2 17 2011

VOICE the georgetown

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ARAMARK WORKERS ANNOUNCE UNION PLANS PAGE 4

WOMEN’S HOOPS PROVIDES RELIEF FOR SUGAR PAGE 6

OSCARS, BRIEFLY PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w February 17, 2011 w Volume 44, Issue 6 w georgetownvoice.com

Fightin’ Words: Philodemic Society Philodemic Society

2 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

comments of the week “This platform is simultaneously hilarious and yet entirely legitimate and respectful of the progress GUSA has made in the last two years. There are some really worthwhile ideas in here, and they should be taken very seriously.“ —Sam Ungar “Meet the GUSA candidates: Feiman and Sims”

“But I thought Vox Pop was a horoscope blog.”

—Moose “Campus Crime Watch: Riding around on my stolen bike”

“I think the administration understands our need for more student space (for both studying, and student clubs) but is constrained by many other factors. Still, we plan to work with the administration to increase student accessibility to areas around campus and optimize what we have. Paige and I want to work with students and administrators to see that students aren’t restricted in their access of any available space.”

— Charlie Joyce “Meet the GUSA candidates: Joyce and Lovejoy”

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“Not Greg Monroe would never sully his record by becoming a GUSA senator. Not Greg Monroe has too much class for that.”

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Meaney and Laverriere”

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Voice Crossword “Off-Campus” by Scott Fligor

Across 1. U.S. figure skater Cohen 6. Birthplace of Columbus 11. What some watch the Super Bowl for 14. ___ the hole (2 words)

15. “Strength through ___” and “___ through faith” 16. Commonly measured in g/dL 17. 42nd President of the United States 19. Advance directive

answers at georgetownvoice.com 20. Henry James biographer Leon 21. Common bedtime 22. Name that ___ 23. Or ___ 25. Hides (2 words) 27. He wants you!

31. Navy commando 32. Research org. in Bethesda 33. Buddha’s Birthplace 35. Toothbrush brand 38. Eye part 40. Cassette tape half 42. Something that’s tied 43. He’s told to “Jump on it” 45. Monopoly and Scrabble, e.g.

47. Addams Family cousin 48. “Superbad” actor Michael 50. Louvre painting (2 words) 52. Realms 55. A bit larger than a dead heat 56. Dry 57. ___ Arabia 59. Vasco da ___ 63. First word of Dante’s inferno 64. Secretary of Defense 66. Cable alternative: abbr.

67. Speed skater Ohno 68. Puts away 69. Number issuing org.

70. “It’s ___ in the right direction” (2 words) 71. Neighborhood complaint

Down 1. Kemo ___ 2. HCl or HNO3 3. Former Red Sox pitcher Aaron 4. Jewish campus group 5. Grp. that complains about 71-across 6. Test subject 7. Feminine suffix 8. Engineer’s testing acid 9. Indigenous Mexicans 10. Author Rand 11. Jordan’s King 12. “Hawaii Five-O” name 13. Twist 18. Second number in a record 22. Peter the Great and Nicholas II 24. Celtics’ draftee ___ Bias 26. Fair-hiring org.

27. Inch or foot-pound

28. Robert De ___ 29. Costa Rican president 30. Lady’s title 34. Dumbledore’s office password 36. Auction groups 37. Test version 39. Mount 41. Marathon runner Joan 44. Bruins’ great Bobby 46. British special forces: abbr.

49. “___ Fables” 51. Smoothly, on a score 52. Classic Vegas hotel 53. Bench ___ (exercise) 54. Wooden shoe 58. Ubangi tributary 60. Yours: Fr. 61. Kitten’s sounds 62. African fox 64. Airline industy grp.

65. Where one can watch “Family Feud” reruns

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

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 44.6 February 17, 2011 Editor-in-Chief: Molly Redden Managing Editor: Tim Shine Editor-at-Large: Juliana Brint Director of Technology: Ishita Kohli News Blog Editor: Geoffrey Bible Leisure Blog Editor: Nico Dodd News Editor: Chris Heller Sports Editor: Nick Berti Feature Editor: Sean Quigley Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: Leigh Finnegan Voices Editor: Aodhan Beirne Photo Editor: Max Blodgett Design Editors: Nitya Ramlogan, Catherine Johnson Projects Editor: Brendan Baumgardner Crossword Editor: Scott Fligor Assistant Blog Editors: Diana McCue, Vincent Tennant Assistant News Editors: Rachel Calvert, Ryan Bellmore, Jeffrey Neidermaier Assistant Sports Editors: Adam Rosenfeld, Rob Sapunor Assistant Cover Editor: Holly Ormseth, Kelsey McCullough Assistant Leisure Editor: Mary Borowiec, Heather Regen, John Sapunor Assistant Photo Editors: Julianne Deno, Matthew Funk Assistant Design Editor: Michelle Pliskin Associate Editors: Julie Patterson, Jackson Perry Contributing Editors: Keenan Timko, Matthew Collins

Staff Writers:

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

Staff Photographers:

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

Staff Designers:

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

Copy Chief: Keaton Hoffman Copy Editors:

Emma Forster, Emily Hessler, Kate Imel, Tori Jovanovski, Claire McDaniel, Kim Tay

Editorial Board Chair: J. Galen Weber Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Juliana Brint, Ethan Chess, John Flanagan, Hunter Kaplan, Ishita Kohli, Tim Shine, Cole Stangler

Head of Business: Kara Brandeisky The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

the georgetown voice 3

WORKERS OF LEO’S, UNITE!

Support Leo’s workers in unionization efforts Georgetown students may dislike the Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall, with its mediocre food, limited space, and exorbitant meal plan prices. For the people employed at the dining hall by Aramark, a large foodservice company, the experience is even worse. Workers report having their hours randomly reduced, and they work for meager pay and benefits under disrespectful managers. Such treatment of workers is unacceptable and it is commendable that Leo’s workers have decided to fight back against their poor treatment by forming a union. Their efforts deserve the support of the entire Georgetown community.

Leo’s has been run by Aramark since 2007, and workers report experiencing mistreatment from the beginning. Four years later, workers are responding to Aramark’s injustice in the best way possible. By unionizing, workers will be able to negotiate for better compensation and more affordable health-care options. Managers will no longer be able to treat employees disrespectfully without fear of repercussions.

Unionization does not come without risks, but

so far, workers and their supporters have managed the process responsibly, approaching other workers cautiously and making sure unionization is the will of the majority of workers.

It is not clear that Aramark, which has a poor record of labor relations, will approach the unionization process as responsibly. In the past several years, unionized Aramark workers in both Boston and Philadelphia have filed grievances against the company with the National Labor Relations Board, with the workers in Boston claiming that the corporation had intimidated and fired workers involved in union activity. Going forward, Aramark has ample ability to determine how negotiations develop. The company ought to refrain from any antagonistic practices and, either through an election free of worker intimidation or through a card-check neutrality agreement, recognize that union.

Georgetown students, teachers, and administrators can be powerful advocates for the Aramark employees. GUSA should pass a resolution expressing student solidarity with Leo’s workers and other student groups should

join organizations like Georgetown Solidarity Committee and the GU College Democrats in openly supporting the workers. Administrators need to make clear that Aramark’s future at Georgetown depends on the way they treat their workers. University officials deserve praise for their letter to Aramark calling attention to the University’s Just Employment Policy—which requires companies on campus to respect workers’ rights—and stressing that Aramark must deal fairly with their workers.

Administrators should continue to send the clear message that the University expects Aramark to allow its workers to unionize.

Both in its treatment of workers at Georgetown and in its dealings with workers in other states, Aramark’s labor relations have often been marked by negligence and exploitation.

