2 13 14

VOICE the georgetown

BY RYAN G

REENE

FROM O ST. TO WALL ST. Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w February 13, 2014 w Volume 46, Issue 21 w georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

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Voice Crossword “Zoology” by Allison Galezo 36. Young Bambi

ACROSS 1. Purring pet 4. Fastest shark species 8. 24 minutes of basketball 12. Stallion’s girlfriend 13. Headmaster of Durmstrang Wizardry School 14. Steer clear of 16. Shout in Dahlgren 17. Pinot ___

18. Caribou’s cousin 19. Spy novelist Deighton 20. Potbellied pet 21. Primates without tails 23. Definite article 24. Andean pack animal 26. Kin of 18-across 28. Picnic pest 30. Doctor for 1-across and 60-across 32. Shamu, for one

39. Desktop thumbnail 41. Anonymous email service 42. Bullring cheer 43. Skins of 18-across, 50-across, etc.

45. Lyrical poem 46. Winged 48. Session, slang 49. Scored 100 on 50. Bobcat genus 51. Donkey 52. Fleecy female 54. ___ in the bud 56. Large guinea pig cousin 60. Man’s best friend 63. The Voice blog 65. She always feels cooped up 67. Aries 68. Zebra-legged giraffe cousin 70. Big cat noise 73. Trace of smoke 74. Two under par 75. Sony competitor 76. Bruce Wayne’s biggest fear 77. Evergreens 78. Long-haired bovids 79. Ginger ___, after too many drinks at Brown House

DOWN 1. Desert-dwelling beast of burden 2. Verizon Center 3. Gymnast’s perfect score 4. Pygmy 5. Eager 6. Japanese carp 7. Odd, in Scotland 8. Veronica of “Hill Street Blues” 9. Macao currency 10. Booty 11. Take place 12. Shopping center 15. Butt of every joke on “Always Sunny” 20. “Tangled” weapon 22. 1-across or 60-across 25. “The only animal that blushes” 27. Waterbuck 29. Waitress income 30. Field mice 31. Tolkien’s Treebeard, e.g.

33. Revolving Line of Credit 34. Relinquish 35. Fired ruthlessly 36. 12-across’s baby 37. Wartime friend 38. Gradually withdraw

40. Tax, in Ireland 44. Feminine pronoun 47. Chemistry shorthand 49. German General Electric 51. GI address Last Week’s Answers: 53. Pale 55. We mention them a lot in our fight song 57. Indian wild sheep 58. Try a bite 59. Scamps 60. 36-across’s mother 61. Fine 62. Gauntlet 64. Radiologist’s specialty 65. 74-across’s cousin 66. Historical periods 69. Palau (ISO country code) 71. Office of International Affairs 73. Fighting org.

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 46.21 February 13, 2014 Editor-in-Chief: Connor Jones Managing Editor: Julia Tanaka General Manager: Nick Albanese Blog Editor: Isabel Echarte News Editor: Claire Zeng

Sports Editor: Chris Almeida Feature Editor: Lucia He Cover Editors: Noah Buyon, Christina Libre Leisure Editor: Dayana Morales-Gomez Voices Editor: Steven Criss Photo Editor: Ambika Ahuja Design Editors: Pam Shu, Sophia Super Page 13 Editor: Dylan Cutler Creative Directors: Amanda Dominiguez, Kathleen Soriano-Taylor, Madhuri Vairapandi Editors-at-Large: Caitriona Pagni, Ana Smith Assistant Blog Editors: Minali Aggarwal, Ryan Greene, Marisa Hawley, Kenneth Lee, Laura Kurek Assistant News Editors: Shalina Chatlani, Lara Fishbane, Manuela Tobias Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Castano, Brendan Crowley, Jeffrey Lin, Joe Pollicino Assistant Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Assistant Leisure Editors: Emilia Brahm, Daniel Varghese, Joshua Ward Assistant Photo Editors: Gavin Myers, Joshua Raftis Assistant Design Editors: Leila Lebreton, Andie Pine

Staff Writers:

Sourabh Bhat, Max Borowitz, Grace Brennan, Emmy Buck, MaryBailey Frank, Abby Greene, John Guzzetta, Kevin Huggard, Julia Lloyd-George, Claire McDaniel, Dan Paradis, Max Roberts, Abby Sherburne, Jackson Sinnenberg, Deborah Sparks, Chris Wadibia, Annamarie White

Staff Photographers:

Marla Abdilla, Katherine Landau, Alan Liu, Muriel van de Bilt, Annie Wang

Staff Designers:

Dylan Cutler, Mike Pacheco, Corrina Di Pirro

Copy Chief: Grace Funsten Copy Editors:

Eleanor Fanto, Sabrina Kayser, Samantha Mladen, Dana Suekoff, Isobel Taylor, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Julia Jester Editorial Board:

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

Managing Directors: Mary Bailey-Frank, Allison Manning The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

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

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

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Website: georgetownvoice.com Vox Populi: blog.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: Man in the Mirror Cover Design: Christina Libre

the georgetown voice 3 BUY YOU A DRANK

Official alcohol amnesty policy protects students The University administration has moved to include an official written alcohol amnesty policy in the Student Code of Conduct. This policy, which the University already follows informally, allows students to report sexual assault without facing repercussions for violations of the University’s alcohol policy.

GUSA began publicly advocating last April to include within the Code of Conduct the granting of amnesty to sexual assault survivors for alcohol violations.

The resolution passed in order to change the University’s disciplinary response to cases of sexual assault. “This resolution is a springboard to pushing the University more and more to address this issue,” said Sen. Pat Spagnuolo (COL ’14) when the resolutions were first passed.

This change to the Code of Conduct is great progress in fostering a culture of consent at Georgetown, however it is by no

means the end solution to the conversation about sexual assault. As Kathleen Kelley (NHS ’14), a sexual assault peer educator, pointed out in an email to Vox Populi, “All the measures in the world aren’t useful if survivors still perceive the system as hostile and victim-blaming, and if perpetrators believe they can get away with it.”

Regarding cases of sexual assault, students should receive amnesty for alcohol violations, but in order to discourage a culture of victim-blaming, University administrators should not even consider the role alcohol played in the incident when evaluating the report of sexual assault. Moreover, GUSA has thus far not pushed for amnesty for sexual assault survivors in cases of drug violations in these resolutions, meaning the environment for reporting cases of sexual assault is still far from safe.

Additionally, the Office of Student Conduct predicted that this policy would

be added to the Code of Conduct by the end of September. However, the vetting process that ensures all changes are compliant with the law, and the convention of adding changes to the Code at the beginning of each semester to reduce confusion, delayed the process by over six months.

Both students and administrators would benefit from modifying the review process in order to allow policy changes such as this to be implemented more quickly.

If GUSA is to live up to Spagnuolo’s words, it must take this victory in stride and continue to push for the expansion of this policy to other substances and provide suggestions for an expedited review process for new policies. Until this policy becomes all-inclusive, its effects will remain limited by the possible repercussions to survivors from reporting sexual assaults to the administration and law enforcement.

BRING IN DA NOISE

Construction noise complaints need consideration

Since GUSA members met over a week ago to discuss possible solutions for alleviating student discontent over excessive construction noise in New South residence hall, both administrators and students have been considering a multitude of possible answers to students’ complaints. Additionally, the GUSA Senate drafted a resolution requesting a form of monetary compensation for students affected by the New South construction.

Although its initiative is well-intentioned, throwing money at the problem is an ill-advised solution to the problem and additional ideas must be considered before real headway can be achieved in tackling this issue.

One of the major concerns regarding the potential use of monetary compensation is the origin of the money being given to students. GUSA members have suggested that the cost of compensating students could simply be taken from the funds raised for the building of the New South Student Center, but this arrangement would only force the

overall budget of the project to be increased.

By raising the total cost of completing the student center, the funds originally allocated to the project may not be adequate, and therefore the completion of the center would rely on pulling funds from other campus projects.

Additionally, construction is nothing new on Georgetown’s campus, so compensating students in the way GUSA hopes for would be illogical. During the building of Regents Hall, construction noise became the alarm clock for many freshmen living in Harbin well before 8 a.m. during the week.

Students living in Village B apartments last semester dealt with similar noise issues during the construction of its courtyard memorial. Students affected by construction noise in the past did not received compensation.

What this call for monetary compensation does accomplish, however, is getting firm attention of administrators. A demand for change may not spark administrators’ interest as something worth taking seriously, but

when a demand for money is thrown into the equation, the university might be more attentive. Even though it is a far cry to say that students could actually receive monetary compensation, administrators will likely, and should, push through changes in working hours and improve construction schedule notifications in order to appease the students while avoiding handing out checks.

The severity of this noise disruption does warrant some kind of remedy, but it can come in the form of cost-free compensation. Instead of writing checks, the Office of Residential Living could offer students living in New South higher housing points going into the housing lottery, allowing students inconvenienced by the noisy location of their housing this year to have a chance at better housing next year. Furthermore, the administration should highly consider the implications of this dilemma as plans for the Northeast Triangle dormitory come closer to fruition in order to avoid similar student dissatisfaction.

HOLDER ME CLOSER

Justice Dept. moves toward marriage equality

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last Saturday that the Justice Department will expand its legal recognition of same-sex marriages to include the same “privileges, protections, and rights” as opposite-sex marriage “to the greatest extent possible under the law.” Framed as an echo of the Civil Rights Movement, the policy is a small but significant step towards equality, since it will dictate the federal government’s legal stance toward wedded same-sex couples even in states where same-sex marriage remains unrecognized. Cases encompassed by the new policy include joint bankruptcy filing, alimony, domestic support, survivor benefits, marital privilege that permits withholding testimony against a spouse, and prison visitation rights formerly guaranteed only to opposite-sex couples nationwide.

The Justice Department’s policy change comes on the heels of two decisions relevant to the ongoing struggle for marriage equality: the Supreme Court ruling of Windsor v. United States,

striking down the Defense of Marriage Act last June, and the hold on same-sex marriages in Utah last month. The latter case arose after a federal judge struck down Utah’s gay marriage ban, arguing that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to equal protection. Utah’s district attorney appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, however, which issued a temporary ban on the state’s same-sex marriages until judges of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the case. The result has been a legal vacuum in which the status of Utah’s formerly permitted same-sex unions is unclear. However, the attorney general’s recent expansion of national legal protection helps to preserve state power while affirming equal rights for LGBT citizens under federal law.

Considered in light of both the DOMA and Utah cases, Holder’s announcement throws into sharp relief the paradox that underlies the present state-by-state pursuit of marriage equality. The principal question, whether the U.S. Constitu-

tion fundamentally grants same-sex couples the right to marry, has been artfully dodged in successive court rulings and remains unresolved. If answered, it could prove the key to implementing marriage equality nationwide through legal means. Until addressed, however, the Justice Department’s policy represents a necessary legal actualization of cases that favor same-sex unions.

Holder’s directive also reinvigorates the progress of marriage equality, a string of recent victories upset by the Court’s Utah stoppage of same-sex marriages. Legal action, while hardly concerted, has reasserted itself as both the establishing force behind equal rights and the vehicle for realizing the legal implications of that equality. By grounding his directive in laws recently amended or affirmed in favor of marriage equality, Holder has scored a victory for the cause and articulated the goal of a national policy regarding same-sex marriage that derives its legitimacy from the Constitution.

