The Georgetown Voice, February 11, 2010

VOICE the georgetown

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BLIZZARD BURIES CAMPUS PAGE 5

THE WRIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB PAGE 6

TOSH.WHOA: AN INTERVIEW PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w Februrary 11, 2010 w Volume 42, Issue 19 w georgetownvoice.com

Chiming in

2 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

comments of the week “What a joke. How can he do that in good conscience to students who already bought train and plane tickets home? What does he expect them to do? Oh, wait. We can spend our family time sitting on Skype with our professors and classes instead.”

—L., “Provost announces liberal leave on Monday for Georgetown University”

“Someone who was threatened with expulsion from the GUSA Senate for failing to ever show up to meetings wants to be GUSA Vice President? This sounds like a great plan to turn GUSA back into the ineffective organization it was before Calen and Jason were elected..”

—Seriously?, “The list of GUSA presidential candidates as provided by the Election Commission”

“I am not walking to 26th Street. If I am going to be doing anything at 6pm, it will be getting absolutely inebriated and not facilitating the chance for some overzealous GW bums to prove that they are indeed not up to Georgetown’s standards.”

—typical, “Georgetown vs. GWU Snowball fight moved back to 6:00 p.m.”

“The part I want to reiterate most is simply that even if we can trust the current senators on the FinApp committee to do this fairly and openly and in a representative and responsible manner, we have DEFINITELY seen over the past years that the senate is too unstable an organization to trust with this kind of extreme authority in the long run.”

—Matt Wagner, “Don’t give GUSA power over your funds”

Talk Back

blog.georgetownvoice.com | georgetownvoice.com

Voice Crossword “Snowed In” by Mary Cass and Jaclyn Wright

ACROSS 1. 70s carpet 5. Star Wars or Twilight 9. Occasionally poisonous root 14. It may be minimum 15. Impetuous ardor

16. A composite glue 17. Undress with the eyes 18. Base of some ethanol 19. Roman goddess of cereal 20. French road 21. Canadian province with a certain je ne sais quoi

23. Hatchling’s site 24. Long way to go?

26. Quirky 28. “La __ En Rose” 29. Baby’s bottle 31. Computer (abbr.)

34. News for gossip mags 37. Angels’ headgear 39. Has been “Kissed by a Rose” 40. Payment for services 41. A great dog 42. Coke’s arch nemesis 44. Performing a moment 47. Inclined 48. Beyond racy 50. Mine treasure 51. Loose gown worn at mass 52. Battle injuries 56. Association (abbr.)

59. Suffering a loss 63. Affirmative at sea 64. Furlough 66. A Filipino machete 67. Closely related 68. She feels pretty, oh so pretty 69. Norwegian treaty city 70. Eye part 71. Slanted 72. “__ a lift?”

73. Brink or verge

letter to the editor On Monday night the Georgetown University Student Association Senate passed an important and necessary by-laws change giving it primary stewardship over the Student Activities Fee and dissolving the Funding Board. The change may not be noticeable to most students at first, but will prove to benefit student life over the long-term.

The change also entrusts greater responsibility with GUSA, something many don’t believe we deserve.

The burden is now on us to prove that we do, and that the disappointments of our past will not be our future.

Last Thursday the Georgetown Voice ran an editorial about our reforms that many, including myself, believe was unfair, hyperbolic, and inaccurate. But, in life there will always be disagreements, and sometimes they come to an impasse. That’s OK. For the past few months the Voice has consistently written tough stories and critical editorials about our reform efforts. That’s OK too. In fact, it’s healthy to be questioned, to be forced to reevaluate, and to defend one’s position. The Voice has done that successfully (at times even to my annoyance).

They have made GUSA better in the process by helping us sharpen our arguments and refine our goals.

The truth is that students don’t care about sniping between GUSA and SAC. They don’t care about the petty controversies that some love to gin up. They don’t care about who sent what e-mail and to whom.

What students do care about is that their clubs get the money they need, that student groups can function freely, and that campus life is strong and vibrant.

Last semester during a GUSA meeting on student funding a club leader told us that he has had to pay out of his own pocket for club activities. He explained that funding is frequently denied even for a dinner with club members. This is not uncommon.

Students should expect better from Georgetown University, and they deserve better. I am confident our new responsibility in funding will help us get more money to student groups and demonstrate that GUSA can be a positive force on campus.

—Colton Malkerson (COL ‘13) Malkerson is a GUSA senator.

answers at georgetownvoice.com DOWN 1. Duel tool 2. ICC base 3. Metal tip on the end of a lance 4. “Gosh golly __!”

5. Tied tightly 6. Botanical balm 7. Vestments 8. Green Gables dweller 9. Part of a min.

10. Overturn 11. Extra 12. Beserkers’ weapons 13. Abnormal growth 21. One of a fivesome, for short 22. Corn on the __ 25. Squashed circles 27. Russian yes 29. Mix together 30. On the ocean 31. Familial group 32. Ping __

33. Milk 34. Ooze 35. Team leader (abbr.)

36. “We’re looking for __ __ good men” 38. “Farewell, François!”

39. Place for a mudbath 43. Sick 45. Hay or corn 46. Horse’s brisk gait 49. Like a receding tide 51. Hammer’s partner 53. Undressed 54. Expiring 55. Haley Joel Osment had 6 of these 56. __ mater 57. Chair 58. Bollywood wrap 60. Jet black 61. Glasses color 62. Women’s magazine 65. Consume 67. Tavern drink

Are you a logophile?

Share your love of words and help write crosswords.

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 42.19 February 11, 2010 Editor-in-Chief: Jeff Reger Managing Editor: Juliana Brint Publisher: Emily Voigtlander Editor-at-Large: Will Sommer Director of Technology: Alexander Pon Blog Editor: Molly Redden News Editor: Kara Brandeisky Sports Editor: Adam Rosenfeld Feature Editor: Tim Shine Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: Chris Heller Voices Editor: Emma Forster Photo Editor: Hilary Nakasone Design Editors: Richa Goyal, Ishita Kohli Literary Editor: James McGrory Crossword Editor: Cal Lee Contributing Editor: Daniel Cook, Dan Newman Assistant Blog Editors: Hunter Kaplan, Imani Tate Assistant News Editors: J. Galen Weber, Cole Stangler Assistant Sports Editors: Nick Berti, Rob Sapunor Assistant Cover Editor: Jin-ah Yang Assistant Leisure Editors: Brendan Baumgardner, Leigh Finnegan Assistant Photo Editors: Jackson Perry, Shira Saperstein Assistant Design Editors: Robert Duffley, Megan Berard

Associate Editors: Matthew Collins, Lexie Herman Staff Writers:

Jeff Bakkensen, Cyrus Bordbar, Tom Bosco, Sonnet Gaertner, Aleta Greer, Victor Ho, Kate Imel, Satinder Kaur, Liz Kuebler, Walker Loetscher, Kate Mays, Scott Munro, Katie Norton, Sean Quigley, Justin Hunter Scott, Sam Sweeney, Keenan Timko, Tim Wagner

Staff Photographers:

Max Blodgett, Jue Chen, Matthew Funk

Staff Designers:

Marc Fichera, Dara Morano, Marc Patterson, Miykaelah Sinclair

Copy Chief: Geoffrey Bible

Copy editors: Aodhan Beirne, Keaton Hoffman, Matt Kerwin, Molly Redden

Editorial Board Chair: Eric Pilch Editorial Board:

George D’Angelo, Emma Forster, Molly Redden, Chris Heller, Imani Tate, J. Galen Weber, Dan Newman, Will Sommer, Brendan Baumgardner, Cole Stanger, Juliana Brint

Head of Business: George D’Angelo

Director of Marketing: Michael Byerly

The Georgetown Voice

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Newsroom: (202) 687-6780 Fax: (202) 687-6763 E-Mail: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover ... A Cappella on Campus Cover Photo: Iris Kim

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the georgetown voice 3

TAKEN OUT BY THE BZA

No remorse in shutting down Philly P What do you call a take-out pizza place poorly masquerading as a sitdown restaurant? Closed.

In the aftermath of this week’s snowstorms, Philly Pizza & Grill, which was supposed to have its final Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing this Tuesday, has been granted a stay of execution until February 16.

When the BZA convenes next Tuesday, ending a months-long hearing process, its members are expected to—and should—hold the restaurant accountable for the pattern of mismanagement and deception exhibited by owner Mehmet Kocak. Kocak irresponsibly opened a restaurant on a residential street without the appropriate zoning allowances. D.C. zoning laws are clear: you break the rules, you pay the price. Philly Pizza should be closed.

The decision to reopen the restaurant on Potomac Street was Kocak’s first

mistake. The former Philly Pizza was successful because it operated on a side street with few neighbors, where it was able to embrace its take-out identity.

Believing that the old business model could succeed in the new location was foolhardy.

Kocak, a manager at Philly Pizza’s former location, skirted the zoning laws by operating as a take-out restaurant despite being zoned as a sit-down establishment. When neighbors, annoyed by the noise and mess created

by Philly Pizza’s often-inebriated latenight patrons, called Kocak out, he made a half-hearted attempt to make the restaurant comply with its zoning regulations. The building may have been renovated and the food may occasionally be served on non-disposable plates with silverware, but Philly Pizza has continued to be what it always has been: a take-out restaurant—the late night hours, low-quality and low-price

slices, and student customer base all but guarantee that status.

If Philly Pizza closes, some may claim it as a victory for Georgetown residents, specifically Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners Ron Lewis and Bill Starrels, who have campaigned against the restaurant for months. But the BZA decision will have little to do with town-gown relations. Kocak explicitly violated zoning laws, invalidating Philly Pizza’s right to continue operating.

It is frustrating to watch the muchloved restaurant disappear, but Kocak had plenty of opportunities to meet zoning requirements. Philly Pizza could have remained on 34th Street NW, or Kocak could have pursued the appropriate zoning allowances after moving the restaurant to Potomac Street. Instead, a weekend staple at Georgetown has to come to an end.

At least we’ll always have Tuscany.

q CAN I SEE YOUR ID?

Guards should swipe for student safety The Department of Public Safety has started a well-intentioned “pilot” security program in Copley Hall this month, requiring student guards to verify students’ GoCard photographs and then swipe each card before allowing them access to the building.

The new procedure addresses some of the biggest weaknesses of the student guard program, and should be expanded to all residence halls.

In theory, student guards play an important role in protecting the campus community. In practice, however, they too frequently shirk this responsibility. Student guards, paid a starting wage of $8.25 per hour, have a reputation for leniency, with many

allowing nearly anyone with a GoCard—theirs or not—access to campus buildings. This new policy forces guards to fulfill their paid duties and more closely monitor the people passing by their desks.

Guards received new instructions regarding the access procedures at Copley in a February 2 e-mail from Luke Hillman, the Assistant Coordinator of the Student Guard Program. Hillman admitted that “this message may not come as welcome news,” foreshadowing grumblings from guards and students alike who feel that the new procedure is a waste of time. But this change is a positive step and constitutes an extremely

small inconvenience that would go a long way toward improving general safety on campus.

Since Georgetown pays students to guard the entrances to residence halls on campus, the University is obligated to enact adequate guidelines that ensure students take the position seriously. DPS should be commended for proactively taking steps to strengthen the student guard program, but increasing the security of just one building isn’t enough. If DPS wants student guards to start playing a real role in keeping the campus safe, the pilot program should be expanded to the rest of campus as soon as possible.

q WHEELS ON THE BUS

Circulating from Dupont to Rosslyn Tired of waiting for those dinky blue Metro Connection buses? You’re in luck: Georgetown students and residents will soon have a new, affordable way to get to the Rosslyn Metro Station. Last week, the D.C. City Council approved preliminary plans for a Circulator route that will run from Dupont Circle to Rosslyn. This new route will replace the blue Metro Connection buses and will not cost the city any additional money, according to John Lisle, a spokesman for the District’s Department of Transportation.