By joining together, Leo’s workers have taken the first step toward ending their unjust treatment. But success may not come without a fight, and workers need a coalition of student groups, teachers, and administrators ready to advocate on their behalf.

The cost of justice

Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice On Friday, the D.C. District Court handed down its decision in the case against John Perrone and former Georgetown student Charles Smith, who were accused of manufacturing the hallucinogenic dimethyltryptamine in Smith’s Harbin dorm room. The penalty for producing DMT, a Schedule I controlled substance, can be up to $1 million in fines and 20 years in federal prison. Thankfully, the defendants each received three years probation in a plea-bargain agreement with prosecutors—but that is a far cry from the sentence an average defendant would receive.

Smith and Perrone’s sentences were appropriate if you consider their actions youthful mistakes. However, their relatively light punishment, when compared with the sentences that most defendants receive reveals the great level of judicial disparity in a country that claims “equal justice under law.” Had the defendants belonged to a different socioeconomic class, they probably would have received time in prison, not a mere three years probation.

In this case, the defendants retained two well-known private attorneys. Smith’s attorney, David Schertler, was just involved in the highprofile acquittal of the defendants in the Robert Wone murder case. Perrone’s attorney, G. Allen Dale (LAW ’77), has a lengthy portfolio of defense work ranging from corporate fraud to espionage. Few defendants can afford this caliber of representation. A 2005 study by a Colorado state judge and two Emory professors showed that defendants that resort to public defenders, on average, spend five more years in prison than those with private attorneys.

The root of the problem is that injustice pervades the sentencing system. Sentences should be based on the severity of the crime, not the skill and price tag of the attorney. Some drug crimes unnecessarily carry a mandatory minimum sentence. Five grams of crack receives a five-year mandatory federal prison sentence, while an offender must sell 500 grams of powder cocaine, for example, to receive the same sentence. These mandatory minimums may be

politically popular, but they corrupt the justice system, leading to inordinately severe sentences in many cases. Such minimums have been shown to target African Americans, who comprise only 12.2 percent of the population and 13 percent of drug users yet make up 38 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted. In 1986, before this mandatory minimum was enacted, the average federal drug sentence for African Americans was 11 percent higher than for whites. Four years later, the gap was 49 percent—a needless increase.

It’s troubling that race and social class are such large factors in our purportedly fair justice system. Although it does not address the basic problems of sentencing, encouragingly, Attorney General Eric Holder promised one year ago to strengthen the public defender system. He must keep this promise, and in addition, mandatory minimum sentencing must be scrapped. Smith and Perrone both had good chances at a fair verdict— a chance that every defendant deserves.

DON’T TREAD ON D.C.

This newspaper was made possible 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.

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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 ... Philodemic Society Cover Photo: Max Blodgett

D.C. suffers from Congressional interference Ever since the new Republican Congress swept into the Capitol last month, D.C. residents have been anxiously anticipating a period of unwanted federal involvement in their city’s affairs. Constitutionally, Congress is given extensive jurisdiction over the District, and historically Republicans have been eager to interfere and impose their own agenda. Accordingly, Republicans have proposed a budget for the rest of fiscal year 2011, which includes cuts to Metro funding as well as several budget “riders,” restrictions on the ways the D.C. government can spend its money.

There is no guarantee that these proposals will become law, but it is clear that the fears of interference were justified.

One of the Republicans’ proposals would ban public funding for abortion or a needle exchange program. This is less about the Republicans’ ostensible desire to reduce federal

spending than it is about subjecting District residents to the Republican social agenda.

Needle exchange programs are an effective way to reduce the transmission of HIV/ AIDS, an epidemic medical problem among District residents. Republicans should not be allowed to jeopardize the health of D.C. residents in order to score points with social conservatives in their home districts.

The Republicans’ proposal also includes a $150 million cut to funding for the Metro— which is already facing a million-dollar budget gap—and millions in cuts to D.C. public schools. Many schools have already been forced to lay off teachers, and city official have said that the District will not be able to make up any lost federal funding. The District’s courts also face a $25.5 million cut, and water and sewer systems face a $10 million cut.

By contrast, President Barack Obama’s

proposed budget goes to great lengths to protect the interests of the District, and he deserves commendation for supporting the priorities of D.C. when allocating funding.

The budget holds funding for local charter schools at 2010 levels and increases aid to D.C. public schools by $2.5 million. It also provides for $150 million in upgrades to the Metro system.

D.C. is the only city in the nation in which citizens pay their full complement of local and federal taxes with very little say on how those taxes are spent. Instead of finding ways to interfere with a city they were not elected to represent, Republicans should focus on delivering on their campaign promises. Their time would be better spent addressing unemployment or the increasing costs of medical care than eliminating services in a city that deserves the right to govern itself.

news

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february 17, 2011

Aramark workers at GU push to unionize Negotiations follow a year of employees’ secret planning

by Molly Redden Aramark employees at Georgetown University announced to their management on Feb. 9 that they intend to unionize, sparking negotiations between Unite Here, a union that represents 80,000 foodservice workers nationwide, and Aramark, one of the largest foodservice providers in the country. If they are successful, employees who work at the Leo J. O’Donovan Cafeteria, Jesuit residence Wolfington Hall, the Cosi and Starbucks in the Leavey Center, and the Dr. Mug in the Preclinical Building will elect union representation to Unite Here, allowing for negotiations with Aramark over wage increases and more inexpensive health care options.

The announcement comes after more than a year of clandestine planning by Aramark workers, Unite Here union organizers, and Georgetown students and professors. Donté Crestwell and Tarshea Smith, two Aramark employees at Leo’s who have both been part of unionization efforts for more than a year, said that workers began to discuss joining a union in late 2009. A committee of approximately 20 workers formed to oversee the process and gather other workers’ support. Smith, Crestwell, and other Aramark workers said their efforts were prompted

by Aramark’s mistreatment of its Georgetown employees.

It was not until December 2010, however, that these workers knew which of their colleagues were also part of the committee. Crestwell explained that this was to protect themselves from repercussions in the event that Aramark questioned any of its employees about unionizing efforts. In July, when Unite Here officially backed their campaign, approximately 15 students joined the workers in quietly preparing for unionization.

According to David Schwartz (SFS ’12) and Sam Geaney-Moore (SFS ’12), two members of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee who have helped Georgetown’s Aramark employees organize since July, Unite Here representatives counseled the workers on organizing their campaign while employees approached their colleagues about supporting unionization.

Starting Jan. 28, the committee began “a blitz,” Crestwell said, to collect employee signatures on a petition expressing their intent to unionize. By then, the small group of students had also expanded to a group of about 50 students from several clubs and organizations who committed to openly supporting the workers once they made their efforts public, including members of the GU College Democrats and the Georgetown chapter of the NAACP. On Feb. 9, Schwartz said, the committee approached Aramark’s Executive Director of Campus Dining Services Andrew Lindquist with the petition, which had been signed by a large majority of Georgetown Aramark workers.

Georgetown administrators had made Aramark aware of unionization efforts in a Feb. 3 letter expressing the University’s support for Aramark workers. Nonetheless, according to Schwartz, Aramark did not know the extent to which its workers were organized.

Talks between union representatives and Aramark are now ongoing, according to Unite Here Deputy Director of Politics and Communications Pilar Weiss. Aramark representatives would not comment on the negotiations or the specifics of its operations at Georgetown, but stressed that it supported union organizing processes. Nationwide, approximately 30 percent of Aramark’s hourly workers are unionized, a majority of them under Unite Here or the Service Employees International Union.

“Aramark is neither anti-union, nor pro-union,” Karen Cutler, the director of communication for Aramark, wrote in an email. “Aramark has enjoyed excellent relationships with the 35-plus different unions that represent our employees … and seldom, if ever, has a serious dispute with any of our unions. We fully comply with the University’s Just Employment Policy process, in addition to our business conduct policy that requires equal treatment for all employees, and prohibits workplace harassment.”