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4 the georgetown voice

GUSA executive campaigns kick off

by Claire Zeng

A bike repair stand will be set up in Red Square by March.

Jordan Smith

Bike repair stand coming to GU, bikeshare delayed

by James Constant

Thanks to a donation from the Bike House D.C., a Dero Fixit bike repair facility will be installed next to the Red Square bike racks by the beginning of March. The bikeshare program, on the other hand, will likely not occur this semester as originally planned because of the loss of bicycles scheduled for the program.

The Georgetown University Student Association Fund is providing $400 to pay for the repair stand installation. Bicyclists will be able to inflate and change tires and adjust seats, brakes, and handlebars at the self-service stand.

“Unless you wanted to go to one of the bike shops on M Street, which can be expensive, there wasn’t a good option to keep your bike maintained,” said Greg Miller (SFS ’14), a re-

search fellow at the Office of Sustainability.

The bikeshare program was first announced in August but is facing difficulties launching this semester because of a limited bike supply. Organizers originally intended to use abandoned bikes recovered by the Department of Public Safety. According to Chief of Police Jay Gruber, because of a lack of response from students organizing the bikeshare, however, the bikes were instead donated to charity groups over winter break.

The bikeshare organizer at the time, Gabe Pincus (SFS ‘14), did not respond to requests for comment.

Miller also said he is running into problems bringing in students to help run the bikeshare, stating he is “really the only person who’s working on it” but is “trying to recruit some underclassmen who are interested.”

GU presenting at SXSW

by Grace Brennan The South by Southwest conference, famous for spotlighting a variety of filmmakers, musicians, and entrepreneurs, will feature Georgetown representatives for the first time in its conference on educational innovation, SXSWedu. The conference will be held on Mar. 5 in Austin, Texas.

The panel, “Designing the Future University from the Inside,” will include Provost Robert Groves, Chief Information Officer Lisa Davis, and Program Manager for Innovation and New Media Strategy Michael Wang (MSB ’07). They will sit among representatives from the University of Texas at Austin, Teach for America, Microsoft, and the U.S. Department of Education. The

february 13, 2014

conference will focus on how innovations and technology can be integrated into university education.

Georgetown representatives have been attending as audience members since 2011, but this year will be the first time that they will be featured on a panel. Out of a total of 1000-1500 panelist entries, about 600 went into the crowd source voting and about 100 were chosen as panelists.

“When we went the first couple of years, there was a disconnect between entrepreneurs creating solutions for academia without the context and the experience behind the experts in the field that have been doing this,” Davis said.

Groves said those who were dismissive of technology’s role in the world of education may now

Campaigns for the election for Georgetown University Student Association executive launched Thursday at midnight and will run until the election on Feb. 27. The four tickets in the race are Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) and Omika Jikaria (SFS ’15), Thomas Lloyd (SFS ’15) and Jimmy Ramirez (COL ’15), Ben Weiss (COL ’15) and Sam Greco (SFS ’15), and Zach Singer (COL ’15) and Dan Silkman (COL ’15) for the positions of president and vice president, respectively.

The four tickets’ slogans are Weiss and Greco’s “Working for You,” Lloyd and Ramirez’s “Together with Georgetown,” Singer and Silkman’s “Building Your Georgetown”, and Tezel and Jikaria’s “Connect to Georgetown.”

The platforms of the tickets, which all candidates discussed in interviews with the Voice, include common themes of free speech, student rights, accessibility to University space and benefits, student-administration engagement, diversity and pluralism, and improving academic life.

Lloyd and Ramirez emphasized Lloyd’s experience in advocating for free speech as president of GU Pride and proposed a GUSA free speech advisory group and a clearer way to petition administration to avoid “writing an editorial in the Voice or Hoya every time [people are] afraid to speak up.” They also proposed a tiered system of levels of access to benefits for clubs as opposed to the current “all or nothing” approach. see how important it has become.

“Those who were a little more bold on their predictions in how technology could answer every question are now saying that there is a reason to think about [traditional education] and new [technology] together,” he said.

Georgetown representatives will discuss their Initiative on Tech Enhanced Learning, the $8 million fund dedicated to technological innovation at Georgetown, and Hackathon, the conference for the Georgetown community to discuss innovation at Georgetown first launched in November 2012.

Groves said the panel also hopes to collaborate with universities for new ideas. “Sometimes these events end up being quite important because we pick up a connection. It’s rare that you walk out of these things without new ideas,” he said.

In regards to student space, Weiss and Greco proposed opening up academic study spaces in Riggs Library and Carroll Parlor and allowing ofage students to rent out the Village C West Alumni Lounge for parties.

They also expressed ideas to streamline club funding by changing student advisory boards to be representative, not appointed, and creating an overall student board.

Both the Greco/Weiss and Singer/Silkman tickets discussed student-administration engagement at length. Weiss and Greco expressed a focus on fostering positive student-administration relationships.

Singer and Silkman said they would be proactive with the administration and exemplified the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign from September, led by Singer, as successful GUSA-related activism.

In regards to diversity, Tezel and Jikaria aim to engage underrepresented groups through instituting a GUSA multicultural council.

When discussing academic life, Weiss and Greco emphasized ideas for expanding availability for academic credit for internships and community-based learning and greater cross-school collaboration.

Both Singer/Silkman and Lloyd/ Ramirez discussed expanding the reach and benefits of What’s a Hoya, GUSA’s freshman education series launched in the fall semester for which Silkman is one of three coordinators.

Lloyd and Ramirez emphasized using What’s a Hoya as a “branding mechanism” and establishing a proposed

What’s a Hoya fund, envisioned as a revival of the obsolete Diversity Action Council fund, to publicize, fund, and spread the housing point incentive to non-GUSA events.

The candidates are a mix of three GUSA “outsiders,” as Lloyd, Jikaria, and Silkman characterize themselves, and five GUSA “insiders,” as current GUSA Chief of Staff Singer, GUSA Deputy Chief of Staff Tezel, and GUSA Senators Greco, Weiss, and Ramirez all identified themselves.

All five of the latter believed potential concerns of being insular and disconnected from the student body at large did not apply to them. “[Being labeled as insiders] was one of our hesitations,” Greco said. “[Yet, although] we’ve done GUSA since we were freshmen, that also makes us extremely capable at this job.”

The three candidates who consider themselves outsiders, likewise, expressed that they’d work effectively in GUSA. “Joining GUSA would give me more access and amplify my ability to make change on a multitude of issues,” Lloyd said.

When asked, all four tickets said they would definitely knock on doors.

“Door-knocking is an important medium for interaction with students,” Singer said.

“There’s a balance that needs to be played. … There’s sometimes a frequency where it bothers people, and that’s completely understandable,” Tezel said.

Lecture series proposed

by Daniel Paradis The Intellectual Life Committee of the GUSA Senate has proposed a series of lectures by professors in order to expose students to subjects and classes which may interest them.

Proposed by Senator Angela Bai (COL ‘17), a member of the intellectual life committee, the lecture series would feature lectures by professors who teach upper-level courses or courses with large waitlists to allow students to preview these courses.

According to Bai, the idea was a response to the lack of a course selection period during which students could sample classes before enrolling in them at the beginning of each semester.

“I was really frustrated about not being able to select your classes before you pre-register, so I thought this would be helpful,” Bai said.

The Intellectual Life Committee is working with the Lecture Fund to develop the idea.

“I had an overwhelming response [when I proposed this to Lecture Fund board],” said Chris Mulrooney (COL ‘14), president of the Lecture Fund. “I think there’s a lot of student momentum behind this particular initiative …

Our objective right now is to make sure we have a dedicated team on this project.”

For more news on construction and renovations on-campus, check out Vox Populi at blog.georgetownvoice.com.

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the georgetown voice 5

Coalition presents diversity proposal to DeGioia

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

The proposal was presented at the Black House’s annual dinner.

by Manuela Tobias The Black House hosted President John DeGioia at their annual dinner on Feb. 10 at the Riggs Library to discuss a proposal presented on Feb. 7 to DeGioia by a coalition of minority group student leaders and activists on greater efforts to support minority groups on campus.

The dinner began with a meet and greet cocktail hour, followed by introductory remarks both by DeGioia and Black House President Aya Waller-Bey (COL ‘14)

and concluded with a question and answer session with President DeGioia to discuss the student proposal.

The proposal, distributed at the dinner, primarily focused on a general educational requirement for all undergraduate students entitled “The Problem of Race and Class.” The class, structured to mirror “The Problem of God,” aims to engage all undergraduate students with the topic of diversity.

“What we are really trying to call Georgetown’s attention to is that if we are really trying to make

Keep neutrality on the net

According to the Internet, the Internet is dead. The Jan. 14 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling that struck down net neutrality has been seen by many as an indication that the days of free and open Internet are over.

If net neutrality is the baseline for the Internet being free, open, and equal, it’s only been that way for less than four years. Net neutrality, or the concept that Internet service providers and government should treat all data on the Internet equally, is based on a set of six principles established by the Federal Communications Commission in the Open Internet Order of 2010. These principles serve to protect consumers by giving them access to information about their Internet service and how it’s managed.

The ruling mainly concerned one specific principle of net neutrality, “pay by priority,” which is the concept that a broadband service provider could choose to make access to certain sites faster than others. So Comcast could make NBC Universal load in 10 seconds and Netflix load in 3 minutes. In order to get Netflix to load as fast as NBC

Universal, the consumer would have to pay a premium.

What pay by priority leads to is a system in which broadband providers can influence the sites that consumers use based on how fast they load. Why choose Google over Bing if Google loads in 2 minutes and Bing in 2 seconds? Due to the incredible influence that pay by priority provides to broadband companies, the FCC banned it under net neutrality.

However, Verizon sued the FCC in 2010 over the concept of pay by priority due to the specific companies that the principle affects. According to the FCC, only “common carriers” are banned from pay by priority, all other providers are exempted from it. As it stands, broadband providers are not common carriers, but rather are “information service providers.” As such, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, and other broadband companies, as determined by the ruling, are free to engage in pay by priority.

By essentially reminding the FCC of the wording of its own claus-

global citizens out of people, if we are trying to make men and women for others out of people, it’s really essential to provide them with the language they can use to engage in these conversations thoughtfully,” said Tiffany Brown (SFS ’14), one of the co-chairs of the proposal. [Disclosure: Brown is a former Voice staffer.]

In addition, the eight-point proposal expresses concerns about limited funding for the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access and for minority heritage months, the lack of data transparency, and the absence of a formal minority alumni association, and suggests creating a database of minority students for networking purposes. The proposal also identifies the need to organize a student-faculty committee to address diversity issues and to establish a pipeline for minority undergraduate students to enter graduate study in exchange for returning to Georgetown to teach for three to four academic years.

The proposal was put together by six undergraduate students cochaired by Waller-Bey and Brown.

It followed feedback from Twitter

protests sponsored by multiple minority groups in December, sparked by Waller-Bey’s initial #BBGU Twitter protest.

