’s expansive TriBeCa apartment after her final year of college. A film major with a stagnant YouTube account, Aura is self-diagnosed with “post-grad delirium,” a kind of “where do I go from here?” predicament. To make matters worse, she is recovering from a rough breakup and struggling to win the attention of her mother, who is more concerned with Aura’s over-achieving little sister.

Soon, however, her long-lost best friend Charlotte enters the picture. A British airhead, Charlotte is too high to even know whether she actually likes Aura or just wants someone to be around. Aura’s life gets more complicated when she falls for both Keith, a handsome, conceited chef played by Gossip Girl’s David Call, and Jed (Alex Karpovsky), a broke comedian and YouTube “sensation” whom Aura, desperate for a relationship, houses while her family is out of town. By the end, she is faced with the prospect of splitting an apartment with a buddy from college. Still tempted by the lethargic lifestyle at her family’s apartment, Aura’s indecisiveness brings the film to its lackluster climax.

Tiny Furniture explores Aura’s relationships with friends, family, and potential lovers through tooslowly paced one-on-one conversations that tepidly invite the audience to question not only what Aura wants from the people surrounding her, but more notably, what they want from her. She is constantly being used, but doesn’t do much to stop it. Though inconsistent in her delivery, Dunham’s degrading portrayal of Aura occasionally resonates as she tries to appeal to an apathetic assortment of characters. Jed is clearly not attracted to Aura herself but rather the resources she offers, while Keith sees her as a tool for nothing more than transient sexual satisfaction.

The problem in most of these scenes is the film’s desire to return to its quirky, light-hearted roots in spite of its dark subject matter. In one scene, Aura engages in a screaming match with her mother, but the delivery comes off as tongue-in-cheek. Probably a stylistic choice, the scene had potential to capture the audience, but it falls flat as soon as one actor starts giggling.

Despite her somewhat bratty antics, Aura’s unsightly appearance and troubled relationships maintain an element of empathy in her character. Unfortunately, Dunham’s acting style is often too lazy to maintain the miserable character she is depicting.

What the film ends up with is a half-hearted commentary on the shallow lives of hipster wannabeartists, a lifestyle that provides no emotional output for the ever-depressed Aura.

Tiny Furniture manages to sustain a light-hearted indie atmosphere through its bright cinematography, subtle humor,

“Why do I have such a tiny bed when you get a normal chair?”

IMDB

and a delightful soundtrack.

Unfortunately, the acting is often subpar and the delayed responses in conversations leave you wondering whether this is a professionally-made film or a cheaply-thrown-together stu-

dent production. The exceptions are Karpovsky’s performance as the indifferent yet amusing Jed and Call’s take on the hipsterdouche Keith.

The film has its moments, but uninspired acting and a

“Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to pick watermelons in America we go!”

dull, unmoving plot grounded it from the start. Tiny Furniture’s inability to create substance out of the despondent Aura makes this itsy-bitsy-budget production as sad as the character it follows.

courtesy department of performing arts

Theatrical theses thrive

by Leigh Finnegan When most people get frustrated with their big writing assignments, they’ll highlight a paragraph or two (three if their paper is really going nowhere) and defiantly smack the “delete” key. Miranda Hall (COL ’11) recently had that experience when she chopped her senior thesis down to a quarter of its length.

Except she gave up on 75 pages.

“It had been about a hundred pages, but I went a little crazy with it, and now it’s 25 pages,” she said.

The piece she is referring to is not some long, tedious dissertation. It’s Orphan Play, a creative piece about race relations and motherhood in the lives of Mexican immigrants in Arizona. Hall is one of two seniors whom the Theater and Performance Studies majors selected to stage their senior theses at Georgetown.

The other student, Courtney Ulrich (COL ’11), has already somewhat witnessed the fruition of her thesis. Watermelon Season, a play about the struggles of migrant workers in Florida that she conceived, wrote, and directed herself, debuted in the Davis Center’s Devine Studio Theater this past weekend. The performance featured student actors and projected an unsettling message about the toil that Americans take for granted. Professor Derek Goldman, Ulrich’s faculty

advisor, said it combined “real scholarly research, ethnographic research, and political research, with artistry and development.”

Ever since sophomore Sociology class, Ulrich has felt passionate about migrant workers’ rights.

“I had always wanted to write a play about migrant worker justice,” she said. “And I thought that [a senior thesis] would be a perfect opportunity.”

Ulrich picked the right year to graduate. This is the first time in the department’s history that students have been invited to stage their work. Last academic year, the Department of Performing Arts began accepting applications from students who wanted to write senior theses to be performed in the Davis Center. Now, each of the two selected students will showcase a work that is, from the research stages to final production, completely her own creation.

“We care deeply about mentoring students’ research in the field,” Professor of Performing Arts and Hall’s faculty advisor Maya Roth wrote in an email.

“And the senior thesis production projects provide a venue for us to support an advanced student or two … culminating in some public fashion to the campus at large in the Davis Center.”