Under the Just Employment Policy, Georgetown requires all of its vendors to honor workers’ rights, including the right to organize.

Crestwell and Smith, who have worked in Leo’s for 14 and 16 years, respectively, said that their efforts to unionize were a direct response

max blodgett

Leo’s employees complained of Aramark’s mistreatment and low wages.

to disrespectful treatment from their Aramark managers and poor pay and benefits. Smith recalled an incident in which a manager agreed to alter her schedule so that she began work each day at 8:30 a.m., instead of 7 a.m. However, when she arrived to work one day according to her new schedule, an Aramark manager cited her, twice, for being late, with both a verbal and written warning. Smith, who suffers from epilepsy and is a single mother of two sons, added that she is one of many employees who cannot afford Aramark’s health insurance.

“They made it easy for us to make this decision, the way we were getting treated,” Crestwell said. “Our pay raises are just horrible. Last time we had a raise, a lot of [employees] got 12 cents. Mine was 55 cents, and that was probably one of the highest.”

Crestwell cited his experiences with Aramark during the record blizzard of Feb. 2010 as an example of poor benefits and managerial abuse. That month, Crestwell’s appendix burst, culminating in surgery and a four-day hospital stay that overran his insurance coverage, costing him $1,500. By the time the snowstorm arrived, he had used all of his leave. Despite repeated phone calls, Crestwell said he was unable to reach his supervisor in order to ask for additional time off, so with sutures still in his stomach from the surgery, Crestwell came to work. Later in the day, after the snowstorm had closed roads, public transportation, and the University, it became clear that he would not be able to go home.

He stayed the night in the Rosslyn Marriott without his prescribed medication.

When other workers spoke at a large meeting in January between union representatives, 14 Aramark employees, and Georgetown students and professors, workers’ feelings toward Aramark were universally negative. In the basement of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Columbia Heights, six workers—with some speaking through students acting as Spanish-language translators—told the 80-person group about Aramark managers who fired or threatened to fire employees arbitrarily; encouraged division between Leo’s black and Hispanic workers; and unexpectedly reduced employee’s hours so that they no longer worked full-time.

Several workers alleged that Aramark’s upper management never investigated their complaints about managers’ abusive conduct.

Some who spoke have worked at Georgetown for over a decade, and these employees said that when Aramark took over food services from Marriott in 2007, there was an immediate and significant decline in the way employees were treated by their Georgetown-based managers. Fearing repercussions from Aramark, the workers at that meeting requested to have the distinguishing details of the stories they told withheld. Aramark declined to comment about these allegations.

Georgetown administrators will not be involved in negotiations between Aramark and its hourly workers, Rachel Pugh, Georgetown director of media relations, wrote in an email. However, in the Feb. 3 letter to Aramark CEO Joseph Neubauer, Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Margie Bryant and Assistant Vice President for Business Policy Planning LaMarr

Billups stressed that the University requires its vendors to abide by its Just Employment Policy.

“As you know, Georgetown University’s mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution includes principles and values that support human dignity in work, and respect for workers’ rights,” they wrote.

“We expect the leadership of the companies we engage to provide services on our campuses to inform their managers, supervisors and employees of the JEP provisions in a timely manner. … We appreciate the partnership we have enjoyed with Aramark, and urge you to remain open to respectful dialogue with your employees.”

Pugh did not comment on whether negotiations could affect the University’s contract with the Philadelphia-based Aramark or student meal plan prices.

Although Aramark workers have signed union cards, it is still unclear which method Aramark employees will follow in attempting to organize. Under the National Labor Relations Act, their efforts to unionize could result in an election monitored by the National Labor Relations Board. If a simple majority of Aramark employees voted for unionization in that election, the NLRB would recognize the union and Aramark would be obligated to bargain with them. Alternatively, Aramark could waive the election and recognize the union once workers have demonstrated that one-third of their number support unionization by signing a petition, in a process called card-check neutrality.

“Unite Here is one union that has been very aggressive in using [the card-check neutrality] strategy over the years,” Professor Bob Bruno, the director of the University of Illinois’s Labor Education Program, said. “They find that the election process favors the employer. But the employer can insist on the election. It’s really up to Aramark.”

Bruno said that in some of its locations, Aramark has fought its employees’ efforts to unionize, occasionally leading the NLRB to investigate the company for unfair labor practices.

“They have a reputation for putting up a strong fight,” he said.

“But that’s not necessarily going to be the case in every set of negotiations.”

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georgetownvoice.com

RJC plans reforms

by Samuel Buckley Before a dozen administrators, Georgetown University Student Association and Interhall representatives, Residential Judicial Council members, and students gathered in McShain Lounge on Wednesday, the RJC resturcturing committee announced plans to hold elections for new councilmembers in the coming month.

Founded in the 1999-2000 academic year by Residential Life, RJC was meant to give students input in the disciplinary process for oncampus housing violations.

However, over the past decade the council has been criticized for a lack of student involvement in the committee, along with the small number of cases that hall directors sent to the RJC. Last semester, in reaction, ResLife suspended the council for the 2010-2011 academic year and gathered a restructuring committee to consider overhauls to the composition and function of the council.

Natalie Punchak (COL ‘11), a former RJC chair and a member of the restructuring committee, opened the meeting by acknowledging some of the criticism that led to the review process.

“The RJC has sort of been shrouded in mystery for a long time,” Punchak said.

Punchak explained the reforms, including a single, three-hour Friday meeting meant to ease student involvement. Most significantly, the committee proposed elections to select future RJC members.

If the University approves the committee’s recommendations, elections will take place in March for nine council members divided among the rising classes. Three freshmen representatives would be elected next fall.

“It is imperative that students who get elected this year take charge of next year’s process,” Punchak said.

Despite the proposed reforms, some students at the meeting hoped to see more.

“I’d like to see some more work about which cases go before the RJC,” Interhall President Ryan Gavigan (COL ’11) said.

max blodgett

Attendees at the RJC town hall.

A GUSA-shaped activism hole

Student government at Georgetown was once a forum for social change; now the extent of its activism is to reorganize how it doles out money to clubs. Although the Georgetown University Student Association’s constitution gives it the responsibility to “secure the protection of student rights, interests, and free expression,” recently, independent student groups have been the most active defenders of students’ rights, such as in the case of the D.C. City Council’s revised noise law.

GUSA Speaker Adam Mortillaro (COL ‘12) informed the press via email that GUSA would oppose the new noise law and engage student associations across the city on Feb. 6. However, by that time, students from five D.C. universities were already contributing to the blog of DC Students Speak, a

group founded by Michael Trummel (COL ’10) in 2009 with a $1,000 Corp Reimagine grant. By breaking through separate universities’ “bubbles,” DC Students Speak is giving a voice to largely ignored constituency of students who make up almost a sixth of the District’s population.

But lethargy is standard operating procedure for student government groups at Georgetown. In 1996, when neighbors pushed for a zoning overlay that would limit the number of unrelated occupants in a house to three, it was a group called Campaign Georgetown that registered more than 1,000 students as D.C. voters to elect two student commissioners to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission to oppose the legislation.

However, it was not always the case that student activism was divorced from student government.

the georgetown voice 5

Corp abandons Davis Center plans

by Samuel Buckley After years of delays, the Corp no longer intends to pursue the construction of a café in the Davis Performing Arts Center, according to outgoing Corp CEO Brad Glasser (COL ‘11).

The Corp first announced plans for the café in the summer of 2009. A joint venture between the Davis Performing Arts Center and the Corp, it was originally slated to open in Nov. 2009. The Corp’s proposal was chosen by the Davis Center over proposals from several other local vendors.