While this new route will not make up for Georgetown’s lack of a Metro stop, it does give students another way to explore the rest of the District. The more mass transit acces-

sible to students, the more encouragement they have to go beyond the front gates and explore beyond the Georgetown bubble.

Since its introduction in 2005, the D.C. Circulator has quickly become one of the cheapest and most reliable ways to get around the city. While the Circulator cannot match the offerings of Metrobus in terms of number of destinations, the sleek, modern buses are certainly more inviting and easier to navigate than their Metrobus siblings.

The Soviet-style design of the many older Metrobuses still in service, combined with their complicated schedules, can be daunting to the uninitiated. The Circulator, by contrast, boasts a simple, color-coded map and just 10 minute in-

tervals between buses.

The Circulator expansion provides a marked improvement on the small blue buses that currently run between Dupont and Rosslyn. The current buses have limited capacity to carry customers and a reputation for less than timely service.

This new proposed Circulator route connecting Dupont Circle and the Rosslyn Metro will benefit Georgetown residents, students, and tourists, supplementing the mass transit options already available in Georgetown. The cheap and efficient Circulator buses are among the best of the District’s mass transit offerings, and we can only hope that more routes will be coming to the rest of the city in the future.

news

4 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

GUSA presidential campaign kicks off

by J. Galen Weber Calen Angert (MSB ‘11) and Jason Kluger (MSB ‘11) After winning last year’s Georgetown University Student Association presidential election as sophomores, Angert and Kluger moved quickly on an ambitious— but often controversial—agenda.

They are now running as incumbents for the first time in recent memory.

In the summer, the newly elected president and vice-president sent out an Omnibus Student Survey, with questions on issues ranging from diversity to student safety, and began creating a subsidized LSAT preparation course for Georgetown students.

When classes started up again in the fall, Calen and Jason began work on the most contentious piece of their agenda: club funding reform. In the first semester, the GUSA Senate passed legislation outlining six recommendations for the advisory boards and creating the GUSA Fund, meant to provide an alternative avenue for event funding. This Monday, GUSA passed legislation consolidating its control over the Student Activities Fee allocation process.

While the passage of the GUSA Fund and funding reform legislation fulfilled one of Angert’s major campaign promises, the legislation was opposed by the leadership of several advisory boards, most notably Student Activities Commission. Two of the candidates running against Angert for the presidency, Arman Ismail (COL ‘11) and Matt Wagner (SFS ‘11), have spoken out against the legislation, turning the debate into an election issue.

The pair has outlined an agenda for their second term focused on

student life, space, conduct, and safety. Their website lists over 20 specific goals that fall under those three categories, including reforming meal plans by increasing student’s flex dollars and expanding Grab and Go hours, creating a task force to reform the Student Code of Conduct, and opening up the GUSA office for club meetings.

Hillary Dang (SFS ‘12) and Katie Balloch (COL ‘12) Of all the tickets in this year’s GUSA presidential race, Dang and Balloch are the most atypical. Dang and Balloch are the only females in the race, the only sophomore pair in a pool of candidates dominated by juniors, and the only candidates who are not current or former members of GUSA. But the two see their lack of experience in Georgetown’s student government as an advantage that will allow them to “bring a fresh outlook to the executive branch.”

“We feel that we could better represent the study body because we have concerns that come from an outsider’s perspective, and that’s what most of the student body is,” Dang said.

Dang and Balloch agree with much of Angert and Kluger’s agenda, praising the incumbents’ efforts on funding reform.

Dang said Monday’s legislation giving GUSA control over the allocation of the Student Activities fee was “a huge step in the right direction,” but added that the bill could create unexpected difficulties.

“There are a lot of potential challenges that could arise,” Dang said, “especially tensions between GUSA and SAC, and mistrust in GUSA.” In addition to continuing funding reform, Dang and Balloch said they

would seek ways to improve student safety at Georgetown. One of their proposals is the creation of a loop for the SafeRides shuttles, which would allow students to access the shuttles at scheduled times and regular locations.

Arman Ismail (COL ‘11) and Tucker Stafford (COL ‘12) Ismail and Stafford don’t look like your typical running mates.

Ismail is a junior and current GUSA senator double majoring in history and government. His vicepresidential running mate, Tucker Stafford, is a sophomore who plays varsity football and lacrosse and has never been involved with GUSA. Their differences are what sets them apart from other candidates, according to Ismail.

“Tucker and I have, I feel, the right balance: that unique combined experience we have understanding how things work inside GUSA and the fresh perspective from outside GUSA,” Ismail said.

If elected, Ismail says the two will

we need to be consistent with that spirit. A lot of things in our platform will help us do that.”

Much of the ticket’s platform focuses on issues that Ismail and Stafford feel often go unaddressed, including making the campus more accessible for disabled students and creating a liaison between the GUSA executive and the LGBTQ community.

Some of Ismail and Stafford’s goals are broad, like strengthening the Latin American Studies Program.

Others are startlingly specific, including one reform goal for Leo’s.

“We’ll make sure we have more utensils available, especially forks,” Ismail said.

Matt Wagner (SFS ‘11) and Emmanuel Hampton (COL ‘11) Both Wagner and Hampton

served in the GUSA Senate last year.

But after Hampton was pushed to resign after missing three GUSA meetings, and Wagner chose not to seek reelection so that he could study abroad in the fall, both candidates found themselves outside the GUSA loop. Discontented with Angert and Kluger’s leadership, they are now launching a campaign for the GUSA presidency.

Wagner and Hampton have been the most vocal critics of the Angert and Kluger administration, especially on the issue of funding reform.

The two believe that the reform was motivated primarily by discontent with the Student Activities Commission, and that any legislation should be directed primarily at SAC, not the other advisory boards. The candidates have proposed repealing the legislation passed on Monday and instead reforming the way SAC commissioners are chosen. “[Our solution] would just target the problem and not scoop up a ton of dolphins with the tuna,” Wagner said.

The candidates have also outlined several reforms outside of club funding, such as adding Grab and Go to the block meal plan and requiring a standard of “beyond reasonable doubt” to convict a student of breaking the Student Code of Conduct.

Wagner and Hampton’s campaign has come under fire because of Hampton’s absences as a GUSA senator. When asked about his resignation from the senate, Hampton says that financial difficulties forced him to choose between serving as a GUSA senator and working a job, but that his financial standing would not be an issue should he become vicepresident.

“Since then I’ve been able to save up money and put myself in a better financial position,” Hampton said.

ing the funds from the fee at the annual spring Budget Summit. Under the new bill, however, members of the Finance and Appropriations Committee will analyze the advisory boards’ positions and then propose a budget, which must then be approved by two-thirds of the general Senate and by the GUSA president.

Several amendments were added to the bill on Monday night, including requirements that the process involve faculty oversight, and that members of the Finance and Appropriations Committee attend comprehensive information sessions about the funding process.

One proposed amendment, which would have created a formal appeals process for advisory boards that feel they have not been allocated adequate funds, was tabled until the Senate’s next meeting.

Many Senators, including the bill’s co-sponsor Colton Malkerson (COL ’13), argued that such an amendment was unnecessary and would drag out the budgeting process.

“There’s already an inherent appeals process built into the system.

[Advisory boards] can talk to the FinApp Committee, they can talk to the Senate, they can talk to the Executive,” Malkerson said. “[With the proposed amendment] you’d

see appeals each year [which] could tend to bog down the Senate.”

While the bill’s co-sponsors, Malkerson and Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Nick Troiano (COL ’11), expressed enthusiasm about the bill’s passage, advisory board leaders are worried what the implications will be for their future budgets.

Donna Harati, the chair of the Center for Social Justice’s Advisory Board, said she is concerned about the timing of the allocation process. Under the new system, the budgeting process will not begin until after GUSA’s presidential elections are decided, leading Harati to

worry that her groups will not have enough time to start planning largescale events for the upcoming year.

“Our biggest concern is how this is going to affect our time line,” Harati said. “It is really going to throw our process into disarray.”

Malkerson said the Finance and Appropriations Committee will be spending the next few weeks working on the logistics of the new budgeting system. After the GUSA presidential election is over, he said, the committee will start looking at the next aspect of its funding reform campaign, changing the structure of the Student Activities Fee Endowment.

work to return Georgetown to its Jesuit roots.

“The idea of the Jesuit spirit of service has been at the heart of Georgetown since it was created,” Ismail said. “A lot of people feel that

And they’re off! This year’s GUSA candidate pairs.

J. Galen Weber

Landmark vote: GUSA consolidates power over activity fee

by Juliana Brint The Georgetown University Student Association Senate passed a bill to strip advisory boards of their votes in the allocation of the Student Activities Fee by a vote of 19 to four at their Monday night meeting.

The bill, which faced strong opposition from the advisory boards, gives GUSA’s Finance and Appropriations Committee sole control over the allocation process.

In the previous system, the seven members of the Finance and Appropriations Committee and one representative from each of the six advisory boards voted on allocat-

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 5

Campus copes with blizzard

by Molly Redden Amid a series of massive snow storms that have broken the 1899 record for seasonal snowfall in the District, Georgetown University has canceled classes at its campuses for a fourth consecutive day. In addition to preventing faculty and staff from safely reaching campus, the most recent blizzard has disrupted food deliveries and frustrated professors’ lesson plans.

In an e-mail to the Voice, Provost James O’Donnell explained the University has been discussing potential closures with faculty every day, and that every day there are a few faculty who are in favor of keeping school open. But the general consensus has typically been in favor of closing the University, especially at the beginning of the week.

“We’re all worried about keeping up academically,” O’Donnell wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday. “It’s faculty, staff, and students (mainly graduate students) who live away from campus and who both have to get out of their neighborhoods (still impossible for some) and then get here safely and get home safely in the evening.”

Several professors have used the technological resources provided by Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning to stay connected with their students, including video

conferencing. Daniel Sabet, a visiting assistant professor at the School of Foreign Service, attached audio to a PowerPoint presentation and sent it to his class, and Professor Diana Owen used a “real-time blog” to host a discussion between her students in lieu of her Tuesday morning Media and Politics seminar.

In a Wednesday evening e-mail to the student body, O’Donnell wrote that the University will be open and operating on liberal leave next Monday, and that he has asked the Council of Associate Deans to schedule another make-up day later in the semester. Student response to his announcement was immediate and overwhelmingly negative. Within an hour and a half of his announcement, a Facebook group protesting the decision, “Protect Our National Holiday! Say No To Monday Classes!!!” had over 1,100 student members.

“They can’t give us three days notice for taking away a long weekend scheduled since the beginning of the year! I and many other people have travel plans,” Constantine Petallides (SFS ‘13) wrote on the group’s wall.

According to University spokespersonAndy Pino, Leo J. O’Donovan’s Dining Hall is well-stocked for the duration of the storm and was not having “any substantial issues with food deliveries” as of Wednesday morning.

GU diversity The Admissions and Recruitment Working Group, which was formed last spring as part of the University’s diversity initiative, recently released a list of recommendations to increase diversity in Georgetown’s admission’s and recruitment process. As President DeGioia and Provost James O’Donnell review the group’s recommendations, they should give special consideration to the value of socio-economic diversity, which is often overlooked.

The value of diversity lies in the educational benefits that come from interactions between students of different backgrounds. In past years, a great deal of attention has been devoted to accomplishing racial and cultural diversity at colleges, but less thought has been given to creating a student body drawn from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds.

A student’s views and experiences will vary widely depending on his

or her financial background, and a student body that draws primarily from the middle and upper-class will only have superficial diversity.

Ryan Wilson, who worked with the Admissions and Recruitment Working Group, said that the University recognizes it needs to do more to promote socio-economic diversity.

“Over half of Georgetown student’s families make well over the median income in this country,” Wilson wrote in an e-mail. “We acknowledged early in the process that this was the area that Georgetown was lacking the most.”

Georgetown will continue to suffer from a lack of socio-economic because the current structure of the admissions and recruiting process favors wealthier applicants.