Their plays are not just afterthoughts among the Department of Performing Arts’

professionally run shows. This year, both Watermelon Season and Orphan Play are just as integral to the season as all the other performances. The two students, through research, collaboration, and, in Hall’s case, massive rewrites, have created works that will show alongside professional pieces by playwrights who haven’t only just reached the legal drinking age.

Both students have enhanced their works by incorporating the opinions and ideas of their actors. Roth emphasized that the ability for students to learn from one another is a critical and very beneficial aspect of Georgetown’s relatively small, close-knit theater program.

“Theater is such a deeply collaborative discipline, and new work development often engages artists across roles,” Roth wrote. “This emphasis on new work development—like social engagement and the integration of critical and creative work— distinguishes our program.”

With the emotional, artistic success of Watermelon Season, and Orphan Play showing signs of being just as impressive, the Department of Performing Arts has every intention of continuing to focus on senior thesis projects in the future.

“They really [have become] a key part of our season,” Goldman said. “And they’re really a center of what we’re doing.”

georgetownvoice.com

“I bowl. Drive around. the occasional acid flashback.”—the Big Lebowski

the georgetown voice 11

ColorSchoolreturnstoD.C. Black Box ballet

by Matthew Collins Washington, D.C. is not a town renowned for its art scene. Hardcore kids might proudly recount the days of Minor Threat, and Wale might slip a line about D.C. into some of his Chicago-indebted raps, but the city’s a haven for politicos and diplomats—artists usually go a bit farther up the coast.

That being the case, many might be surprised to learn that our city gave birth to one of the most exciting styles of American studio art of the modern era: the Color School. A bridge between Jackson Pollock’s Abstract Expressionism and the cold Minimalism of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the style is surprisingly pleasant—unafraid to play with color while avoiding the messy sprawl of de Koonig.

On display at the Corcoran Gallery through Mar. 6, Washington Color and Light is a fantastic genre primer; it explains the style’s roots, highlights some of its biggest names, and demonstrates how it operates in various media. The layout is not optimal—individual artist displays take precedent over a more appropriate chronological explanation of the movement. But taken as a whole, the exhibit leaves a curious newcomer with a strong sense of the style and its relation to the District.

The best-represented artist by far is Gene Davis, whose portfolio alone summarizes the genre’s growth well. His massive “Junkie’s Curtain” (1967) epitomizes the Color School—all strict lines and bold colors applied directly to a canvas without a white base. We see his roots—the somewhat chaotic “Royal Bungalow” (1958) shows where he developed his love of color—and we see how he progressed in his mature period, playing with canvas shape and viewer perspective in the extraordinarily tall “Pink Bayonet” (1968).

The style’s appearance in sculpture is remarkably well-represented, considering its position as a largely canvas-based school.

Although a number of them fall flat—like Anne Truitt’s creations, which come off as Minimalismlite—Rockne Krebs’s “Ice Flower”

courtesy corcoran gaLLerY

Davis got offended when the cashier tried to scan his masterpiece.

Don’t try this at home

Earlier this year, my access to the Cooks Illustrated archives and Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything convinced me that I could, in fact, cook everything.

And when it comes to pasta, potatoes, fish, chicken, and a few fancy things like risotto, I’m not half bad. In July, inspired by this confidence, I undertook a more ambitious project—French fries.

Bad call.

Turns out that although my recipe made it sound so easy, French fries are definitely an eating-out food. The bland result of my experiment was only the latest in a series of restaurant-food failures, which have revealed to me a near-universal truth: there are some foods always better left to restaurants.

Period.

DIY-favorite recipes hold a special allure for me. As a Chicagoan, I hurt for an Italian beef

(1969) shows that the style can translate into three dimensions quite successfully. Essentially three huge Plexiglass pyramids, the piece is at once alive and austere.

Although a good introduction to our city’s biggest claim to artistic fame, the exhibit falls short with a conspicuous lack of Kenneth Noland, perhaps the most important member of the movement. Just a few blocks away, the American Art Museum features numerous examples of his finest work, while this special exhibit features just one of his pieces, 1966’s “Brown Stretched.” This piece is a unique standout, but it is nonetheless a poor example of his approach. Then again, his point of view is easier to understand once you have got a handle on the genre, and Washington Color and Light will most certainly give you that.

sandwich or deep dish pizza a good eight months out of the year. So when AllRecipes.com tells me I can get a crusty Italian bread roll melting under a mountain of tender, wafer-thin slices of beef slow-cooked in wine, spices, and its own juices for eight hours, and all I have to do is throw the ingredients in my Set ‘N Forget and watch old Simpsons episodes for a whole afternoon, I’m there.

But my Italian beef did not stir up fond memories of a hot, dripping bag of Portillo’s beef and sweet peppers. I love my little slow cooker, but it pales in comparison to the vat seasoned with years of built-up grease and gravy at Johnnie’s Italian Beef.

