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D.C. COUNCIL PROPOSES COAL BAN PAGE 4
MEN’S BASKETBALL ATOP BIG EAST PAGE 6
WANDERLAND TAKES THEATER DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE PAGE 10
Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 February 14, 2013 Volume 48, Issue 6 georgetownvoice.com
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february 14, 2013
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Voice Crossword “The Best of the Big East” by Andrew Duverney
39. Lust 41. 12 across-Birds to stone 42. Abortion case 43. Reason to use 8 across 44. Sleepy time 45. “We are ___” (abbr.) DOWN
ACROSS 1. Hummus 6. Tattoo 8. Holds 8 down 10. A bale of ___ 11. Dynamic ___ 12. Proportion 13. New country house
1. Tame this rodent 2. Motor club 3. Computer chomps? 4. Fuss 5. Opposite of filibuster 7. Zilch 8. Mammary organ 9. Jesuit’s favorite retreat 14. Garland from Honolulu 15. Bring to life 17. Education corps (abbr.) 18. Repeat this to the 16. Occidental chaste state Birdie 18. Exist 19. Beneath 19. Juice ‘em 20. Also-___ 23. Bother 21. Japanese tea ceremony 26. Who Dey 22. With the “id” 28. Stalker’s adjective 24.Uncomfortable 31. Conditional conjunction methane 32. Not so panhandle Bulls 25. Cool 37. Buzz Williams or 27. “Candy, candy canes, Dr. Evil? candy corns, and syrup”
29. All-you-can-eats 30. Elton or Paul 31. Poetic feet 33. Baby 34. Prologue (abbr.) 35. Deathly pale 36. Frenchman 38. Are we there yet? (abbr.) 39. Reverse exponent (abbr.) 40. Sacred Indian animal
Answers to last week’s sudoku
Answers to last week’s crossword
editorial
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VOICE the georgetown
Volume 48.6 February 14, 2013 Editor-in-Chief: Keaton Hoffman Managing Editor: Gavin Bade Blog Editor: Connor Jones News Editor: Matt Weinmann Sports Editor: Steven Criss Feature Editor: Julia Tanaka Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Leisure Editor: Julia Lloyd-George Voices Editor: Sara Ainsworth Photo Editor: Miles Gavin Meng Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Projects Editors: Alec Graham, John Sapunor Puzzles Editors: Andrew Duverney, Tyler Pierce Contributing Editors: Leigh Finnegan, Kevin Joseph Assistant Blog Editors: Isabel Echarte, Ryan Greene, Caitriona Pagni Assistant News Editors: Lucia He, Julia Jester, Jeffrey Lin Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Almeida, Chris Castano Assistant Cover Editor: Lauren Ashley Panawa Assistant Leisure Editors: Alex Golway, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editors: Tiffany Lachhonna, Andres Rengifo Assistant Design Editor: Teddy Schaffer
Staff Writers:
Emilia Brahm, Rachel Calvert, Will Collins, Emlyn Crenshaw, Brendan Crowley, Umar Khan, Alex Lau, Lindsay Leasor, Keith Levinsky, Claire McDaniel, Liana Mehring, Joe Pollicino, Cole Stangler
Staff Photographers:
Rebecca Anthony, Max Blodgett, Julian de la Paz, John DelgadoMcCollum, Matthew Fried, Robin Go, Kirill Makarenko, Tim Markatos, Tess O’Connor, Larissa Ong, Matt Thees
Staff Designers:
Karen Bu, John Delgado-McCollum, Christy Geaney, Mike Pacheco, Tom Pacheco, Sebastian Sotelo
Copy Chief: Morgan Manger Copy Editors:
Kathryn Booth, Grace Funsten, Tori Jovanovski, Rina Li, Natalie Muller, Sonia Okolie, Caitriona Pagni, Ana Smith, Dana Suekoff, Kim Tay, Suzanne Trivette
Editorial Board Chair: Patricia Cipollitti Editorial Board:
Maitane Arana, Aisha Babalakin, Gavin Bade, Nico Dona Dalle Rose, Keaton Hoffman, Julia Jester, Caitriona Pagni, Julia Tanaka, Galen Weber
Head of Business: Aarohi Vora The Georgetown Voice
The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday. This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help
young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org. Mailing Address: Georgetown University The Georgetown Voice Box 571066 Washington, D.C. 20057
Office: Leavey Center Room 424 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057
Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved. On this week’s cover: “NAIMUN’s 50th” Cover Design: Neha Ghanshamdas (SFS ‘14)
the georgetown voice 3
RUNNING WITH CISRS
CISR reforms needed to uphold social values
Since its establishment in 1970, Georgetown’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility has been charged with looking after the social integrity of the University’s endowment. Contrary to the Catholic social justice tradition the University claims to champion, the CISR’s inability to have a meaningful impact indicates that Georgetown’s supposed concern for making morally-sound investments does not extend itself to action. The University’s most recent shortfall was in February 2010, when the Investment Office was unable—or unwilling—to reassure concerned students that Georgetown was not invested in companies implicated in violations of international law, specifically those regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Instead, the Investment Office responded by removing their commitment to Jesuit values from their website. Nevertheless, the controversy surrounding the 2010 divestment campaign motivated
the expansion of the CISR and its responsibilities. Last February, CISR membership was broadened, including an additional GUSAappointed undergraduate representative, for example. While the University claims to have outlined a specific process to receive and evaluate allegations of social injury as part of the recent CISR reform, student groups like GU Fossil Free have found the process to be unstructured and unhelpful, instead opting to bypass the committee in favor of direct dialogue with the administration. Evidently, the amendments have not gone as far as they should. As the CISR’s operating guidelines now stand, the committee is inhibited from making more than recommendations to the board of directors, the body ultimately responsible for the management of the endowment. If an allegation is found to be valid, the CISR has no veto power or even an official vote on the board
to take action on unethical investments. The lack of authority commanded by the CISR is suspicious, suggesting that high returns take priority over high ethical standards at Georgetown University. It is imperative that the CISR have access to a full list of investments. We understand it is industry practice to keep investment information private due to the competitive nature of financial investments, but increased transparency must at least be given to the body charged with ensuring the moral integrity of our endowment. The committee also needs veto power or a vote to guarantee that our money is handled ethically. Now is the time to allow the CISR to fulfill its responsibilities. Instead of merely nodding to social responsibility, we need to give the CISR agency—the committee already has a seat at the table, now let’s give them a voice.
DISTRICT OF COAL–UMBIA
D.C. environmental push at mercy of Congress Last week, the D.C. Council introduced several bills containing progressive, environmentally-minded legislation that may put the District in conflict with the federal government. Councilmember Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) proposed a non-binding resolution that D.C. join 47 other cities in a nationwide campaign to pressure the EPA and the Obama administration to reduce greenhouse gas pollution using the Clean Air Act. More controversially, Tommy Wells’s (D-Ward 6) legislation looks to outlaw the burning of coal at power plants in the District starting in 2016. Although the proposed measures will require some refinement before they are put to a vote, they are an encouraging continuation of earlier policies passed by the Council, such as the 5-cent citywide bag tax enacted in early 2010. Although we congratulate the District Council for pushing through environmentally conscious legislation, we realize that D.C.’s
precarious situation may preclude these bills from becoming laws. Even if the Council passes the proposed bills, the federal government has the prerogative to override them as D.C. does not enjoy the privilege of reserved powers that states do. The alarming lack of sovereignty highlighted by this possibility threatens to diminish the effectiveness of local representation by diluting it with interference from a federal government whose interests do not match the concerns of D.C. residents. In the spirit of the Clean Air Act, Congress has begun to embrace a limited number of forward-thinking policies such as establishing energy-efficiency standards. While such measures are a step in the right direction, they serve to draw the attention of the public from the more damaging examples of right-wing resistance to change in Congress. The Capitol Power Plant in Southeast has powered Capitol Hill for almost a cen-
tury, and though it mostly burns natural gas thanks to the efforts of progressive Congressional leaders, it remains the only power plant in the District to burn coal. Unsurprisingly, it has been representatives from coal-producing states that have hindered the plant from fully weaning itself off the dirty fuel. This precedent of inaction casts a dark shadow on the fate of District Council’s proposed legislation, particularly the bill that seeks to directly impact the Capitol Power Plant’s production. Congress should not allow the District to be dragged into the the partisan politicking that has stunted progress for decades on Capitol Hill. Having failed to grant statehood to the District, the federal government is morally obliged to uphold the decisions of the D.C. Council. Failure to do so would undermine not only the will of D.C. residents, but the integrity of local representation throughout the District.
RIGHT OFF TARGET
State of the Union shows limited promise In his State of the Union address this past Tuesday, President Barack Obama laid down a set of nearly progressive marching orders. On issue after issue, the president asked for simple action, and in doing so, revealed just how indifferent and destructive the Republican controlled House has been. Yet at the same time, Obama’s speech skirted the very issues that could come to mar his legacy. In several instances, the president appeared to adopt stances for the simple purpose of appearing bipartisan, always to his own detriment. When discussing the economy, Obama paid far too much lip service to trimming the deficit, an issue that should be secondary when millions of Americans remain out of work, borrowing costs remain at all-time lows, and the economy is stuck in a liquidity trap. Regarding climate change, the president was forceful in declaring that the time for denial is over. His promise to turn to executive action in the face of Congress’s inaction was important, and hopefully lays the groundwork for emissions regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency. But almost in
the same line he promised to speed up the issuance of permits for oil and natural gas drilling, a step that will only increase our nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. And when talking about the need for immigration reform, he suggested that English proficiency would be a requirement for citizenship—an unnecessary and misguided requirement in a country without an official language. The weakest and most disheartening part of the president’s speech came when he touched on his administration’s unchecked use of drone strikes. Obama refused to use the word “drone,” instead employing the euphemism “range of capabilities” to refer to a program that has potentially killed thousands of innocents. The president promised to make his efforts more transparent to the American people, but there is little indication that that was more than just an empty promise, especially considering his continuous refusal to publicly present the legal framework for the assassination of American citizens. Still, for all the speech’s weaknesses, there are increasing indications that Obama recognizes the value of a progressive agenda. His
call for universal early childhood education puts the spotlight on an issue that receives far too little attention. The lack of preschool education among the nation’s poor is one of the great structural inequalities that prevents every American from having a fair shot at prosperity. His declaration that no American should work full time and remain below the poverty line is a powerful assertion for social justice, even though his plan to raise the minimum wage will not do enough to truly move families out of poverty. Most impressive was his treatment of gun control. His simple but powerful statement that the nation’s victims of gun violence “deserve a vote” stressed just how severely our political system has failed them. Ultimately, the address raised as many questions as it answered. If the president truly takes a stand on the issues he listed, this State of the Union may well be regarded as his Great Society moment. But, if he succumbs to pressure from a hyper-partisan Congress and a slew of special interests, this speech will go down in history as simply another set of hopeful promises our political system failed to deliver.