The underlying problem is that students from wealthy families have numerous advantages in the college application process, while poorer students are less likely to even think about attending college. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 51 percent

“A lot of people have volunteered their time to stay away from their families,” Zemirah Benson, an employee at Leo’s, said. Benson said the dining hall has been heavily trafficked. “Students are pleasant, very thankful, [and] very hungry.”

Across the University, however, other food establishments are having trouble. Epicurean, the restaurant in the basement of Darnall, has remained open, but Cosi in the Leavey Center has been closed all week. The neighboring Starbucks has been operating on reduced hours. With the exception of More Uncommon Grounds, The Corp has kept its stores on campus open, but road conditions have blocked or delayed deliveries.

“We’re trying to keep the shelves as full as possible, but obviously we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature on this one,” Brad Glasser (COL ‘11), the chief executive officer of the Corp, wrote in an e-mail on Wednesday.

According to Pino, the University is well stocked with salt to melt the snow and Facilities workers are opening storm drains in anticipation of flooding when the snow melts. Emergency personnel staff, including Georgetown University Hospital workers, student guards, and Department of Public Safety officers have still been required to come to campus. of high school seniors from low socio-economic backgrounds expect to attain a bachelor’s degree, compared to 87 percent of seniors from high socio-economic backgrounds.

Even if they earn admission to Georgetown, poorer students are often deterred by the costs of attending the University. According to the Office of Admissions, this past year, 49 percent of accepted

Saxa Politica

by J. Galen Weber

A bi-weekly column on campus news and politics students who did not apply for financial aid matriculated, while only 39 percent of those admitted who did apply for financial aid ended up attending. Even the students that do accept financial aid from Georgetown could be considered wealthy: their median family income is $90,000, which is $40,000 higher than the national average.

While Georgetown claims to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need,

Hilary Nakasone

No business like snow business: A dreary scene on Wisconsin.

With snow, businesses struggle

by Kara Brandeisky Many Georgetown businesses have struggled to stay open through the record-breaking snowstorms of the past week.

Most businesses that have tried to maintain normal operating hours have had difficulty staying stocked and fully staffed.

Many businesses—including Sweetgreen, Fed Ex, AT & T, Subway, Kitchen #1, Wingo’s, and Saxby’s—were closed Wednesday afternoon. Of the stores that remained open, many are struggling to get employees to work safely.

The Tombs’ employees have reserved eight rooms at the Georgetown Suites in order to stay closer to the restaurant, according to Executive Manager Ken Siegrist, The Tombs’ will work to maintain normal operating hours, he said, but may have to close the kitchen early due to short staffing. we’re clearly doing something wrong. Students who really need the aid are not getting as much as they would like from Georgetown and are deciding to attend other institutions instead.

To begin bringing real socioeconomic diversity to Georgetown, administrators need to expand our financial aid program, work on actively recruiting students from lower income families, and begin giving preferences to applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds in admission.

With the launch of the 1789 Scholarship Initiative, Georgetown has already begun taking the first step. The initiative is designed to increase the amount of aid money for students that need it. Georgetown has shown admirable devotion to socio-economic diversity by maintaining its need blind policy during the economic crisis, even as other colleges have ended or delayed putting theirs into effect.

Georgetown currently has several pipeline relationships

Chipotle manager Omar Bravo said his restaurant’s operating status also depends on whether employees can get to work safely.

“If the weather continues like that, there is nothing we can do,” Bravo said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the CVS on Wisconsin Ave. NW had run out of both milk and orange juice. An employee who wished not to be named said CVS received its orange juice and milk from outside vendors, and it was unclear when they would be back in stock. He said other deliveries have also been delayed due to weather.

Stores that have managed to stay open and adequately staffed have had difficulties staying stocked. Wisey’s manager Jina Bogel said the store has been relying on wholesale warehouses to keep the shelves stocked.

with schools like the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago to reach students that would generally not apply to Georgetown.

Administrators should follow the suggestion of the Admissions and Recruitment working group and increase the number of pipeline relationships.

But the difference between Georgetown’s current student body and the socio-economically diverse ideal is so great that it cannot be overcome through conventional financial aid and recruitment efforts. In the interest of closing the gap, Georgetown should give special consideration to students from poor families, students whose socioeconomic statuses have denied them the opportunities afforded to wealthier applicants. This is the only way Georgetown can expect to achieve true diversity quickly and effectively.

Have some money issues you want to share? Shoot Galen an e-mail at gweber@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

Number four is the Wright man to lead Georgetown

by Tim Shine After Georgetown’s resounding 103-90 victory over Villanova, sophomore Greg Monroe declared of this Hoyas squad, “We’re as good as we want to be.” Based on how the season has gone so far, it might have been more accurate to say the Hoyas are as good as Chris Wright wants to be.

Monroe is probably the team’s most valuable player, and Austin Freeman its go-to scorer, but Wright is Georgetown’s bellwether, the player whose individual performance most closely correlates with the team’s fortunes.

Often charged with running the point for the Hoyas, Wright has the responsibility of facilitating Coach John Thompson III’s modified Princeton offense.

But the 6-foot-1-inch junior is also a prolific scoring threat.

It’s an oft-quoted statistic but it bears repeating: when Wright scores in double figures Georgetown is 16-0, and just 2-5 when he doesn’t.

The Hoyas’ win against Villanova, in which Wright scored just seven points before fouling out, raised questions about the validity of the double-figure rule. But the fact remains that Wright must find a balance between equitably distributing the ball and looking for his own shot.

“I think my role both in terms of scoring and getting my teammates the ball is very important,” Wright said. “My role on this team is evident. I have to be a leader.”

Wright is at his best when he can lead by example, like he did Tuesday night against Providence.

The Hoyas trailed by as much as eight in the second half, but with 12 minutes to play, Wright drove to the basket, drew a foul, and converted the three-point play, scoring his magic tenth point and giving Georgetown a one-point lead. That sparked a Wright scoring break-out en route to a 21 point game.

“Chris has always been very skilled offensively and defensively,” sophomore backcourt mate Jason Clark said. “I think the thing that he’s really developed is his leadership. He has been a leader to everybody on the team. I think he could have been that leader a while ago but—I don’t know what pulled it out of him, but he’s become a very, very good leader and a lot of people look up to him on the team.”

The difference between this season and last for Wright is the way his teammates view him.

Last year Wright was a sophomore who had never played a Big East regular season game due to injury. This year, Wright is one of the Hoyas’ most experienced players, and he has embraced the responsibilities of being a veteran.

Wright knows he has to hold himself to a higher standard.

Providence marked a welcome turnaround for Wright after two lackluster performances.

And while his foul-limited performance against Villanova did not prevent Georgetown from

HILARY NAKASONE

Chris Wright has played a pivotal role as a floor leader for the Hoyas.

winning, he said he was disappointed with his performance in last week’s loss to South Florida.

“I think [against USF] offensively I wasn’t there,” Wright said. “And defensively I played OK. It just wasn’t a game I should have played.”

Wright’s teammates have taken notice of the pressure he puts on himself.

“He works really hard off the court,” junior forward Julian Vaughn said. “Even when he has a good game he’ll be in

the gym, getting extra shots and stuff to stay hot, stay ready.”

Even with a trip to lowly Rutgers coming up next, Wright is surely hitting the gym just as hard as he will be for a visit from Syracuse next week. Losses like the one to USF have reinforced the fact that no team can be overlooked, and Wright knows his teammates are watching and listening to him.

“He’s probably the most vocal leader we have at this point,” Vaughn said. “I’m real proud of him. He’s really stepped up his

game from last year to this point.”

As far as Wright has come, there will still be moments when his game is off, when his shots aren’t falling. And as we head through February into March, every decision he makes with the ball in hand becomes increasingly critical. But with plenty of experience now, Wright knows his task is simple.

“Just read the defense,” Wright said. “I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. It’s not anything [where] I have to reinvent the whole wheel.”

The Sports Sermon

“It’s the music and the costumes that turn most men off, [even though] they want to see spandexed men hitting each other’s ass and throwing a ball” — U.S. Figure Skater Johnny Weir

ful football franchise, a place where New Orleans residents could come to cheer on their It was a scene that tugged Saints and escape the problems on heartstrings: Drew Brees, of their post-Katrina lives. On with tears in his eyes, holding Sundays, the Saints provided a his young son on the podium respite, and hope. after the Super Bowl. The Saints New Orleans is still recovhad just defeated the Colts in ering from Katrina. But after a convincing victory, bringing watching the Super Bowl feshome the first championship tivities, it’s clear that sports in franchise history. This year’s can be a true source of healing Super Bowl and the circumfor those in need. stances around it serves as an The game didn’t solve any inspiring reminder of the potenof the serious problems still contial of sports. fronting New Orleans, but there Sport can bring redemption is no doubt that the to those who seek Pete Rose Central success of a franchise it. After the 2005 Da bettin’ line can seriously alter season, Brees found the outlook and attihimself in the office Dookies Margin Hoyas tudes of a city. of James Andrews, a (underdogs) (duh!) (favorites) On Tuesday, tens renowned sports surTorino repeat of thousands of jugeon. The news was Bode Miller Alcohol bilant fans lined the not good. He had 3 pt. Shootout Dunk Contest No Lebron streets as the Saints dislocated his shoulWork Week It’s D.C. Snow came marching der in the last game into downtown New Orleans needed escape during times of of the year, and the extreme on floats, throwing beads and great struggle or crisis. No one twist and pressure caused by toasting the city. There was a will soon forget the images of the hit shredded his labrum and palpable sense of happiness New Orleans as Hurricane Kadamaged his rotator cuff. He and relief as a city known for trina ravaged the region. Devwas given a 25 percent chance of the misfortune of Katrina beastation was everywhere, as playing football again. came the temporary capital of homes, businesses, and lives If the injury wasn’t bad the sporting world. An event were destroyed. The Superdoenough, he was no longer under like this creates unbelievable me, whose roof was torn apart, an NFL contract. After months amounts of pride, which makes became the home for thousands of strenuous rehabilitation, two everything seem OK and easier of New Orleans residents strugteams were willing to talk with to face life’s challenges. gling to pick up the pieces.

Brees and his agent. His former Sure, in the end, this was After the storm subsided, team, the Chargers, was not just another entertaining Super the Superdome was repaired, among them. Brees was ultiBowl. But talk to Drew Brees, and the Saints came home. mately picked up by New Orthe rest of the Saints, or a citiSlowly, the stadium stopped beleans, and the match was perzen of New Orleans, and they ing just a symbol of the horrors fect. He threw himself into his will most definitely tell you of Katrina. Instead, it became life in New Orleans, choosing to otherwise. known as the home of a successlive in a part of New Orleans still

by Adam Rosenfeld

reeling from Katrina. He embraced the community, and the community embraced him. New Orleans and Brees grew with each other, and over the next few years both became stronger.

This year saw a fantastic season capped by a Super Bowl win.

The quarterback shunned by his old team, with a 25 percent chance of ever throwing an NFL pass again was given a chance, in a city needing help, and he delivered a championship.

The win also showed that sports can provide a much-

sports

Hoyas ready for Big East Championships

by Rob Sapunor Coming off a sweep against Howard last week in their final home meet of the season, the men and women’s swimming and diving teams looked to finish the regular season with a trip to College Park to face the University of Maryland. Both teams were defeated by the Terps, but the main goal of the meet—to have as many swimmers and divers as possible qualify for the upcoming Big East Championships—was accomplished, with six Hoyas garnering berths.

On the women’s side, divers Rebecca Jenkinson and Angela Pontes qualified for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, each setting personal records in the 3 meter dive at the meet. Jenkinson’s score of 281.93 also secured her a school record. Fresh-

man Laura Noisten also swam 1:11.53 in the women’s 100 breaststroke, qualifying her for the Big East Championships.