Derek Goldman, artistic director at the Davis Center, said that a café space had been a priority since the building opened in 2005.

“We felt ... that the cultural center of the campus could benefit from a real café space,” Goldman said.

The café was intended to supplement the Davis Center’s planned role as a social hub for campus, meant to draw more students into the building. According to Goldman, the area would have ideally served as a place for students to both eat and congregate, with potential space for student performances.

On May 6, 1970, Georgetown University student president Mike Thornton called for a student strike to oppose the Vietnam War and demand a student voice on the University’s Board of Directors. He told the Voice that the move would signal, “an end to student prostration before arbitrary faculty and administrative authority.”

Saxa Politica

by John Flanagan

A bi-weekly column on campus news and politics In 1972, Student Government President Roger Cochetti spearheaded the effort to found The Corp after the University failed to prosecute MPD for discharging tear gas on anti-Vietnam protestors that sought refuge during a May 1971 march on the Capitol.

Cochetti and the other members of the student government wanted to provide students with in-

However, development of the facility never made it past the planning phase, and construction was pushed back during 2009 and 2010. At the same time, café planners scaled back more ambitious proposals, including full meals, in favor of a simpler approach. In Sep. 2010, the Corp announced that construction on the Davis Center café was unlikely to start for at least another six months.

Goldman said that although discussions continued over this period between the Corp and the Davis Center, he believed that pursuit of the project was not a priority for the company as it transitions to new leadership under incoming CEO Alex Pon (COL ’12).

(Disclosure: Pon previously worked as the Voice’s Director of Technology.)

“My sense is that internally, the current Corp administration was less bullish about the project than previous boards,” Goldman said. “We had been kind of ready to proceed ... and then they weren’t ready to jump in in the way that we wanted.”

As of the beginning of the spring semester, progress on the Café remained stalled. According to Glasser, the Corp

has withdrawn its involvement from the project.

“Talks have ended on the potential Davis Center project.

This decision was reached amiably and mutually by the Corp and the Davis Center’s representatives,” Glasser wrote in an email.

Glasser declined to elaborate further on the Corp’s withdrawal, although he noted in an earlier email that Corp priorities for the coming year would ultimately rest with Pon and the remainder of the new board. Pon declined multiple requests for comment.

Nonetheless, Goldman added that he and the Davis Center administration remain committed to bringing a new student space to the center in the coming year.

“We’re really optimistic about what it can do for this corner of campus,” he said.

Although there are no plans to rush the project, Goldman said that the Davis Center has begun to engage with other vendors that might be interested in taking over the project.

“We want to do it right, we don’t want to rush it,” Goldman said. “Certainly, it’s still on our front burner.”

dependence from the University.

The Student Government president would act as Corp CEO for the first years of its existence; Corp history is intimately tied to that of Georgetown’s one-time activist student government.

To be fair, much of this earlier zeal was tied up in opposition to the Vietnam War, and the student government received significant support from ancillary groups in its activist efforts. After the war ended, this coalition eroded, leading to a 1976 Voice cover story titled “Activism Burned Out Quickly but Brightly.” While GUSA has similar powers over the allocation of club funding as the student government in the 1970s, it has to deal with a much larger student body.

Georgetown’s total enrollment was well under the 7,000 undergraduates it enrolls now.

In the meantime, DC Students Speak is doing an excellent job of advocating for students. They

have built a citywide community of student leaders online and are working on encouraging initiatives on the ground at Georgetown, from registering D.C. voters to holding D.C. Council election forums and presenting student petitions to the ANC. GUSA should support these endeavors through GUSA Fund money and through University-wide broadcasts informing the study body of DC Students Speak’s efforts.

Unfortunately, ad hoc student groups such as DC Students Speak and Campaign Georgetown don’t have the institutional staying power of student governments.

In the future, then, GUSA must be a stronger advocate for its own students and build a working relationship with student governments across the city to provide a long-lasting coalition to represent the student voice.

Give John something to protest at jflanagan@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

Upperclassmen give Sugar support down low

by Melissa Sullivan For the Georgetown women’s basketball team, star guard Sugar Rodgers has been the unquestioned key to their success.

However, the No. 17 Hoyas (20-6, 8-4 Big East) must also give credit to their bigger, more experienced players—Monica McNutt, Tia Magee, and Adria Crawford—for their triumphs this season.

Despite a close 75-71 overtime loss against the No. 25 St. John’s Red Storm last weekend, the Hoyas have had an incredible season with two weeks remaining before the Big East Tournament.

McNutt, the senior guard and second-year captain, has provided vital leadership for the team this season on and off the court. She is the second leading scorer on the team, averaging 11 points per game and pulling down 4.5 rebounds per game. She scored a personal season-high 27 points against rival Syracuse on Jan. 4.

While her talent in the paint is given a lot of attention, her leadership is crucial to the team’s success. The veteran, is sure to credit her other teammates, however.

“We’ve got a great group of girls,” she said. “We all support each other and [they] make the job easy for the most part.”

Despite their winning season, McNutt knows that pres-

sure is on the Hoyas to continue their success in the post-season.

This will be the third consecutive year they have made the playoffs.

“We know it’s crunch time. …At this point, we want to run the table,” she said. We know we have to be extremely focused...and be focused the entire way.”

In her time on the Hilltop, the Hoyas have not always made the postseason and she doesn’t take it for granted. “[McNutt] has stepped up and been one of the offensive threats,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

Meanwhile, Magee, the junior forward, has helped the team by providing height under the basket to grab rebounds and make easy baskets. Magee pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds this season in a game against Louisville on Feb. 1.

Williams-Flournoy said that Magee’s growth as a player has provided an important presence down low. “[Tia] is stepping in and being [a strong] inside person that we need,” she said.

The beginning of the season was tough for Magee due to knee pain, which caused her to miss four games. Once she got back on the court though, Magee stood out with her performances against Villanova and Clemson. In both games, she brought the ball to the basket

JACKSON PERRY

Monica McNutt provides invaluable leadership as the Hoyas’ lone senior.

and made inside shots consistently. Magee scored 18 points against the Wildcats, tying a career high. She also had a teamhigh 15 points in a blowout victory against Houston.

Crawford, Magee’s classmate and partner in the frontcourt, has made significant contributions as well. Like Magee, Crawford uses her height to her advantage both defensively and offensively, and she has been a huge threat when it comes to rebounding, blocking shots, and scoring. Against St. John’s, Crawford led the team with 9 boards and managed three steals.

Against Big East rival Seton Hall, Crawford led to the team in scoring and rebounding, tallying 14 points and grabbing nine boards. She scored a career-high 19 points during out-of-conference play against Rider University. “[Crawford] is doing her own little thing and always showing up on the stats sheet,” Williams-Flournoy said.

She added that throughout her years of coaching these starters, she has strategically done the same thing, not wanting to mess with their success.

With these three talented players, in addition to Rodgers, the

Hoyas have been a force to be reckoned with this season.

The Georgetown women’s basketball team heads to Chicago to face No. 11 DePaul on Sunday. While the team has faced a lot of tough competition already this season, they have yet to face some of the best teams. Six days after they face DePaul, Georgetown will face No. 2 Connecticut.

Williams-Flournoy knows that the team’s experienced players can compete with anyone, because they have learned the most important thing.

“They’ve learned how to win,” she said.

the Sports Sermon “Don’t do crack, drink chocolate milk.”

—Charlie Sheen, addressing the UCLA baseball team

The NHL’s biggest story right now isn’t even about the hockey. It’s about fighting on the ice, which has recently gotten way out of hand. But hey, I’m sure Gary Bettman isn’t complaining— the saying, “any publicity is good publicity” couldn’t be more true for hockey.