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Council pushes to end coal use in all District power plants by Claire Zeng In his State of the Union, President Barack Obama made a forceful case for combating climate change. Ironically, he spoke less than a mile away from the Capitol Power Plant, the last coal-fired plant in the District and a major source of the city’s air pollution. But, if the D.C. Council has its way, such a contradiction won’t exist when the next president gets up to address Congress. Last Tuesday, the council introduced the Coal-Fired Prohibition Act of 2013, which would ban the use of coal as a fuel source in D.C. by Jan. 1, 2016. The Capitol Power Plant, located on E St. SE and S Capitol Street, has been in service since 1910 but has not provided electricity to the Capitol since 1952. Instead, its function today is to provide steam and chilled water to heat and cool 23 facilities on Capitol Hill including the Capitol Building. The plant is currently operating under an Environmental Protection Agency exemption from the Clean Air Act. The bill is intended to hold the Architect of the Capitol, Stephen Ayers, to previous commitments to end the use of coal at the Capitol Power Plant. The commitment is an unfulfilled promise made in 2009 when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Major-
ity Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) submitted a letter to the AOC calling for the plant to be completely coal-independent by the end of 2009. The AOC responded positively and announced it would move towards burning 100 percent natural gas, but such a change has not been made. Councilmembers and environmentalists support the bill, citing the harms from emission of toxic carcinogenic pollutants. Because the plant has short smokestacks, the pollution more directly impacts nearby neighborhoods. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) wrote in an email to the Voice, “I and others on the Council have been and are concerned about protecting the environment so that our residents, and especially our children, do not suffer the serious consequences of environmental neglect.” Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At Large) concurred, writing “governments around the world must address the real threat to the planet from climate change.” The AOC has made marked progress in reducing the plant’s coal usage. Eva Malecki, spokesperson for the AOC, said “[Coal usage] has fallen from using natural gas as energy 42 percent of the time in FY 2005 to using natural gas 92 percent of the time in FY 2012.”
The AOC says that the plant needs to maintain a reserve of coal, saying coal is necessary in instances of interruption of emergency natural gas and oil supplies, abnormally cold conditions, or equipment outages and maintenance that requires use of backup fuel. The AOC also said the delay in becoming coal-free stems from insufficient technological capacities. The plant runs on seven boilers, two of which can only run most efficiently on coal. If the plant was to move completely off coal, the AOC states that in order to support Capitol heating and cooling needs, the five other boilers would be run past capacity. “After more than 100 years in operation, significant investment is needed to replace aging infrastructure,” Malecki said. “Therefore, the AOC evaluated several
first through third grade, and D.C. Schools teaches English as a second language to low income youths and adult immigrants. Despite existing at Georgetown for over six years, Jumpstart has not yet become well known around the University. Part of the reason was its affiliation with the Center for Child and Human Development instead of the more well known Center for Social Justice. “This year, Jumpstart members began making efforts to make Jumpstart an official Georgetown club. The reason for this is because this year, with comparison to last year—from my experience—not many people signed up to work with Jumpstart,” wrote Jeymani Robinson (COL ‘15), a team leader for Jumpstart in an email to the Voice. “At first, we weren’t sure what the reason for this was but we soon began to realize a simple truth: no one knew what Jumpstart was.” Robinson, recognizing the current lack of advertising, wrote, “being an official club
would help us get the word out through the option to table and spread information for incoming students as well as upperclassmen so that they are informed about what Jumpstart does and what are the benefits and commitments of signing up with us.” Even though Jumpstart has reached a partnership with Georgetown, without the status of being an “official club,” it cannot use University space for its events. “It would also help [increase] convenience [for] the students involved. For instance: because we are not an official Georgetown program, we cannot reserve spaces on-campus for training meetings or other events,” Robinson wrote. “Having the option of holding training meetings oncampus would cut down student travel times and help save them time and money getting to where they need to go.” Marketing to more students, however, is not the only problem Jumpstart wants to fix by becoming
options and chose construction of a cogeneration plant [as] the most environmentally and economically beneficial way for the AOC to meet its goal to use natural gas 100 percent of the time.” Construction of a cogeneration plant, which would run on natural gas and fuel oil in reserve, is complex and may take several years. However, in letters from the AOC to Pelosi in 2009, Ayers wrote the AOC would require the modification of only one coal boiler to become completely coal independent, a process that he estimated would take a maximum of 18 months, and had been done before. When asked about this discrepancy, Malecki said, “It became clear that investing in old, inefficient boilers—even if they were converted to use natural gas—was not a good investment.”
Miles gavin Meng
The Capitol Power Plant is the only power plant in the district still using coal.
Green advocates are not convinced by this explanation and argue progress has been frustrated by political interests instead. “The choice of coal as a boiler fuel is driven by Members of Congress who represent coalproducing states,” wrote Jim Dougherty, Conservation Chair of the D.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club, in an email to the Voice. Environmentalists hope more progress will be made. “I think that the District making the move away from coal is excellent example for Georgetown and other universities as well as cities to follow,” said Sydney Browning (COL ’15), cofounder of GU Fossil Free, a fossil fuel divestment campaign on the Hilltop. “But, the extraction of natural gas can also have extreme adverse effects on the environment and that must be taken into account.” If the bill passes, it may conflict with federal law and the EPA exemption. “As with all pieces of legislation, we will have to look at it carefully to examine … whether there are any potential conflicts with Federal laws,” McDuffie said. Even so, with no objections coming from the council thus far, the bill seems likely to pass. “We cannot be deterred by federal action when acting for the benefit of the residents of the District of Columbia,” Bonds wrote.
Jumpstart to be official club, hopes to raise profile and membership by Jeffrey Lin This year, Jumpstart, a nonprofit organization started in 1993, has begun the process of becoming an officially sponsored Georgetown club. Becoming an official club will help Jumpstart raise its visibility and recruit more students, improve its access to space on campus, and complement the efforts of the D.C. Reads program. Having first reached a partnership with Georgetown’s Center for Child and Human Development to address school readiness for preschool students in the fall of 2006, the goal of Jumpstart is to help preschool students prepare for school. Students in Jumpstart tutor preschoolers one-on-one and lead them in large group activities to promote literacy and language in a social setting. The program differs from D.C. Reads and D.C. Schools because Jumpstart focuses on tutoring atrisk preschool students while D.C. Reads focuses on students from
an official club. The organization is actually experiencing a shortage of student participants, reducing its impact in the classroom. Part of students’ reluctance to join may be the significant time commitment required of the program. “Jumpstart is a national nonprofit organization that requires at least 300 hours of service and learning from each person over the school year, which I know is big commitment,” wrote Sidney Wells (COL ‘16), a member of Jumpstart. “To alleviate the tremendous hours obligation mandated by Jumpstart, I believe we are pursuing the status ‘official club’ to engage aspiring students at Georgetown by providing them with a more feasible hourly commitment into the classroom to support our mission in early childhood education.” If Jumpstart does succeed in becoming an official club, it will coexist with D.C. Reads, and D.C. Schools, two clubs focused on tutoring children in the D.C.
area. Members of Jumpstart, however, believe at all of these groups can exist together and even complement each other. “The two programs, D.C. Reads and Jumpstart, serve as great complements for each other,” Robinson wrote. “As I understand, D.C. Reads has an older age-group—first and second graders, I believe—while Jumpstart works mainly with the ages three through five with preschoolers.” Robinson believes the existence of both programs on campus would enhance the community service experience of students at Georgetown without conflicting with D.C. Reads. “In short, both D.C. Reads and Jumpstart would benefit from having each other as official clubs because the two would attract a much wider audience to the realm of early childhood education and open for students more avenues to follow as they explore the two programs throughout their time at Georgetown.”
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CISR still developing procedure to review proposals by Lucia He Since its establishment in the late 1970s in response to student oppostion to investing in apartheid South Africa, the Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility has been working to match Georgetown University’s investment decisions to its Jesuit ideals. Over a year ago, on Feb. 17, 2012, the University announced an expansion of the CISR, but the committee has yet to find a systematic way to engage students actively and consistently over time. “Under this expansion, the committee will now consider and evaluate written proposals on socially responsible investment issues from members of the University community,” wrote Michael Barry, Georgetown’s Chief Investment Officer, in a press release at the time of the announced expansion. However, a year later, the CISR is still not providing community members with a formal procedure to present proposals regarding the University’s investment practices. Until recently, the committee didn’t even have an email address interested community members could use to contact the board. “Last semester, the CISR talked about opening a public forum for students to come to and present their proposals. They said that
they would have one last semester, and they never did,” said Sydney Browning (COL ’15), member of the recently formed group Georgetown University Fossil Free. GU Fossil Free started a campaign at the beginning of this year to demand that the University divest from fossil-fuel companies. On Jan. 23, the group delivered a letter with their demands to President John DeGioia’s office. Even though members of the CISR Committee are aware of the group’s campaign, formal deliberation on the proposal still needs to be held.“Because the proposal process hasn’t been publicly rolled out, we haven’t yet had the opportunity to review formal proposals,” said Daniel Solomon (SFS ‘13), one of the two student representatives to the CISR. “The committee is aware of GU Fossil Free coalition’s proposal and has been in communication with the president’s office about the proposal, but there hasn’t been formal deliberation about it.” Browning and fellow members of GU Fossil Free see this as an obstacle for their campaign. “There’s no way for us to give them our proposal and to have them officially discuss it unless they host a public forum to which we would have to come and present it,” Browning said.
Drones finally face scrutiny
For the first time ever, the socalled “drone wars” of the Obama administration are under intense scrutiny. The use of Predator drones to target alleged combatants in Afghanistan and Pakistan began in 2004 under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama ramped up and extended their use to include targets in Somalia and Yemen. Now, after years of deafening silence, the mainstream press and federal lawmakers are finally and rightfully taking notice. The confirmation hearings for the president’s nominee to lead the CIA, John Brennan, one of the architects of drone policy, have served as the impetus. Whatever cynical motives Republicans may have in holding up John Brennan’s confirmation—and they are likely very cynical—it is a welcome development that his legacy is being examined. Drone strikes, which target alleged al-Qaeda suspects, have
been responsible for thousands of deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, a substantial portion of which includes innocent civilians. Most egregiously from a legal perspective, the White House operates its own “kill list” in order to carry out the policy, and has previously targeted and killed American citizens. At the same time, the parameters of the current debate are disappointingly limited. On the one hand, drone proponents are raising the typical arguments: drone strikes minimize civilian casualties and serve as a smart alternative to what would otherwise be costlier ground operations or more imprecise unmanned weapons like cruise missiles. Meanwhile, some liberal backers favor the policy out of sheer faith in the President’s decision-making. On the other hand, opponents cite the obvious constitutional concerns: there is no congressional oversight on the use of drones,
isaBel eCHaRTe
Without a formal procedure, advocates deliver letters directly to DeGioia’s office. Up to this point, the CISR has not made public a formal format for submitting proposals. Nonetheless, according to CISR member Alex Douglas, the committee is in the process of finalizing its operating procedures. “Academic year 2012-2013 is the first year that the CISR is operating under this expanded mandate,” Douglas wrote in an email to the Voice. “This spring, the committee plans to launch a website detailing its function, membership, and procedures.” In addition, there has been some talk focused on the formal procedure community members should follow if interested in submitting a proposal for the committee’s consideration.