The men’s team was able to qualify five more Hoyas for the Big East championships during the meet against Maryland with Brad Murray, Tom Cooke, Keenan Timko, Robert Gokey, and Alexander Robinson all reaching the required times by swimming to new personal records.

Both squads are looking toward the Big East Championships, with the divers starting competition on Friday and swimming starting next Wednesday.

“This is why we train for 26 weeks,” Head Coach Steven Cartwright said. “It’s the culmination of everything we’ve worked for.”

Cartwright has high hopes for his Hoyas, bringing Georgetown’s largest ever Big East Champion-

ship team to Pittsburgh. He attributes much of the team’s success this year to the team’s strong leadership, notably from the captains.

“They’ve been instrumental to the direction of the team since we started this journey back on September 1,” Cartwright said.

Cartwright anticipates the Hoyas to show very well in Pittsburgh.

“I expect everyone to go out there and have a lifetime best meet,” Cartwright said. “If we can bring back lots of top-8 and top-16 finishers, while improving on our point total from last year, then the meet will be a success.”

Heading into the meet, the men hope to make up for an underwhelming season—while the women, bolstered by a particularly strong crop of freshmen, seek to finish off their successful run with a solid post-season.

the georgetown voice 7

Latia Magee

What Rocks

georgetownvoice.com

HILARY NAKASONE

Georgetown University currently has two basketball teams ranked in the top 25 nationally. This is common territory for the men’s team, but not for the women’s squad. A huge part of this new success is sophomore forward Latia Magee, who has started every game this year for the Hoyas.

Hailing from Tulsa, Okla., Magee came to Georgetown as a highly touted forward with lots of talent. Although she had a very strong freshman year, Magee has improved immensely off the court since her freshman year.

“Last year, it was all new,” Magee said. “Now, I know my role on the team, and I come completely prepared to

play basketball when I get to the gym.”

Magee is propelled more by her determined work ethic than natural talent, which is reflected in her style of play—aggressive defense and unafraid to hit the floor to win a scrap for the ball.

Magee had one of her best games of the season against St. John’s on February 2 when she racked up twelve points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

“My teammates helped me out a lot that game, they really pumped me up,” Magee said. “I knew that my team needed me to step up that game, and I was able to work hard and play well.”

—Adam Rosenfeld

shira saperstein

The final push: the Hoyas have worked all season to perform well at the Big East Championship meet.

Hoya bench keeps it cool

The Georgetown men’s basketball team bench has been criticized all year. It contributes less than 25 percent of minutes played each game and only averages nine points per game.

Apart from Hollis Thompson, our bench players are applauded when they manage to give the starters a rest without messing things up. How can the seventh best squad in the country have a bench that seemingly contributes nothing?

First of all, the Hoyas have an amazing starting five. Every starter is capable of scoring 20 points on any given night, which makes having a good bench less important. But maybe the bench isn’t as bad as we think it is.

It’s easy to look at box scores and judge a team, but paper only says so much. In any sport, a team’s success isn’t solely based on skill. The intangibles are also important. Chemistry and overall attitude play a huge role in a team’s success. Georgetown students witnessed this first-hand last year when a team loaded with talent couldn’t put it together, eventually crashing because of bad chemistry. This year, the chemistry is completely different and every player brings a positive attitude to the court and the locker room—the bench is an integral part of that change.

The prime example of how the bench affects the team is Hen-

ry Sims. Sims averages eight minutes a game, but has seen those numbers dwindle since Big East play started, usually only coming on to the court during garbage time. Fortunately, he hasn’t let the lack of playing time affect him.

Instead, he is embracing his role, cheering his teammates on and

Backdoor Cuts

by Nick Berti a rotating column on sports getting the crowd pumped up.

Last week during warm-ups for the Villanova game, Sims was so thankful to all the students who showed up for the game that he ran into the student section and danced with fans, inciting a frenzy that lasted for the whole game.

When Sims came into the game

in the last minute, fans showered him with cheers, wanting to see him succeed.

Sims’s playful attitude also helps his teammates stay loose during the brutal Big East season.

The social networking site Twitter has provided the 6-foot-10 center with plenty of ways to joke around with his teammates. MajesticOne30, as he is known on the website, loves making fun of his teammates, saying Jason Clark “lives heavily on his mood rings” and “owns several pair of Victoria Secrets ‘PINK’ sweatpants.”

Sims’s attitude has seemed to rub off on his younger teammates as well. The rest of the bench has embraced their role, cheering on the starters while waiting for JTIII to call their names. They too elicit cheers

from the fans when they step onto the court.

This playful atmosphere was something that the team really missed last season.

Although it is easy for everyone to be happy when the team is winning, the positive chemistry has helped the most after painful losses. Every loss this season has been followed by an emphatic win—a huge improvement over last year’s seemingly endless string of defeats. As the season goes on and the bench continues to get criticized, remember that basketball is more than just a game of numbers; the bench might just be our secret weapon.

Keep Nick pumped up at nberti@georgetownvoice.com

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8 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

When you’re a Chime, you’re a Chime all the way

by Tim Shine

Last Saturday night, the audience in Gaston Hall erupted in laughter as a nearly unintelligible cacophony rang out. On stage, an unlikely cast of characters—a bourbon-drinking Jesuit, Jersey Shore’s the Situation, and Midnight Madness toilet-shooter Alex Thiele, to name a few—sang out simultaneously.

Despite their disparate identities, the characters’ connection was apparent from their striped, flat-bottomed neckties: they were all Georgetown Chimes.

The characters, on the other hand, were definitely not Chimes.

The men were performing “Occupations,” one of the a cappella group’s classic routines, in which each singer answers the question of what he would be if he were not a Georgetown Chime. The group performed in front of a crowd that had braved one of the worst snowstorms Georgetown had ever seen to witness the 37th Annual Cherry Tree Massacre.

For the nine men on stage and the 215 others who came before them, “Occupations” tries to answer an almost unfathomable question—who would they be without the Chimes? The Chimes are more than just an a cappella group to them. It is a brotherhood steeped in 64 years of tradition, and the defining experience of their time at Georgetown—and in some ways, their time after too.

Cherry Tree Massacre, created by the group almost four decades

ago, serves as a showcase of the Chimes’ history as much as their impressive vocal range. Needless to say, a lot of work goes into preparing for the concert.

“It was a culmination of a week and a month of always thinking about it, always practicing,” Scott Moody (MSB ’10) said of Cherry Tree. “We practice four times a week. We’d practice Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday of every week … All the work that we put in really showed and really paid off in the end.”

As the Chimes’ current leader, Moody would know. Called the ephus, which means “leader among equals,” Moody was the one responsible for leading the Chimes’ preparation and performance.

Moody said that about Cherry Tree five hours before he would be on stage acting out the role of a jobless business school senior. He was rehashing the inaugural show of the night before, the first of five Cherry Tree concerts this month.

Shortly removed from his first performance and with just a few hours until his next, Moody spent his brief recovery time on his laptop in the Chimes House, the gray townhouse near the corner of 36th and Prospect Streets NW that serves as home base for all things Chimes.

Fellow Chimes filed in and out of the house. Some were returning from the basketball game at the Verizon Center, where a week earlier the group had sung the Star Span-

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Look at this photograph: The Chimes House holds photos of all past Actives.

gled Banner in front of President Barack Obama (and over 20,000 others). Others could be heard in the back of the house, singing.

The Chimes House serves alternately—and sometimes seemingly simultaneously—as practice space, party space, and living space for the group. Moody doesn’t live there (“My parents did not want me to live here, just because of the state of the house,” he said). But Arthur Woods (MSB ’10), a fellow Chimes senior, wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

“It’s like kind of living in a huge commune in some ways,” Woods said. “Everyone’s using the house, hanging out, drinking, or studying, doing work, singing.

It’s a good experience.”

Of course, when you lose count of how many people have keys to your house and you are hosting frequent parties, coming home can be an adventure.

“Going upstairs after a party, I never cease to be amazed at what I find,” Woods said.

If the Chimes were a fraternity, then 3611 Prospect Street NW would obviously be the frat house.

But that’s a comparison the group members take issue with.

“It’s not a frat,” Matthew Gorey (COL ’12) said. “A frat is united by a common desire to have friends in college and drink a lot of alcohol. Whereas I would say that if you are a part of this group, it’s because you are very, very close with the other people in this group and you like to sing.

Ultimately that’s the reason people keep coming to reunions for decades.”

The Chimes certainly have a strong sense of tradition and institutional memory. Each new Chime is even numbered in succession, right down to #224, Jimmy Dailey (COL ’11). Any of the current members, known in Chimes parlance as Actives, can not only recall the names of Chimes from years and decades past, they have personal friendships with them.

The Actives meet and talk with older Chimes throughout the year, but Cherry Tree Massacre is an especially common time for alumni to return to George-

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With arms wide open: For Cherry Tree, the Actives welcome back former Chimes. town. On Saturday afternoon, some of the Actives talked about how the Chimes House can turn into a boarding house for visiting alumni.

Seemingly on cue, Rich Del Bello (MSB ’06) and Eddie Keels (COL ’06) enter the house, bags in tow.

“I love the fact that we can roll in, in the snow, after hitching a ride, and walk in and be home,” Keels said. “When we’re in the Georgetown area … we know that our home is here. We walk in and we weren’t like, ‘I wonder if anybody’s home?’ This is our house, forever.”

That may seem a bit presumptuous of Keels, but that’s really how the Chimes work.

Even though none of the current Actives were at Georgetown with Keels and Del Bello, they are welcomed with open arms. And not just as a courtesy to alumni—the two are greeted as close friends.

Part of the process of becoming a Chime involves getting to know former Actives. That doesn’t mean just making phone calls or collecting signatures. It’s about forming real relationships with the men who sang the same songs before you.

“You hear people talk about frats,” Keels said. “It’s one thing to be a frat, where the hazing is in the forefront, and where all that crap and drinking and all that stuff is really what it’s all about. Then you get a group like this. And whereas we love our drinks—believe me—it’s kind of nice that the whole [idea of] ‘frat’

coming from the word brother is really in the center.”

Still, the empty cans of Keystone and half-eaten Wisey’s strewn around the Chimes House on a Saturday afternoon can’t help but call to mind the other connotation of “frat.” It also doesn’t help matters that the leftover debris from the post-concert celebration was cleaned up by aspiring Actives.

They would be the Neophytes, more commonly known as Neos, the Chimes’ singers-in-training.

Once a student auditions and demonstrates the requisite vocal talent to be a Chime, then the hard work of the Neo process begins.

On Saturday, Tyler Holl (COL ’13) was one of the Neos found tidying up the house. For him, a little bit of labor hardly seems like a punishment or hazing. It’s just fair.

“That doesn’t really bother me,” Holl said of the cleaning. “I think it’s all just part of the process. We all live here. I mean, this is my house too. Part of this mess is mine. So it’s just kind of what you have to do. You have to clean your dorm room every once in a while. You’ve got to clean the house too.”

Cleaning is hardly the most demanding part of the Neophyte process. To earn their Chimes tie, Neos must learn the Chimes’ vast repertoire, requiring the memorization of upwards of 100 songs.

A deep knowledge of the group’s history and traditions is needed as well. Neos are supposed to contact former Actives and get to

feature

georgetownvoice.com know them—that’s how someone like Del Bello or Keels can walk back into the house years after graduating and feel right at home. “[For] the Neo process, these guys need to know who we are, they need to know all these guys [in pictures] on the wall,” Del Bello said. “They know all of us, they’ve heard stories about us.”

With all the requirements, it’s no surprise that the transition from Neo to Active can take well over a year. Holl, who auditioned at the beginning of last semester, estimated he spends one to two hours a day working in some way toward becoming a Chime.

Currently he has about 65 songs memorized and is still scratching the surface of the group’s history.

“It’s so rewarding that it doesn’t really even matter how much work you have to do, just because it’s just such a great group and you really want to be a part of it,” Holl said. “I think that’s what was really exciting for me, that it wasn’t just you learn a couple of songs and then you move on after four years and that’s it, you never talk to anyone again.”