And without an industrial-grade slicer, I couldn’t get my brisket melt-in-your-mouth thin.

You just won’t get your favorite restaurant foods right

in your kitchen—your recipes don’t call for you to be as liberal with the salt, you don’t have all the right equipment, and you’ll probably drop a lot of money on special ingredients before you fail. And, well, you’re just a cook. The good folks at Johnnie’s Beef, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, and anyfries U.S.A. are

amuse-bouche

by Molly Redden

a bi-weekly column about food and drink chefs. There’s a reason they own restaurants and you don’t.

You won’t get your food on the table as fast as they will, either. With rising time, the dough for my deep dish pizza took me half a day. Producing the humble French fry involved cutting russet potatoes, rinsing off excess starch, chilling them, frying them in oil, draining them, and then frying them

by Michael Holper Last night in the Walsh Black Box Theater, which was unadorned except for a string of what looked like colorful prayer flags, Ballet Folklorico, in conjunction with Latin dance group Ritmo y Sabor, put on their final show of the semester in honor of Posada, a Hispanic celebration in anticipation of Christmas. The show featured Ballet Folklorico’s traditional dancing with elaborate and colorful skirts, while Ritmo y Sabor provided an ample dose of Latin beats paired with sexy dances, notably a merengue and a salsa.

Ritmo y Sabor were guests to Ballet’s main performance, and while they certainly piqued the audience’s interest, Ballet Folklorico definitely provided the show’s highlights, with some dances that featured a comic edge in addition to visually appealing choreography. One, entitled El Coyote, featured the quintessential skirt twirling as the female dancers shied away from their male counterparts’ ad-

again. My fry cook skills being a little remedial, the total potatoto-tummy time was nearly three hours. And they still didn’t beat the Safeway-brand sausages I paired them with.

Then there’s the politicsand-sausage factor—you don’t want to see how your favorite foods are made. It turns out that Chicago pizza masters achieve that flaky, biscuit-like crust with lots and lots (and lots and lots) of fat, most of it butter. My recipe called for nearly a quarter-pound of butter and more than four tablespoons of olive oil for two small pizzas—and that was just the dough. When I finally ate my grand experiment—no Gino’s East, but it was all right—I had to drink a lot of heart-healthy red wine to compensate. And French fries? Those get fried twice in two quarts of greasy, golden (not to mention pricey) peanut oil.

vances. It was reminiscent of failed college flirtations, and hit particularly resonant notes with guys in the audience, who laughed in sympathy as the male dancers were continually shut down.

In another thrill-of-thechase-inspired dance, entitled La Culebra, the male dancer teased his female partner, whipping his big sombrero around in imitation of a snake. In the end, he deftly jumped into their midst, which yielded many shouts of approval from the vocal, obviously engaged audience.

Ritmo y Sabor danced to faster-paced music, and the passion was palpable. As a more modern approach to Hispanic music and dance, they took advantage of the verve of the music to enliven both the audience and their dancing. Their performance came in the middle of Ballet Folklorico’s, and provided quite a stark contrast to Ballet’s more homely and encumbered dancing. Their edginess was a pleasant midshow palate cleanser, and provided a fresh dimension to an overall excellent show.

There are exceptions to the rule, and most home cooks are steak- and burger-capable. But for the most part, restaurant foods belong in the restaurant, no matter how good that recipe for potato gnocchi sounds. And god, does it sound good.

Sitting in my bookmarks, I’ve got this killer recipe for mole, a savory Mexican chocolate sauce that you can drizzle over shredded pork or chicken.

I really want to make it, even though it will require several hours over two study days. But I’m resisting the urge to go buy all 20 necessary ingredients, including Mexican chocolate, two kinds of chiles, and almond butter. I’ll be back in the City of Big Shoulders soon enough, where, for a reasonable price, Rick Bayless will do it better.

Find out Molly’s thoughts on politics and sausage at mredden@ georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

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

Keep Shelley in Athens, Fall in Love With Dusk, Forest Family Keep Shelly in Athens is a band with an outlandish name and an intentionally mysterious persona.

But although you might expect a band with such a ridiculous moniker to be irritatingly elitist, if you close your eyes and play their new EP, In Love With Dusk, you will quickly change your mind.

The album starts off with 20 minutes of enveloping, atmospheric music that will make you think that you are, in fact, falling in love with dusk. From the very beginning, it is apparent that this Grecian duo understands better than most bands how to name its record appropriately.

In Love With Dusk is comprised of six songs that perfectly capture that dark end of twilight. Listeners can dim the lights as Keep Shelly in Athens’s downtempo groove drifts effortlessly from each slow, churning beat into the next sprawling vibe. Each song folds smoothly into itself, then expands once again before closing with a gentle, satisfying calm.