“The process would look something along the lines of having a set of formal criteria that are clear and transparent,” Solomon said. “Students or actively interested individuals would submit the proposal, the committee would review it, send back questions, ask for clarifications, and potentially invite the individual to come present to the committee.” The concern of many students and community members is that the potential bureaucracy of this process will prevent individuals from presenting divestment proposals. “A formal way to present proposals would be good, but it has to be one way that is not a bureaucracy,” Browning said. “It would be good for the CISR to have forums on a regular basis, say every two weeks,
and the targeting of American civilians—without any due process—is an offensive and unconstitutional practice. On both sides of this debate, the premises on which the “drone wars” are built remain largely unquestioned. Consider the remarks of Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), which seem to reflect many liberals’ mild unease with the outstanding policy: “We are in a different kind
try. In comments that seem like they were culled from the pages of The Onion, she told reporters that she was in favor of “legislation to ensure that drone strikes are carried out in a manner consistent with our values.” Embedded in these calls for more oversight and accountability is a de facto acknowledgement that drones are only part of the much broader War on Terror, even if Obama wisely abandoned that particular phrase after taking office. The continuity between Obama and Bush’s defense policies extends well beyond their shared sympathy for flying death robots: both administrations have perpetuated the notion that the U.S. is permanently at war with Islamist militants who are out to attack Americans—and that the pursuit of those suspects should remain a fundamental national priority. Whether or not it’s harder for subsequent administrations to use drones as part of that effort doesn’t alter that deeper vision of permanent war.
Union Jack by Cole Stangler
A bi-weekly column about national politics and policy of war. We’re not sending troops. We’re not sending manned bombers. We’re dealing with the enemy where we find them to keep America safe. We have to strike a new constitutional balance with the challenges we face today.” The gist of Durbin’s view is shared by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and longtime darling of the defense indus-
so that if a student or group of students come up with an idea, they don’t have to wait until the next semester to present it.” James Feinerman, who has been sitting on the CISR for 13 years, says members of the committee are working on making the process to present proposals as simple as possible, which is one of the reasons it is taking so long to reach an agreement. “We have no desire to increase or even create a bureaucratic obstacle,” Feinerman said. “The idea is just the opposite, which is to design something relatively simple, and make it possible for proposals to be presented before this year’s proxy season.” The CISR’s main role is to advise the University on its investment decisions and does not have veto power. However, providing community members with a formal and simple way to present proposals is a way to engage more people in the conversation. “This is a valuable opportunity for Georgetown as an institution to make students more [a part] of that process,” Soloman said, “and to try to elevate student advocates to the level of the equals on the playing field of the conversation about what Georgetown perceives as its responsibility as a university and as a Jesuit institution about corporate responsibility issues.”
The leaking of the Justice Department’s legal justification for targeted killings of American citizens and the confirmation hearings for Brennan should be an opportunity for vigorous criticism of the foundational assumptions of the War on Terror, and its enormous human costs. The U.S. is still at war in Afghanistan, an occupation that costs over $1 billion a week and has caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties. U.S. defense spending still remains roughly equal to the rest of the world’s defense spending combined. With more regressive budget cuts on the horizon and substantial cuts to Social Security appearing like a real possibility, it seems more appropriate than ever to actually question the core priorities of the War on Terror and its massive costs— whether or not drones have more congressional oversight. Shoot Cole a Hellfire Missile at cstangler@georgetownvoice.com
sports
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february 14, 2013
With win, men’s basketball tops Big East rankings by Keith Levinksy Monday night’s win over No. 18 Marquette (17-6, 8-3 Big East) marked the sixth consecutive victory for No. 15 Georgetown (18-4, 8-3 Big East), as they edged their way to a final score of 63-55. With the win, Georgetown avenged a 49-48 loss at Marquette on Jan. 5 earlier this year. “We have grown a lot from [that game] to now,” sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. said. “I think we have made a lot of adjustments, just learning from our mistakes. As a team we evolve each game.” Porter Jr. and junior guard Markel Starks continued to lead the way in scoring for Georgetown. Porter Jr. finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, giving him a total of five games this season in which he scored more than 20 points. The sophomore forward shot 5-of-13 from the field, below his season average, but he made up for it by making all of his 7 free throw attempts. “[Porter Jr.] is one of the best players in the country,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “He is someone who takes pride in and excels in every aspect of the game. He is the guy who puts us in the best position to win.” Starks finished the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He has scored in double digits in each of the past five games and averaged 16.2 points per game in that span. Junior forward Nate Lubick joined Porter Jr. and Starks in double figures with 10 points and led the team in assists with 4. Lubick would be most dangerous at the free throw line, though, where he managed to sink 8 of his 13 attempts. Sophomore forward Mikael Hopkins had a career- and
game-high 9 rebounds, while contributing 6 points and 3 blocks. Hopkins has been stepping up in his role at the post as of late, with an average of just over 9 points per game and a field goal percentage of at least .500 in his last three. “If you want to talk about him, the one thing I would talk about is the defensive job and trying to make it hard for [Davante] Gardner,” said Thompson. Marquette did break Georgetown’s eight-game streak of holding opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field as the Golden Eagles reached 43.5 percent. Even so, Georgetown’s stingy defense remained effective. The Hoyas’ harried guarding of Marquette’s top scorer, junior guard Vander Blue, kept him at only 7 points on the game and stifled Gardner at 2 points. Constant pressure on defense and pushing for steals, Georgetown tallied 19 Marquette turnovers, with 11 of those coming in the first half. “I always want to give them credit,” Marquette Head Coach Buzz Williams said. “Some of our turnovers were unforced. I think they are really good defensively. If you look at that, their numbers justify that.” With a road game in Cincinnati tomorrow night at 9 p.m., the Hoyas will look to further extend the longest winning streak in the Big East. “I think we have to go back in the gym and tighten up a few things. Our defense overall–we have to tighten up a little bit,” Thompson said. “I don’t think it was poor today, but it wasn’t at the level over this stretch here.” On Monday, Cincinnati dropped out of the national rankings after two straight losses. Bearcat guard Sean Kilpatrick is a Big East player of the
MILES GAVIN MENG
Mikael Hopkins has improved down low for the Hoyas during the win streak.
year candidate who averages 18.2 points per game—good for fourth in the conference. Cincinnati ranks eighth in the nation in rebounds per game with 41.1, which will provide a stiff challenge for Georgetown’s post men. The Bearcats have three players with over 5 rebounds per game.
Georgetown is currently tied with both Marquette and Syracuse for first in the Big East. After their faceoff with Cincinnati and a home matchup with DePaul, the Hoyas will finally get an opportunity to take on Syracuse away on Feb. 23. With both teams likely to win their upcoming games,
this battle at the Carrier Dome could solidify the top spot in the Big East. The Hoyas will need continued contributions from players other than Porter Jr. if they want to finish at the top this season and the upcoming games will be an exceptional test with March looming in the near future.
the Sports Sermon “Nothing makes sense in college basketball anymore, which is why if you told me that Jordan Hulls released a rap album ... after the season, I’d probably believe you.” - Mark Titus of Grantland a year on a pitcher instead of trying to acquire a competent batter or two. The highest batting average on the team last season for a starter was catcher Jesus Montero at .260. Ensuring that Hernandez remained a Mariner was imperative. After all, at this point in time, he is the only thing about the program that holds much promise. Their numbertwo pitcher last year, Jason Vargas, signed a one-year deal with the Angels in January, leaving the team with only a meager set of starters who will struggle for winning records. Hernandez’s contract would have expired in two years had he not agreed to this deal and the Mariners wisely recognized
This is why teams generally do not extend contracts for so Major League Baseball hismany seasons, but what’s more tory was made on Tuesday with worrying is that Hernandez the signing of the largest ever is already having elbow probcontract for a pitcher. Usually lems. The Mariners are putting when this kind of news comes all their eggs in one basket in out, baseball fans wonder this deal for a pitcher who has which massive payroll team is lost velocity on his fastball in pulling in more big names and three straight seasons. If a team packing rosters with numerous does want to make a long term All-Star candidates. Clubs like contract extension, they could the New York Yankees, Philawork an injury contingency delphia Phillies, Boston Red plan into the agreement in case Sox, and Los Angeles Angels health becomes an issue, as the are typically the ones makYankees did with CC Sabathia ing headlines in the offseason, on his extension. There has with their payrolls all surpassbeen no news of a risk hedging ing $150 million. This time, of this kind thus far. though, it is the Seattle MariIn the next few years, Herners who have jumped into the nandez will continue to be an spotlight with their contract important asset for the Mariners extension finalized as they try to keep Pete Rose Central with pitcher Felix runs allowed down Da bettin’ line Hernandez. and give their ofThe terms of the fense a chance to Dookies Margin Hoyas deal are a whopbring in more wins. (underdogs) (duh!) ping $175 million (favorites) He is still one of the over the next seven best pitchers in the Wrestling Less Spandex league, with a 2.81 Golf years, which means GMU that Hernandez ERA (2nd in MLB) Larranaga The U will be receiving an and 894 strikeouts Nerlens Knees Otto average of $25 mil(3rd in MLB) since lion per year. For a team whose that they would have had quite his start in 2009. total payroll last year was only a battle on their hands with It is a big statement coming $81 million, this contract ex- teams like the Red Sox and An- from the Mariners, in giving out tension makes King Felix the gels, who will be on the prowl their highest total salary concornerstone of an organiza- for additional pitching. tract in the franchise’s history. tion that has gone nowhere but The Mariners are attempt- They are setting their base for down in the last decade. With ing to rebuild a fallen fran- what hopefully will be a playoff the departure of Ichiro Suzuki chise around Hernandez and contender in the coming sealast season to the Yankees, the have decided to start on the sons, especially since the 2001 Mariners lost their last great defensive end. This all re- season was the last time they hitter and fell to the darkest lies on the health of their ace even made it to the playoffs. depths of the MLB in terms of pitcher, though, which has Every team that finds itbatting. become a relevant concern in self in a rut must have a player Management over in Se- recent months. As the player around whom they can rebuild. attle took quite a bet in extend- with the most innings pitched With the Mariners’ offense not ing Hernandez’s contract for before the age of 26 in baseball looking like it will be getting seven years, but they really did history, his longevity ought to any better, pitching is where not have much of a choice. This be an area of concern. Paying their strength will have to lie. team was last place in the en- such big money conveys the This lower budget organization tire MLB last year in batting av- expectation that Hernandez from Seattle showed the proper erage, on-base percentage, and will be producing for all seven initiative necessary to get back slugging percentage, which years, but at this rate it is a le- to winning ways, but now must begs the question of why they gitimate concern that he may trust that their investment in decided to dish out $25 million overwork himself as he ages. King Felix pays out.
by Steven Criss
sports
georgetownvoice.com
the georgetown voice 7
Softball ends tournament on high note Women’s basketball falling fast by Brendan Crowley As temperatures climb, the Hoya student body can finally welcome the arrival of Georgetown’s spring sports season. For the Georgetown Hoyas softball team (1-4), this weekend marked the first of what is sure to be many opportunities to showcase their talents. The Hoyas traveled to Miami for a slate of five games in the Florida International University Tournament. Despite the sense of excitement associated with the new season, the Hoyas stumbled out of the gates, losing four straight games, falling to North Carolina State, FIU, and twice to Kansas. For Georgetown, the box scores revealed what needed to change: the Hoyas were outscored 23 to 7 in the first four contests, leaving 30 runners on base. Without increased offensive output, winning will continue to be a tough task. For Georgetown Head Coach Pat Conlan, however, the Hoyas’ early record does not reflect where
the team is at or where they have the potential to go. “I think people look at 1-4 and think we didn’t have a successful weekend,” Conlan said. “We played some really tough teams that we maybe don’t usually schedule on our first weekend under. But I thought we played very well defensively, had good pitching outings, and we got people on base. We didn’t get that big hit with runners on base that we need in order to be successful … We had opportunities, and I think that’s all you can ask.” The lone victory of the weekend came on the tournament’s final day, as the Hoyas were able to pull out a 2-0 win in a rematch with FIU. The Hoyas were anchored by a strong pitching performance from Megan Hyson, who tossed a complete game three-hitter. At the plate, Georgetown was carried by senior captain Shikara Lowe, whose 5 hits were the weekend’s offensive highlight. In addition, Lowe, the team’s starting catcher, can also be credit-
Megan Hyson was key on the defensive end by pitching a shutout.