However great the reward of finally becoming an Active, the extended Neophyte period unavoidably produces attrition. Of the 15 or so new Neos who came in with Holl in the fall, only about half remain.

Those who do stick it out get a crash course in what it means to be a Chime. The wisdom and stories of alumni far removed from their college experience can help put the meaning of the Chimes in perspective to the Neos, many of whom are fresh out of high school and simply looking for a group to sing with.

One of the former Actives that the current and aspiring Chimes have learned the most from is Tim Naughton (MSB ’77).

Naughton serves as Chimes President, an elected position that handles long-term planning and many of the non-singing func-

HILARY NAKASONE

Our house: The Chimes’ home base.

tions of the group.

“The first thing I try to do [when talking to new Chimes] is remind them they’re not at Georgetown to be a Chime, they’re there to be a student,” Naughton said. “But the second thing I tell them is that I’m still learning how wonderful it is to be in the Chimes. The experiences for me just keep coming.”

Every Chime has countless stories to share about who they performed for, where they travelled, and what they did with their fellow Chimes. Even though they see each other nearly every day while school is in session, many of their favorite memories are of trips they all took together—anticipation for this year’s spring break trip to Germany was palpable.

The more Chimes that get together, the more powerful the experiences, like at a small reunion last year in New York.

“There were like 30 guys there, and everyone’s just been drinking and singing all night,” Gorey

“I really like the sound of just men’s voices, not men and women mixed,” Holl said. “I really knew that I wanted to join an a cappella group that was all men.”

Such gender division is not unique to the Chimes. While there are a number of co-ed a cappella groups at Georgetown, the Captiol G’s are also all-male, while groups such as the GraceNotes and Harmony are exclusively female.

It is their shared love of song that makes the Chimes’ fraternal bonds so strong. A Chime from any era can meet any other and, thanks to the repertoire they learned as a Neo, they can sing together.

“There’s a unique friendship that can form from performing and singing with someone,” Woods said. “You establish a connection. The idea of a quartet—you have to form a cohesive bond with the people you’re singing with, otherwise you get off rhythm, you’re not singing the right thing. In doing that there’s, I think, actually more of a sublimi-

HILARY NAKASONE

History Boys: The walls of the Chimes House serve as the group’s archives. said. “At like two in the morning there were like 15 of us up on the rooftop, overlooking Central Park smoking cigars, and it started snowing. And we were just screaming music. And there were people from across the street, 20 floors up, opening their window while we were singing Christmas music, and cheering, and singing Christmas music. You get access to ridiculous experiences.”

What’s striking about the stories the Chimes tell is how often music and singing remain the core of the experience. With all their talk of fraternity and brotherhood, the fact can almost get lost that the Chimes are Georgetown’s most accomplished a cappella group.

These men, as close as they have become, came together ultimately for one reason: to sing.

Their singing is inexorably connected to their brotherhood.

And it is literally brotherhood— women are not allowed into the group. That feminine exclusion is not just a result of the group’s pseudo-fraternity nature; musical considerations are also a concern.

nal connection you’re forming with other people.”

While it can fade a little into the background when hanging around the Chimes House, the group’s singing came back into the fore at sound check Saturday night, when they put the finishing touches on their Cherry Tree Massacre performance. From that point on the Chimes were all business, displaying the kind of precision and professionalism that has become their hallmark—the reason they are chosen to sing for presidents.

Cherry Tree Massacre is their chance to show off for the Georgetown community. Created back in 1974, when Chimes President Naughton was just a freshman, it was designed as Georgetown’s answer to the a cappella experience shared by New England colleges.

“The first year was only one weekend and only one show,” Naughton said. “And over time the show was so popular that we started to do two shows, and then two weekends, and then three weekends. I don’t what the limit is, but I suspect we could do five shows

the georgetown voice 9

HILARY NAKASONE

Hold on! Arthur Woods is not ready to see his time as a Chime come to an end. and still have people coming.”

While the first Cherry Tree concert featured only a cappella groups from other colleges alongside the Chimes, in the years since, Georgetown has seen its own a cappella scene explode. Now there are at least seven other groups in addition to the Chimes, enough so that the past weekend’s performances were able to showcase only Georgetown singers.

“The Chimes are obviously the oldest group at Georgetown so they have a lot of respect from the a cappella community,” Diana Kolar (M+SB ’12), who sings with the GraceNotes, said. “It’s great that the first weekend of Cherry Tree every year they really kind of bring all the Georgetown groups together.”

During Saturday night’s show, each group sang its set and then thanked the Chimes for making their performance possible. In between sets, the Chimes-focus of Cherry Tree became even more apparent. A former Chime served as MC, and during intermission former Actives mingled in the aisles, including Del Bello and Keels. It was every bit as much a celebration of the group as one of their monthly Chimes Nights at the Tombs.

Basically, it was another one of those Chimes experiences, a story that the current students could

one day tell when a Neo called them up to learn about what being a Chime is all about. Cherry Tree Massacre served as a reminder of just how important the Chimes are to them.

“I’m realizing that this is probably going to be one of the most defining things about my whole Georgetown career,” the Neophyte Holl said. “And that’s just really exciting for me, that I already found something that is really going to be with me for the rest of my life so early in my college career.”

For the senior members of the Chimes, it offered both time to reflect and a reminder that their time as an Active was nearing an end.

“It will be bittersweet,” Woods said, looking ahead to his final Cherry Tree show. “But the cool thing about the Chimes is that you never move on from being a Chime. You’re always a Chime.”

That could not be clearer than at the end of the concert Saturday, when the Actives, as per Cherry Tree tradition, called all the Chimes present, from Neophytes to alumni, up on stage to sing the fight song. The suddenly packed stage was covered by a cast of Chimes that spanned generations.

They all shared a common bond.

If they were not Georgetown Chimes, how different their lives would be.

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One more Chime: Neophyte Tyler Holl will clean your house if you let him sing.

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

Daniel Tosh on sex changes, dead parents Daniel Tosh, comedian and host of Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, talked to the Voice’s Leigh Finnegan and other college newspapers this week about the new season of his show and the response he gets for his scathing brand of humor.

According to your Wikipedia page, you were born in Germany.

Is that true?

I got in a lot of trouble by announcing on the show to encourage people to go to my Wikipedia page and change things, ‘cause I thought it was funny ...

[But] people have found every aspect of my life! Like even if you go to my high school Wikipedia page now they’ve written … that I used to go back to Germany to get these hormone treatments because I was trying to have a sex change to compete in female athletics … [But] yes, I was born in Germany.

What are your favorite things to do on Tosh.0?

Next Wednesday I do, I probably do the most unthinkable thing in the world with a new iPad, so … how that’s received

in the internet world … I think the most memorable thing is just how silly television is. Like for our show … [we] think of an idea, we grab a foot camera, we run outside and do it, and like a few days later it’s on television.

[Laughs] I laugh because it’s so silly … I guess when I hear James Cameron talk about the process for Avatar I’m like, “Oh, that seems a lot harder than what we’re trying.”

How do you deal with the censoring on the show?

You never know what they’re going to censor, it’s not just like “oh you can’t say swear words” … Like if I ever hint that John Travolta may like the company of men, holy cow that’d immediately get cut out of the show …

It’s basically everybody covering their asses from being sued.

ately of what he was going to do to me when he saw me … people don’t like when jokes are directed towards them.

offended by jokes that personally impact them ... it makes me the bad guy. It’s really not fair.

What do your parents think of your sense of humor?

My parents turn a blind eye to my behavior … But the day that my parents are gone, not that I’m looking forward to that day, but there will be a great standup album that comes out immediately after.

Which celeb do you wish would make a video for you to feature?

Maybe Rush Limbaugh, if I could catch him in one of his horrible drunken or drug-induced stupors that’d be cool. Jay Leno I guess would be good now. Yeah, let’s go Jay Leno.

THE TOSH COMPANY

Have you ever received any negative feedback?

Yeah, are you kidding me? ...

[Once] I made fun of some rapper from the south in a video where he was flaunting all of his money, he put a video up almost immedi-

Has anyone ever come up to you to complain?

Yes, all the time. If I hang out after I perform a show, people always tell me what jokes they didn’t like or the jokes they thought went too far. The truth is people only get

Have any celebs contacted you in response to seeing themselves on your show?

I don’t hang out in any celeb circles, so there’s been zero aftermath … I’m a little worried about it to be honest, because confrontation is certainly something that I don’t do well with, onstage I’m comfortable but face

polar bear, who himself was tracking a female. It becomes a sort of reverential love story, told in the form of stunning photography.

In a series of photos taken underwater, Nicklen recalls an inci-

his element the photographer was in the icy water, immediately swam off, caught a penguin in its mouth, and delivered it to him. When the penguin escaped, the seal repeated the gesture. It was, Nicklen sup-

his stories to life, fulfilling the exhibit’s intention—to make this unique, far-removed world real for everyone else.

Before becoming a photographer, Nicklen was a researcher

“Check out my awesome backflip!”

to face it would be very awkward … I feel bad for making fun of Kelly Clarkson’s ass … we [also] made fun of somebody’s busted face, and she did like nothing wrong … that reminds me, I should make fun of Maggie Gyllenhaal more.

If you had to pick any internet star to be your roommate, which one would it be?

Christian Bale. Because I like my house very dark and he seems to be very upset when lights are turned on. And if I ever get kidnapped, who better than Batman to find me?

Thirty years from now what do you want your legacy to be?

I would like to be dead. And I would like people to be like, ‘Oh yeah that guy was really funny,’ … I’d hate being alive though …

Give me fifty, sixty years of life and I think that’s plenty … Like, do you really want Kurt Cobain to still be alive? Not really, he’d be making horrible music with some super group with the remaining members of Alice in Chains. It’s better, go out sooner.

Nicklen’s picklens of arctic animals at Nat Geo museum

by Brendan Baumgardner The Arctic is a place of contradictions. The tranquil beauty of the white tundra and the cool blue waters belies the harshness of the conditions. The creatures there seem simultaneously savage and playful. The glaciers stand enormous and powerful, and yet climate change has put the entire region in peril.

Polar Obsession, a free photography exhibit at the National Geographic museum, explores these contrasts through story and image.

Polar Obsession showcases the work of Paul Nicklen, a nature photographer whose passion for the arctic region stems from his upbringing in northern Canada. His enthusiasm for the subject matter adds a personal touch to the exhibit, taking it far beyond just pictures of cute animals in the snow.

The photos are grouped into short stories, accounts of Nicklen’s months spent in the arctic developing personal connections with the wildlife. One chronicles Nicklen’s journey tracking a male

This penguin’s inner monologue sounds exactly like Morgan Freeman’s voice. Lucky bird. dent that demonstrates nature’s nearly-magical benevolence. Shortly after submerging himself, Nicklen was approached by a female leopard seal. The seal, apparently realizing how helpless and out of

posed, trying to feed him.

Some of the stories Nicklen tells of his arctic experiences would be nothing short of unbelievable if not for their accompanying images. The pictures bring

national geographic society

aiding in the struggle to protect the arctic. When he became frustrated with the abstract nature of his work, he decided that he could use photography to enlighten people about the impact

of climate change in the Arctic.

Nicklen’s feelings toward photojournalism and its power to inspire action are carried subtly but effectively throughout the exhibit. The stories and descriptions never get overly sanctimonious though, and only occasionally mention the danger of climate change in the arctic. The focus is instead more positive, concentrating on the beauty, the mystery, and the uniqueness of the arctic.

The images are allowed to speak for themselves.

Polar Obsession is a modestlysized exhibit, consisting of about 40 photos and a handful of written accounts. Unfortunately, the gallery itself detracts a bit from the experience. The lighting is sometimes sparse and the exhibit runs awkwardly into an unrelated photo gallery. These shortcomings are outweighed, however, by the inspiring quality of the photography.