“It’s clear that we are all experiencing very common things here, and there are not enough of us in small groups to do it one by one. Latinos here, Blacks there, Asians there, we might as well get all of the support that we can and collect what we see as common concerns and make a formal proposal, which is what we decided to do,” Brown said.

When asked to comment on the proposal, DeGioia wrote in an email to the Voice that he and Provost Groves were “giving the proposed actions the most serious consideration” and aimed to “engage groups from across campus to make a demonstrable and timely impact on the issues that have been raised … very soon.”

“It is clear that students care about Georgetown and want the University to strengthen its efforts to mirror our core values of cura personalis, men and women for others and community in diversity,” wrote Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity

es, the court did not strike down net neutrality altogether. Rather, it is pushing the FCC to do a better job of delineating its regulations.

It is easy to see this as a moment to panic. Broadband companies could begin using pay by priority as a means to gain traction for their partners, such as Comcast making NBC Universal faster than any other streaming site. For anyone living off campus who already pays a fortune for weak Internet from Comcast, this

and Verizon have been operating at near monopoly levels in the mobile phone industry and are quickly moving into the broadband market, while Comcast and Time Warner have traditionally controlled broadband access. In fact, in 2012 the FCC gave its blessing for Verizon to enter into a joint marketing agreement with Comcast for bundled wireless, cable TV, landline, and residential Internet services.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act, which deregulated the broadcasting and telecommunications market, was meant to invite competition by allowing for media cross-ownership. Instead, as evidenced above, it’s led to the proliferation of monopolies through mergers and acquisitions. Theodore Roosevelt is turning over in his grave.

At this point, the monopoly powers of the big four have meant that the U.S. has some of the most expensive broadband in the developed world. Our Internet is almost double the cost average in the EU. As it stands, Internet access is relatively expensive, especially in comparison to those that we call our economic peers. The prices that we pay

Union Jack

by Sara Ainsworth

A tri-weekly column about national politics and policy could mean having to pay a little bit extra a month to access HBO Go, Facebook, Netflix, and other sites.

Even though broadband providers have pledged that they will not resort to pay by priority, there are already allegations in mass media of slowed down service to Netflix users with Comcast or Verizon FiOs. As my monthly Internet bill indicates, the FCC has allowed telecommunications providers, namely Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, and AT&T, to set the terms. AT&T

Rosemary Kilkenny in an email to the Voice.

Overall, however, Neil Noronha (SFS ‘14), an attendee at the dinner, had the impression much of the dialogue was abstract, saying it was “high level” and that “nothing specific was mentioned.”

Maurice Jackson, professor of history and African American studies and another attendee at the dinner, concurred the students who presented the proposal would need a concrete timeline to better establish their goals. He additionally expressed concern over the mandatory nature of a diversity course in light of the already high number of general education requirements.

Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history focused on African American studies agreed, writing in an email to the Voice that “a new gen ed is hard. ... [I would suggest] thinking about asking for a designated lecture fund or programming fund to dedicate speakers, workshops, or experiences for students that engages these questions via orientation/residence halls/retreats with campus ministries, etc.”

are a direct result of the FCC’s failed regulation. Remember that the next time you’re on the phone with customer service.

The most egregious part is that we’ve come to a point as a country where Internet service is no longer really optional—it’s required for almost everything that we do.

Companies, schools, and government agencies have moved exclusively online and thus those that are without Internet are not only at a disadvantage in terms of those services, but are also at a disadvantage in terms of knowledge. There is no reason that Internet should be as expensive as it is, and the FCC should see it as such.

Ultimately, the Internet should be as ubiquitous and accessible as electricity. The court’s ruling presents the FCC with a chance to finally live up to its mission of providing consumers with “reliable, meaningful choice[s] in affordable services.” Maybe this time we might actually get a free and open Internet.

Discuss slow download speeds for Netflix with Sara at sainsworth@ georgetownvoice.com.

sports

6 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

Men’s basketball back in running for NCAA Tournament

by Joe Pollicino Just over two weeks ago, the outlook for the remainder of the 2013-14 Georgetown men’s basketball season appeared bleak at best. Following a heartbreaking 65-60 loss, their fifth straight, at the hands of No. 4 Villanova, “NIT-bound” rather than “NCAA-destined” creeped more and more into the daily vocabulary of disillusioned Hoya fans.

Without junior center Joshua Smith, absent because of an academic suspension for the remainder of the year, the Hoyas lacked a dominant low-post presence and a third-scoring option to alleviate the scoring burden of senior guard Markel Starks and sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. Fast forward to this week: the situation has dramatically changed for the Blue and Gray (16-9, 6-6 Big East), as they have played themselves back into the NCAA Tournament picture with their recent four-game winning streak, including wins this past week at Verizon Center against Butler, 71-63, (12-12, 2-10 Big East) and Providence, 83-71 (169, 6-6 Big East).

Starks and Smith-Rivera have maintained their strong play for the Hoyas, as they have continued carrying the brunt of the scoring load.

Against Butler, Starks had a team-high 19 points while Smith-Rivera followed closely behind with 18 of his own.

The two traded places in the matchup against Providence, as Smith-Rivera led the team with 22 points and Starks finished with 14. In the last two games, both players shot an efficient 25of-49 from the field, and have proven clutch towards the end of the game at the free throw

line, converting on 19-of-20 at- of senior forward Nate Lubick Trawick’s return from injury said after the Providence game.

The Hoyas will look to conand junior forward Mikael Hop- has been greatly welcomed by tempts from the charity stripe.

Despite these impressive kins. During the winning streak, Georgetown fans. In his role off tinue their four-game winning scoring figures, the backcourt has however, the two have cataylzed the bench, Trawick energizes his streak when they return to action been effective in other key areas, the Hoyas’ success both on the teammates whenever he enters this Sunday night, as they travel particularly on the defensive end. offensive and defensive ends of the game with his superb defen- to face resurgent St. John’s (16-8, Tasked with guarding Butler’s the floor. Against Butler, Lubick sive effort and his aggression on 6-5 Big East) at New York’s famed leading scorer, sophomore guard had a near double-double with offense. In the the last two wins, Madison Square Garden, the site Kellen Dunham, Starks met the 10 points and nine rebounds. Trawick has averaged 10 points of their win against Michigan challenge. Dunham struggled In the contest with Providence, and 4.5 rebounds in just under 26 State on February 1. The Hoyas defeated St. John’s earlier this to find his form throughout the Hopkins grabbed 11 rebounds, minutes per game.

“Guys are stepping up. I season in blowout fashion at Vercontest, only mustering 15 points his second double-figure reon 4-of-11 shooting. Smith-Rive- bounding game of the season, think there’s an understanding izon Center, 77-60 on Jan. 4. The that everyone is going to get a Red Storm enter the contest on a ra also has helped on the defen- while also adding seven points.

Along with these devel- shot and you’re going to have hot streak, as well, having won sive boards with his rebounding, as he pulled down five rebounds opments, junior guard Jabril to step up and play,” Thompson six of their last seven games. in each game during the homestand, an exorbitant amount for a guard.

“I think that Markel is play- “He made some shots against us when he was a Laker and I felt like if I could sign him and bench him and never play him again that that would be terrific for me.”-Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers on why he signed Sasha Vujacic. ing at a very high level right place triumphs in Beijing were with, icons are even more importnow at both ends of the court,” by Chris Almeida nothing short of magical, and ant, because without somebody Georgetown Head Coach John pulled everybody in, sports fan or to identify, somebody to cheer for We have our American icons Thompson said of his guard folnot. Phelps became a superman, or against, why would somebody in team sports—LeBron, Dulowing the win against Butler. an invincible figure, and the focal watch a sport with which they are rant, Manning, and Brady stand “Most nights he’s going to have completely unacquainted? point of a country’s pride. atop pedestals.

But where are to guard someone ... who can The Olympics are meant to However, in 2014, with Phelps our individual heroes?

Looking score, and so just to have that reproduce icons, build narratives, in retirement, we are forced to look at American sports across the sponsibility to work at one end, and create lasting stories and imat the rest of American athletics, board, the few generational figto work at the other end, get evages.

In many countries where which is still strong by any meaures that transcend sports and eryone else involved, and just training programs are underfundsure, but lacks the übermensch that become cultural icons in indiwith our team right now he’s ed and athlete pools are much was a mainstay of Olympics past. vidual pursuits are strangely going to be out there for most of smaller than those of larger naThe top sprint events in track and absent from the modern day. the time.” tions, to win a medal is enough to field are dominated by Usain Bolt On Tuesday, snowboardThompson shared similar make an athlete a national hero, and Yohan Blake, with the Amerier Shaun White, easily the most praise for Smith-Rivera’s play afrecognizable face in the group of cans fighting among themselves for but here, the bar is much higher. ter the victory against Providence.

I get most of my enjoyment American athletes who made the third place. Swimming has a slew “He shouldn’t be defined just from watching team sports, but of impressive American particitrip to Sochi for the Winter Olymby scoring points,” Thompson nothing gets me to drop what I’m pants, but no individual stands out. pics, got on his board to try and said. “We need him to rebound. doing and watch like seeing an Let’s face it, Ryan Lochte is not the win his third consecutive gold We need him to throw passes to athletic outlier performing on a type of cultural figure I’m talking medal in the men’s halfpipe event. other guys and then he’ll find a big stage.

The same goes, probably about here.

American tennis, save White, however, could not come way to get his baskets. He did a more so, for the average viewer of Serena Williams, has fallen off the up with another magical run and good job with that today, he had the Olympics. side of the Earth. finished fourth in the event. five assists, five rebounds and We watch sports to see things Going into these winter games, It was not too long ago that the he put the ball in the basket and that we cannot do, in a way, to again, the faces of the past have United States had the lion’s share he made his foul shots down the see real life superheroes who can fallen away.

Short track speed of larger-than-life athletes.

In the stretch.” sprint and fly in ways we could skater Apollo Anton Ohno, winnineties, forgetting the incredible But while the backcourt has never dream of doing ourselves. ner of eight medals in the last three basketball prowess of the Dream been playing that way consisTo watch Jason Lezak touch the games, not to mention a Dancing Team and the inescapable fame of tently for the entirety of this seawall before Alain Bernard, for with the Stars title, is now retired.

Michael Jordan, Michael Johnson, son, the same could not be said me, was like watching Superman Skier Lindsey Vonn was forced to the “Fastest Man on Earth,” Pete for the Georgetown frontcourt Sampras and Andre Agassi, ten- cede her spot on the team due to vanquish Lex Luthor in real time. nis’ premier stars, and a number injury. White withdrew from the Without these overarching stories, of others all wore the red, white, slopestyle competition, due to without a strong figure to root for, course conditions, and couldn’t the Games mean nothing more and blue.

As the 2000s rolled around, win his premier event. Evan Ly- than seeing two random teams of Michael Phelps became the face of sacek, the 2010 gold medalist in twelve-year olds play each other Americans in international com- men’s singles figure skating is in the Little League World Series.

Yeah, outside of the major petition, and really, the face of also missing due to injury. Now, the Olympics themselves. Phelps’ what is the event for the layper- American sports, there is a clear wins in the 100-meter butterfly son to watch? Aside from hockey, I lack of the athletes that cause the world around them to stop and and the 4-by-100 freestyle relay wouldn’t be able to tell you.