SPORTS INFO
Signing day out of bounds
Last week, one of college football’s most celebrated holidays took place as the top high school recruits in the country revealed to the nation what college they would be attending. ESPNU covered the events for 11 and a half hours providing analysis and live coverage of the press conferences. It’s a fun process, as players get publicity and fans get to be excited about how good their teams will be the next few years or in some cases, they get to be disappointed by how poorly their team’s coaches recruited. But, despite all of that, things have gotten a little out of hand. It is no shocking revelation that the focus and pressure on young athletes has become overwhelming. There are websites devoted to figuring out who the best fifth- and sixthgrade players are in the country. Just last year, a 14-year-old quarterback committed to the University of Washington. We
love to salivate over who the next big star will be, who will be the next Peyton Manning or Reggie Bush; the highly touted recruiting website Rivals even has a section on the pages of some recruits saying which player the recruit reminds them of the most. It makes sense for people to get excited and worked up about recruiting. We want to know the unknown, to predict and get excited about the future. But, the position we put 18-year-old kids in as a result of these desires does not sit well with me. They are thrust into the spotlight, worshipped as the next big thing before they even step onto a college football practice field or put on a college football uniform. And then, we chastise them if they get big heads and wonder what went wrong if things do not work out and they do not live up to expectations. And things do tend to go wrong a significant amount of the time. The Post and Courier
ed with facilitating multiple strong pitching performances. “I think Shikara Lowe…has done a wonderful job handling the pitchers,” Conlan explained. “She always seems to come up with that clutch hit.” Apart from Lowe, Conlan also sees a lot of promise in freshman shortstop Samantha Giovanniello, who, along with a roster brimming with depth, has a chance to make a big splash in the Big East Conference this year. “Freshman Samantha Giovanniello … really had a nice weekend for us, so I’m excited to see what her career turns out. I would say, overall, we have a lot of depth, a lot of people playing in every game, pinch runners, pinch hitters, defensive changes.” As for prospects for the rest of the season, both coaches and players alike are setting ambitious goals. After a disappointing 3-15 campaign in the Big East last season, this rejuvenated Georgetown squad has their sights set on earning respect. “Finally making a name for ourselves in the Big East is probably our biggest goal,” Lowe said. “Making the other teams see us as a more serious threat is always another huge goal. But also just going into every tournament ready to play tough…” Echoing her captain’s words, Conlan zeroed in on this year’s unprecedented chances for success. “Our goal is to make the Big East tournament this year. I think with the team we have, we have our best chance in our program history to do that.” of South Carolina conducted a study that showed that from 2006 to 2009, 42.3 percent of players in Rivals’ Top 100 recruits were “busts,” in that they failed to do any of the following: appear in 40 college games, start 20 games, or have what the article referred to as “an above average season.” Further, only
Unsportsmanlike Conduct by Alex Lau
A bi-weekly column about sports about 14.1 percent became either first or second team AllAmericans or first- or secondround draft picks. If the numbers do not seem that low, take this into consideration: there are approximately 250,000 high school seniors who play football in the U.S., a huge group with lots of talent, and out of all those players, only 100 were chosen to be the next big stars. When less than 60 percent of those turn
by Joe Pollicino After a disappointing 76-72 overtime loss to St. John’s (1110, 5-4 Big East) this past Saturday, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (13-11, 4-7 Big East) failed to get back in the winning column on Tuesday night as they fell to archrival Syracuse (20-3, 8-2 Big East) 6960 at McDonough Arena. On a night where senior guard Sugar Rodgers, the team’s leading scorer, struggled shooting 1-of-12 from the field, other players stepped up for the Hoyas. Freshman forward Dominique Vitalis led the team with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Katie McCormick added 14 points and senior center Sydney Wilson added 12 points as well as 8 rebounds. “Sugar does so much for us. She’s not going to have a stellar night every night,” said Wilson after the game. “It’s just our responsibility to step up when she’s not having a great night.” “I’m just trying to help the team,” Vitalis said after the game. “We can’t get down on ourselves. We just have to keep pushing.” Despite 18 turnovers in the first half, the Hoyas were able to stay in the game as they held the Orange to only 23 percent shooting from the field in the half. After halftime, the Hoyas came out rolling with a 10-2 run, giving them a 35-27 lead early in the second half. However, the Orange
out to be promising, not just on the pro level, but on the college level, it should turn some heads. Some of these players have injuries that set back their careers, but most of them just turn out to be flat-out busts. When that happens, I think it is important to look at the pressure these kids are put under as at least one of the major factors contributing to their poor play. Almost all of these players have been the best players on their teams and for the most part, the best players amongst any and all of their opponents. Then they get to college, and all the hype they have gotten makes them think that they will continue to be the best with relative ease. Many either do not realize or are not ready for the level of competition and as a result fail to realize their potential. We need to limit the exposure and coverage high school recruits receive. I realize that such a task will be difficult, considering that fans love to know about the recruiting process.
responded well as they finished the game on a 42-25 run with Syracuse senior guard Elashier Hall, a D.C. native, erupting for all of her 14 points in the second half. “I kind of feel like we beat ourselves this time,” Wilson said. “We definitely were capable of beating them. We just made the littlest mistakes over and over again that were killing us.” Despite being tied at halftime, the Orange’s depth proved too much to handle for the shorthanded Hoyas, who had only eight players active for the game due to injuries. “When you’re playing with six players for 40 minutes and pressuring the basketball for 40 minutes, it just caught up with us a little bit,” said Head Coach Keith Brown following the loss. “We could have used an extra body.” Georgetown’s loss completes a regular-season sweep at the hands of Syracuse, the first time that’s happened since the 19961997 season. “Before this year, we haven’t lost to Syracuse in five years. It’s extremely difficult,” said Coach Brown. “You can’t bring a mule to the Kentucky Derby. You’ve got to have more kids.” Georgetown will look to snap their losing streak in a must-win matchup this Saturday at home against Villanova at 2 p.m. (16-7, 5-5 Big East) if they wish to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament this March.
ESPN and other media sources make a ton of money covering recruiting and signing day, schools and coaches want to excite their fans and keep them interested so that they continue to spend money on tickets, memorabilia, etc., and many of the recruits want the attention. I am all for the players and the fans having fun, but these decisions should not be covered nationally. You can keep the fun press conferences and silly hat game, but just have a couple of cameras and reporters from the local media there if anything. I understand that in today’s world, news will slip out in milliseconds via tweets or Facebook statuses and that major media outlets will cover the day because there is a high demand for such news. I just hope that even if the process is going to remain a circus, that it becomes a two-ring circus instead of remaining a three-ring one. Call out Alex’s busts at alau@ georgetownvoice.com
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8 the georgetown voice
february 14, 2013
AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS Where the nerds become the rockstars BY JULIA JESTER
Nations, such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. Students are encouraged to accurately role-play the countries they are assigned, requiring both extensive research and the development of negotiation skills. NAIMUN was established in 1953, but unfortunately, records previous to the 46th conference have been lost—nonetheless, students continue to uphold and improve upon the MUN traditions. This weekend, NAIMUN will celebrate its 50th anniversary.The milestone conference will include a few special elements. “We have a heavy 1963 theme, which was the first year NAIMUN was founded,” said Secretary-General Theresa Lou (SFS ‘14). “We have a present-day U.N. Security Council and we also have a 1963 U.N. Security Council. It makes delegates think about where we’ve been, and how we’ve gotten where we are.” For this anniversary conference, there will be 38 committees comprised of 12 to 320 delegates. “We hit full capacity this year in September, which is earlier than ever before,” said Executive Director Cody Cowan (SFS ‘14). “We broke 2,000 delegates in August.” The IRC and GIRA are two distinct organizations separate from the University. “GIRA is a nonprofit organization, technically not affiliated with Georgetown at all,” said Kohli, now GIRA Director of Marketing and Public Affairs [full disclosure: Kohli is a former Voice staffer]. “It’s our overarching corporation, which we run both of the [MUN] conferences
through, so we have full ownership of it. IRC provides the volunteer talent of the people who staff these conferences.” Regarding University involvement with GIRA and its conferences, various staffers described a positive, symbiotic relationship between GIRA and the University. This year’s Director General Luke Young (MSB ‘15) decided to attend Georgetown after winning a scholarship in his fourth year attending the conference. GIRA gives a $1,000 scholarship to a student who writes a compelling essay about his or her passion for MUN. Regarding his scholarship, Young said, “I was happy to reach out to [NAIMUN] and say … ‘You can just send it over to the registration office because I’m coming to Georgetown.’” NAIMUN Chief of Staff Thomas Larson (SFS ‘13) also credits his matriculation at Georgetown to his contact with the conference. “It’s the best thing Georgetown students put together, in my opinion,” Larson said. “We make the Hilton that weekend feel like the center of the universe for those kids. They feel like they have the entire world at their fingertips, and they kind of do. That’s the weekend where the kids who are passionate and care about international affairs, the speakers, the politicians—the nerds become the rock stars. It’s cool to care at NAIMUN.” Larson noted that despite staff members obtaining letters excusing absences from the IRC’s faculty representative, professors are often concerned with the amount of class students miss in order to participate in NAIMUN. “Some professors do have a problem with it,” Larson said. “The main reason I discourage [going to class] is not because a missing staffer for an hour can really drag down a committee…[it] is because one of the best parts about NAIMUN is that you can get sucked into that world we call the ‘NAIMUN bubble.’” This dedication is a facet Larson deeply values about the conference. “There’s something very beautiful about that because in college, all of us feel pulled in six different directions—you have to worry about your career, your internship, your parents, your friends, your classes, your extracurriculars—and it’s important to multitask,” he said. “But at this conference, if you can let your entire consciousness settle on it. It’s just a great experience.” “Being at Georgetown, we have such an excellence in substantive knowledge,”