The exhibit’s title, Polar Obsession, is perfect. Paul Nicklen clearly is obsessed, and he succeeds in inspiring that obsession in others.

georgetownvoice.com

“Feed me a stray cat.”—American Psycho

the georgetown voice 11

Pizza,“il”advised

by Shira Hecht Upperclassmen will fondly remember 1063 31st Street NW as the location of The Alamo, a terrible Mexican-ish restaurant that did not card, where freshmen without fake IDs could order expensive margaritas and run into hallmates from Darnall who were drunk on Coronas and stuffed with mediocre tortilla chips. But we are seniors now, and it’s time to grow up. Similarly, 1063 31st Street NW has transformed itself into an upscale Italian restaurant, Il Canale.

Newly opened, Il Canale seems uncertain about what it wants to be. The restaurant is basically a pizza and pasta place with a very expensive wine list and $16 buffalo mozzarella appetizers. Walking in, you’re greeted by a desperately friendly wait staff, a big pizza oven with a roaring fire, and a hideous interpretation of “modern industrial design.” The floor is corrugated metal, as is the staircase that remains directly in your line of sight, no matter where you sit. The bar is lit by a glaring blue light, which only adds to the coldness of the place.

The food at Il Canale is hit or miss, as well. The tomato stew was delicious, but a fancy-named vegetable dish (Melanzane alla Par-

migiana) turned out to be a barely passable eggplant parmesan. The pizzas themselves had delicious, entrancing crusts—soft but flaky, salty, and just burnt enough—but neither the white nor red pizzas quite held together, with flavors that didn’t quite blend. The endless table bread almost makes up for the lackluster main courses— warm, chewy, and thick, served with olive oil suffused with roasted garlic and rosemary. My table went through several servings, and the friendly, if occasionally slow, wait staff kept bringing us more. The bread alone was almost worth the whole trip.

Almost. With pizzas about $14 each, pasta and meat dishes significantly more than that, and wine starting at $9 a glass, Il Canale is a little too grown-up for most college kids. While the consistency of the food may firm up as the restaurant gets its legs, there is still nowhere for that awful staircase to go. Bread aside, Il Canale doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from the plethora of highscale pizzerias in the area. It’s a more expensive Pizzeria Paradiso, a Paparazzi with worse lighting, a 2Amys that’s significantly closer but significantly worse. It would be nice if Il Canale would live up to its prices, but, for now, all we can do is remember the Alamo.

A rich man’s Olympic wear?

With the Winter Olympic games just around the corner, there’s quite a bit of talk on the Internet about what the team uniforms for the parade of athletes at opening ceremonies will look like. Okay, well, not really.

As a matter of fact, nobody I know is really twittering, blogging or status-updating about the Winter Olympics at all. With the exception of Stephen Colbert financing the speed skating teams and the perpetually drunk and volatile skier Bode Miller being his usual self, I don’t see any legitimate reason to get all that excited about the winter games this year.

Perhaps I’m biased. I’ve never been skiing myself, never tried my hand at the oh-so-practical skeleton, never been in a riveting curling competition. I’ll admit the skiing and shooting

Biathalon is James Bond-caliber cool, but the rest of it just seems like powdery-snow pastimes for the prep-school privileged.

I won’t go as far as agreeing with the late Jim Murray’s comment that the Games are more or less a playtime for the elite— take the aforementioned Bode Miller for example. Raised on a farm in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire by solsticeworshiping parents, Bode isn’t quite the archetype boardingschool-kid-turned-Olympian— but the United States has done little to challenge this perception so common among those of us who begrudgingly put up with these ski-resort contests ruining regularly scheduled programming every four years.

An obvious way to give the games a new image may be as simple as changing the way

Courtesy SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

“We’re off to mourn Franz Ferdinand, the (formerly) wonderful Archduke of Austria!”

No Haneke panky in The White Ribbon

by Chris Heller Michael Haneke must hate Sherlock Holmes. His newest movie, The White Ribbon, is a whodunit without a who—there’s no butler with a grudge, spurned lover, or jealous colleague lurking in the shadows. Bad things just happen.

The White Ribbon is narrated

by The School Teacher, an elderly man who tells the story to “clarify things that happened in our country.” In the waning months before World War I erupts across Europe, the fictitious German village of Eichwald rots from within. A taut wire trips a horse, badly injuring its rider. A boy—the son of The Baron (Ulrich Tukur), the head of the manor which supports most of the village—is kidnapped, tied up, and beaten. Sigi, a mentally retarded boy, is nearly blinded. The

American athletes dress. Continuing to contract with American designer Ralph Lauren does little to change my—or anybody else’s—opinion that the winter games are restricted to those who can afford them.

From 2008’s Beijing games through London in 2012, the United States will continue to allow Ralph Lauren, well-known

Suffer for Fashion

by Keenan Timko

a bi-weekly column about fashion for attiring the upper echelons, to dress American athletes. For the Beijing games, RL was criticized for its uniforms that made track stars, swimmers, and everyone else look like members of an old boys yachting club.

The designer was also disparaged for making his Polo logo larger than that of the Olympic rings on the jackets.

School Teacher observes it all, yet he provides neither theories nor opinions—only facts.

But The White Ribbon isn’t about the gruesome crimes in Eichwald. The acts point to general social decay within the village; few are not at fault. The White Ribbon isn’t about their collective guilt, though. It’s about the children of Eichwald, the Germans who grow up to become Nazis.

The Pastor (Burghart Klaußner), the religious leader of the village, punishes his children by forcing them to wear white ribbons.

Their punishment is a reminder that they are no longer innocent or pure but the audience has to wonder, were they ever? The School Teacher confronts a group of children about the crimes, but like the audience, he never finds his answer. He is left with a question: If children are neither in-

nocent nor pure, can anyone be?

Haneke says no.

It’s rare to create a captivating movie, rarer still to create one based on a turn-of-the-century German village. The movie’s cinematography is superb—especially because the editors had the unenviable task of stripping the film to black and white coloring.

Audiences get to peek in at Eichwald without becoming voyeurs, since most shots create distance between the camera and the characters. In The White Ribbon’s final scene, as the townsfolk shuffle into mass after news about Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination reaches Eichwald, the camera is at the foot of the altar, symmetrically splitting the congregation. Men and women walk in, heads bowed, ready to pray for salvation. Their war had already started.

This year, Ralph Lauren has stitched up an impressive looking line of garments to keep our athletes warm in Vancouver over the next few weeks of competition. But keeping athletes warm isn’t enough to warm up the rest of the nation to the idea of sitting through two hours of bobsledding without funny Jamaican accents and John Candy.

The uniforms consist of dark navy puffy jackets with red trim, snow-white tapered pants, wooly sweaters galore, and Fair Isle knit hats. The look was supposedly inspired by the 1932 Lake Placid Games, but a quick Google Images search reveals that those athletes seemed to have been given standard issue white pea coats for warmth.

Regardless, the Polo logo this year once again dwarfs the Olympic rings, and the athletes will look more like oddly shaped Ralph Lauren catalogue models ready to flash a golden

smile than athletes ready to take home gold. As a marketing major, I’m not one to outright criticize blatant brand placement in the name of sports integrity, but when Ralph Lauren announced that the athletes’ clothes are for sale on its website—with sweaters priced at a couple hundred dollars each—it became clear that this year’s games will not be any more accessible to the disillusioned masses.

For the time being, I’ll continue to be blissfully unaware of the Winter Olympics. Unless I get the opportunity to try out the luge with dining hall trays during all these snow days, I probably won’t feel the need to run out and blow my savings on Ralph Lauren clothes to look like an Olympian.

Peel off that Ralph Lauren jacket and tell Keenan all about your favorite Olympic events at ktimko@ georgetownvoice.com.

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

Critical Voices group’s 2007 debut All Hour Cymbals; while the instrumentation on Yeasayer’s last album included sitars and the like, the polyrhythmic soundscapes on Odd Blood are built with Marotta’s collection of vintage synthesizers and percussion instruments. Guitar lines are few and far between, solidifying the group’s status as an experimental rock band.

But there’s still plenty of Yeasayer ’s mainstream pop sensibility underneath all of the busy noisemaking. Drum pads and vocals on “Madder Red” evoke 80s prog-rock, ditto for a Justin Timberlake falsetto on “O.N.E.” These tracks, along with “Ambling Alp,” have great moments, quirky and energetic enough to distract from the dizzying beats and loops overflowing from every track.

As Odd Blood passes its halfway mark, the album drags. The songs’ changing beats and synth lines become more repetitive and more irritating. More immediately noticeable and pervasive is the group’s condemnable lack of songwriting strength. Like All Hour Cymbals, the lyrics on Odd Blood are neither memorable nor substantial. Yeasayer has a flare for keeping the listener interested

during their verses, but beware: if you listen too closely or for too long, you may get a headache.

Proceed with caution.

Let’s talk about sex ... and music

Suppose, though, that you need the music to cover up the noise and you’re unprepared.

Is it better to go with an album or a playlist?

“Once you’re in some sort of defined relationship, I think that playlists become [more] acceptable,” another friend said. “Otherwise it could come

Yeasayer, Odd Blood, Secretly Canadian Records Yeasayer’s Odd Blood cover may be the most hideous thing I’ve seen since Tubgirl, but there couldn’t be a better visual complement to this group’s sound.

Yeasayer, a Brooklyn band with a Baltimore sound, has toured with MGMT and earned praise from indie tastemakers like Pitchfork. While Odd Blood’s cover mashes together a statue, a photograph, and what looks to be a Windows 95 screen-saver, the album is a hodgepodge of Architecture in Helsinki, Animal Collective, and M.I.A. Odd Blood was recorded with help from Peter Gabriel’s drummer, Jerry Marotta, and his influence on the album is pervasive.

The sound is a change from the

Feburary 14 is upon us, so it’s time to set the mood. You know what I’m saying—maybe it’s a nice bouquet, a little bit of chocolate, or a thoughtful card that will get the evening in motion.

Throw a few logs on the fire, dim those lights, crack open a bottle, put on your favorite Kenny Loggins record … or maybe we could skip this altogether and spoon ‘til dawn.

When it comes down to it, the amount of preparation that Hallmark and Co. expects everyone to put into Valentine’s Day is absurd: If you were to seduce someone like they do in the commercials, eight times out of ten you’d be dumped by March for being unimaginative. Music as an element of V-Day activities can be a difficult area to navigate. In order to shed some light

on this topic, I decided to poll a few folks (who will remain anonymous) about their musicduring-sex preferences.

More than anything, if you’d like music to enhance your Valentine’s Day experience, you should introduce it as an element of the ambiance early in the evening, not when sex is rapidly approaching. As one interviewee put it: “If you want to have fun, spontaneous sex then do you really wants to take a pause to go set up speakers?”

Others argued that if you have a strategically placed remote, the transition can be made subtly and without repercussions, but the best policy seems to be that “if it’s there, leave it there”—don’t interrupt something great because you like to literalize Marvin Gaye lyrics.

Voice’s Choices: “Madder Red,” “O.N.E.,” “Ambling Alps” —Nico Dodd

Hot Chip, One Life Stand, Sub Pop Records Hot Chip, a five-piece electronic outfit from London, has put out three middling albums with monster singles tucked neatly away inside each one. Those singles—including 2006’s “Boy From School” and 2008’s “Ready for the Floor”—have made them indie heroes for some listeners, but even Hot Chip’s most diehard fans have been waiting pa-

Yr Blues

by Daniel Cook a bi-weekly column about music off as creepy if [someone] notices that you have a playlist on your iPod called ‘baby-makin’ music.’”

On the other side of the spectrum, some suggest that the goal is to try and find something pleasant, but unimposing.

In other words, “never have sex to your favorite records”—think instead setting the right mood.

tiently for a consistently good album. One Life Stand, their fourth effort, comes close, but it still suffers from too much filler and the occasional bad idea.