All sports need starpower, watch. But, part of the appeal of at the 2008 Games were some of the most dramatic and memora- and at the Olympics, where most the Phelpsian heroes is that they ble athletic events that have taken broadcasts feature sports that the appear from nowhere. Let’s hope place in my lifetime. His eight first average viewer is not familiar the next one is coming soon.

the sports sermon

JOSH RAFTIS

Men’s basketball has revitalized their tournament hopes with solid team play.

sports

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the georgetown voice 7

Familiarity key for men’s lacrosse Wizards aspire for playoffs

by Kevin Huggard Head Coach Kevin Warne returns this week for his second year at the helm of the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (1-0, 0-0 Big East), who began their season Wednesday with a 10-4 victory against Mount St. Mary’s (0-2, 0-0 NEC) on Multi-Sport Field.

“We’ve been waiting all year for this game, and to get the first goal, it just reaffirmed that we’ve been doing the right thing,” said junior midfielder Charlie McCormick, who led all scorers with three goals.

The team looks to improve on the success they had last year. They advanced to post-season play for the first time since 2007, earning a spot in the Big East tournament.

“75 percent of my team when I open my mouth now, knows what we’re talking about,” Warne said.

“Only 25 percent doesn’t with our freshman. Where last year 100 percent had no idea.”

Familiarity between the coaching staff and the players will be key for the team as they lost eight seniors from last year’s group. 25 players will return, including three second team All-Big East selections from last year’s team—graduate student Tyler Knarr, junior attack Reilly O’Connor, and junior midfielder Charlie McCormick.

“Those [three] are the guys who we’ll lean on early on in the season,” Warne said. The team will need these three upperclassmen to start the year strong as the talented-yet-inexperienced freshman class adjusts to the college game.

“The freshman class is a real athletic class,” Warne said. “[They] have done a real good job so far getting acclimated to college lacrosse, because it’s a lot different than high school.”

Those freshmen will need to step up, especially on defense, where three of last year’s starters have graduated. Preseason All-Big

Men’s lacrosse is geared up for the start of their season.

by Chris Almeida With the NBA season approaching its All-Star Weekend, there are the usual hot topics. Among them are the spectacular play of Kevin Durant, the unimpressive performances of the defending champion Miami Heat, and the never-ending debate about the entertainment value of the dunk contest. Here in D.C, nonetheless, fans are more concerned with the unusual record of the Washington Wizards.

Last week, after a win over Portland, the Wiz’s record rose to 24-23. This happening was no miniscule event for Wizards fans.

The last time Washington held a winning record was Oct. 31, 2009, a 355 game drought in between winning records.

Since the Wizards became a “winning team,” they have struggled to maintain their winning record, hitting .500 multiple times, but now sitting at 25-26.

In the dreadful Eastern Conference, Washington has a chance to have one of their best seasons in recent memory. It’s been six years since the Wizards last made the playoffs in the glory days of Agent Zero, but now that the team has recovered from the gun scandal and rebuilded, John Wall and company have a good chance of not only playing in the postseason, but win-

ning a series, something that the team has not done since 2005.

It is clear that Indiana and Miami are the top teams in the East, but the stragglers are closely packed behind them with Washington right in the middle of the mix. Teams seeded three through nine are within five games of each other, with the Wizards currently sitting in sixth position.

This team has rebuilt itself from a randomly assembled group of NBA journeymen to a squad with a young core bolstered by veteran play. Guards John Wall and Bradley Beal, both on younger than 25, form one of the best backcourts in the NBA, with Wall emerging as one of the league’s premier point guards.

They are anchored by the veteran presences of center Marcin Gortat, who has been averaging 12.1 points and almost nine rebounds per game after being traded from Phoenix, and a resilient Trevor Ariza, who is scoring 14.8 points per game.

Objectively, while their record is nothing to be excited about, this is the best position that the Wizards have held in years, with not only a playoff spot, but also a chance to win a series on the horizon. Yes, this team is far from being a title contender, but in Washington, a little bit of hope is all you need.

VOICE ARCHIVES

Biathlon: the great unknown

I can’t ski. My trips down most beginner-level mountains involve more time spent facedown in the snow than time spent actually moving. I also cannot shoot a gun. I blame my suburban lifestyle and dislike of loud noises for that one. At this year’s 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, however, there exists an elite group of athletes, who are very comfortable with both of these activities. They are the Olympic biathletes, who are in the most fascinating event at the games that you probably have never heard of.

Combining cross-country skiing with rifle shooting, it’s an athletic concept foreign to most Americans mainly because someone else invented it. Norway inadvertently created the sport in the late 1800s when it used the components of the biathlon as an alternative military training exercise. By the early

East selection senior John Urbank, who has 39 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers in his career, will anchor the unit for the Hoyas.

Team captain O’Connor will attempt to follow up his breakout sophomore campaign (26 goals, 30 assists) with another productive year. Joining him in the attack will be senior Jeff Fountain, who finished third on the team last year with 24 points.

Graduate student and captain Tyler Knarr will use his expertise in the face-off circle to give the Hoyas as much possession as possible.

“Top five [in the nation] on face-offs last year, which is a huge component, just having possession of the ball,” said Warne of Knarr’s play.

Knarr will also provide crucial leadership to a team that lost many of its upperclassmen.

In the net, the Hoyas have redshirt junior Jake Healey, who started 13 games last season and won five.

His play improved throughout the year as he strung together a series of strong outings to end the season.

The Hoyas, picked to finish fourth in the Big East, have a difficult task ahead, with the addition of a top-five team in Denver to an already deep league. “I think our conference is as good as any conference in the country,” said Warne. “We’re all good teams that can beat each other on any given day.”

1900s, the biathlon had become a full-fledged sport, cementing itself as an official Olympic event by the 1960 games.

In the event, athletes cross-country ski through a trail system where, along the way, they encounter a series of targets to shoot at, in both the upright and prone position.A punishment, commonly additional distance to ski or a time penalty, is enforced for each target missed. There are numerous types of events, including short and long distances and relays, similar to track and field.

So, why should you care about the biathlon? First off, the intensity of the sport is incredible. Imagine combining the heart-stopping pace of the 100-meter dash with the gut-wrenching suspense of a gymnastics routine. Biathletes glide through the trail at a ferocious pace, only to switch gears completely,

steadying their bodies to strike a target with a diameter of one and a half inches from 160 feet away.

Each race’s final moments are particularly enthralling. In a close race, the last rifle station is a dramatic scene, as biathletes must control their nerves behind the gun, know-

Rise and Fire

by Brendan Crowley A bi-weekly column about sports

ing that a sprint to the finish is inevitable. One misfire can cost racers a medal.

Additionally, the general badass-ness of the biathletes’ appearance is absolutely worth a look.

Sporting sleek uniforms so they can be aerodynamic, biathletes look like madmen, tearing through the snow with long skis, flailing ski poles … oh and a rifle strapped to their backs. This Olympic event is the closest you will get to feeling

like you’re watching a video game happen live.

Another thing to consider about the biathlon is, to be frank, how generally horrible Americans are at it, a rare occurrence for a nation proud of its athletic prowess.

American men and women have medaled a total of one time in either the annual World Championships or the Winter Olympic Games.

American Tim Burke possesses the sole medal, after he captured silver in last year’s World Championships. History could be in the making in Sochi this year, as Burke presumably has the best chance to break the U.S’s 54-year Olympic medal drought.

Perhaps the biggest reason to become a fan of the biathlon, however, is that the athletes that are really good at it have jaw-dropping abilities. From what I can gather, criteria for being skilled include, but are not limited to: being German, Norwegian, or Russian,

having blonde hair, looking like a movie star, and of course being able to hit miniscule targets from half a football field away.

Perhaps the most famous biathlete of all time, who coincidentally meets all of the above criteria, is still competing today. Ole Einar Bjørndalen, this year’s gold medalist in the Men’s Sprint, hails from Norway and shares the record for most overall medals won in Winter Olympic history, and will likely win his record-breaking thirteenth by the end of the Sochi games. Biathlon fans really like Ole Einar, so if you are new to the sport, start with him.

If any of this sounds appealing, I encourage you to give the biathlon a try. We tend to love the events American athletes excel at, but we forget about the captivating sports in which other nations dominate.

Shoot straight with Brendan at bcrowley@georgetownvoice.com.

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8 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

FOLLOWING THE MONEY WHY ARE SO MANY GEORGETOWN GRADUATES TAKING JOBS IN BANKING AND CONSULTING?

By RYAN GREENE Right around 4:30 a.m., after another late night of running numbers, Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union CEO Chris Kelly (COL ’14) hits the lights and locks up the back office of the student-run credit union.

Kelly regularly spends over 30 hours per week in the Credit Union office, on top of finishing his last year as an undergraduate student at Georgetown.

Kelly originally came to Georgetown without a clear idea of what career he wanted to do. He started to work on a double major in math and economics because he was good at those subjects, but the more he worked at GUASFCU, which he joined freshman year, the more he realized he wanted a job in the financial services.

The work was not easy, but Kelly’s time in GUASFCU earned him a job at private equity behemoth Blackstone, which he will start after graduation.

Kelly’s hard work may have earned him one of the most prestigious entry-level positions available in the country, but his story is not unique at Georgetown. In fact, every year, hundreds of Georgetown graduates go on to work at top firms in financial services, including investment banking, private equity, and consulting.

According to surveys carried out by the Cawley Career Education Center, since 2005, financial services and consulting have been the top two industries in which Georgetown students decide to work for after graduation. The percentage of students going into these industries has been steadily increasing, with only a slight drop during the 2008 financial crisis.

The 2012 Senior Survey Report gathered 1,006 responses, representing 55 percent of the total class. Out of the 727 graduates who reported finding full-time employment after graduation, 163 were in financial services and 133 were in consulting. This accounted for nearly 41 percent of the entire employed portion of the class of 2012.

High salaries and generous compensation packages play a large part in attracting students to these industries, especially for those who have to pay off student loans.

In addition, a culture that holds financial services and consulting jobs as prestigious pushes students of all fields to enter into this career path, which can seem contradictory for a University that prides itself on Jesuit values. * * *

To many students and faculty, the high salaries that these industries tend to offer relative to other types of industries is one of the main influences that push Georgetown students to pursue careers in finance, banking, and consulting.

According to Glassdoor, a database of over six million company reviews, the national average salary for investment banking analysts is $70,000, not including bonuses, which can add tens of thousands of dollars to that figure, depending on employee performance. Glassdoor also reports that the median national consultant salary is $78,000. On the other hand, salaries for Teach for America recruits, the University’s largest employer of graduating students, range from $25,500 to $51,100.

“For students who are paying back loans, these jobs offer a high salary starting

out,” said Kate Anthony (SFS ’14), who was offered a job to work at Bain and Company as a consultant. “I know a few students who have gone into it for the financial security reason.” Anthony also explains that many fields that her friends are interested in do not realistically have entry-level positions available that do not require a few years of business experience. For these people, consulting offers a way to gain a foothold in the business world before branching off to a different career path.