Keep Shelly in Athens’ sound is a little titillating, a little strange, a little naked, and, above all, very mellow. “Fokionos Negri Street” offers the perfect soundtrack to a slow romance, and “Cremonia Memories” plays to the tune of a couple getting lost together on a dance floor. While “Don’t Be Afraid” attempts to inspire fear with a peculiar arrangement of tones, “In Love With Dusk” relieves that anxiety like the carefree end to a rough day.

Keep Shelly in Athens has perfectly encapsulated the gentle mindset of nightfall on In Love With Dusk.

The EP slowly crawls towards darkness and basks in the possibility of an intimate encounter before sunrise. This is a band to keep an eye on,

Gazillion dollar baby

Next Friday, Disney’s latest mega-budget production, Tron: Legacy, opens in theaters across the country. Though it will no doubt please the ComicCon regulars who have been fantasizing about this movie for years, with a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Tron will need to appeal to a slightly wider market. So Disney did what they do best, and upped the film’s marketing and exposure with a Dec. 7 video game release and theme park installations.

Tron is just the latest in the recent trend of studios throwing around more money than the United Arab Emirates to produce epic cinematic eye candy. But despite the astonishing proportions of films like Tron, extra dollars rarely buy a movie the kind of quality and critical adoration boasted by “the classics.”

Yes, Titanic swept the Academy Awards, but that was over a decade ago. This year voters

said, “never again, James Cameron,” and handed Best Picture to indie sweetheart The Hurt Locker. Since Titanic, big budget has come to mean robot explosion orgies and bizarre pirate sequels. The zillion-dollar movie is just not up to critical par.

With Tron, Disney shows no signs of going off the beaten path. Disney handed the film to debut director Joseph Kosinski, whose portfolio was previously limited to commercials (coincidentally Michael Bay’s first gig).

The CGI-ridden trailer showcases all imagery and little plot, and although Tron garnered a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics agree that while it was pleasing to the senses, the conventional plotline lagged.

Similarly, Avatar was praised for its unprecedented 3D-universe, but panned for a plot stolen from Pocahontas. Not to say that awesome effects aren’t entertaining, but as they become more and more commonplace, movies cannot continue to de-

with the hope that they will reveal a few more secrets of the night whenever they appear next.

Voice’s Choices: “Don’t Be Afraid,” “Cremonia” —James McGrory

Daft Punk, Tron: Legacy, Walt Disney Records We’ve been waiting on a new Daft Punk album for a while now, and in late 2009, when the duo announced that they would be creating the soundtrack for the upcoming Tron: Legacy, it sounded like a match made in heaven. Not only would we have the first Daft Punk album in five years (!), it would

pend solely on visual innovation for acclaim. Even Star Wars, the godfather of special effects, had enough character development to keep audiences engaged. Well, at least for the first half of its run.

Will this trend of shallow billion-dollar productions come to an end in the near future?

Unless audiences stop lining up for Michael Bay features, prob-

fade to Black

by John Sapunor

a bi-weekly column about film ably not. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Critics loved both Christopher Nolan’s rejuvenation of the Batman series and his master creation, Inception. Nolan has proven that special effects can coexist with a captivating plot, gaining him major studio funding. Though Inception’s summertime Oscar buzz has quieted down a bit, the film, like fellow pricey summer hit Toy Story 3, will likely earn sev-

have a feature-length music video.

Few stopped to consider that maybe this would be like any other film score—out of place and banal without the movie it originally accompanied.

So I will come out and say it: the Tron: Legacy soundtrack is just like any other film score. It features a full string orchestra, owes a lot to Hans Zimmer, and establishes strong themes and leitmotifs. But let’s be honest here—who cares? We wanted a new Daft Punk album to put on at parties. Throw this one on only if your party needs the sweeping vistas of “Adagio for TRON” or the frantic minimalism of “Outlands” to accompany some sort of dramatic narrative arc.

Thankfully, there are a few moments when Daft Punk fans get what we were hoping for—retrofuturistic Giorgio Moroder synths, loping beats, and snapping hihats. The fantastic “End of Line” is the best example. It’s like Kraftwerk re-imagined with an 80’s influence. And while most of the album could be from any movie soundtrack, this track feels like it

eral nominations and a lasting legacy. Nolan’s overwhelming success has shown studios that quality can still be found in blockbusters, and though movies like Inception are rare, wellreceived directors may begin stepping up to the daunting yet lucrative prospect of going big-budget.

Who will be the next Chris Nolan? It’s too early to tell.

Spike Jonze, director of the critically-acclaimed Adaptation, was given massive funding for Where the Wild Things Are. The underrated Wild Things was touching and poignant, a glimmer of hope in an overcommercialized industry. Like Inception, Wild Things left its audience thinking after they’d left the theater, and the expensive effects enhanced its emotional impact. But its modest success may send Jonze back to smaller productions.

In more recent times, David O. Russell, director of I Heart Huckabees and upcoming boxing drama The Fighter, has just signed on to direct a

couldn’t fit anywhere else and is only suitable for a scene that features glowing men on strange motorcycles. The stellar “Derezzed,” which mixes Daft Punk’s brand of house with another vague hint of the ‘80s—this time sounding more New Order-esque—is another standout.