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Members of the IRC pose with a United Nations flag at the Washington Hilton for NAIMUN. “I remember standing there—and you’re barely standing because you’ve slept seven hours in two weeks and you don’t know if you failed half your midterms. You can literally feel the energy of these 20 people who you’ve been working with for a year to create a conference,” said Ishita Kohli (SFS ’13). “Standing in front of 3,000 people trying to explain how much you love what you do … I definitely had that perfect sense of fulfillment that I had ownership over an extremely amazing endeavor.” Kohli is one of many Georgetown students who have served as senior staff members for the North American Invitational Model United Nations, the largest student-led high school Model United Nations conference in the world. Not only do students from 21 states attend, but it also has international draw, with delegates making the trip from 19 different countries. Organized by the Georgetown International Relations Association, the fourday conference allows high school students to engage in debate and dialogue about current affairs with guidance from members of the Georgetown International Relations Club. NAIMUN, Ivy League Model United Nations Conference, and the Harvard Model United Nations, the three largest high school conferences, are held in January and February, with NAIMUN wrapping up the MUN season this weekend. MUN conferences are simulations of the various committees within the United
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said Lou. “We are able to produce something that is unparalleled on the circuit, whether that is through crisis simulations, or just the way we guide them through their thought process. Seeing the conference planning … selecting topics for committees, getting chairs to write background guides for their delegates on time … it’s an experience like no other. ” Lou sees her leadership role as a way to give back to MUN, which she attributes as the reason for her acceptance to Georgetown. “MUN has given me so much that I feel further inspired to want to give back to the 3,000 high school kids that I can help shape, help inspire,” Lou said. “It’s obviously not an individual effort, but being able to spearhead such a movement where delegates can make a change, no matter how much time I give up, it’s worth it.” Anupam Chakravarty (SFS ’10), who led NAIMUN XLVI, claims the conference shaped his leadership skills. “At 19 or 20, you’re not used to being able to build an institution,” Chakravarty said. “At Georgetown, as we’ve seen time and time again, whether it be Corp or GUASFCU, Hoyas get to build things; truly get to start from scratch and envision things in a new way.” During his time as Secretary-General of NAIMUN XLVI, Chakravarty was responsible for implementing three essential elements of the conference. To begin with, his staff emphasized the idea of NAIMUN staff as a family. Second, Chakravarty said, “We added this really heavy Georgetown element we borrowed from other conferences, who would [invite] a cappella performances, to create Hilltop Madness. Even though we are not directly affiliated with Georgetown, we have Georgetown all over our programming.” Finally, his staff emphasized their
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georgetownvoice.com model, “think globally, act locally”, by introducing a community service project into the conference’s program. Cowan sacrificed studying abroad to help lead this conference. “I finally decided that passing up the opportunity was not worth it because there are few times in your life where you will be able to be a part of a family like NAIMUN’s,” Cowan said. While there is a sense of community within the IRC, there is also a sense of competition. “We by nature are a competitive team,” said Kohli, “but I don’t think that’s native to the IRC. I think Georgetown is an extremely competitive, ambitious university ... IRC is unique in that it has a lot of avenues for leadership. There’s a lot of different ways to be intense.” Within the IRC, tensions can arise through working long hours on conferences, particularly NAIMUN. “One of the hardest parts can be once you get in the trenches with your friends,” said Larson, “You get to a point where there’s actually a challenge in front of you both and somebody has a different way to approach it than the other does and you actually do have to deal with real conflict of ideas ... that can be a challenge to separate that from everything else and find a logical way through it.” However, he notes the success of NAIMUN is due to the successful navigation of such a divergence of opinions. ”I think part of the evidence we do such a good job of it is that no one notices it,” said Larson. “That disharmony comes into this collective whole that seems pretty seamless. Larson isn’t the only one who has noticed NAIMUN’s streamlined planning— it has been consistently ranked as the most competitive conference on the hih school MUN circuit.
That dedication keeps the conference going even during the most trying times. “We ran this conference in Snowpocalypse, three years ago, where you started day one with 33 percent [of the attendees] and ended still making tens of thousands of dollars in philanthropy money,” Kohli said. “It still was an amazing conference. It amounts to dedication, and it amounts to we know what we’re doing.” Young, who also helps coordinate feature articles for BestDelegate, a website devoted to MUN conferences, emphasized the scope of Georgetown’s MUN program. “Georgetown has a stellar reputation pretty much everywhere,” he said. “On the high school circuit, we’re probably thought of as the best, or one of the best, conferences.” The IRC also organizes another conference for college students, the National Collegiate Security Council. Young described the program: “We specialize in small committees moving at a very quick pace with moving elements such as crises that delegates have to respond to. That’s sort of our niche on the college circuit ... we’re seen as one of the most challenging conferences.” Though proud of the program’s success, Larson sees the competitive nature of MUN as potentially detrimental. “The competition aspect is something I’m hoping that MUN in general gets away from,” he said. “At the end of the day, if MUN is competitive, it loses what it’s meant to be … It’s not a competition as much as it is an educational and cultural activity with a competitive element.” Aside from logistical excellence, Larson stressed other components crucial in NAIMUN’s continued success. “We’re good at creating a great out-ofcommittee experience with a dance and Hilltop Madness, and we really do give
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Staffers prepare materials for this weeken’s NAIMUN conference.
Kohli attributes the conference’s success to its appeal to every type of delegate, as well as the consistency of having strong Georgetown leaders. “The impression that we’ve left in terms of the circuit is that no matter what happens, you’ll always have a substantially strong conference,” she said. “We’re very lucky that we go to a school where people are so interested in politics and government and security and crisis, so we will always be a great feeder school for something like MUN.”
delegates a lot of opportunities to explore D.C.,” she said. “But I think what makes us number one is that we have the bigger picture in mind when we craft this whole conference, and that’s what MUN is supposed to be and what role it’s supposed to play in education in high school.” While the BestDelegate website notes excellence in both the competition and entertainment aspects of NAIMUN, Larson says there are certain factors that are ignored. “This wouldn’t be some-
thing outside rankers would recognize, [but] we really do keep the ideals of MUN itself at heart,” he said. “I think some of that has to come from our Jesuit background, in that we’re dedicated to justice and things like that. Beyond organizing NAIMUN, the Georgetown IRC is dominant in collegelevel MUN as well. The IRC’s traveling conference team is currently ranked first in the country, according to BestDelegate. Unlike at other schools, IRC members must reapply to go to every conference. Led by Dane Shikman (SFS ‘13), the team has consistently won Best Delegation and Outstanding Delegation, as well as Best and Outstanding delegates, at conferences such as McGill Model United Nations in Montreal, University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference, Boston Area Model United Nations, and the Security Council Simulation at Yale. Additionally, the team is attending Harvard’s WORLDMUN in Melbourne, Australia for the first time this year. But Georgetown is known not only for winning. It’s also known for how it wins. “Part of the reason we do so well is because we continue to do this activity for the love of it rather than for the glory we get,” Larson said. “That’s kind of a bonus, or an affirmation of what we’re doing, but our ultimate goal is not to go dominate everyone at a competition, it’s to learn and to get better at these skills. And I think because we focus on the right things, we remain successful.” Through the years, the Georgetown team has developed a friendship with the University of Pennsylvania’s MUN squad. University of Pennsylvania student Yadavan Mahendraraj, Secretary-General of the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference, has experienced Georgetown’s planning expertise himself. “Funnily enough, my first conference ever freshman year was NAI-
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High school delegates pose questions at a simulated United Nations press conference.
NAIMUN Secretary General Theresa Lou.
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MUN,” said Mahendraraj. “I can say this because we didn’t go to ILMUNC at my high school, NAIMUN was by far the best conference we went to. I still have a lot of respect for NAIMUN.” Though the University of Pennsylvania’s International Affairs Association is very similar to Georgetown’s IRC, Mahendraraj notes one main difference. “The presence of the SFS at Georgetown lets them do something that’s different to us in that they turn away staff members [who apply],” he said. “They try out for their team, and [at Penn] as soon as you staff our conferences you’re allowed to go on a trip. We take everyone and have a larger staff. It’s an interesting difference.” Mahendraraj describes both universities as ones that push innovation rather than adapt to the circuit. “As the largest conferences, we have an outside effect on how the world perceives MUN. If we do it, or if NAIMUN does it, it’s almost accepted or it becomes mainstream pretty fast,” he said. NAIMUN’s 50th conference is a testament to the dedication the staffers have put into the extensive process of planning the conference year after year—the spirit of service permeates the attitudes of NAIMUN staffers. “The reason I love NAIMUN is because of what it gives back to high school students,” said Executive Assistant Jennifer Zink (SFS ‘15), whose immersion in NAIMUN and IRC occurred early on in her Georgetown career. No matter what the future holds, Chakravarty says he’s confident it will continue to educate and inspire politically-minded high schoolers for ages to come. “NAIMUN has consistently put Georgetown out there to the world and made us part of a really important conversation about youth empowerment,” he said. “I’m so glad to see that continues to grow stronger and stronger every year.”
AUSTRALIA
leisure
10 the georgetown voice
february 14, 2013
Wanderland takes student theater down the rabbit hole by Julia Lloyd-George It’s unusual that falling down a rabbit hole and traveling to a new country for college are thrust alongside each other in the same theater, yet Wanderland pairs these experiences in two pieces that complement, rather than contradict, each other in their themes of exploration. The senior thesis projects for Theater & Performance Studies majors, individually titled Golden Shards and Chiaroscuro, take stories familiar to all and muddle the formula to create hybrid narratives. The result is a conglomerate of fairy tale and memoir that blurs the line between fantasy and reality, nationality and identity. Golden Shards, the thesis project from Alice Cash (COL’13), delves into the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland and layers it with the backstory of the author himself while examining his evolution from Charles Dodgson to Lewis Carroll. His development as an author and his relationship with Alice Liddell become the foreground of the tale as snippets of his life are interspersed with scenes from the fantastical literature that was his legacy. Some of the play’s strongest scenes consist of Dodgson addressing the audience, musing on the nature of insanity or time. However, Cash’s play avoids relying too heavily on monologue. In truth, it is a masterfully designed collage of chronologically disordered scenes from the author’s life that transition into related excerpts from Alice in Wonderland as seamlessly as one would drift into sleep. The completed work is an undeniable homage to the author, yet it’s also an artful insight into the way that the quotidian feeds into the absurd. Like Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, it is a kind of remix that forces the audience to reexamine a familiar work under a new light.