One Life Stand’s best tracks have already been released as singles. The title track, released in November, is icy and slowbuilding, with anachronistic tropical synths that somehow work even as they clash with the song’s bleak aesthetic. “Take It In” relies on the same detached, cold sound, with a sinister, yet devastatingly catchy, synth riff.

But then it shifts suddenly from verse to chorus, letting its manufactured tension melt away as vocalist Alexis Taylor opens his heart. “Oh, my heart has flown to you just like a dove,” he sings.

“It can fly, it can fly/And oh, please take my heart and keep it close to you/Take it in, take it in.” It’s the album’s most beautiful moment, and it works great as the closing track.

The only other great track on the album, “I Feel Better,” finds Taylor singing through a vocoder over a pulsing beat and cheesy, emotive orchestral synths. Eventually the track builds to a highly danceable climax, and it works even when

If you opt to go with a playlist, exercise caution, as quickly throwing on “any old thing” could lead to some uncouth reactions: “What if [you’re] in the mood for slow sex and all of the sudden AC/DC starts blaring?”

Choosing the wrong kind of music can be a very real danger.

Personally, I would not be able to continue the sexual act if you throw on, say, “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” (the Sufjan track about a serial killer), though others insist that they “can’t imagine music that’s so bad that it would ruin good sex.” Most interviewees claimed that they could handle a decent variety of background music, but no one’s going to blame you if you politely put your foot down (“If you go through three picks that the [other] person doesn’t like, you should probably just get down to business without it,” one recommended).

the gimmicky vocoder effect gets a little tiresome.

Much of what remains is middling. Opener “Thieves in the Night” has fine melodies, but its lyrics are so throwaway—and its build-up so unsatisfying—that it ultimately falls flat. “We Have Love” is appealingly glitchy and rhythmic, but it feels like a missed opportunity—its chorus should have been bigger. “Alley Cats” has beautiful harmonies and a great bass line, but it can’t figure out if it’s a bumper or a ballad.

When Hot Chip decides for sure it wants to write a ballad though, it completely strikes out.

“Brothers” shoots for emotional resonance, but comes off as insincere. “Slush” has a lazy swing that kills the album’s momentum near its halfway point. The fact that the two tracks come back-toback might be enough to make some listeners give up.

Anyone who already digs Hot Chip will enjoy One Life Stand.

But without any trademark killer single, it probably won’t win the band any new fans.

Voice’s Choices: “One Life Stand,” “I Feel Better,” “Take It In” —Justin Hunter Scott

Ultimately, it’s best to be attentive to your partner’s predilections, because music during sex isn’t for everyone. Bring the topic up during a non-heated juncture, when you have time for a proper discussion. Otherwise, you’ll never know how the other really feels about it.

For some couples, it’s too contrived—“If I put on something ‘appropriate’ we would just lol,” a friend said—but others had a different opinion.

“Having both [sex and music] at the same time, so that the human passion/grunting is going on at the same time as the music, and so it all kind of mixes together—oh man, that’s what makes life worth living.”

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Want to know what Dan listens to when he’s making whoopie? Ask at dcook@georgetownvoice.com.

fiction

georgetownvoice.com The sound of the chapel bells ringing crisply across the snow seemed to splinter the smooth silence of the night that the cold air had frozen. It would now be one hour until check in and then another 15 minutes until lights out and sleep still further than that.

He closed his copy of The Aeneid and thought about how Liz Smith would say that Aeneas’ search for Rome was a metaphor for his search for his true self. “Aeneas never speaks to his son Ascanius and his search for Rome pretty much precludes any real sense of self,” Cameron would retort with unveiled distain. He thought about the burnt ruins of Troy with no one there to see them and the ghost of Creusa wandering around the crumbling pillars that held up nothing. The quad was filled with the silver web of conversation and the cold didn’t prevent circles of people from congregating on the frigid stone paths.

“

The Capital of Sadness Part Two

by Emma Forster of when he had first visited Marie’s house. Before dinner she had thoroughly trounced him in pingpong, gracefully taking no mercy, which somehow would not have comported with this new radiant Table Tennis Goddess appearing before him.

Then she played her father.

Cameron sat and watched in one of the arm chairs in her basement

her father overshoot the ball and occasionally placing her shot on the very edge of the table. She must have learned to play like that from years of facing the same stronger opponent. She was good.

She won in a protracted and technical overtime that Cameron failed to understand. Her father drew one small chalk line on a wall covered in scores of 5, referred to his gorgeous 17 year old daughter as “sport” and, noticing Cameron again with slight embarrassment, he wiped his brow and asked if he was hungry.

They spoke about ambition, abandonment, and something about the sheer promise that made up the night. He believed everything she said in a way that made the truth irrelevant.

He thought about all the hours when the school slept and there was no one here and wondered what the coffin silence of that time sounded like.

The wind swept in, fluttering the tarps that kept leaves off the rink and blowing Marie’s hair in her face. A solitary strand clung to her lips and tugged in the cold breeze. He kissed her, opening his eyes he saw her beautiful

Mist seethed up off the ice like incense ascending before the altar of the world.

No one but Marie, he thought.

He met Marie, as agreed upon, at the rink named after a dead robber baron. The rink was outdated and anomalous, an open air structure vaulted high above in rich wood beams that Cameron thought looked like a Viking mead hall. It had become a salient article of the school’s creed and identity. The rink hermit opened the circuit box and pulled down the lever that shut off the rows of lights high above and went back into the grumbling shed of greased machinery that kept the rink going.

On the bench where Cameron sat during hockey games, a limp towel wrapped around his neck, watching the starting goalie blank yet another storied prep school program, they laced their skates with fingers already numb.

They were now alone on the rink whose color palette was reduced to an unfathomable black and a stray deviant whiteness of light that looked more like silver.

Mist seethed up off the ice like incense ascending before the altar of the world. No one but Marie, he thought.

A security golf cart drove by the hockey rink. Its head lights dragged weakly through the boards flecked with black puck marks, projecting a dull light spotted with shadows onto the icy white surface of Marie’s face, making it seem the very map of his desires. He thought

the georgetown voice 13

and made funny comments at first, making inroads towards ingratiating himself, narrating the match like a sportscaster and thinking about inserting grunts like the ones he had heard from a Russian tennis starlet, but thinking the better of it, being in her father’s presence. The two of them forgot Cameron was there and slipped into their archaic dynamic. Their faces filled with blank concentration and a strange intimacy. Her father made aerobic stabs to gently tap the ball over the net and bent down to impossibly undercut the ball and return it spinning perfectly from nearly a foot under the level of the table.

Marie played defensively, letting

”

“

eyes closed, placid with passion, and the patchwork of suburban stars behind her. He skated away playfully, slowing down to taunt her and turning fluidly to skate backwards as she came closer and closer, following as quickly as she could and laughing. He stopped quickly and changed directions.

She tried to do the same but fell to the ice clumsily and began to grasp her knee and whimper. He skated over quickly and sat beside her. The scarred ice felt like the idea of hardness itself and gladly imparted its coldness to his body.

He told her he loved her. He had been waiting a long time for the exact wrong time to tell her this.

He wanted to make the truth work.

Saying something about her prior bruise in the same place and fluid build up, she didn’t seem to hear him. Marie hobbled over to the bench holding onto his arm and

if he didn’t) and told him to enjoy himself in a tone that bespoke her genuine worry about this issue.

Through the thin aperture created by the top of the grey bench and the fluttering blue tarp, he watched her walking away on the stone path, carrying one skate in each gloved hand; she left the frame but he didn’t move his head, refocusing his eyes on the stars scattered sparingly like salt in the black sky. He remembered what his science teacher said, that if time were a hand, the slightest graze of a nail file would erase the period of human existence.

He tried to imagine himself as a tiny particle hurtling gently though senseless space just after the big bang. There it was: endless empty time and ceaseless space with no one there. He had been wrong before. Very wrong. The Capital of Sadness was everywhere, everywhere except where he was. Could you be somewhere you weren’t? How do you get to someplace where you don’t exist?

When his father first died he had spent hours on end in the hall closet among the smells of disuse radiating from the empty coats. Not to hide from anything, just because no one was ever there and it was so unlikely that he would be there that it seemed almost like he wasn’t.

He exhaled a long sigh and the cloud of breath hung before him like a ghost. Pushing off the boards, he skated away as fast as

Could you be somewhere you weren’t?

How do you get to someplace where you don’t exist? began to take her skates off. They had half an hour left of the time they almost always used to the fullest. She said that she was going back to her dorm (Did he feel like walking her back? It’s really OK

KELSEY MCCULLOUGH

”

he could. He felt the oxygen flee from his screaming muscles but he only went faster. As he turned the corner, hearing his skates scrape through their angles as they slipped out from under him, deftly crossing his feet over to let them begin their graded descent again, inclining towards the ice with the controlled danger and aplomb of a tight rope walker, he began to pick up speed, and the exhaust cloud of his breath began to lag and trail behind him like a jet-stream that threatened to take off. He closed his eyes and felt himself reeling through space, lost and more than alone in an endless darkness.

There was no one there to see him smile. The two thin threads his skates left in their wake chased his fleeing body, dancing in incising intermittent aureoles then setting hard into the jumbled and permanent memory of the ice.

voices

14 the georgetown voice

february 11, 2010

Rebuttal: A look at the pro-life perspective

by Caitlin Devine Andrew Zipperer’s recent article, “Protesters’ pro-life arguments prove ill-conceived,” (Georgetown Voice, February 4, 2010) showed a vast and astounding ignorance about the pro-life movement it attempted to analyze. While it’s honorable that Zipperer made some effort to understand the protesters he met at the January 22 March for Life, he failed to deliver a balanced or holistic view of the pro-life movement.

Zipperer argued that since pro-life protesters disagreed about other life issues such as the death penalty, healthcare, and animal rights, there isn’t any element of authentic or moral truth in their arguments against abortion. This logic is fundamentally flawed. I agree that the divisions within the pro-life community are tragic, but they have no bearing on the legitimacy of the movement as a whole. I personally follow a consistent life ethic, as does the Cath-

olic Church and many other prolife organizations. Georgetown University Right to Life, it should be noted, proudly supports a platform that defends life at every level, for all human beings, from womb to tomb. Just because a few people out of hundreds of thousands disagreed over the death penalty, healthcare policy, and other issues does not mean that the fight against abortion has no basis or that the protesters lacked consistent direction.

Besides its logical fallacies, Zipperer’s piece also lacked sensitivity and consistency. He seemed to claim that fetuses can feel no pain, but failed to provide any evidence for such an assertion. In fact, the vast amount of medical knowledge that we have today confirms fetal pain.

Abortion is a behind-the-door execution of a human being. I think your eyes should be opened to the pain of others, instead of making unfounded claims that they are incapable of feeling pain. Furthermore, elsewhere in his piece,

Zipperer cites the fact that some protesters expressed support for the death penalty as evidence of inconsistencies within the pro-life movement, but he doesn’t think through the implications of his stance on the death penalty. If death row criminals are placed under anesthesia and technically feel no pain, is it all right to kill them? Personally, I don’t think so, and I don’t think Zipperer would think so either. So why does he think it is acceptable to kill fetuses just because he assumes they cannot feel pain?

Zipperer also argues that the lack of support for universal healthcare among the pro-life movement invalidates their opinions on abortion, but he doesn’t examine why so many pro-lifers are opposed to healthcare reform.

Personally, I fully support efforts for universal healthcare, especially for pregnant women, mothers, and children, because I believe this supports a pro-life society in which every child is wanted and can be cared for. But I know that

opposition to universal healthcare does not make someone anti-life. My support of universal healthcare is tempered by a deep concern that my tax dollars could go toward funding abortions, a fear held by the vast majority of pro-lifers. This is a legitimate and rational concern that Zipperer should have considered when discussing healthcare reform with pro-life supporters.