These moments, however, are few and far between. By the time the album gets to “Tron Legacy (End Titles)” it has waded through countless orchestral numbers that could belong to any composer. The electronic sounds dotting the background are all that keep them from being totally indistinguishable from the work of Aaron Copland or John Williams. This is not a huge problem for the movie’s viewers; clips online reveal that the music accompanies the film rather well.

But those of us looking for that new Daft Punk record will have to wait a few more years.

Voice’s Choices: “End of Line,” “Derezzed” —Matthew Collins

big screen, big budget adaptation of the video game Drake’s Fortune. It reeks of sell-out, and although there has never been a good adaptation of this sort, Russell, real life buddy to Jonze, could rewrite this upand-coming genre.

Tron: Legacy will certainly reinforce skeptic cinephiles’ fears that mainstream Hollywood has lost all artistic credibility. Truth is, they have all the reason to be upset. But out of the bad will come good. Slowly but surely, grade-A filmmakers like Nolan will rise to the challenge and money will make its way into the right hands. In the meantime, studios need to snap out of their incessant quest for money and make something they can take pride in. After all, money can only feed an ego while it lasts. Win an Oscar, on the other hand, and you’re immortalized in the history books.

Show John that low-budget film you made in your younger days at jsapunor@georgetownvoice.com

fiction

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 13

By Jared “JJ” Watkins

Introduction It’s a rare condition this day and age to read any good news on the newspaper page. Whatever happened to

predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening T.V. And you knew who you were then; girls were girls and men were men … Guys like us we had it made, those were the days.

Relationships

Brief Interruption

Cast & Crew

(in the order of appearance) Family Matters Full House

They were four men living all together, yet they

That includes the products of your sponsor of

The Beverly Hillbillies

in my chair, she won’t know that I’m there. What

Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. Do

The Brady Bunch

love and a time for living. Try, try, try to separate

not give your husband a carton of Philip Morris

pal and a confidant. Come and knock on our door,

you can drink as strong as you like. K-E-Double

everybody knows your name and they’re always

Electric flash bulbs, the flash bulbs you can depend

were all alone. Love, exciting and new. Right alone

the week: Squeeze Comb Lilt Home Permanent.

would we do, baby, without us? There’s a time for

you see how easy it is to make a man happy? Why

them, it’s an illusion. Your heart is true; you’re a

cigarettes? Instant Sanka—the hearty coffee

we’ve been waiting for you. You want to go where

L-O-Double-Good Kellogg’s best to you! General

glad you came. I want Charles in charge of me.

on for better pictures, presents:

Struggle

Control A couple of guys who were up to no good started

barely kept his family fed like Robinson Crusoe as

do when you’re branded and you know you’re a

that countryside. They’ll have theirs, and you’ll have

wrong you do he’s going to see. Been in trouble with

we got them? He’s always on a steady course. A long

the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.

We can rebuild him.

them, but the law never will.

everything you’ve got. A poor mountaineer who

making trouble in my neighborhood. What do you

primitive as can be. Keep Manhattan and give me

man? The eyes of the ranger are upon you, any

yours, and I’ll have mine. Good times—ain’t we lucky

the law since the day they was born. Still wanted by

lost friend gives every dark street a light at the end.

Suicide is painless; someday the mountain might get

Believe it or not I’m walking on air. I’m living on the air in Cincinnati. We got the world spinning right in

our hands. Feels so right, it can’t be wrong. We finally

got a piece of the pie. You’re going to make it after all.

And we’ll do it our way, yes our way.

The Love Boat

Saved by the Bell Family Ties

Who’s the Boss?

Married with Children The Golden Girls

Three’s Company Cheers

Making your way in the world today takes

Success

All in the Family

Conclusion

Charles in Charge Cheers

The Beverly Hillbillies Gilligan’s Island Green Acres

Diff’rent Strokes Good Times Mister Ed

Perfect Strangers

The Six Million Dollar Man

The Greatest American Hero

Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about. When the country was falling apart, Betsy Ross got it all sewed up. And they say he ran away to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Believe it or not it’s just me. As days go by there’s room for you, room for me.

WKRP in Cincinnati Growing Pains Happy Days

The Jeffersons

The Mary Tyler Moore Show Laverne & Shirley

Sponsored Advertising

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Branded

Walker, Texas Ranger The Dukes of Hazard The A-Team M*A*S*H

The Dukes of Hazard

Welcome Back, Kotter Maude

Branded

Star Trek

The Greatest American Hero NITYA RAMLOGAN

Family Matters

voices

14 the georgetown voice

december 9, 2010

Two of a kind? Born as a twin, living as an individual

by Caroline Garity One September day of my senior year in high school, my twin sister and I were riding the Metro when a stranger did a double take and walked over to where we were seated. Right on cue, he began rattling through the usual list of questions, and some new ones.