Professor Lynn Doran of the McDonough School of Business argues that another reason for the high numbers of students going into these industries is the overarching culture of consulting and financial services reinforced by the students themselves.

“Part of it is just convenience,” Doran said. “Students just see that that’s an easy way to get an internship or job. The junior and senior students pass along the information to the freshmen, so each group coming up knows what to do to prepare themselves for those types of jobs.”

Andrew Glass (COL ’13), who worked at the Corporate Executive Board Company agrees. “I think we live in a society that, when you’re coming from a very good university, puts you down certain tracks, and people can become very one-track-minded,” Glass said. * * *

The arduous job application processes for getting into financial services and consulting exemplify what students are willing to go through in order to secure a job in these industries. The actual process itself takes all of January, but most

16% – BANKING

13% – CONSULTING

10% – TEACHING

5% – HEALTHCARE

56% – EVERYTHING ELSE

students begin networking and preparing to apply during the previous fall. To some students, the intensity of the process is too much to take.

Kelly remembers his recruiting season as the toughest part of his Georgetown career and feels sorry for his junior friends going through the same thing right now.

“People in this process, and I know I was the same way last year, they think that their job is their life,” Declan Cummings (COL ’13) said. “People think, ‘Oh my God, if I don’t get the job I want, then my life is ruined after graduation.’” Cummings works for federal consulting firm Deloitte and is happy to look back now and realize that he and his friends are doing just fine, regardless of which firms they went to.

“Georgetown students work hard and they probably work too hard,” said Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., a professor in the School of Foreign Service. “Georgetown students can do a million things and do them quickly and well. … But I sometimes worry that we lose a little bit of the depth. … I often think that, if we [teachers] could just slow students down a tiny bit, things would be better.” * * *

There are several ways the University as an institution also promotes a business-oriented culture, especially with regards to resources and events put together for job-seekers.

Georgetown’s career education center, for instance, prides itself on preparing students for these careers and, in particular, engages finance and consulting firm recruiters to help Georgetown applicants receive job offers.

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the georgetown voice 9

“The Career Center works closely with Neus has such confidence in George- “Through the years, I’ve had a number “My students are people of serour recruiters to coordinate information town’s ability to prepare students for the of students go into consulting, and I think vice, and I see my job as coming back sessions, market job and internship op- business world that he believes George- … I was a tiny bit skeptical,” Carnes said. to that root of service,” O’Neil said. “I portunities to students, and manage the town should focus on improving and add- “I was a little bit like, ‘Gee, what does this could have stayed in the private secinterview process in our suite of interview ing only to its pre-professional programs to mean that they’re going into consulting? tor and made buckets of money, but Does it touch on Jesuit values?’” the outcome of the work [now] is the rooms,” Executive Director of the Career outcompete other colleges.

Center Mike Schaub wrote in an email to “Going to college is an enormous In order to live up to Georgetown’s students that go out and help each the Voice. “Our staff also prepares students investment,” Neus said. “It is unprec- mission, however, some professors strive other.” for their interviews by teaching them about edentedly expensive and to the point to include Jesuit values in courses meant Glass, for his part, quit his job at the finance and consulting industries, pro- of almost being unaffordable to most for many of the students who will go on to CEB and now works for Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies. “It was viding information about specific compa- people … Georgetown excels in the ar- business professions. nies, reviewing resumes and cover letters, eas where you actually not only can pay “My courses, first and foremost, really important for me to work for and enhancing interview skills.” back those loans but you actually get a are political science classes, so it’s not a place where I agreed with the mis In addition, the Financial Management return on your investment.” every day that I come out with some sion,” Glass said. “At the end of the day, [CEB’s] mission Association, whose faculty as a for-profit comadvisor is Professor Doran, PERCENTAGE OF GRADUATES EMPLOYED IN THE BANKING AND CONSULTING INDUSTRIES organizes recruiting events pany is to help other on campus and hosts prebusinesses operate sentations such as “Careers more efficiently. It in Capital Markets” and can definitely be an “Women on Wall Street.” area of interest for someone or someFMA travels to New York every other spring to visit the one’s passion to do New York Stock Exchange that. … Everyone and three other banks on has something that Wall Street. According to drives them, and, for Doran, the group has over me, it was working 300 student participants. for some place that Other programs are also practices the Jesuit incorporated into students’ ideals.” curricula. The International Similar to Glass, Business Diplomacy cerAnthony turned down her offer from tificate program is one of Bain to pursue her Georgetown’s oldest certifpassion for teachicate programs. According to its mission statement, the ing. Anthony’s deciIBD program was created “to sion came not from train students for work at any problem with the intersection of internathe kind of work betional public and private secing done at Bain but, tor activities.” A plurality of the program’s In spite of the clear overarching con- moral or some lesson,” Carnes said. rather, from her belief in the Jesuit graduates move on to financial services or cern for students to maximize returns to “But what I hope people see over the ideal that everyone should pursue consulting work. their monetary investment in college tui- course of a semester is that what we their deepest passion.

“It’s an applied program, meaning that tion, Provost Robert Groves emphasizes the see in the world, especially when we “The Jesuits talk about our prothe primary courses that our faculty teach dangers of focusing solely on the monetary have our eyes open to questions of in- fession as the place where our deephave direct application to the next thing, to value of an education. “Several have noted equality and poverty and political ex- est desires meet the world’s deepest whatever the student decides is going to that the greatest proportional return on clusion, makes demands on us.” needs, and I think, for me, the problem be the next path,” IBD Associate Director tuition investment is probably a certificate Others, however, believe that Jesuit with Bain was that it wasn’t meeting Rosaelena O’Neil (SFS ’83) said. “The other program at a trade school or community values played a minor or nonexistent my desire,” Anthony said. In teaching, thing that we do, in addition to the curricu- college, say, in heating and air condition- role in their Georgetown education. she hopes to find her true calling. lum, is we align career coaching as part of ing services,” Groves wrote on his blog on “In IBD, no. In economics, no. In “When I called Bain to tell them, I the experience.”

Feb. 5. “For every dollar invested in training the general SFS core classes … for ex- couldn’t even get the words out that O’Neil explained that the IBD program costs, the value in income is maximized far ample, the one that Fr. Schall used to I was going to turn down this offer has a tight-knit alumni network that stays beyond a college degree. Why is that of lit- teach, absolutely,” Neus said when because I was afraid and they said, connected and remarked that not a day tle interest to many college-age students?” asked if he felt that his courses incor- ‘Look, we understand what you’re dogoes by that she does not contact an alum.

Groves believes that the liberal porated Jesuit values. Neus added that ing and we value that,’” Anthony said.

Aaron Neus (SFS ’03) graduated from arts aspects of Georgetown make up he does not think that including Jesu- “I ran into a couple of them the other the IBD program and went on to work at for the increased cost of its education. it values in economics courses would day and they said how excited they are for what I am doing.”

Citibank. He is now a director at Macqua- He argues that self-discovery is worth have been appropriate. rie Capital. In a phone interview with the the cost of student debt and not sim While Anthony and Glass may have Voice, Neus said that he goes out of his way ply maximizing the return on educafound meaningful work outside of * * * to hire Georgetown graduates, especially tional investment. consulting, the fact still remains that

Ultimately, many faculty and stufrom the SFS. many Georgetown students see their dents at Georgetown find the Univer- best option in the business world.

“I think Georgetown students, com* * * sity’s mission and goals as a Jesuit ed- “These jobs are prestigious,” Anpared to anyone else, have an absolutely unique global perspective,” Neus To some faculty, it is surprising that an ucational institution influencing their thony said. “Everyone wants them. said. “I think they are far better versed institution founded on Jesuit values like final career choices. O’Neil left a ca- I definitely got sucked into that, in in the global geo-political environment “men and women for others” sends the reer in finance specifically to return part. It’s easy. … In terms of finding and also, by definition, the global busi- largest group of its students to banking and to Georgetown and aid more students out what’s out there, it’s kind of at for years to come. ness environment.” consulting jobs. your doorstep.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

RoboCop: I don’t think you’re beautiful, I think you’re bionic

by Benjamin Mazzara The problem I have with reboots is that they usually end up as retreads of once-original stories in a modern setting and a few more clichés thrown in for surprises.

But José Padilha’s RoboCop surprised me. It is a modern adaptation of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 classic with a surprising amount of thought put into it. It’s not about retelling the story of the old film or presenting the same world. Rather, it does what every reboot should do: examine the old film, and truly consider

how each aspect would be adjusted to the modern world.

Just as Verhoeven’s film satirized Reagan-era culture and business, Padilha’s film satirizes our present-day culture. And yet, Padilha has the respect and cleverness to use the same cinematic tactics as Verhoeven. While Verhoeven’s film showed clips of mindless, over-sexualized television shows and commercials to illustrate the degradation of popular culture and to color the background to Alex Murphy’s dystopian future, Padhilha uses the always-entertaining Samuel L. Jackson to lampoon

news pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Chris Matthews to the same end.

Jackson’s frothing talking head, Patrick Novak, not only presents the future state of America and the continued use of robots in “peacekeeping” missions in Tehran, but also ruthlessly and boisterously calls for the use of cybernetic police forces in the United States. And while Verhoeven examined and demonized the vicious social Darwinism of the ‘80s business culture in a fashion similar to Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Padilha is more focused on the

IMDB

“Just because it’s valentines day doesn’t mean you have to take a break from using your hand.”

Life is like a box of chocolates

Did you forget to make reservations for you and your boo this Valentine’s Day? Go homemade instead—and add a little spice to your romantic dinner with some natural aphrodisiacs.

Your tool box must include the classic candles, red roses ... maybe even a blanket. The essential element, though, is the sustenance. As the old saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Speaking from experience, I can assure you that us women also appreciate a delicious spread.

But what should your romantic candle light dinner consist of?

The first item of business should always be chocolate.

Make sure to include it in the Valentine’s Day card that you send to express your love, as tradition dictates. But here is the ulterior motive: chocolate naturally causes a spike in dopamine. This feel-good chemical also increases libido, so it should not be left out of your V-day celebrations.

The tradition of sending chocolates to your lover on Valentine’s day has not been around as long as you might think. In fact, Valentine’s Day was not even associated with romance for a time. The holiday first came into being during the traditions of chivalry and courtly love that developed in the fourteenth century. Our modern, commercialized version of the holiday came about during the eighteenth century in England.

Chocolate is very tied up to the senses. “It melts ever so slowly on your tongue, and tortures you with pleasure,” to quote the film Chocolat. But chocolate isn’t the only thing that hits the spot. Chocolat also taught us that even chili peppers can give you a lift. A healthy dose of chili peppers stimulates endorphins, the feelgood chemicals that our brain produces when we smile and when we are happy.

Now, to get back to the question of what to put into that picnic basket, there are some other aphrodisiacs that are essential for any Valentine’s Day picnic.

To quench your thirst, bring along a bottle of some red wine, which has been acknowledged as an aphrodisiac since Roman times. For an appetizer serve some guacamole. Avocados were once forbidden by the

Eating Out

by Sabrina Kayser A bi-weekly column about food Catholic priests in Old World Spain on account of their voluptuous nature, which seems to resembles the body of a woman.