Before making such broad, sweeping, and unsubstantiated generalizations, Zipperer should have made a genuine attempt at understanding the pro-life movement’s arguments on abortion. Instead, he simply attended one pro-life event armed with his own preconceived notions of the movement. It is possible to be truly, consistently pro-life: against abortion, the death penalty, and euthanasia. I suggest that Zipperer join GU Right to Life in its various volunteer activities at the Northwest Pregnancy Center, where the pro-life belief is put into action, where mothers

and children in need are cared for directly. He could also join us in participating in monthly blood drives. Or perhaps he could have attended the anti-death penalty event that we hosted last week.

Instead of making a good-faith attempt to understand the realities of the pro-life movement, though, Zipperer presented a flimsy straw-man version of the movement that he could more easily argue against.

The pro-life movement is diverse and full of energy, despite Zipperer’s general statements to the contrary. As with any national political movement, it is nuanced and not all of its supporters’ beliefs are identical. Unfortunately, Zipperer had little interest in seeing the truth of the movement as a whole.

Caitlin Devine is a senior in the College. She is currently the director of the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life.

Party and bullshit: The hassles of entertaining

by Nate Hochstetler It started out as a nice evening with a few friends at a Nevils apartment, as it always does. Then someone’s friend’s little sister brought her Harbin cluster-mates, someone’s cousin and all his friends and acquaintances showed up, and a few dozen texts and tweets later, the apartment

was flooded with thirsty, rowdy strangers.

At some point in the evening, one of the apartment’s residents attempted to show a boy her bedroom, only to find that the door was locked. Assuming some randos had coopted the room as their personal love nest, a crowd began to form outside the door to harass the couple, banging and yelling out comments like, “1,

Courtesy NATE HOCHSTETLER

You know, you probably could have just knocked or something.

2, 3 ... Finish! Now GET OUT!” A brave (and likely inebriated) soul even attempted to climb out of an adjacent window in order to get into the locked room, but to no avail. One party-goer took it upon himself to kick down the door; instead, he managed to break it in half.

Everyone standing around the door roared in laughter, yelling phrases like “This is cool!

Now you have a doggy door for your room!” But the room’s owner wasn’t laughing. After crawling on all fours through her broken door and examining the room, she emerged, defeated. “There’s no one in here,” she announced. “I must’ve just locked myself out.”

The party quickly deteriorated, and as I shuffled out of the apartment, I began to wonder why more people haven’t stopped accepting their broken-down doors and begun asking, “Why do I have people over at all? Why deal with trashed apartments and excessive tabs at Dixie just to have a few friends over?” It seems much easier to go to someone else’s house or some other party to have a good time, free from the stresses of hosting. For as long as anyone can remember, upperclassmen at Georgetown have supported the tradition of hosting parties.

As the years roll on and we ap-

proach our senior year, we take on the responsibility of buying kegs and Burnett’s for all.

But why are we so eager to repay the favor? Wouldn’t it be easier to just party at our friends’ houses every weekend instead of providing all those Keystones for younger Hoyas?

Once we get past all the annoyances of drunk people consuming our party supplies and destroying our living areas, we start to realize the little things that make entertaining worthwhile. There seems to be an intrinsic value in having your guests know that this is your party, an honor that comes with all sorts of privileges. Long line for the keg? Everyone knows the “no-cuts” rule doesn’t apply to the host. Someone sleeping (or doing something less innocent) in your bed? You have full authority to drag them out by the ear. Hosting a party means you pretty much run the show, and for many, this is reason enough to throw a rager.

The absence of real sororities and fraternities (sorry, BFrat) is another reason Georgetown students are so willing to lend their apartments to bacchanalian revelry. Everyone seems to agree that just because our school hasn’t gone Greek doesn’t mean we that shouldn’t have celebrations of Heraclean proportions. This aspect of the

party scene may actually allow for more diversity than Greek life would provide. Upperclassmen throw everything from “Guido Bros and Jersey Hos” ragers to post-basketball game bashes. There’s also a spirit of inclusiveness you don’t get at Greek schools. From Hockey House to the Village A Rooftops, there are parties all over campus that are happy to let you and your friends have a good time, and you don’t even have to pay dues to attend.

Looking past the beer cans and broken doors, it’s clear that the party scene at Georgetown is worth preserving. The pros of providing a good time for the whole school and of carrying on the school’s party traditions significantly outweigh the cons of cleaning up some spilled beer on Sunday morning. We deal with drunk guys and cat fights, stolen knickknacks and raided refrigerators, because, in the end, we all want to keep the party going for posterity, and maybe a new doggie door for your room really does sound like a good idea.

Nate Hochstetler is a sophomore in the College. He’s having a party this Saturday. All are welcome, just don’t wreck anything.

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15

Hoya pride swallowed amid a crowd of apathy

by Ben Holtzmuller Until a few weeks ago, I had never arrived late to a Hoyas Basketball game. So when I showed up at the front entrance of the Verizon Center twenty minutes late for a game against Seton Hall, I didn’t think much of my tardiness. That is until the rent-a-guard at the door informed me, and my flock of fellow freshmen, that there were no more student wristbands—and we would be relegated to the 400 level.

Shocked, my friends and I began the great journey upward. Several escalators later, we took a seat next to the other stragglers and attempted to stem our nosebleeds.

You’d be surprised at the amount of time there is for reflection and contemplation, so high up.

A few of my initial thoughts: “They look so small from up here,” and “I could’ve had more leg room had I stayed in the taxi.” But soon my mind drifted to loftier notions.

I gazed down at the grey throng of students and saw that a surprisingly large number weren’t even paying attention to the game. I looked at the non-student sections, whose members were equally unenthused. I surveyed the arena as

a whole: embarrassing! Why were those comatose students down there in the student section, while I, a loud and proud Hoya, was up here needing binoculars! I started formulating a list of things that need to be changed.

As fans, we have to get up for every game. The team needs us, as we know from the ups and downs of this past week playing Duke, USF, and Villanova. The insane amount of energy demonstrated when we play top-ten teams secured us wins when we were the underdogs. By comparison, the embarrassingly lethargic, lifeless crowd we put together for the South Florida Bulls left us open to the wrath of the arrogant, but undeniably talented Dominique Jones. The fans can’t be blamed for a loss, but the team definitely feeds off the energy created by a great crowd.

Another thing that needs work is the actual cheering. Some of the brightest, most creative kids in America go to Georgetown, yet we rely on the rote “LET’S GO HOYAS” chant whenever we’re on offense. As a fan, it’s hard to repeat the same chant over and over again. It’s time we switch it up a little. “WE ARE GEORGETOWN” and “HOYA SAXA” are good when

thrown into the mix, but we need to diversify our portfolio further. How about getting into the other team’s head. Call out a specific player— “SMITH IS RATTLED” will work, for example, when Smith messes up twice in a row. Or try the simple “CRY ABOUT IT” when a player thinks he’s doesn’t deserve a foul.

Get creative—you have four whole syllables to work with.

Something that has been bothering me since the very first game is that when the other team is at the line for a free throw, Georgetown fans moves their hands right after the player shoots. What good does that do? We need to mess up their concentration mid-shot. The handwave should happen at least one second earlier, and I am personally shocked that Georgetown students have failed to see this logic.

On a grander scale, I think it’s a travesty that great fans are relegated to the 400 level just because they weren’t able to finish their pregame on time. This next proposal might be the most controversial, but I believe it will improve the atmosphere at the Verizon center. The first eight rows surrounding the court should go to students. This would surround the court with a continuous circle of jeering fans and excited

Some extremely inconvenient truths It snowed a hell of a lot this week. Amid the record-breaking snowfalls, school closings, and panicking weathermen came the unfortunate but predictable conservative reaction that this kind of anomalous blizzard somehow debunks the theory of “global warming.” The argument—that rare instances of severe cold prove that temperatures are not in fact trending upwards over the long term—is seemingly raised after every dramatic winter storm.

This argument is, of course, an appeal to ignorance. No one notices the increase of a couple degrees in average annual temperature over a twenty-year span, but they certainly can see that global warming doesn’t seem to be happening now, at this very instant, in the middle of a blizzard.

Before I continue I should clarify: I don’t really “believe in” climate change, per se—if you called me a “global warming skeptic” I probably wouldn’t correct you. With that said, I never had any problem with the societal effects of what I lovingly dubbed “climate change hysteria.” As someone who cares deeply for the environment, I think anything that makes my fellow Americans more environmentally conscious is a good thing, even if most people only live a “greener” lifestyle because it’s trendy among the progressive, upper middle-class.

But right now I’m watching the things I hold dear in my conflicted existence fall apart from both ends. As much as I’ve loved the individual decisions to be more environmentally aware, the libertarian in

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me thinks that, outside of basic litter and pollution laws, it’s not really up to the state to pass life-changing laws based upon data that I and many others are still not completely sold on.

Despite that, I don’t want global warming to be false.

Obviously it would be a relief to know that we aren’t going to accidentally end the world due to shortsighted behavior. I

Carrying On

by Matthew Collins A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

would, of course, feel a certain amount of vindication knowing that I was correct to not jump on the bandwagon so quickly, but if the theory were debunked, we would be back to where we were before An Inconvenient Truth came out.

People would stop concerning themselves with the environment, causing other adverse environmental impacts (albeit non-apocalyptic ones).

LYNN KIRSCHBAUM

Is anyone even watching the game? It certainly doesn’t look like it.

Hoyas and give the Verizon Center a true college-game feel. I realize that the University and the Verizon Center make great money off of these seats, but it sacrifices an enormous amount of noise and energy.

The University wouldn’t really be throwing away money by adopting this strategy, either: arenas with amazing atmospheres attract top recruits, top recruits attract more national attention and win more championship titles, which is where the real money is. Do whatever you have to—charge more for a student ticket package—I want students to be closer to the game.

Going to high school in Charlotte, N.C., I grew up loving to

But I am afraid that’s happening already, as popular belief in anthropogenic climate change is dropping at a remarkable rate. In just the three months since their last survey, British polling group Populus is reporting a 15 percent drop in those who believe in man-made global warming, now down to just 26 percent of Britons. To be fair, these aren’t American figures (and despite the United Kingdom’s reputation as a liberal haven, none of the towns I’ve been to in the British Isles have nearly as many recycling receptacles as their counterparts on the Eastern Seaboard do), but this newly-released poll shows a drop that is likely mirrored in America and will probably lead to a return to our nation’s former ways.

Granted, this new poll could be a reflection of the impact of the “climategate” scandal, but I can’t help but think that the decrease in popular support for the global warming theory is correlated with more serious measures being brought to the table. In the same way Massachusetts (Massachusetts!) bailed on healthcare reform, just as it was starting to get serious, people are finding global

watch basketball. In high school, basketball games were a hotbed of school pride and witty chants. I am so proud of Georgetown fans when we greet top-ten teams like Duke and Villanova with the energy I know we’re capable of. But at most games against less-respected opponents, I’d rather be in the student section at one of my high school games, and that should never be the case.

Ben Holtzmuller is a freshman in the College. When he grows up he wants to be like Mike. Or maybe Greg Monroe ... he’s not that picky.

warming a less enticing notion as they realize how imposing the policy solutions would be.

It seems as though the libertarian and the environmentalist in the average American can’t be happy at the same time.

We had a bit of a respite, though, during the Super Bowl, of all places. Sandwiched between crude advertisements for cheap beer and inscrutable Tim Tebow brand reinforcement was an eyebrow-raising Audi spot. Centered on the idea of an overscrupulous “green police,” the ad for the A3 TDI seems to mock hardcore environmental sorts, despite the fact that it’s selling a product pitched as the “Green Car of the Year.”

That someone out there thinks there’s a market for this ad— that more people than me want to treat the environment right but would prefer to do so on their own terms—shows that perhaps, in the most American of ways, we will do what’s best simply because we want to. I sure as hell hope so.

Matthew Collins is a junior in the College and an associate editor for the Voice. He’s doesn’t believe in Snowpocalypse either.