“Are you twins?” he asked, “Are you identical? Who’s older? By how much? What are your names? If one of you breaks your arm can the other one feel it? Do you ever play tricks on people?”

He treated us as a spectacle, as if we were something people had read about but never seen in real life. Generally these questions don’t bother my twin sister and me—but this particular stranger took his questioning a little too far.

When we asked where we attended school, and we replied that we both wanted to go to Georgetown, the man scoffed at us in utter disgust.

“Are you really going to the same school?” he asked. “Don’t you want to be your own person?”

My sister and I muttered back an excuse, saying that it would be hard to be apart for so long. He seemed to accept our weak response. But I couldn’t get the sting of his question out of my mind. Would going to the same school really prevent us from growing as individuals?

As best friends who had never spent more than a day apart from one another, my sister and I always knew we wanted to go to the same college. This came as no surprise to anyone who knew us in high school, since most knew us as “the Garitys,” or even worse, “the twins.”

When I began to write my first college application essay, I noticed that every story I recalled started with a “we” instead of an “I.” Of course our friends and family thought we had very different personalities, but no one would be able to tell that on paper. Anxious about

having a joint identity, we began picking ourselves apart, dividing our attributes between the two of us so we could come across as different people. I became the English/history “creative” twin and my sister became the math/science “logical” twin. At the time, we were pleased with ourselves—we had succeeded in defining our separate identities by determining who was better at what. We were sure we had discovered a foolproof way of asserting ourselves as individuals. But soon, we realized we could not have been more wrong.

After we had established these distinct identities, our friends started exclusively asking me to edit their papers because I was the “English” twin.

When drama occurred among our friends, everyone would flock to my sister, praising her for her rational way of solving their problems. I became the “animated” one because I told stories well, while my sister began to hold back in

conversation. I found myself doing poorly in math, thinking it wasn’t “my thing.” In my efforts to prove myself as an individual I had become half a person, identifying myself as whatever my sister was not.

It wasn’t until we both successfully arrived at Georgetown that I realized how much I had limited my identity. For the first time there were people in my life who didn’t know I was a twin. I could actually begin a conversation without having to answer, “Which one are you?” or “What are you guys doing tonight?” I could be creative and give advice here; I could even do well in math. I didn’t have to force my personality on people. They could characterize me without using my sister as a reference point. We didn’t have to try to be different, and it was liberating.

Without the pressure to differentiate ourselves, my sister and I found that we still gravitated toward similar activities and social circles. But we didn’t

feel the need to justify being together—we had chosen our interests on our own. On a given day I can go to class as “Caroline” and then to dance practice as “one of the Garitys.” Both of my identities have expanded rather than limited my concept of myself. We have been able to avoid constant comparison while still growing up together and sharing each other ’s experiences.

I realized that my identity is made up of all my interests and personality traits, regardless of whether my sister shares them with me. Now, when strangers ask us pointedly why we chose the same school, I can confidently answer that we wanted to find ourselves, both as “the twins” and as Caroline and Kimberly.

Caroline Garity is a junior in the College. Growing up in a full house, she felt there was so little time to become an individual.

Capitol punishment: Resume requires political betrayal

by Molly Gasparre Last semester, like so many other Georgetown students eager to get their foot in the political door, I braved the Hill as a congressional intern.

I found an office in desperate need of volunteers, and although I was reluctant to sacrifice my class-free mornings and Friday afternoons, the prospect of observing the democratic process was too exciting to pass up.

In an effort to prep for my interview, I referred to the beacon of all things factually sound, Wikipedia, to read up on the congressman. All the basics were covered—state: California; born: November; political party: Republican; alma mat—hold the phone— Republican?

It was at this moment I was caught in the first moral dilemma of my fledgling political career. I am an Obama-loving, NPR-listening, Prius-driving

AMBER REN

Working for Republicans on Capitol Hill may cause a headache ... or a migraine.

liberal through and through.

Could I really flout all natural instincts and work at a Republican office “the belly of the beast,” as my mother put it?

Against all my better judgment I went to the interview, telling myself that experience in any congressional office would be preferable on a resume. Surely I could turn this political lemon into bipartisan lemonade. I was on the second floor of Lau when I received my call: I had been hired as an intern by taking on the guise of a moderate—socially liberal and fiscally conservative. The ultimate cop out.

I must admit I was interested to see if the stereotypes held. Were they all Limbaughworshipping, Bud-drinking NASCAR fans, relying on Fox News for their political education? It turned out that for the most part my conception of Republicans was misguided. I became strangely comfortable with the entire staff; my boss and I shared a love of Lil Wayne, and a fellow intern and I bonded over our Georgetown experiences.

Generally, the office environment was not unlike the fictional Dunder Mifflin. There was the quintessential nosy secretary, the over-achieving intern, and the grumpy office troll. Soon I grew accustomed

to the rhythm of the office, rarely finding myself in situations where I felt morally opposed to the work I was doing.