For the first course, serve a salad with arugula, as it has been considered an aphrodisiac since the first century A.D. Smoothly move on to a light portion of oysters. They are not only high in zinc, which boosts testosterone levels and thus libido, but they even contain amino

more modern trend of focus testing and public appeal.

In fact, the reboot’s new villain, Raymond Sellars, played expertly by the surprisingly lively Michael Keaton, feels more like a Steve Jobs than a Gordon Gecko.

Though I would not say that the film is as pervasive in its satire as the 1987 film, it truly tries to bring the Robocop concept into a modern environment while still respecting its origins.

The film shines in other regards as well. While Jackson and Keaton are stellar in their roles, they are not the only great actors in the film. The incredible Gary Oldman turns in a likable, natural, and sympathetic performance as Dr. Dennett Norton, the doctor who helps RoboCop learn to control his new robotic body.

Jackie Earle Haley of Watchmen also stars as the sarcastic, sociopathic, and charming military man Mattox. The other actors, including lead Joel Kinnaman, are more hit and miss, but I would still go so far as to say that this film is much better acted than the original.

The film is also more emotional and intellectual than the original.

While the original had its oddball charm and sardonic wit, this new film is actually trying to examine the science and emotion of the protago-

acids that trigger sex hormones.

Some other ideas include asparagus, which was traditionally fed to French grooms in a triple serving before the wedding night in order to get them ready for the task at hand. Pasta never goes amiss, just make sure you buy long noodles as you can eat off the same plate, Lady and the Tramp style. And since pine nuts are high in zinc, too, bring on the pesto sauce!

After the main meal, make sure the dessert portion packs even more of a punch. Honey is good for the birds and the bees, but it also raises the libido. Drink up the pomegranate juice, as it raises testosterone levels and acts as a natural Viagra for those who need a little extra help. Also serve some bananas, which have a long history in regards to sex and love. According to Islamic tradition, Adam and Eve covered themselves with banana leaves after tasting the fruit of knowledge. Even figs are fit for an imperial affair, as they are said to have been Cleopatra’s

nist, Alex Murphy. It goes on quite extensively about the scientific process of actually putting a man in the robotic suit.

Some might say this takes cues from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films and takes from the RoboCop experience, but having Alex Murphy wrestle with the cybernetic side of himself is fascinating. And that’s not to say the film features no action. In fact, Padilha has some very visual creative action scenes, with no two being alike. There are only four or five, but each has its own flavor and visual flare.

Even so, the film is not perfect, and is indeed inferior to the original.

While the original stayed relatively creative throughout, the last act of the reboot devolves quite heavily into a confusing frenzy of betrayals and clichés that left me a little disappointed. The first two acts of the movie were surprisingly unique and refreshing, and it was frustrating to see Padilha’s creative and intricate, yet surprisingly balanced, world and story devolve into another railing against big business.

Overall, the new RoboCop is an interesting, though flawed, modern take on the film that takes a new angle and raises some interesting questions about the ideas of free will, and the role of technology.

favorite fruit. Associated with such an erotic woman, they aptly symbolize sexuality, while in the Christian tradition, fig leaves are associated with modesty.

All these mouthwatering provisions are a sure-fire way to fan the flames this Friday night, but never forget that Valentine’s Day has traditionally been devoted to courtship, promoting love and the romantic gesture.

Historically it has been a very coy celebration, particularly in Victorian England, in which sentimentality and modesty were highly valued. As such, don’t forget those heartfelt romantic gestures before the more overt ones. As a woman, I can say that a bouquet of red roses never goes amiss, just as a handwritten card (and not a Hallmark one) can soften me up. So go ahead and try your hand at poetry, or strew some rose petals in the bathtub, because one thing is for sure: romance will never die.

Plan a V-Day meal with Sabrina at skayser@georgetownvoice.com

georgetownvoice.com

Spagnuolo photos border on brilliant

by Nicole Kuhn Each picture represents a house on the road. Some have only one inhabitant, some up to seven or eight.

Some lie against one another, while some sit and stare off into the distance. Each mobile home is equipped with an array of daily objects to personalize and occupy the space: blankets, newspapers, drinks, and snacks among other household items.

Artist Alejandro Cartagena, over the course of an entire year, sat his camera atop a bridge overlooking Highway 85 to put together his exhibition, “The Car Poolers.” Like a spy, he pointed his camera down in order to peer into a little known-lifestyle.

His photos garner intrigue and deliver significant insights.

Cartagena echoes a similar sentiment in a New York Times article, stating, “When I started to take the

the georgetown voice 11

“I saw the iceberg and I see it in your eyes.” — Titanic

pictures from that point of view, that just made a whole different thing ... there’s issues of intimacy or privacy being expressed in a public space.

“There’s a sense of the invisibility of the reality of so many people in Mexico that is popping out.”

The bird’s eye view of the trucks enhances a vision of urban expansion, and the reality of segregation between the poor and the rich in Mexico, one that has been growing larger since the beginning of the so-called “War on Drugs.”

The photos are voyeuristic in nature. They peer into these men’s lives.

Some of the men’s faces are obscured by blankets, others are preoccupied with newspapers or magazines. A few look up at Cartagena, smiling.

Though the viewer may be at times either intrigued or embarrassed staring into these images, the simple power of each shot cannot be denied.

They don’t call them truck beds for nothin’.

spagnuolo gallery

The power of each shot lies in this dichotomy between the manliness of these men, and the emasculation of their situations. They sleep in the backs of these trucks. For these men, this is not a matter of choice. They inhabit these cars to maintain steady jobs. It is a way of living, or perhaps more accurately, surviving.

The curation of the exhibit only adds to the effect of the vivid photography. The photos are hung on stark white walls, in the forms of jagged shapes or simple rectangles. It’s the irregularity of this curation that mimics the irregularity of these men’s lives.

Each photo is an intimate peek into these workers’ lives. In one photo, there is nothing taking up the back end of the pick-up trucks, not a single object, besides the men themselves.

Five workers fit themselves into the small space; tucking limbs in order to mold to the shape of the truck.

The exhibition is a raw and rugged look at humanity, and what it means to survive in the face of the never-ending struggles.

Though just a handful of photos, Cartagena’s exhibit is worth the visit.

It’s in Walsh, so you won’t even need to carpool.

Spagnuolo Gallery 1221 36th Street, N.W. 12:00 – 7:00 pm Wed-Sun art.georgetown.edu/galleries

Roses are red...

Cancer: 6/22-7/22

12/22-1/19: Capricorn Roses are red Some things are new If you decide to eat waffles Make sure they’re not blue

Leo:

7/23-8/22

1/20-2/18: Aquarius Roses are red Plagues are bubonic I hope you don’t mind If we keep this platonic

Virgo:

8/23-9/22

2/19-3/20: Roses are red Most cows say moo Meat is delicious But chocolate’s good, too

Libra:

9/23-10/22

Roses are red Violets are blue Stock up on candy ‘Cause no one loves you

5/21-6/21: Gemini Roses are red Violets are blue I like spaghetti Wanna fornicate?

Scorpio: 10/23-11/21 Roses are red Violets are blue I’m using my hand But I’m thinking of you

4/20-5/20: Taurus Roses are red, And we might be kin, I hope you don’t mind If I stay a virgin

Sagittarius: 11/22-12/21 Roses are red Violets are blue I’ve got oral fixation You’re my temptation

3/21-4/19: Roses are red Violets are blue I like your mind But mostly your head

Roses are red Violets are blue I have chlamydia And I’m giving it to you Roses are red Snitches get stitches I hope you don’t mind If I see other bitches

Roses are red Violets are blue Some men need Magnum But it’s fun size for you

Pisces

Aries

Mars, the land of Spirit and Opportunity

by Simone Wahnschafft The first thing I noticed about it was its obscurity. Compared to the recklessly tall missiles that span the entire height of the building and the lofty exhibits chronicling the most famous excursions in space known to man, this little photo gallery in the back corner of the museum is easily overlooked by the typical visitor on their way to get a closer look at the grandiose aircrafts scattered about the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Spirit & Opportunity: 10 Years Roving Across Mars captures the findings of the two aforementioned Mars rovers: Spirit and Opportunity. It chronicles the decade that the two rovers have spent roaming the Red Planet.

Unlike the neighboring exhibits that consist largely of extravagant relics of past space crafts and historical footage of rocket launches, this low-key gallery focuses more on the aesthetically pleasing nature

of space exploration. The Martian landscape is artfully presented through tidy panoramic shots, striking thermal images, and black and white photographs that reveal variation in the Red Planet’s terrain.

The most impressive pieces of the exhibit are undoubtedly the full panoramic shots of expansive landscapes, captured over the span of several days by the rovers’ central cameras. Some of these depict the rovers’ erratic tracks in the sand behind the machines. Tracks running in several haphazard circles show the rover on its mission to analyze any particular object of interest it comes across. Smaller black and white images of jagged, rocky terrain among smoother sand dunes play on the wide differences in texture of neighboring topography. With several of the beautiful thermal images that pop out in full color against the largely earthtoned gallery, it’s easy to forget that all you’re looking at are pictures of dirt, sand, and rocks.

The actual goal of the mission to Mars, to search for potential traces of water and maybe even of life isn’t really explored in the gallery. While most of the images were captivating, the endless pictures of open, dry landscapes and close-up shots of rocks had a slightly anticlimactic feel. Upon entering the gallery, the first writing you come across is a large blurb introducing the gallery as an exhibition “celebrating the amazing images and achievements of the Mars Exploration Rovers on the 10th anniversary of their landings on the Red Planet.” With such high claims, you cannot help but feel a twinge of disappointment at the lack of any presentation of significant scientific findings.

If you remember that the gallery is largely an opportunity to portray the beauty of Mars rather than the data collected by the rovers on the mission, the display is undeniably successful in taking a seemingly “barren” planet and highlighting its understated allure.

national air and space museum

“You merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it.

The exhibit serves as a nice change of pace among several of the other often overwhelming exhibits of the museum, full of dense information and history of space exploration. It’s a relaxing pit-stop for visitors looking to get a quick breath in between Time and Navigation and Apollo: To The Moon.

Definitely check out that setting

sun if you’re looking for a jolt that all-too-familiar realization of our tiny place in the universe—just one of eight planets looking towards the same sun.

Air and Space Museum 600 Independence Ave, S.W. 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. daily airandspace.si.edu

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

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

Cashmere Cat, Wedding Bells EP, LuckyMe Records On his sophomore EP, Wedding Bells, Magnus August Høiberg, better known by his stage name, Cashmere Cat, gets cold feet. The bold, dancy breakbeats and the sliding, bass-heavy drops characteristic of Cashmere Cat’s first EP are replaced by twinkly, rattly percussion, and half-hearted drops that leave the listener yearning for more. Despite Høiberg’s musical timidity, this foursong EP holds moments of excellence when Cashmere Cat gives his tracks room to expand into the dancefloor masterpieces that he is known for.