And because I don’t want to waste more paper by writing about how Donald Trump wants to buy the

a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.

The Monday after the SuMeanwhile, old Hoyas per Bowl marked the beginwill be returning to the Verining of a very dark time for zon Center. On Tuesday night, sports fans. After Aaron Rodyou can retire some memories gers hoisted the Lombardi of the 2007 season when Roy trophy, we entered the worst Hibbert and the Pacers take three weeks on the sports calon the Wizards. It won’t be endar. The NFL hangover is the same as seeing him swish in full effect, March Madness three’s against UConn, but is a few weeks away, Openwatching him dunk over John ing Day isn’t for another Wall might be fun. month and a half, and the You may also want to use NBA and NHL are this time to take in the “dog days” a break from Pete Rose Central of their seasons. sports, especially Da bettin’ line You don’t have if you’re from to look hard to noCleveland and are Dookies Margin Hoyas tice it. The top three tired of suffering. (underdogs) (duh!) stories on ESPN (favorites) Yesterday, Disney revolve around the Cardinals Pujols C.R.E.A.M. on Ice began a sixNFL labor talks, Alday stint at the Bulls New Streak Verizon Center.

Ho\yas bert Pujols’ contract The Field Rim Reaper Those cute charBlake negotiations,and Carmelo Anthony’s acters could help never ending trade discus- Mets, I’ll give you a guide lessen the blow of a 26-game sions. I’d rather watch a Cav- to get through it until March losing streak or even help a aliers-Wizards game—oh wait, Madness begins and the Steelers fan get over a Super that happened this past week- weather thaws.

Bowl loss. end. It’s painful to watch the At Georgetown, lucky for Sports fans are spoiled all media try to hype up stories us, there is still important year round. Every other week that have minimal importance. basketball to be played. It there seems to be another epic It’s great that CC Sabathia doesn’t compare to anything game or match. I guess there came to spring training 30 that will be going on next has to be a break sometimes pounds lighter, and it’s funny month, but there is something right? Not really, if ESPN had that he said he lost the weight to look forward to in the big- its way. But for now, these by cutting Cap’n Crunch out gest regular season game weeks are a test for the true of his diet, but I don’t need since Duke came to town last sports fan. It is time to get to hear that same story three year. The Hoyas will take on creative and make the days times in one day. But to be Syracuse next Saturday. And go faster. Because before you fair to baseball at least, their to make the rivalry game know it, there won’t be any season doesn’t start until the even bigger, it’s a gray out, time off. After March Madness end of March—they have to do and senior day. Georgetown tips-off, it’s a non-stop ride to some overindulging. will also be in contention for Super Bowl XLVI.

by Nick Berti

sports

georgetownvoice.com

Hoyas set for Big East run

by Kevin Joseph With the Big East Championships on the horizon, Georgetown’s track and field team is poised for a breakout meet. So far, this season’s races have all been in preparation for the beginning of the postseason with this weekend’s Big East Championship in Akron, Ohio.

The indoor team is led by senior All-American Chris Kinney, who cemented his Hoya legacy by setting a school record in the 60 m hurdle on Feb. 5. The record-breaking performance came in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, besting the mark he had set one week prior. It is safe to assume a high finish for Kinney this weekend, a sentiment reflected

by Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Patrick Henner.

“Obviously, we think Chris has a great chance to win the Big East title,” the second-year head coach said.

Given his past success, including his victory in last year’s Big East Championship, Kinney has great expectations, but he knows

he will go out and run as confidently as he has for the duration of his career as a Hoya.

“I know what I can do and my body’s capabilities,” he said. If I go out and run how I practiced I will be successful every time.”

Aside from Kinney, the men’s side is led by another pair of seniors, sprinter Toby Ulm and middle distance runner Ayalew Taye.

The women’s side is led by sophomore All-American Rachel Schneider, who in her short time on the Hilltop has quickly asserted herself as one of the country’s best middle distance runners. This weekend, she will likely compete in the mile race and anchor the Distance Medley Relay team for the second straight season.

Henner acknowledged that the Hoyas are a very young group, aside from their upperclassmen leaders.

Their hopes during this postseason are diminished by the team redshirting junior middle distance runner Emily Infield and graduate student Renee Tomlin. Still, their group has a lot of promise, including middle

Courtesy GU SPORTS INFORMATION

Toby Ulm is looking to win his first meet at the Big East Championships.

I remember my first game Freshman year, when I first started writing for the Voice, I lucked into one of the best gigs ever: men’s basketball beat writer. The previous year’s writer was going abroad, and from among a young staff, I got the nod. That meant press passes to every game, reserved seating on the baseline, and never waiting on the cold sidewalk outside the Verizon Center.

Two-and-a-half years later, I’ve had front row seats for some amazing highlights, from President Obama’s appearance at the Duke game, to last season’s Big East Tournament. (I was also there in Providence last March, but I don’t like to talk about that.) But in that time, I’ve also never worn my We Are George-

town shirt to the Verizon Center, never participated in a Hoya Saxa chant, and never cheered on my college basketball team in person. Last Sunday, when the Hoyas played Marquette, I decided it was time to change that.

Walking into the Verizon Center as a civilian for the first time was disorienting. Having used the press entrance on the opposite side of the building countless times, I found myself on an unfamiliar concourse.

Thankfully I had my friends, the people I should have been sleeping on the pavement with over the past few years, to guide me.

They led me down with them to their familiar territory on the pep band side like I was some kind of prospective student.

distance freshmen Chelsea Cox and Emily Menges.

“Across the board, both sides are very young,” Henner said.“We want to go in and compete hard to build a platform to get a lot better over the next year. Except for a few areas, obviously Chris and Rachel being a couple, we are very young.”

Despite their youth, the Hoyas face the daunting task of performing in the Big East, one of the toughest collegiate conferences in the country for track and field.

“We’re the biggest conference in the country. More and more across the board, it is one of the top conferences in the country,” Henner said.

“To be competitive for a Big East title, you really have to be one of the best athletes in the country in that event area.”

In order to succeed in the unforgiving conference, much of the emphasis for the Hoyas this season has been on building on their past successes, with the hopes that their hard work will culminate in success this weekend as well as at the upcoming National Championship.

Kinney speaks for many of the seniors with his candid sentiments regarding the beginning of the end of his collegiate career.

“I remember being an underclassman and making fun of the seniors for being old all the time,” he said. “Now I’m the old head and will miss competing on the college circuit wearing Georgetown on my back.”

At the very least, the rest of the Hoyas hope they can help this year’s seniors go out riding that ever-important wave of momentum, a goal Schneider feels they are ready to achieve.

“I know everyone’s ready to step up and compete this weekend, and I’m really excited to be a part of it,” she said.

I didn’t know how I would respond when the game began.

I’d never had the opportunity to cheer on the Hoyas (or against their opponents). There’s no cheering on press row, a rule I violated once during a particularly exciting overtime game against Memphis. I made sure never to do it again after the dirty glares

Backdoor Cuts

by Tim Shine

a rotating column on sports from my fellow writers. But after the opening tip, being a fan came naturally to me. It’s not like I needed to resort to the Hoya Blue cheer sheet—I had heard it all before countless times.

Hearing the shouts of the student section was still very different than actually participating,

the georgetown voice 7

FAST BREAK Walker snaps streak with exceptional play It was a tale of two point guards on Wednesday night as No. 9 Georgetown traveled to No. 12 Connecticut for a matchup of Big East powers. While Chris Wright scored 19 points for the Hoyas, the story of the game was UConn star Kemba Walker. His highlight-reel performance included a game-high 31 points, which led the Huskies to a 78-70 win.