In fact, the atmosphere was surprisingly apolitical.

Of course, as soon as I started feeling comfortable, Congress started debating the healthcare bill, and the pleasant, non-political discussions at the office transformed into a daily Democrat-bashing fest.

I wanted to stand up on my tiny desk in the intern closet and scream.

From then on, my mornings were spent talking to (sometimes grossly ill-informed) constituents. I understood that I was there to substantiate the congressman’s viewpoint, but I was frustrated that I could not rectify some of the “facts” I had to listen to. The flagrant hypocrisy of a few of the callers killed me. These were people fully dependent on their Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security checks, but they swore up and down that this plan would bring about widespread socialism and signaled the end of democracy. I wanted to yell at everyone in the office and everyone on the phone. My experience on the Hill devolved into an exercise in self-control, as finishing out the internship still meant more to me than a two-minute

tirade that surely would get me fired.

It was not the misinformed American public that got to me. Rather, I cringed more at the people I worked with and their inability to have a reasonable discussion on these issues. While I volunteered across enemy lines, constantly sacrificing my viewpoint for the sake of office discussion and general comfort, my colleagues were adding to the rigidity of the polarizing partisan stalemate.

As an intern my goal was to observe and participate in the U.S. political machine and understand how it grinds. My hope was that well-educated, intellectually curious adults could have political discussions in which our opinions could evolve and decisions could be made on the merit of the issues at hand. Frustratingly, this was not always the case. Nevertheless, I still consider my experience positive. And even though I could never scream like I wanted, the healthcare victory spoke louder than I ever could.

Molly Gasparre is a junior in the College. She now knows that not all Republicans are crazy, redneck NASCAR fans.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Pooh preview delights, but fans will have to bear letdown

by Jeff Sutton After watching only seconds of Disney’s new trailer for Winnie the Pooh, which features copious honey references, a sodepressed-it’s-kind-of-funny Eeyore, and as much nostalgia as possible, I looked into purchasing a ticket for opening night.

Apparently the pre-order service is not provided six months in advance. My expectations for the film are unreasonably high, so high that it will inevitably be a letdown. I know this a full six months before its release. Yet for once I refuse to blame myself. Instead, my anger will be directed at the real culprit—the trailer.

FLICKR

Winnie the Pooh’s trailer entices viewers with a classic “honeypot” operation.

Compromising values Back in late 2004, when George W. Bush was poised to win a second presidential term and Barack Obama was still a lowly state representative campaigning for a Senate seat, you probably would have shrugged if anyone had asked you about the long-term fiscal position of the country. Everything seemed to be fine. Yes, the Bush tax cuts had reduced a significant revenue stream and the country had recently launched a major war. But tax receipts were high, and the economy was strong. Just a few years earlier, President Bill Clinton had managed to balance the budget through smart policy and a bit of luck. Surely it could be done again in a pinch.

Clearly, a lot has changed in the last six years. Thinking back is helpful in understanding much of the current conversation about

America’s long-term fiscal deficit..

The attention of the fickle political media may be currently focused on fiscal matters, but unfortunately much of their conversation is alarmist and misleading.

(The Wall Street Journal titled their coverage of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, “Bernanke: Yuan Too Low; U.S. Must Avoid Greece-Like Debt Crisis”). Meanwhile politicians loudly parade their credentials as deficit hawks before casting votes that say the opposite. Lost in the discourse is the truth: the single best way to address the deficit is through an increase in tax receipts driven by a robust economic recovery.

In response to growing concern about the deficit, Obama convened the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, popularly called the Simpson-Bowles group. Tasked

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Let me get this out of the way: I am the world’s biggest apologist for terrible movies. Maybe I have a humanist bent. Maybe because I pay $10 to watch it, I want to feel against all logic that the movie was worth it. Maybe (OK, likely), I’m an idiot. Whatever the case, I can find something to enjoy in almost every movie, regardless of genre. Marmaduke?

There was a dog wearing sunglasses. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Well, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just sucked.

Regardless, the reason people like me enjoy these movies is that there are no lofty expectations. Take Rambo. I had no problem watching a 60-year-old Sylvester Stallone kill hundreds of terrorists in war-torn Burma because even the trailer had acknowledged how awful that film would be. Most trailers make no attempts to raise expectations— they just throw together some action shots from the movie and slap on a release date.

The Winnie the Pooh trailers of the world, on the other hand, promise something epic. They start with a nostalgic character from our childhood, add some grand, sweeping aphorisms about life, and mix in some

with studying and proposing strategies for deficit reduction, the group released the report of their final recommendations last week to great fanfare. Conservatives and moderate Democrats generally considered the proposal to be a helpful “starting point,” in the words of Senator Judd Gregg (R–NH). On the other hand, many progressives expressed concern over the entitlement cuts included in the report, while Paul Krug-

Carrying On

by Eric Pilch A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

man pointedly criticized the proposed tax revenue cap of 21 percent of GDP. There was never an honest consideration of the direct fiscal effects of the report. On page ten of the proposal, the drafters provide a graph outlining three potential fiscal trajectories. The first scenario shows spending careening upward if probable legal changes—some of which were passed by Congress in a compromise on Monday—go into effect.