The lead track, “With Me,” starts slow with a soft keyboard progression, but is quickly built up with a Crystal Castles-esque gritty synth line and a plethora of tapping percussion

breakbeats. Nowhere on the EP is Høiberg’s restraint more evident than in this song, which slowly builds to a peak, as the drum line intensifies and distorted vocal samples layer on the synth and keyboard lines beneath.

Cashmere Cat doesn’t offer a blowout release, but rather pauses and treks back down the mountain the same way he climbed it.

“Rice Rain,” the EP’s final song, falls similarly short as Høiberg ends the brief EP with frustratingly unresolved dynamics. Despite this drawback, this final track holds a delightful, finger-snapping groove, which almost makes up for Høiberg’s coyness. Layers of synthesized harp, heavy synth, distorted vocals, and keyboard lines mall develop the same tune . The harmonious lines eventually drop off leaving only a hard-hitting electronic drum kit and a glassy keyboard line to hold the tune.

The groove found in “Rice Rain” is Cashmere Cat’s ubiquitous, defining element. “Wedding Bells” is a cacophonous jumble of drums, bells, and rattles but holds its form and remains musically interesting because of the swing of its synthesized woodwinds and supporting keyboard.

The slow vibe of the piano line and the synthesized lines give direction to the incomprehensible jumble of

Punk ain’t no Pussy Riot

I first heard about Pussy Riot from a friend who wanted to connect with me over our love of punk music. This friend went on about how amazing the group is and told me that Pussy Riot is an all-female punk and protest band from Russia.

“They’re fighting oppression and the government on behalf of feminism and LGBT rights,” my friend told me. “They’re such a cool band.”

At first I got excited about a punk band that apparently utilized some of punk’s oldest, now-outdated themes: countercultural protest grown out of contempt for and rejection of the mainstream. A band that made music like that appears to be making a nod to the early punk bands like The Clash or the Ramones. The fact that Pussy Riot is all-female puts a new spin on that old-school style.

That’s what I envisioned when my friend was telling me about Pussy Riot. When I went to check them out later, I found that they

didn’t really have any original music to their name, nor did they have a stable set of band members. In fact, I began to realize that Pussy Riot shouldn’t have been described as a band at all. Their gimicky adoption of punk tropes only cheapens the meaning of punk itself.

Pussy Riot formed in 2011 but didn’t receive much attention until February, 2012, when five members put on a protest performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They filmed the performance of their song “Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” and posted it online.

Two members were arrested and charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” Their imprisonment sparked worldwide protest against the Russian government and its oppressive anti-LGBT policies, a protest which continues now into the Sochi Olympics. The women were released and given amnesty just before Christmas.

rattles and clanks, making for an enjoyable listen.

Høiberg’s second release is a clear departure from his first EP. He hasn’t abandoned the lilting danciness that has become his signature style, but this groove loses its allure as Cashmere Cat’s dynamics are overly timid and the EP’s percussion is jumbled and confusing. On the Wedding Bells EP, Cashmere Cat fails to commit to his track’s dynamism, abandoning the listener at the altar.

Voice’s Choices: Bells,” “Rice Rain”

“Wedding

—Joshua Ward

Gardens & Villa, Dunes, Secretly Canadian With their second album, Dunes, Gardens & Villa, an indie, synthpop While I do agree that Russia’s homophobic policies are inhumane and that Vladimir Putin’s endless tenure as president is concerning, I take issue with Pussy Riot being described as a punk band. Pussy Riot is nothing more than a civilly disobedient protest group. They’re no more punk than Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Deadbeat

by Ryan Greene A bi-weekly column about music First and foremost, punk bands are defined by their musicianship.

Pussy Riot has performed only seven songs to date, and, as far as I can tell from their videos, they’re all thrashy, dissonant assaults on the senses. I listen to intense bands, bands that people write-off as not being music because they sound too jarring. Pussy Riot has the heart but they don’t have the music.

Pussy Riot’s anonymity and shuffling of members also takes

group from Santa Barbara, California, produced an all-too-familiar sound.

Their record is composed of monotonous synthesizer samples, light keyboard decorations, and pithy statements for lyrics, such as “the young die young if they work too hard.” As you listen to the album, it is clear that Gardens & Villa has fallen victim to a regrettable trend that has hit the alternative rock world and has prevented many artists from producing anything distinctive.

Unlike their former, self-titled album—a brilliant and successful mix of electronic beats and punchy guitar riffs—Dunes takes an ill-fated departure from the previous, more gritty and interesting sound. In the opening track of the album, the listener must become accustomed to what seems like an conglomeration of Washed Out and Youth Lagoon, two lo-fi bands that create synthheavy and computerized music with droned out vocals. Even a bit of Chromeo, electrofunk duo from Canada with 80’s vibes, seems to have arisen in the mix.

All that being said, the album does boast several positive attributes.

Lead singer Christopher Lynch’s androgynous yet sultry vocals show great range and improvement as compared to the last album. His imaway from their credibility as a band. For a band to maintain a coherent discography and fanbase, it is necessary for them to have real, consistent, public identities. In the case of groups like Daft Punk, although the artists are anonymous, they at least have consistent personas that appear in public. This gives fans something to latch onto and puts a face to the music. It creates a musician. People need a Bruce Springsteen to appreciate the E Street Band, a Kurt Cobain to get into Nirvana.

The worst thing Pussy Riot does is give a false idea of punk ethics to the mainstream. Even if people agree with Pussy Riot, they can hear their dissonant songs and get disgusted, thinking Pussy Riot’s public protests pass as legitimate punk performances. That hurts punk’s few accessible qualities. It’s hard enough to get people into whiny, loud music without Russian feminists getting arrested in churches and calling themselves punks.

Of course punk bands can have a political message. Some of the

pressive flute playing, as well, merits some praise. Songs like “Chrysanthemums” and “Minnesota” present breaks from the synth-focused album with tolerable piano ballads.

Moreover, the band demonstrates a generally matured sound. Songs like “Domino” highlight Garden & Villa’s musical skill and flexibility. Individual members of the band seem to feed off of each other’s energies much more than in the previous album. Despite these obvious improvements, though, the band’s decision to move away from the more improvised and fresh rhythms of their first album was a poor one because it took away unique elements from the music.

Overall, Dunes explores the same-old themes of adulthood, loss of youth, failed dreams, heavy nostalgia, and city life that have made an appearance in the work of nearly every other lo-fi, indie-rock band turned synth-heavy pop group. Garden & Villas has developed an easy to listen to and enjoyable album, riddled with fun, whimsical and dreamy tracks that are, however, neither distinctive or spectacular.

Voice’s Choices: Glen,” “Domino”

“Colony

—Shalina Chatlani most iconic punk bands of all time did. But those bands succeeded and generated lots of music because their political messages were woven into their songs and creative energy.

They broke musical conventions before breaking societal conventions.

Pussy Riot is just piggy-backing on the punk movement. I think their story and approach to protest would be much more sincere if they presented themselves as young women who will not stand by while their country passes discriminatory laws.

Some might argue that taking on a punk tone makes Pussy Riot’s message more inclusive and powerful in fighting Russia’s oppressive policies. I agree—it does help spread their message, but it does so at the cost of compromising the idea of punk musicianship. Obviously the trade is worth it for some, but this fan would rather those brave ladies have a pussy riot in someone else’s favorite genre.

Start a riot in Ryan’s pussy at rgreene@georgetownvoice.com

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page thirteen

the georgetown voice 13

— Dylan Cutler

voices

14 the georgetown voice

february 13, 2014

In an ideal world, there would be a vaccination against ignorance

by Claire McDaniel As of Feb. 1, there have been 23 cases of polio reported in Syria as a bloody civil war ravages the country and brings a society to its knees.

In an overcrowded and understaffed hospital ward in rural India, a young man battles tuberculosis that has become resistant to every available drug. There is no cure. He will die.

Almost five years ago to the day, a comatose twelve-year-old girl lost her battle with measles and drew in her last breath, her brain painfully swollen and her frail body overwhelmed by the viral infection. The howls of her grieving parents echoed through the halls of the Swiss hospital not half an hour from where I live.

There is a reason pestilence rides with the horsemen of the apocalypse. It was more powerful than the greatest of empires and was a killer more effective than the cruelest of dictators. Monarchies were toppled, continents almost entirely depopulated, and the specter of disease stalked the world’s worst

nightmares. And then, one day, an English doctor by the name of Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids didn’t really get smallpox. And from the smallest of cowpox pustules, modern medicine gave birth to its greatest miracle: vaccines.

From whooping cough to the flu, polio to smallpox, vaccines were the powerful vanguard of the renewed battle against disease. And, as had never happened before in the history of humanity, we were finally winning the war.

Ever had smallpox? I doubt it—the world’s only fully successful vaccination campaign eradicated the disease in 1979. The World Health Assembly resolution declaring the disease eradicated stated that “the world and its peoples have won freedom”.

Vaccines represent freedom, for the scourge of disease is a burden, the likes of which enslaves the entire world to fear, distrust, and suffering.

The wonderful potential of vaccines is that they offer freedom on a global level, freeing each and every human being who has access to vaccines from the looming danger of dying

from fully preventable diseases.

Vaccines have saved lives and will continue to save lives. To deny their efficacy is a treacherous folly, and choosing not to vaccinate is a danger to every person on this planet.

Yet, against all logic, vaccination rates are decreasing.

Some parents don’t vaccinate their children because they think that the diseases are no longer a threat. Virulent outbreaks of whooping cough are increasing in prevalence, sending our most vulnerable populations to the intensive care units of our already over-burdened hospitals.

Even worse are those who believe vaccines are harmful. These proselytizing radicals are the greatest danger to the triumphs of modern medicine, and their influence is a direct threat to humanity’s freedom from disease.

Every unvaccinated person has the potential to pass on diseases that could be eradicated, and their unprotected immune systems are susceptible to diseases that are entirely preventable and gravely infectious. That isn’t my fanciful imag-

ination or paranoia. That is a fact.

In a globalized world, diseases can travel across continents in a matter of hours. A parent might think he’s exercising a right to not vaccinate his child, when, in fact, he is placing his entire community at risk.

Those who uphold the danger of vaccines are as hazardous to society as any criminal. Jenny McCarthy is a pandering fraud, using her celebrity and the platform of daytime media to frighten a population who sees her as an informed authority. Her main source of authority is a thoroughly debunked study authored by a doctor who claimed that he linked the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism. He rightfully had his medical license revoked and is never allowed to practice medicine again.

I’m not naive. Vaccines aren’t perfect. The whooping cough vaccine that was—if your parents were smart enough to vaccinate you as a child—given to our generation isn’t as strong as was initially thought, and is wearing off much faster than expected, requiring booster shots.

But it’s still infinitely better than

playing Russian roulette with your own and your entire community’s health.

The day you present to me a peer-reviewed scholarly paper that proves vaccines are harmful, I’ll believe you. But until then, I’ll rest on the extensive body of research that proves these doubters wrong. These people aren’t just wrong—they’re downright dangerous.

The Jesuit values that flutter from the flags on every lamppost on our campus uphold the inherent value of humanity. The nonchalance of parents who decide not to vaccinate their children flouts that very importance, not just for their own children, but also for those around them. Not vaccinating is a direct affront to humanity’s hard-won freedom from disease. Not vaccinating is a direct affront to humanity’s tragic losses to disease. Not vaccinating is a direct affront to humanity.