As the game began, it looked like Georgetown was the superior team. The Hoyas were able to get nearly any shot they wanted against the UConn defense. Georgetown controlled the pace of the game, as Wright assisted on multiple easy buckets for Austin Freeman and Jason Clark.

The Hoyas’ lead climbed to 10 points after a Clark steal and dunk and Georgetown retained an eight-point lead for much of the half.

In the last five minutes, however, Walker began to heat up, creating many scoring opportunities by driving into the paint. Meanwhile, the UConn big men carried the Huskies back into the game, crashing the offensive glass to get multiple easy buckets.

The Huskies managed to take a two-point lead late in the half, but a three from Wright in the final seconds gave the Hoyas the one-point advantage at the break.

Walker, though, came out of the locker room like a man possessed, single handedly carrying the Huskies to a five-point lead early in the second half.

however. Countless times before I had commented on the students’ impact on the game (or lack thereof) in articles and liveblogs. It had been easy to criticize fans for being quiet when things get tough, or disappearing entirely during particularly bad stretches (see: 2009), but no more. After experiencing a disappointing first half against Marquette firsthand, I can only imagine what a really bad game must be like.

Thankfully, the game got better as it went along. In the end I got what is probably one of the best Hoya fan experiences: a comeback win. Better yet, with the Hoyas returning to town on the heels of a seven-game winning streak, I experienced it with a full and raucous student section. Five minutes into the game, all my press row reservations were forgotten, and soon enough

Walker not only scored at will, however—his style of play was downright impressive. At one point, Walker found himself guarded by Henry Sims just outside of the free-throw line. Sims held his ground as Walker picked up his dribble, and pump faked to the right. Instead of shooting or passing the ball, Walker pivoted and threw the ball hard off the backboard, caught the rebound in the air, and put the ball back into the bucket. The playground-like move proved to be the crowning achievement in a virtuoso performance by the UConn guard.

Despite Walker’s heroics, the Hoyas showed veteran poise and determination to stay in the game. Although the Huskies held an eight-point lead with about 10 minutes remaining, Georgetown fought back to eventually take a onepoint lead with four minutes left thanks to multiple Wright three-pointers, who went 5-for9 from behind the arc for the second game in a row.

Walker would not allow his team to lose, however, and he scored a quick four points to give his team a 73-70 lead the Huskies would not relinquish.

With the loss, the Hoyas’ impressive eight-game win streak is over. Georgetown still has solid positioning in the Big East, though and has a chance to get back on the winning track this Saturday against South Florida. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Tampa.

—Adam Rosenfeld

I was chanting for Marquette head coach Buzz Williams to get off the court. When the referees finally warned him for straying from the coach’s box in the final minutes, I won’t lie—I felt a sense of accomplishment.

A big reason I decided to give up my press pass for Sunday’s game was that I felt I was missing out on an important part of the Georgetown experience. My concerns were confirmed: sitting in the stands was like watching an entirely new game. That being said, I know I’ve got a good thing going as a reporter. I’ll be back on the baseline soon enough. After all, next weekend Syracuse is on tap—I can be quiet for a guaranteed front row seat to that.

Ask Tim what the best way to meet Erin Andrews is at tshine@ georgetownvoice.com

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8 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

Resolved: That’s how you debate

By MattHEW Decker The scene was tense in the antiquated library as one man paced back and forth, his threepiece suit neatly pressed and accented by a polished golden badge. His distinguished voice echoed in the faces of the equally dapper audience as they shouted out in encouragement, “huzzah!”

To many, such a scene conjures images of a fantasy novel,

or some fabled secret society of bygone centuries, but it happens every week in the Georgetown Philodemic Society Library in Healy Hall. Founded in 1830, with the motto “in pursuit of eloquence in defense of liberty,” the Philodemic Society is Georgetown’s oldest and longest-running student organization and one of the oldest college debate clubs in the country.

KELSEY MCCULLOUGH

Earlier that night, the society’s president, Nicholas Iacono (COL ’12) was greeted by applause from a standing audience before quickly getting down to the business of laying out the rules of the debate. Four keynote speakers, two affirmative, and two negative, provided the groundwork for the evening’s proceedings, which that night focused on the reso-

MAX BLODGETT

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and clarifies.”

lution, “globalization is a force of good.”

Each keynote speaker laid out arguments either for or against the resolution. After their prepared speeches, the floor was opened for members and non-members alike to speak. In turn, dozens of audience members took the floor to state their opinions, each making passionate arguments, citing examples from their own personal experiences, and delivered with engaging rhetorical skills.

As the evening wore on, however, it became clear that although the speakers were passionate, the debate was more about the ritual than the resolution at hand. Speakers competed to outdo one another in theatrical displays of wisdom. Several times, the room erupted into laughter, as the best speakers were able to balance the grace of their speech with an equally riveting diss to their competition, or wry selfdeprecating one-liner.

Though the competition was intense, the speakers remained respectful of one another, and of the ritual of the debate itself. After the debate, several speakers asked to be critiqued by their peers.

“We really try to foster a community that’s open and supportive of each other, which I really think makes the Philodemic a special place for students,” Chancellor Allison Wagner (SFS ’11) said.

While the Philodemic Society may seem to many a room of politicians, each eager to

“

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georgetownvoice.com said. “It can be an intimidating process, so we certainly don’t want to exasperate that, and we want to have that point of connection and friendship from the beginning.”

The camaraderie and friendship of the Society became evident after the debate, as members extended thanks and congratulations to one another. The stakes are high, with each of the nine debates of the spring semester aimed at determining which four students will speak at the famous Merrick Debate.

Vice President Samuel Dulik (SFS ’13) explained that members earn points based on the quality of their speeches during debates. The four members with the most points get the opportunity to be keynote speakers at the Merrick Debate.

“The debate in and of itself is a very opulent affair, and it is definitely the high point of our year,” Dulik said.

“We have judges who have included military leaders, U.S. Senators, and members of the Supreme Court who come and judge the best speakers in the Society.”

To an outsider, many of the Philodemic Society’s practices may seem odd. Members wear

said. “The Philodemic Room was actually part of the original floor plans of Healy Hall, because the Philodemic Society was founded in 1830 and Healy was constructed in the 1880s.”

For many Philodemicians, the Society’s history and traditions are just as important as the debates themselves.

“We recognize how deep our roots really go into the history of Georgetown University,” Iacono said. “That’s one of the things that’s most important to us.”

Like many of Georgetown’s most historic organizations, the Philodemic Society maintains a strong connection with its alumni. Each spring, the Society’s secretary issues a newsletter that is distributed to a network of alumni around the world. Various alumni who are passing through campus and wanting to relive their time in the Society will frequent weekly debates.

“They play an important role in reminding us of history as well as enriching our debates when they are here,“ Wagner said.

The club’s close ties with its former members has allowed it to host several notable alumni.

“We recognize how deep our roots really go into the history of Georgetown University,” Iacono said. “That’s one of the things that’s most important to us.”

preach their own points, they are actually remarkably open toward, and even encouraging of new participants. Many of the presenters at Thursday night’s debate, including keynote speakers Evan Monod (COL ’14) and Greg Miller (SFS ’14), were freshmen.

In order to be inducted as a full member, a student must give three speeches in one semester, or four speeches in any number of semesters.

“One of the things that we are most proud of about our induction process is that as soon as a person meets that requirement, they are given a mentor in the Society who is a liaison to answer their questions,” Iacono

the Society’s traditional pins on their jacket lapels, knock on their chairs rather than applauding fellow speakers, shout “huzzah!” as a form of encouragement, and they address each other by formal titles, including “Chancellor” and “Amanuensis,” even though many of them have been friends for years.