The second shows the baseline scenario if the law, as of Dec. 1, continued without change. This

acoustic indie-rock in the background. They do their jobs almost too well. By raising expectations up to a ridiculous level, they bring an audience in—but with the catch that no one will feel the film lived up to what its hype promised.

Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, the 2009 adaptation of the beloved 10-sentence children’s book by Maurice Sendak, drove home this point for me.

(On a side note, writer-director Jonze, who spent almost ten years making the film, apparently spent less than an hour of that time actually writing dialogue.) The trailer boasted that “inside all of us is hope … adventure … a Wild Thing,” as Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” blared in the background.

This was, of course, enough to make me call it the greatest movie ever, sight unseen. The opening weekend crowds proved that I was not alone. Where the Wild Things Are, a PG-rated film, was more popular with adults over 18 years old than with families. It enjoyed a highly successful opening and won first place at the box office.

But then something unexpected happened. The audience

is basically a straight line. The final line shows the trajectory of the Commission’s recommendations.

Interestingly, the Commission’s proposal leads to a higher deficit spending level than the baseline scenario through 2020. After that point, the Commission’s proposal begins to slowly ease downward, theoretically reducing the long-term budget deficit. However, there’s no guarantee future Congresses will see the proposal the same way. Given the difficulties with the proposal, President Obama—or a potential successor in 2012—could actually have a larger effect on the deficit by simply vetoing any bill that was not deficit-neutral.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen in the future, especially with a topic as complicated as the U.S. fiscal deficit. Recall once again that Obama was not even an elected member of the Senate just six years ago, while thenPresident Bush was beginning to push for Social Security privatization. The Simpson-Bowles proposal, which is designed to begin in 2012, will be largely- if not completely- forgotten by the time it would have any real effect in 2020. We can’t fathom what macroeconomic factors—outside the influence of Congress or individual actors—will alter the fiscal

was not impressed. Box office sales dropped off dramatically after its initial release. Most reviewers found it serviceable, and it earned 77 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

But only 59 percent of viewers reported they liked the film— even though we had been set up for a classic. So what happened?

The curse of a great trailer had struck again. Audience expectations had reached unreasonable levels, and fans weren’t ready to accept anything less than perfection.

The same fate likely awaits Winnie the Pooh, no matter how good the film may be. So as I watch the trailer for a third time— watching Pooh beg for honey, listening to Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know,” and waxing nostalgic for my childhood—I can’t help but shake the feeling I will leave the theater this summer feeling like Eeyore: disappointed and wondering how I was pulled in again.

Jeff Sutton is a junior in the MSB. It’s hard for him not to be gloomy about the unfairly high expectations for the next Winnie the Pooh film.

picture at that time, never mind the political improbability of getting the reforms proposed by the Commission put into law.

Which brings me to the compromise on Monday. Republicans and Democrats huddled together to produce a package that will add $900 billion to the deficit.

Setting aside the hypocrisy of Republican lawmakers—who universally railed against the rising debt while relentlessly pushing for lower taxes on the wealthiest Americans’ income and estates— the plan will actually do a lot of good if one overarching idea is accepted. Economically stimulating provisions like the increase in unemployment benefits for another 13 months and the temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts for those making under $250,000 a year are a step in the right direction. Despite its shortcomings, the compromise on Monday amounts to a badly needed $900 billion stimulus package. And in the face of fiscal alarmism, it is a move that will ultimately be vindicated in the long term.

Eric Pilch is a junior in the College. He agrees that the goal of government programs should be to provide some sort of stimulus.

hoyalibs

Dear Santa,

I am _____ to you because I’ve been such a _____ dog this year.

(Verb)

(Adjective)

It’s _____ outside, so please send us some snow; the Hilltop looks (Adjective)

so _____ covered in it. I know it’s _____ week, and everyone is (Proper Noun)

(Adjective)

really stressed. _____ is really sweet, and I want to say thank (Jesuit)

you for him. But there are still a couple things I _____ this (Verb)

season. Please send me lots of yummy dog _____. Also, please (Noun)

send both the _____ teams to the championships this year.

(Sport)

Third, I want all the students to have _____ spirit all year long.

(Proper Noun)

Finally, please send me a (Technology _____ so that I can check _____ (Vox Populi)

Device)

when I’m away over the holidays. It’s the best place to get all the Georgetown _____! I promise I’ll eat lots of boxes if you make all (Noun)

my _____ come true!!!

(Plural Noun)

P.S. - Santa, if you’re interested in checking it out too, theVox Populi website is:

blog.georgetownvoice.com

Love always,

(Jack)