To accomplish this delicate task, Cash relied heavily on letters, biographies, and Dodgson’s own works during the writing process. As the play took shape on stage, however, it took on a vibrancy only theatrical collaboration could allow. “It definitely took a life of its own off the paper, as it was a work of collaboration with the actors and designers,” Cash said. “The performance is all about ‘play,’ about being children, about exploring the adventures of life.” This theme becomes apparent throughout the performance, in addition to the overarching idea that dreams are woven into the fabric of memory. The linear nature of time comes into question as screen projections of biographical dates and photographs underscore the simultaneous significance and limits of history, while imagination is left to fill the gaps. In Chiaroscuro, Swedian Lie (COL’13) explores similar distinctions, though in the form of a semiautobiographical narrative. Relying heavily on the visual power of the exotic set and the movements of the actors onstage, Lie explores his own journey as a Chinese-Indonesian immigrant through an inquiry into the nature of identity. As a Studio Art major, Lie brought a unique approach to the writing process. Unlike Cash, whose play was born out of the significance of text, he sought alternative methods to communicate his story. “I write almost open-word or poetry as opposed to dialogue,” he said. “That in itself is a very different kind of approach.” Almost the first 10 minutes of the play, in fact, included no dialogue at all, but a series of symbolic movements and interpretive dance. Though this is an intriguing strategy, it leaves the audience more than a little confused about its message. When Lie finally speaks, it is about the concept of his name and the role of Chinese calligraphy in
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“Don’t you worry; I will make sure to take all the photos off the internet.”
his life, using brush painting on stage as a unique device to literally illustrate the fundamental elements of his background. This emphasis on the visual is the defining characteristic of the play, whose title refers to the contrast be-
tween light and dark. Furthermore, it made the transition from paper to stage a transformative process, for both the play and Lie himself. “In a way, so much of the script changed during production, and I’m a big advocate of that
Families torn apart, literally
The world is chock-full of competing theories. Is evolution or intelligent design behind the origin of mankind? Was ‘N Sync or the Backstreet Boys the superior boy band of the ‘90s? Does the Leo’s smell come from cleaning detergent or divine intervention? But no theories are more hotly debated than the meaning behind hit dramas—Lost, anyone?— and AMC’s comic book adaptation The Walking Dead is no exception. A tale of a group of survivors living through a zombie apocalypse in the backcountry of Georgia, The Walking Dead is at first glance a gory, violent thriller—and undoubtedly an entertaining one. But behind the bludgeoning of the reanimated dead and human faces being eaten off, The Walking Dead has a deep thematic message; the critics just aren’t sure what that message is. Some, most notably The Atlantic contributor Jeffrey Goldberg, have described The Walking Dead as an allegory for the Holocaust, with the survivors symbolizing the plight of the Jews fleeing from safe house to safe house to avoid a brutal end. Others, such as Daniel Drezner, preeminent zombie-policy theorist and author of Theories of International Politics and Zombies, see The Walking Dead as a portrayal of the fight against terrorism and part of a larger conservative narrative about security, guns, and the role (or lack thereof) of the state. More generally, as with all apocalyptic fiction, The Walking Dead could very well just be an exploration of the strength of the human will to survive. While all of these theories are certainly plausible, I think none better describes the root of The Walking Dead’s message than the potential for rebuilding society’s primary institutions.
The zombie apocalypse destroys the basic tenets and biases of our society. Government collapses. Public services cease to exist. Class distinctions vanish. Cultural differences lose relevance. Our traditional gender roles matter less than ever before. And so, despite the hardship of the fight to survive, the zombies also give the characters a chance to rebuild their world: a world that for many of the characters wasn’t working out all that well. Carol escapes an abusive marriage and discovers true
Paper View by Keaton Hoffman a bi-weekly column about television
love in her relationship with Daryl. Glenn escapes a deadend job as a pizza delivery guy to become the unlikely hero and get the girl. More dramatically, Axel escapes from prison and gets a chance to redeem himself and join the gang of survivors. But the opportunity of the zombie apocalypse has its limits, both emotionally and physically. Lori’s infidelity continues to poison relations within the group even after Rick’s murder of Shane. Hershel loses his leg from a zombie bite and must now hobble around on one leg. Lori dies in childbirth, and TDog just dies. No amount of dismembered institutions can circumvent physical realities. Perhaps no institution has suffered from such limitations as the characters’ ability to create new families. As characters have died off, the gang of survivors has had to increasingly rely on each other as family while lacking the physical bonds of sex or blood. Daryl assumes the role of a mother in naming Lori’s baby Lil’ Asskicker. Carol and Hershel help parent Carl, even though they’re not related.
in the sense that the work should evolve all the time,” he said. “As I’ve been working on this project, I’ve grown more comfortable with feeling a sense of ambiguity in my own identity because that’s a lifetime journey.”
Yet, if this Sunday’s season three midseason premiere taught us anything, it’s that such bonds have their limits. When Daryl reconnects with his unpredictable brother Merle, blood triumphs over the new family bonds Daryl built with the camp and he decides to leave. Conversely, Maggie is unwilling to accept Merle into the camp, fearing for the safety of her blood father and sister back at the prison. And then comes Rick, The Walking Dead’s unlikable protagonist. Rick’s always been plagued by an unwavering loyalty to his bloodrelated kin over his newly formed “family.” Whether in his dip into insanity after Lori’s death and subsequent apparition that put the entire camp at risk or his protracted reluctance to arm Carl, Rick, despite honorably claiming to put the interests of the group first, has always prioritized the interests of his own. The Walking Dead’s final verdict on the potential to create families inorganically hasn’t yet been settled, an incertitude mirrored in the current cultural and political milieu. On the comedy side, New Girl and The New Normal have built families across racial, generational, and sexual lines, but such bonds can never be pushed to their limits in comedy as they have been on The Walking Dead. When every day is a struggle for life and death, the question of who lies in your inner circle, in your family, rears its head in ugly and uncomfortable ways. Therein lies The Walking Dead’s most chilling challenge to its viewers: Who would you give up your life for, family or “family?” Guess we’ll just have to wait for a zombie apocalypse to find out. Seductively gnaw on Keaton’s flesh at khoffman@georgetownvoice.com
georgetownvoice.com
“Young love: full of promise, full of hope, ignorant of reality.” — Valentine’s Day
the georgetown voice 11
Hirshhorn moves Out of the Ordinary Hilltop Horoscopes by Dayana Morales Gomez The Hirshhorn’s newest exhibit, Out of the Ordinary, explores the artistic potential in everyday objects and successfully sends its visitors into a transfigured state of fantasy while doing nothing short of regular. The start of the exhibit describes the compiled art as “somewhere in between realism and fantasy”—an accurate description of the exhibit as a whole. The style is said to be derived from Marcel Duchamp, best known for his “Readymade” art pieces, and Jasper John, known for his paintings and sculpture exploring the nature of patriotism. The two artists were attempting to play with the items of everyday life: the American flag for Duchamp and bicycles for John. Not aiming to be detailed or realistic, they wanted to project the power of the imagination onto tangible objects.
The exhibit is laid out among four large rooms with large white walls and plentiful negative space. The largest room in the exhibit contains both 2-D and 3-D objects, some more ambitious than others. There was a painted, realistic mail cabinet opposite an abandoned storefront. Robert Gober’s “Untitled” giant stick of butter was appealing to the eye, albeit somewhat puzzling. It was the kind of bizarre and rudimentary piece that usually makes people roll their eyes and write off contemporary art, but there was just something so intriguing about it. Despite it looking like the simplest thing on display, I took the most time with it. Perhaps my favorite room of the display was in a darkened room near the end of the exhibit. Compared to everything else on display, Nikki S. Lee’s set of “projects” were especially provocative. In the first
Hirshhorn
“Do not let its shape bother you; some curvature is perfectly natural.”
photograph, “The Hispanic Project” Lee, a Korean, stands beside a Hispanic woman. Lee appears to have darkened her skin and worn clothes much like the other woman’s, all the while making smug gestures towards the camera and standing like a stereotypical 90s urban Hispanic. The same wall continued with photos of Lee in “The Ohio Project,” where she stood inside a trailer home, and the hip hop project, where she stood behind African Americans, with sunglasses and even tanner skin. In the last room, all the items on display are fairly naturalistic, a well thought out exit for the complex exhibit. One animated ‘film’ was incredibly true to life, and a painting beside it also had an air of photographic realism. Just before exiting, I found myself in front of a giant fungus garden I initially thought to be a real plant. One man laughed and assured me it wasn’t. Some of the art displayed took some time to get used to, but I appreciated being challenged even in a gallery as small as that housing Out of the Ordinary. A seemingly random arrangement of artistic pieces displaying different takes of common goods, the exhibit had a cohesive design that takes visitors through a progression of emotions that range from confusion to intrigue. What makes the trip worthwhile is finding the space in between.
Cancer: 6/22-7/22 Be sure to read Vox this week; a certain writer may just be the one you are looking for.
12/22-1/19: Capricorn Attend all basketball games. Scream your heart out. We’ll still lose in the first round.
Leo:
7/23-8/22 Don’t waste your time standing in line for chicken fingers at Leo’s. Today is not your day.
1/20-2/18: Aquarius Double chocolate Milano cookies may prove to be a potent aphrodisiac for you and a significant other in the near future.
Virgo:
8/23-9/22 We do not need to tell you what Valentine’s Day has in store for you. It’s all in the name of your sign.
2/19-3/20: A meet-cute will occur at Grab ‘n’ Go in the near future. Grab a fruit cup to make it look like you’re dieting.
Libra:
9/23-10/22 Midterms got you down? You’re not the only one, so stop your incessant blubbering.
5/21-6/21: Gemini Honor the presidents this weekend by exercising your right to black out and put a lamp shade on your head.
Scorpio: 10/23-11/21 Everything will work out. Everything will be perfectly fine. Just keep telling yourself that.
4/20-5/20: Taurus Looking for an internship? You won’t get one until you lose those ridiculous Uggs.
Sagittarius: 11/22-12/21 If you’ve signed up for an Alternative Spring Break, prepare to get a little more alternative than you anticipated.
3/21-4/19: You’ve been facing a few too many things head on. It’s time to switch things up and try it from behind.
young minds of its central couple as the world falls into chaos. However, as often happens when a book is turned into a film, fans of the novel may be disappointed by the amount of creative license that the filmmakers exercise. The special effects can be overwrought and distracting, making the action scenes filled with spells difficult to watch in spite of their excitement. On the other hand, dullness kicks in as Lena and Ethan scour dusty books for clues about her family’s past. The romance, though hardly immune to clichés, thus remains the highlight of the film—as awkward teens struggling to have a normal relationship, Lena and Ethan emanate a kind of sweetness and relatability that is amplified by the undeniable chemistry between Englert and Ehrenreich. Beyond its young stars, however, the cast is packed with seasoned talent. Jeremy Irons tops the list as
the brooding Macon Ravenwood, the patriarch of Lena’s family who wants to help her avoid becoming prey to its curse. Two sirens to support the dark cause are played by Emmy Rossum and Emma Thompson, who clearly relish the chance to fill their villainous roles with reckless abandon, while Oscar-nominated Viola Davis makes a welcome appearance as the town librarian.
Pisces
Aries
Beautiful Creatures magically makes teen angst appealing by Zakiya Jamal Supernatural forbidden romance has probably never seen better days. Undoubtedly left hungry after the conclusion of the Twilight films, the powerful demographic of teenage girls can look forward to the screen adaptation of yet another young adult series fitting this remarkably marketable description. Beautiful Creatures, though certainly designed for that target audience and following a familiar formula, is a respectable guilty pleasure. The film brings a twist to the clichéd tale of forbidden love with a reversal of gender roles; the story is told through the male lead’s point of view. In other words, any guy who’s ever been besotted with a beautiful immortal and felt a keen lack of media representation can rejoice. The protagonist is a witty, bookish teenager named Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich). In his junior
year of high school in a small South Carolina town, he feels stifled by the lack of open mindedness in the community. That is, until sparks fly as he spots the mysterious Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) reading Charles Bukowski. The forbidden element of their relationship lies in the irksome reality that Lena isn’t quite human, but a witch, or “caster,” whose coming 16th birthday marks the time when she will claimed by supernatural forces for either the light or the dark. Her eccentric family of otherworldly beings isn’t making her life any easier, having been saddled with a curse that dates back to the Civil War. To top things off, her romance with Ethan will only increase the chances that she will fall to the dark side of the force. Director and Oscar-nominated writer of The Fisher King, Richard LaGravenese, has succeeded in adapting a story that delves into the
Though these familiar faces bring energy to their roles, they complete a group of supporting characters that are cartoonish in their eccentricities. It’s difficult to find much believability, making dismissing the film as little more than a campy franchise easy. Doing so, however, misses out on the fun. If you find the teen girl within, Beautiful Creatures has more in store than you think.