The customs can come off as a pretentious attempt at formality, but they are the original formal procedures for a Philodemic debate, which date back to the early 19th century.

“In terms of debate societies in the United States, we are in the top 5 [oldest],” Dulik

”

“I recall receiving an email from a gentleman who was president in the 1950s, so we invited him to our Hamilton Debate,” Iacono said. “He was just so excited, his heart was so warmed that we were still going strong and keeping the tradition alive, it made us feel really special.”

It seems impossible to erase the enchanting and intellectually stimulating nature of the ritual of the debate.

“We have people who couldn’t even pronounce the name of the organization, didn’t even know what it was about, and thought it was all these people in suits, like a cult or something,” Du-

lik said. “But you just come and you fall in love with it because it’s so incredible and engaging.”

While the average Georgetown student may expect the society’s meetings to be full of know-it-alls who love to sermonize, the debate on Thursday relied more on the charisma and passion of the speakers.

Each speaker drew from his or her own background and expertise, whether that was in economics, art, history, politics, or religion, to construct a thoughtful argument.

“There very well may be a perception that it’s a room full of people who all want to be lawyers or politicians when they grow up, or that they are all government majors, but you have an incredible diversity of people,” Dulik said.

“That creates a very welcoming environment and really enriches our debates with a diversity of perspectives.”

The diversity of its members was evident in the debate. Some speakers mentioned their experiences living in Asia, or growing up in the suburbs of New England. Richard Rinaldi (MSB ’12) spoke about how he was forced to cut his study abroad experience in Egypt short a few weeks before.

“A lot of the convictions that I had before I was a member, and the convictions that I have now are very different,” Iacono said. “They change a lot when you are forced to put an opinion out there and examine it in the light of all those other differing opinions, and I think that’s an important thing for any member of the University community.”

Indeed, to many of the Society’s 55 members, Wagner said, debate is an almost necessary extension of the classroom experience.

Without the pressure of grades or the judgment of professors, students feel freer to speak openly. The debates center around core Georgetown curricula like philosophy, economics, and comparative politics, and allow students to sharpen their verbal argument skills.

“I have learned more in those four walls [of the Philodemic Room] than I have in the four walls of the classrooms at Georgetown,” Wagner said. “With that banter, it takes education to a new level. In seminar classrooms even, you can’t get that same diversity of opinion or people that you can in the Philodemic Room.”

the georgetown voice 9

MAX BLODGETT

Members of Philodemic take turns speaking at the front of their debate hall.

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Evan Monod (COL ‘14) delivers a speech to the rest of the Society.

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10 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

You won’t need 3D glasses

by Leigh Finnegan What’s the difference between “The Birth of Venus” and “David”? The answer seems obvious: one is a painting, the other a sculpture. But to abstract expressionist David Smith, the difference between the two art forms was not so vast. He sees them as separated by just one, easily adjustable distinction: dimension.

The manipulation of that difference is the premise of David Smith Invents, a new exhibition open in DuPont Circle’s Phillips Collection through May 15. The exhibit features works of varying media—from clay to canvas to steel—which display Smith’s

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“Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!”

blurring of the line between two dimensions and three.

On first look, the majority of pieces seem to fit obviously into one category or the other.

The exhibit’s first room is almost exclusively canvas paintings, including the large “Untitled” (1959), a spray-painted piece featuring Smith’s signature abstract white shapes on a fading black background. After a closer look, however, the seemingly dichromatic painting is actually layered with varying shades of white and speckled with flecks of blue and green, which add a figurative dimension to the flat painting.

On the three-dimensional end, this same room contains one single sculpture standing on a pedestal in the middle of the room— “Tanktotem IV,” a steel conglomerate of half-circles which stands on two leg-like poles jutting out from the bottom. This piece becomes far more impressive in a black-andwhite photograph on the wall next to it, which depicts it in its intended context—standing on a dock alongside two similar pieces from the “Tanktotem” series. The new setting enlivens the abstractly anthropomorphic statues, ironically adding new depth in the two-dimensional photograph.

Unfortunately, although the exhibition contains an impressive range of pieces, the gallery itself deters from the collection. While the stark-white walls adorned with Smith’s quotations nicely complement the collection, the rooms do not flow in a natural manner. Rather, one of the gallery’s four rooms is small and easily overlooked, only connecting to the first one and not allowing for easy progression through the exhibit. This awkward construction draws attention away from valuable pieces in the smaller room, like an untitled work consisting of a rectangular piece of textured, painted clay. The viewer may wonder why the curator did not move these pieces out into the open, in lieu of some of the repetitive canvas paintings that receive more prominent display.

Any viewer who walks into David Smith Invents probably already has an idea of what constitutes a painting and a sculpture.

This exhibit sets out to challenge that notion, and does so successfully. Just don’t try to apply Smith’s avant-garde concept to your next art history test—start going on about the relative nature of dimension instead of the more conventional definitions, and you’ll probably get a big, flat F.

Gallery cafe is buono, costoso

by Samuel Buckley If you’re looking to add some culture to your routine, the National Mall’s various scientific, historical, and artistic attractions have all you need.

And the National Gallery’s Garden Cafe is the place to head if you want to supplement your cultural nourishment with some actual food. The Garden Café marries art with cuisine, especially when, for particularly special exhibits, it recruits renowned chefs to create new, complimentary menus.

Now through March 20, chef Gabio Trabocchi has reworked the café with a traditional Italian menu to fit the museum’s exhibition of paintings by Venetian artist Canaletto. But although the selection makes a meal there a nice complement to a gallery visit, the café’s light fare and steep prices make it unsuitable

for students looking for a serious meal.

The offerings are fairly straightforward: a $20 buffet, some antipasti dishes in the $12 - 14 range, and several dessert items. The buffet offers a mix of breads, cured hams, and parmesan cheese and jams, along with an arugula salad and several light pasta dishes. But while a number of courses are available, the entire buffet fits on a single 12-foot table—not exactly a smorgasbord.

Among these selections are a savory and satisfying paccheri and oxtail, which pairs nicely with the lighter baked eggplant.

The carpaccio di bue, with its delicious combination of balsamic vinegar and radishes, makes a good accompaniment for any dish on the buffet. Even the more standard items are executed with detail and flavoring which keep them from getting dull—fresh salad with marinated olives that

are appetizing without being too oily, and parmesan blocks which nicely compliment the fig and strawberry jams.

But despite the food’s quality, the issue for students seeking a full meal is that, while most of the buffet offerings are tasty, they are not particularly filling—even sampling every buffet offering won’t leave the visitor entirely satisfied. The menu’s separate, a-la-carte items, like caprese salad and tortellini with mozzarella, force one to fork over at least another $12 and are not much more robust.

This said, the cafe’s food is flavorsome if somewhat overpriced. While a visit to the Garden Café no doubt supplements the experience of the gallery’s Venetian exhibit, the trip might be better enjoyed on a parent’s credit card during a family visit than at the mercy of your own budget—or stomach.

“Babe, the way you tickle my keys makes my accordion sing.”

IMDB

Shorts at E Street

by Heather Regen

With any mention of the Academy Awards, an argument about the merits of Black Swan versus The Social Network usually ensues.

But while the Great Debate about Best Picture rages on, the oft-overlooked category of Best Short Film has generated Oscar buzz of its own at D.C.’s E Street Cinema.

Too often, even the winning short films sink back into obscurity after the Academy Awards, and during the ceremonies, audiences scratch their heads at lists of nominations they have never heard before. Through ties with various cinemas as well as iTunes, the Academy has worked hard to change this attitude, making Best Short Film nominations available to theatergoers and iPad owners alike. While audiences must wait until February 22 to download the nominated short films from iTunes, the E Street Cinema, just a short ride on the Red Line away, offers D.C. a chance to watch the films and predict the winners before the Academy Awards on February 27.