Claire McDaniel is a senior in the College.

She’s always liked vaccinations. Something about being penetrated in public just gets her going.

Ballroom Dancing: ‘Temptation in my heart, I’m burning, I fall apart’

by Leo Luo Love is a drug, or so the saying goes. Love can be so many other things as well, depending on the popularity of the latest romantic comedy or on trending quotes overlaid on sepia-filtered Instagram photos.

To toss in my own two cents, I would propose that love is a home.

From the familiar swaddling that comforts the crying newborn as he crosses the threshold for the first time, to that sigh as a student

flops down upon his bed after class, home is a sanctuary where humans may feel complete. And just as most find it all but impossible to imagine life without a home, ballroom dancing occupies such a beloved position in my heart that it is hard to believe I was so opposed to learning it in the first place.

Were it not for my mother’s adamant will that I watch one of my friend’s practices, I would have never ventured into this glamourous world. I was slouching in my

LEILA LEBRETON

Glitter, gel, and gyration—the glue that hold the Ballroom family together.

chair, pouting with my head resting on my hands, occasionally shooting looks of discontent at Mom. I was so consumed with teenage moodiness that I barely noticed the dancers as they strode onto the floor. They positioned themselves throughout the ballroom like porcelain mannequins.

Then the music blared to life, and so did the dancers. The rat-tattat of the snare drums and the thunder of the bass snatched my attention. As the lyrics of “temptation in my heart, I’m burning, I fall apart,” reverberated throughout the ballroom, the dancers twirled and shimmied across the floor. Watching my friend and the other couples blaze the ballroom with their extravagant routines, not to mention hips that gyrated more than I had previously thought possible, sparked something in my soul. I simply wanted to be part of the magic. It was like discovering a new friend in an unfamiliar town that has yet to become a home, and thus I began my courtship with this realm of glitter and gel, elegance and unbridled joy.

Fast forward six years. I walk into Copley Formal Lounge for the first lesson with the Georgetown Ballroom Team. It had been a whole summer since I had done anything ballroom-related, and three years since I danced with a partner who

knew what she was doing. The moment I slipped into my shoes, whose leather had lost its lustre to holes and scratches, a grin crept up my cheeks much like the feeling of rushing into a lover’s arms. And when the music started, I simply fell back into routine, my smile only growing as the night wore on. Ballroom was more than just dance—it was now a part of life. I should be dancing to the music, but I always felt as though the music danced within me. Feeling the beat in my bones made me radiate joy, cleansing my mind of all the stresses of the day and to simply move. Experiencing that bliss once more with the Georgetown Ballroom Team was like a family reunion, except with a family that I had never met, unified only by our love of dance.

And so I had found a family in the Georgetown Ballroom Dance Team. When I began practicing with the team, I noticed a marked difference between these dancers and the ones I used to train with at the studio back home. There was never any shortage of smiles and laughter. Although most of the dancers in my class were upperclassmen, they welcomed me without hesitation. That would end up being my favorite aspect of the team. Whether at competitions or just late night practices for Revent

ón, nothing made me feel more at home than the cheers of my friends.

Yet the bonds extend beyond the boundaries of dance. I am not the kind of person who whole-heartedly enjoys parties, but at each social gathering that was hosted

by GUBDT, I have been able to relax and have a good time. Perhaps one of my greatest memories was at the Christmas social when our members had arranged themselves in a massage circle. Eventually, the conversation died down, but everyone just appreciated each other’s presence. And so we sat in relative silence, rubbing shoulders and letting the camaraderie wash over us.

Ballroom is like a drug. It can be so many other things as well—a confidence builder, a tool to woo dates, or quite simply, a group of people quirky enough to get along while shaking their hips and gliding across the floor. Ballroom is all of these things for me, and I am proud to have found such a community in the Georgetown Ballroom Dance Team.

Leo Luo is a freshman in the SFS. He and his ballroom family are constantly getting flagged for excessive dazzle in the classroom. None of these penalties have been declined.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 15

A penetrating look at V-day: Maybe you’re not so special after all

by Julia Tanaka It’s pretty trendy to hate Valentine’s Day. We’ve all heard the reasons: “It’s a capitalist scam invented by greeting card companies!” and so on. Which is all well and good— trust me, I hate Valentine’s Day too.

But I’m going to venture and say that my hatred for Valentine’s Day is different. Don’t get me wrong, the hearts and the glitter and the pink wrapping paper make me retch just as much as the next pompous hipster. (Why do we celebrate Val-

entine’s Day this way, as though it’s a tax to be levied on your relationship?) But there’s something more deeply insidious that I find despicable about the holiday.

We’ve all heard that saying, “If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.”

Modern Valentine’s Day traditions propagate this perverse notion, and that’s why I hate the vapid rituals of the holiday.

Couples are supposed to plan things, go to dinners, give each other gifts, and single people are supposed

PAM SHU

“The only accolade you get for participating in life is death.” —Ladies and gents, Julia Tanaka

Undercommitted to eudaimonia Time is a precious commodity, as any Georgetown student will tell you. It is precious not because of an inherent value, but because of how we live in it. But from what I’ve seen during my albeit limited and perhaps idiosyncratic Georgetown experience, I don’t think we really live out our days in a way that does that precious time justice.

If we share the beliefs that our finite lives are about flourishing, and that college is about exploring ways in which we can individually and collectively pursue eudaimonia, our four privileged years on the Hilltop are imbued with a particular importance. It’s not that we stop learning how to flourish after we graduate, but rather that our rela-

tive freedom from the constraints of the “real-world” here is unique and unlikely to be felt as such again.

It seems to me that many of us artificially limit our notion of what makes time valuable—for structural, cultural, and individual reasons.

From classes to internships to involvement in not one, but multiple student organizations or teams, being perpetually busy (and too often, sleep-deprived) is nothing less than the Hoya norm. But while being busy may be a sign of productivity, it’s not necessarily symptomatic of flourishing.

For starters, our academic life does not lend itself to a healthy attitude toward time. Take, for example, the three-credit system, in

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to mourn being alone. If there are seven cardinal sins of relationships, forgetting Valentine’s Day is right up there with telling her she’s put on weight. The point is that Valentine’s Day rituals presume that everybody is deserving of special treatment.

Here’s the thing: maybe we’re not.

From a very young age, in elementary schools across America, we’ve been told we’re all winners.

We’ve been told that we deserve accolades for the sheer accomplishment of being ourselves. We could barely tie our shoes, and we were already being lauded for being extraordinary.

It’s not our parents’ fault for loving us too much to let us know that we were only human, but the problem is that medals for participation and indiscriminating reassurances of uniqueness bolster the illusion.

If we were given a bad grade or denied a position, it was because the teacher just didn’t like us, or that the interviewer didn’t understand us.

Acceptance has become the glorified measure of success in a friendship or romantic relationship, as though your personality and quirks right at this moment are so perfect and static that all it would take to succeed in a relationship is a corresponding puzzle piece to fit seam-

lessly against your own. But people are people, not puzzles.

Actually, it’s kind of a sad notion—a resignation to the idea that you could never become better, a resistance to the natural change and acquisition of wisdom. What weird calculus have we been fed, in which our best is so enthralling that it balances out bad behavior? I’m not saying that your partner shouldn’t know when you’re angry or sad, or that it’s not okay to ever be in a bad mood. I’m saying that love is far more complex than Valentine’s Day now paints it to be.

The stories surrounding Saint Valentine vary—what we know is that he was persecuted by the Roman Empire for performing Christian marriages and eventually sentenced to a tripartite execution after torture: beating, stoning, then decapitation. Before his death, he healed the blind daughter of one of his Roman judges. I can’t help but admire his commitment to Christianity. I think of him bruised and hurting in his cell, yet finding the strength to perform a miracle on the daughter of one of the men who had condemned him to death.

This complexity is what I think Valentine’s Day ought to inspire.

We’re twenty-somethings with a life

which five classes a semester is the standard course load. Sure, this set-up lends itself nicely to breadth in the curriculum—one of the hallmarks of a liberal arts education.

But there are diminishing returns on additional classes. Having to manage one’s brain space between five different sets of readings, ideas, professors, and the like is an obstacle to really engaging the subject material

as a student who constantly finds herself in need of time to properly digest the classes she is most invested in, this phenomenon more closely reflects the pressure to make the most of my time learning outside the classroom.

Changing the structure of academic life would help, but would more likely than not be insufficient.

Wouldn’t more students just take on more responsibilities with all that extra brain space? Earnestly transforming our attitude towards the time we have would entail deep reflection, and probably, as a result, a restructuring of our priorities as students in formation.

I’ve tried to commit to that reevaluation in my junior year. I was the typical overcommitted first-year, still pretty overcommitted as a sophomore, and remained too busy for my own good as a junior. But this semester, I’ve taken a step back from most of my activities to dedicate much of my energy to the few that mean the most to me, and I’ve also made a point to take four classes to maximize my learning. Though I haven’t filled my freed time with an

Carrying On

by Patricia Cipollitti A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

of each as we’d like: by doing all of the readings in depth, putting in sufficient effort on papers, going to office hours with partially ruminated questions to discuss.

Oftentimes, students opt to take an “easy class” as their fifth course because they want that time to focus on the material in their other classes. The Provost had a point when he wrote in his blog last December that this behavior also indicates a pressure to achieve high grades—but

ahead of us to ruin. It’s tempting to ignore this fact—as our parents protected us from our own faults, they also tried to protect us from the jagged edges of the world, lifted our tender bare feet over the littered broken glass of war, poverty, and disease. It’s because their love for us was so great that they couldn’t bear to see us in pain, but the truth is that love is about self-sacrifice, not about glossy cards or date-night rituals.

It’s not about being entitled to jewelry or flowers just because you are.

These things don’t make happiness.

It’s about committing your full person to becoming better.

This Valentine’s Day, perhaps it’s time to reconsider whether your best is truly a good balance to your worst, whether you’ve truly thrown all your efforts toward being giving with your time and energy to the people who are important to you.

After all, your heart is not candy, falsely sweet and melting away on the tongue—it is a muscle that pumps life to the very edges of your body. It’s a muscle that grows.

Julia Tanaka is a junior in the SFS. Can you feel the love tonight? Well, we all know good and well that she can’t.

internship or another resume-builder, I have made one new commitment—to live my time wisely.

What does this mean for me?

I’ve started a two-person weekly book club with my new philosofriend. I make it a point to explore D.C.’s wonderful art offerings, and I have plans to go to the National Gallery every week or two as part of an art history and aesthetics curriculum my friend and I are designing.

I’m also starting a band with a few of my guitar-owning friends (we’ve creatively called it Guitar Owner), and writing the lyrics to an original song. I’m going to the office hours of my favorite professors without an agenda, but just to say hi and enjoy their company.

I’m doing what fosters the best in me, and will set me up to flourish and grow. These things won’t do the same for everyone else, but we should all make an effort to find and do that which will improve the quality of our time here. For the love of life, let’s keep go-getting, but let’s also take the time to sit back and bask in the glory of learning, of our youth, and of each other.