IMDB
After normal inter-species relations, writers will move on to unicorns and gnomes.
leisure
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C r i t i c a l V o i ces
Bullet For My Valentine, Temper Temper, RCA Records Certain musical styles require an opposition. Without the necessary grit and disgruntled listeners criticizing bands through thinly veiled smug superiority, genres like rock ‘n’ roll, particularly metal, would simply have faded from this world. The Welsh group Bullet for My Valentine turns in such a direction with its fourth studio album. Lacking an edge, Temper Temper fails to live up to the expectations set forth by the bloodied hands on the cover and emerges a confused, uninteresting LP. “Breaking Point” does kick the album into gear on a positive note. Frontman Matthew Tuck’s screams lead into racing guitar riffs that serve as an intro into the
surprisingly smooth Hammurabian clichés of “an eye for an eye” that make up the chorus. Still, the song is missing realistic anger and frustration. The riffs are not quite as distorted as they could be to properly convey any passion, becoming more akin to a mellow duet with a cowbell than the expected thrashing foreshadowed by Tuck’s guttural howling. Similarly, the solo lacks any nuance, featuring a significant segment of legato notes and repetitive scales. Even the title track appears largely sanitary and manufactured, a sentiment that comes through clearly in spite of the distortion and addictive, powerful riffs. The momentum builds to nothing, falling flat in the end: “Temper, temper, time to explode,” growls Tuck, though the time in question never comes. While it lacks this explosion, Temper Temper does pick up steam toward its conclusion. “Tears Don’t Fall, Pt. 2” responds to the original critically acclaimed 2006 single with a step toward proper emotion. Subdued vocals and weak instrumental sections still drain most feeling, though frustrated hoarse whispering leads into a properly impressive guitar solo toward the track’s end.
Mainstream indie: Folk yeah!
As I sat in my living room anxiously watching the Grammy’s, I could not help but marvel at the number of independently-labeled musicians nominated for the category of Best New Artist. Just last year, indie artist Bon Iver went home with that coveted award, much to the dismay of fans of Nicki Minaj and Skrillex. A decade ago this trend toward nominating indie artists would have been nearly impossible. So what does this trend suggest? And why is it occurring? In the past two decades, Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers have made a noticeable shift toward synthesized pop with fewer and fewer meaningful lyrics. Hip hop, disco, pop, rap, and techno have all slowly blended together into an unsavory mix that can be heard at almost every house party and club. Though cross-genre collaboration has always existed, never before have
entire genres shifted to this extent of indistinguishability. This was certainly not the case during the ‘80s and ‘90s when pop and hip hop had uniquely characteristic elements and were powerhouses. The lyrics that once went along with good hip hop and rap music can no longer be found within those genres today. The power that pop music once had in the ‘80s no longer exists. Nowadays, it is hard to ascertain whether the newest top 10 song is dubstep, pop, rap, or a mix of everything. All of this is done with expensive studios, the latest sound equipment, and ridiculous payouts from top record labels. Even country music has taken the sad step of shifting, as a genre, toward more pop based music in an effort to generate revenue. Rather than staying true to their genre and creating music with any amount of artis-
Despite all attempts at reviving the album, “Tears Don’t Fall, Pt. 2” fails to save the LP from sliding into debased pop music. In and of itself, the oft-criticized pop genre is not problematic until, like Temper Temper, it becomes unrelatable and uninspired. Ultimately, Bullet For My Valentine commits the greatest atrocity known to heavy metal: being tame. Voice’s Choices: “Saints & Sinners,” “Tears Don’t Fall, Pt. 2” —Kirill Makarenko
Otis Taylor, My World Is Gone, NorthernBlues Music Whether describing joblessness, discrimination, or even just problems with the old lady, the blues have long been a means of dealing tic integrity, country artists have followed other Billboard artists toward a more synthesized approach to music. With wellknown country artists releasing increasingly pop-based ballads, Americana, bluegrass, and folk have stepped in to fill the void felt by fans of old-country artists such as Hank Williams, Jr. and Johnny Cash. In a similar
i Knew You Were Treble by Umar Khan a bi-weekly column about music manner, the rest of indie music has started to fill the void left by hip-hop, pop, rap, and electronic/techno music. Unlike their “mainstream” counterparts, independently labeled musicians have stuck to their roots to a much greater extent and refrained from being sucked into the black hole that is the Billboard Hot 100. Indie artists come into the music industry understanding the difficulty in becoming popular and
with tragedy. It’s only natural, then, that Otis Taylor uses the blues to tell the story of another group with a history of hardship: Native Americans. On My World Is Gone, Taylor’s self-described style of “trance-blues” mixes a bevy of roots-style music ranging from solid blues to jazz to folk. The result is an album that offers a unique sound but fails to enter the pantheon of great modern blues. The title track “My World Is Gone” stands apart from the rest of the album with a more deeply layered style that strikes an emotional chord from the first note. Through its soft strings and Taylor’s rugged, mournful singing punctuated by flurries of electric guitar, this opener evokes an emotional response that is largely absent for the rest of the album. By the third song, “Huckleberry Blues,” Taylor finally busts out his trademark banjo but eschews his more frenzied electric style for folksier acoustic strumming and lets a gentle trumpet take the lead. The result is a cut that perfectly encapsulates the sort of fusion for which Taylor is known: it’s at once a floating jazz track, a funky groove, and a folksy piece of Americana. Six of the album’s cuts feature guitar and vocals from thus focusing more on creating good music than simply making money. While every indie artist dreams of making it big, the main focus is on generating a loyal fan base which comes from creating meaningful music. Indie music continues to have the lyrics we can connect to emotionally whether we need to cry or celebrate. The same cannot be said for the Billboard Hot 100. The Academy has clearly realized this as seen in the increase in nominations of independently labeled artists for Grammy awards. The rise in public support for indie music is visible in the increased popularity of music festivals ranging from the Newport Folk Festival—which has greatly expanded in recent years—to South by Southwest which hosts hundreds of bands every year and has seen attendance reach 300,000. What is surprising about the success of indie artists is the simplicity with which
Mato Nanji, a Native American musician and frontman of the blues-rock outfit Indigenous. Nanji’s playing is a highlight of the album, adding soul and a touch of sadness that perfectly fits the album’s theme. By the last third of the record, however, Taylor’s style begins to grow a bit stale. Since he doesn’t ever really go wild on the banjo as he does on some of his earlier albums, the sound becomes somewhat monotonous and the songs begin to blur together. Despite the slightly altered lyrical themes, the album is familiar territory for anyone who has listened to Taylor’s previous work. There’s certainly nothing wrong with it; in fact, the musicianship is quite impressive throughout the album. Still, My World Is Gone doesn’t offer any tracks that really stay with listeners or break any exciting new ground. If you enjoy blues or explorations of Americana styles, the album is definitely worth checking out. Just don’t expect your world to change as a result. Voice’s Choices: “My World Is Gone,” “The Wind Comes In” —Samuel Wolter many of them create their music. Crafting albums in rustic recording studios and basements, indie artists generally work with much lower budgets than those afforded by mainstream artists, yet create music that better connects with listeners emotionally. It seems as if the revival of indie music is part of a greater musical renaissance that harkens back to the music of the mid-20th century. The greatest part of this renaissance is that it is being led by college students who have had it with the meaningless drivel that is the Billboard Hot 100. Do not get me wrong, there are certain popular artists that I love, but for the most part the music put out by top record labels does not appeal to me. And if the shift of indie music to the mainstream has indicated anything, I’m not the only one. Whip your hair back and forth with Umar at ukhan@georgetownvoice.com
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— Madhuri Vairapandi
voices
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february 14, 2013
Historic papal resignation opens path to modernity by Sara Ainsworth When Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation I was surprised, to say the least. As most people are aware, the papacy is a modern-day monarchy with its leaders ruling for life. Pope Benedict XVI will be the first pope to resign since 1445. While for the most part I have not agreed with the pope’s policies—particularly the changing of the responses at mass that betray my lack of attendance—his resignation hopefully signals a change in the Church’s leadership and an understanding of the physical limitations of its leaders. In this day and age, the world’s life expectancy is almost 70 years old. Most cardinals come from the developed world, which has a slightly higher life expectancy at almost 80 years old. It seems that, through God’s divine intervention, clergymen live forever. While this has allowed the wisdom of the Church elders to exist for longer than ever, it does
also lead to a situation in which the advanced members of the clergy are no longer physically or mentally up to the challenge of leading the flock. Both Pope Benedict XVI, currently 85, and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005 at age 84, served as pope throughout the later stages of their lives. Pope John Paul II was diagnosed with Parkinson’s four years before his death, and while he continued to travel the world per his papal duties, it was clear that he was unable to do so with the vigor of his youth. Pope Benedict XVI is resigning due to his failing health, which has made it difficult for him to maintain the schedule and responsibilities of being pope. Pope Benedict XVI’s acceptance of the difficulty of the papacy in light of his advanced age will hopefully become a trend for future popes. The papacy is a grueling job, as the over one billion faithful have come to expect the pope
to maintain a travel schedule on par with that of former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Through the use of modern technology and transportation, the pope now has the ability to interact with his flock directly, whether it be through extensive travel or through the pope’s Twitter account @Pontifex. An ailing pope cannot possibly hope to maintain this contact that has become an integral part of the post. Older popes not only tend to have a number of health problems, but also to have an issue connecting with the younger, and more numerous, members of the population. Pope Benedict XVI’s use of Twitter was a step in the right direction, but being able to speak in a way that younger parishioners can relate to will do a lot to improve the profile of the Church. The Church has come to be seen as an old man’s club, often inaccessible to those under the age of 50—particularly during Pope Benedict XVI’s reign. Howev-
er, inculcating the pope with a sense of duty to resign when he is no longer up to the job will allow for new blood to rise up through the ranks more rapidly. Papal resignations also allow for an exchange of information from pope to pope, an extremely rare occurrence. This can smooth out the transition, leading to continuity that has been sorely lacking in the past. Fundamentally, as most monarchs have shown, few people are able to stay relevant from the time they come to power until their death. For an institution that is fundamentally grounded on its ability to transmit messages, this is of the utmost importance. The Church cannot hope to retain its younger followers if it cannot engage them. Now, I’m not insinuating that those over the age of 75 are incapable of communicating with those under 25. I am, however, stating that it is important that the figurehead of the Church be both mentally
and physically able to respond to the various needs of its congregation, one of which is direct communication. Furthermore, allowing for a more rapid ascendance of younger clergymen can facilitate greater canonical dialogue and lead to a modernization of the Church. As an almost 2,000-year-old institution, the Catholic Church will not go out of fashion per se, but it could find itself increasingly irrelevant to its congregation if it fails to modernize. The pope, as leader of the organization, has the unique opportunity to cause change from the top down. Creating a trend of popes that resign when their age catches up to them can facilitate this transformation. Who knows, maybe the next pope will get Vine.
Sara Ainsworth is a junior in the SFS. While other kids dreamed of Lamborghinis and Segways, she had her heart set on the Popemobile.
Double assault: Losing the battle on rape in the military by Chloé Nalbantian The highly publicized The Invisible War, a nominee for Best Documentary Feature for the 85th Academy Awards, is making citizens and military personnel alike painfully aware of the extent of male and female sexual assault in all branches of the military. Coincidentally, the release of the documentary, which follows the victims of sexual assault in the military and their pursuit of justice, occurred mere months before the recent announcement lifting the ban on women in combat. Along with Zero Dark Thirty, the film has given renewed attention to the various issues within the
military and the controversial way in which the Department of Defense handles them. Sexual assault scandals, from the Tailhook scandal in 1991 to the Air Force Academy scandal in 2006, have long hampered the reputation of one of the most respected institutions in the country. The documentary claims, using numbers gathered from the U.S. government, that over 20 percent of female veterans have been sexually assaulted while serving their country. With the recent lift of the ban on women in combat arms branches this January, however, a new question on the military’s approach to dealing with such sexual assault issues
CHRISTY GEANEY
Lady lightsabers are every girl’s dream Valentine’s day gift. That or cake.
has been raised: Will the lift of the ban aid or deter past and future victims of assault? What is it about the military environment that leads to this behavior? The elite and tight knit nature of the institution undoubtedly plays a role. According to Brigadier General Loree Sutton, previously a top psychiatrist in the U.S. Army, such an environment allows the military to become a “prime target-rich environment for a predator.” The Invisible War, however, chillingly reveals that the way in which such cases are handled by the military has provided perpetrators with too high a likelihood of being able to get away with the crime. Although I was part of the Georgetown ROTC program for a year, the inner workings of the “big” Army seem almost foreign. In the civilian world ,we have the security of having a system of justice, whereas, in the military, victims have to go through the chain of command. This means that the commander, who has no education or training in judicial affairs, is the one responsible for how that investigation proceeds. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to understand how this system leads to unfair treatment of victims, often allowing the perpetrators to walk away untouched. Perhaps it is this difference between civilian and military
judicial proceedings that helps explain why the rate of sexual assault is considerably higher in the military than in the civilian world. Most apparent though is how the macho environment, while part of the nature and tradition of the military, presents the danger of building a perception of women being subordinate to men. Some herald the lifting of the ban as a step forward towards full equality in the military. The irony in these claims is found in the experiences of the sexual assault victims as they battle inequality and disparity when pressing these charges, to the point that their Constitutional rights are being ignored. I believe the lifting of the ban has the potential to transform this environment. I recognize that it is important to acknowledge that these new roles do present more situations of close proximity and little privacy, which could present more opportunities for sexual assault. Even so, by adding women to the combat force, the military puts women on equal standing with men, allowing them to build a mutual respect based on common experience and allow for the development of a camaraderie in which sexual assault would no longer present as serious a threat. The military has always been a culture that encourages
and embodies masculinity, and as a result women may generally be seen as subordinate to men. One needs only look at a Women’s Army Corp recruitment video from the 1940s and 50s, stressing the value placed on “meticulous grooming and feminine grace,” to see that the military does not have a strong record of encouraging the image of equal standing. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, seems to believe so. “The more we can treat people equally, the more likely they are to treat each other equally,” he said during the press conference in which he and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of the ban. Sexual assault will certainly continue to be the demon on the military’s back. However, with the renewed awareness and outcry for change as well as the policy developments that hope to transform the broader mentality of the military, one can hope that the military has proved itself prepared and determined to tackle the enemy within their ranks that is sexual assault.
Chloé Nalbantian is a sophomore in the College. As a former member of ROTC, she likes her men standing at attention.
voices
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Dixie vilifiers not ready to make nice with the South by Ana Smith Growing up in a semi-rural town near Richmond, Va., I was constantly bombarded by everything country, from country music on school buses to Confederate flags on every Southern pride shirt. My family comes from across the country, so naturally we felt no ties to the established families and traditions of the area. I hated that culture and, like many others, was prejudiced against Southerners and their evident flaws. It was not until I came to Georgetown that I found myself included in the very group that I disliked so much. People heard my accent or learned where I
was from and flashed a look of superiority, or loudly joked that the Southern states should be avoided like the plague. I still have people argue with me about the wretched places in states like Alabama, while admitting they have never been and acknowledging that I spent nearly every summer of my childhood there. If you are Southern, you are inherently the butt of every Northern joke. Even though students here decided to go to a university in D.C., only a few hours away from my hometown, I am still a redneck compared to my Maryland counterparts. Having a mother from Alabama and a father from Ohio led
AMANDA DOMINGUEZ
This battle is no contest: fried chicken dominates as drunk food and lunch food.
99 bottles of beer in Tombs
On Saturday night, I made the bold decision to sign up for the 99 Days Club. Initially, I was not entirely sure why I did it. I might as well have gone up to the bartender and written a check for a few hundred dollars and it would have been the equivalent. Then I went to Tombs that night and picked up the free t-shirt; things were looking up. The next night, I went and had dinner there with a friend. Might as well get to knock another day off the 99. Of course, he conveniently had no credit cards or cash, or even a debit card to take a stroll over to the ATM and get cash. I paid for both of us. I’ll probably be giving them some money every night until I get
fed up of the process and quit a week or two in. But (cue the sappiness) it hit me that I may see it all the way through, and not because I need my daily fixing of Coors Light. It’s the people, the seniors that I’ve grown up with over the past four years. For this semester, I want to be with them, around them, and do everything with them. More so, it’s the relationships I have built this year alone, while realizing there’s a finite time to hone and nurture them in our small college setting. While juggling two internships and classes, I find myself missing out on that aspect of my last semester at Georgetown from time to time. Those rare times when I can’t make it, I find
Let the Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences, and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves the right to edit submissions for accuracy, length, and clarity. To submit, email voices@georgetownvoice. com or come to the Voice office in Leavey 424. Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily reflect the views of the General Board of the Voice.
me to be raised with a sense of both sides of the Yankee/Dixie spectrum, and I feel that I can be pretty detached in my evaluation of both. Until now, I never realized how unfair I was to fellow Southerners and how extremely gracious I was to Northerners. While both regions face many issues that should not be glossed over, there is a tendency to focus on how they play out in the South and not in the North. It is true that racism and poverty still run rampant in the Deep South and reforms are necessary, but I can also say that these problems are not bound by the Mason-Dixon line. Poverty, crime, and bigotry are unfortunately pervasive, and I’ll admit I am tired of hearing Northern pots calling the kettle black just because a Southern accent sounds ignorant to them. I am tired of my Northern relatives looking down on my Southern relatives before they even meet them. I believe it is true that in many cases Southern families, no different than their Northern counterparts, are scoffed at due to their accents, a fact that is emphasized by television shows. Either we mock them for being Southern or we see shows like Hart of Dixie and become enamored with the 1950s-styled, big-haired Southern blond cli-
myself irritated. It is a little bit overdramatic but it’s reality. The most comforting part is knowing I’m not alone. I overheard my roommate on Skype with his parents a couple of weeks ago going, “I don’t want to miss out on anything this semester. If it means handing in a paper late, getting a full letter grade lower,
Carrying On by Kevin Joseph
A rotating column by Voice senior staffers
whatever.” I could feel his parents cringe from all the way across the country, but it honestly brought a smile to my face. In an ideal world, I would be spending every waking second with these people I’ve grown to love. Realistically, I know that our paths may never cross again– be it friends from India, Nepal, Puerto Rico, it’s simply a harsh conclusion. But in another exacting certainty, we seniors cannot really shake the dichotomy between the raucous fun of a last semes-
ché and we love the quaintness. We love looking at the south through lenses of preconception, charm, media, or misery. Doesn’t such a large portion of the country deserve to be considered as they are in themselves, without a lens and a touch of disdain? Would we, could we, make the same umbrella statements about these families if they had a Northern accent? Moreover, besides matters involving those negatives most of us can agree on, like racism, what really is bad about Southern culture? At home I laughed at mudding, frog gigging, and camouflage in school, but these pastimes and preferences do not cause any harm. They are analogous to Northern quirks. I am a Northern girl by heart and in relation to my personal cultural interests, but people who promulgate the stigma that walking into Louisiana, Alabama, or Georgia means walking into dirt slums are forgetting many important facts of life. They forget that it is not where you are born that matters or determines who you are. With these prejudices, they will never experience fresh seafood gumbo, the sound of cicadas in summertime, eating figs right off of the tree, or the belief that all are welcome even if
ter of college and the impending doom of the real world. I have jobs on my mind. A lucky few have something locked up, but for the majority of us, it’s a waiting game on graduate school or some employer telling us to come on board. Once that’s settled, we can kick back and relax. I’ve had trouble finding that mix, to be certain. The academic side of things is not looking too swell for me, whether it’s just forgetting about things entirely or just not caring. Then, I had to miss a weekend of debauchery in New Orleans because of work commitments and job applications. We can’t win them all. I have learned so much from trying new things this year and expanding beyond my own personal Georgetown bubble. I’ve gotten joy out of trying new things on this campus, finding out what it has to offer. In the process, I’ve built new relationships that I could have never envisioned while living in my tight Darnall bubble four years ago. That can happen in a variety of ways. My most reward-
the meal is wanting. They lose the chance to witness much of the simplicity and beauty on earth by treating Southerners exactly how they presume and fear Southerners treat others. Moving only a few hours away to Georgetown has been my first real experience with what every Southerner feels when going northward. I suppose I am Southern–I grew up in Virginia after all–but how I talk and the piece of earth on which I was born does not define who I am, or who my fellow Southerners are. I’m tired of being looked at through romantic notions like being a Southern belle in a hoop skirt that just walked off a plantation. Bless my little heart, I must be so ignorant. To answer many of the questions I have received since coming here: no, I do not live like Sookie Stackhouse, I am fairly certain no Southern town is actually like the one on Hart of Dixie, and I do not eat “sketti,” but, if you don’t mind, you could pass me one more fried green tomato.
Ana Smith is a sophomore in the College. Her deathrow meal would include chitlins, ambrosia salad, and fried Twinkies.
ing experience this year has been showing people aspects of Georgetown I love – basketball at the forefront– and showing them what they’ve been missing out on for three years. But it doesn’t have to be basketball, or Tombs, or any one specific thing. It’s the community as a whole. People here care about this place. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the number of seniors involved with GUSA elections for a time period when they’ll be long gone (myself included). To be frank, Adam Ramadan is family, and I would be voting for him even if his platform were awful (it’s far from it, by the way). For us seniors, it’s a matter of determining whose hands we want to leave our Georgetown in when we’re gone. For now, the countdown is on. As of this Saturday, I had about 99 days left of college. It’s a startling thought, especially as that number dwindles down. But whether you dread life after college or not, it’s not all that important. For now, I’ll worry about that as it comes up. I’m too busy embracing the present.
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