In the live action subcategory, five short films of strikingly different character vie for the little golden statue. The last in E Street’s series, God of Love, written and directed by Luke Matheny, proves the weirdest—it bizarrely follows a New Yorker armed with adoration-inducing darts as he stumbles through love triangles, backed by Godard-esque title sequences in a black and white cityscape. To say the least, the film is less entertaining than ABC’s Cupid, which was canceled after seven short episodes. Luckily, at 18 minutes, God of Love commands the least time from the audience, leaving room for viewers to enjoy far more moving, shocking, and beautiful short films.

Of the five, The Confession, written by Caroline Bruckner and

directed by Tanel Toom, may snag the Oscar for its striking cinematography and shocking storyline.

The film begins by humorously summing up the entirety of Catholic guilt in a conversation between two nine-year-olds. The friends, preparing for their first confession, find themselves sinless and decide to go on a quest to commit wrongs so as to have quality material when the time comes to confess. One boy despairs, “I won’t be a real Catholic if I can’t be absolved!” The film quickly takes on a tragic air, however, when schoolyard pranks lead to disturbing murders. This flux between childhood innocence and life-devastating shame comes quickly and ends abruptly, making The Confession one of the short films perhaps more suited for feature length.

Though The Confession may well charm the Academy, the best live action film this year is by far Na Wewe. The short, directed by Ivan Goldschmidt and co-written

by Goldschmidt and Jean-Luc Pening, captures virtually every human emotion in its 19 minutes portrayal of the 1994 conflict in Burundi. As a Hutu child soldier aims his rifle at a fellow boy, he yanks off the Tutsi’s headphones, suddenly smiling and bobbing to the beat.

Asking who the band is, the scared child answers “U2” only to be misunderstood as saying “Hutu.” As incongruous as a “Who’s on First” dialogue may seem given the situation, Na Wewe masterfully pieces together seemingly unmelodious facets of the human condition, proving our shared nature even amongst a conflict of difference.

For Oscar fans, a trip down to the E Street Cinema to see 2011’s Oscar nominated shorts is a must.

The live action shorts, when played together on the big screen, provide for a mini film festival experience right here in D.C.

georgetownvoice.com

“That’s the last time you put a knife in me! Y’hear me?”—The royal Tenenbaums

the georgetown voice 11

Heather Raffo brings Iraq to the Davis Center

by Mary Borowiec On Monday evening in the Davis Center, Heather Raffo looked like the quintessential American woman. Dressed in a fashionable, artsy getup with black jeans, riding boots, and a creamy tunic, the striking blonde was the epitome of Western style. So one might be surprised to learn the subject matter that the acclaimed actress-playwright was presenting about the lives of her fellow Iraqis.

Raffo, who claims that her distinctly non-Middle Eastern appearance helps her “get under the radar” to promote her art, performed this week in a program entitled “Performance as Cultural Diplomacy.” Fol-

lowing a successful residency three years ago with Georgetown’s Theater and Performance Studies Program, Raffo returned to the Hilltop for a second residency. In this event, sponsored by the GU’s Center for Contemporary Arab studies, Raffo engaged an intimate group of students and faculty with a discussion of her newest work, along with excerpts from her solo performance of 9 Parts of Desire, based on the wartime lives of nine Iraqi women.

While she has had a fairly successful acting career, Raffo is most recognized for writing and performing 9 Parts, her original work. Dubbed by The New Yorker as “an example of how art can remake the world,” 9 Parts seeks

COURTESY DEPArTMENT Of PErfOrMING ArTS

She may look nice, but get her mad and she transforms into Raffosaurus.

Up next: High-tech walkers

As a 20 year-old in 2011, I grew up with adults critical of new gadgets and gizmos. Game Boys were “stupid,” computer games were “a waste of time,” and smart phones may still be “expensive and unnecessary.” I always shrugged these comments off as ignorant skepticism, but recently I’ve come to a realization—it’s not that adults are intolerant of technology; technology is intolerant of adults.

Technological ageism is a rampant problem in the digital world. Too often people assume that adults are unable to work a remote control, much less an Android phone. What we often ignore, however,

is that there is a sizable and growing group of older people who use new technologies as avidly as younger people do, or who would like to if they could get a little tech help. Our elders are not ignorant, they just aren’t being brought in as part of the conversation.

My own parents exemplify the wide range of older people’s technological for them varies greatly. Mom deftly uses hers to check her email, snap photos, and tweet to her 909 followers. Dad uses his to make calls, but regards many of its other features as simply inconvenient. He struggles with most of its applications, and is easily be frustrated by

to reveal the untold effect of the American invasion of Iraq, by exploring the psyches of nine women with different societal roles—daughters, mothers, wives, grandmothers, sisters, or friends.

“Let’s talk about the art first, then we will get to the Cultural Diplomacy,” Raffo suggested at the beginning of the program.

The artistic merit of this work is evident in its emotional depth, which stems not only from its compelling narrative, which strings together the voices of a war torn Iraq, but also from its design as a one-woman show. Written, and rewritten over the course of 10 years—during the actual progression of the Iraqi war—Raffo decided to use one woman to perform this circular account of nine separate lives in order to really create the impression of one unified people. With this format, Raffo explained, she “made the space relentless on purpose,” because she wanted the audience “to be taken through … [the] Arab woman’s psyche.”

Raffo succeeds completely in this aim, capturing the audience with every story, from the little girl who can differentiate between bombs and makes key chains from bullets, to the woman who uses the drying-up river as a metaphor for the disappearing Iraqi life force. any surprise “improvements” Apple throws at him.

If you read about my dad and thought, “What a dunce,” that’s the problem. When we, the young’ns, encounter someone older who doesn’t understand a technology that’s commonplace to us, we often jump

Internet Irl

by Nico Dodd

a bi-weekly column about the Internet to a dismissive reaction rather than a helpful one. Instead, we should put more effort into teaching the older generation how to use their new gadgets, and maybe dear ol’ Dad will surprise us at how capable he is.

For example, my dad didn’t buy his own smart phone.

JUlIANNE DENO

“It’s my own goddamn show, I don’t have to memorize lines for anybody!”

Yet beyond the artistic achievement of this theatrical work, 9 Parts holds a much greater significance in the world of “cultural diplomacy,” or the use of art to better investigate and illustrate the ramifications of international conflicts on human beings.

“It is easier to walk away and remember the characters of a play than it is to watch a CNN news report.” Raffo said.

“I don’t watch [the news] anymore. It depresses me.”

Even though the play is 10 years in the making, Raffo insists that it continues to resonate today.

“The problem is that this play is still relevant,” she said.

“I felt it in my bones watching Egypt this past week.”

This relevance will only continue to grow, as will the imporMom and I, the technorati, gave it to him for his birthday, he didn’t really know what he was going to use it for. “This is going to make your life so much easier,” we told him. We just gave him this confusing gadget phone without showing him how to use it. It’s no surprise that he struggles with its basic features, because nobody told him how it works.

I’d feel the same way if someone handed me the keys to a stick shift and told me to drive across the country.

When something new is developed, like the next ereader or the next Jeopardy super-robot, it’s new to everybody. And if you think about it, retired people and teenagers have a whole lot in com-

tance of cultural diplomacy in raising awareness. Building on this aim, Raffo is currently researching and writing the early stages of two new pieces. The first is based on “maqam music as a window into the country’s ghosts and to query its future.”

The other is a musical elucidating the human effects of war on the Iraqi population.

While Raffo’s work is only becoming more pertinent, she admits that most people are not inclined to go see theater about war, especially theater that cuts to the heart of the human toll of war. However, once people overcome that hurdle of “getting there,” audience members can rest assured that they will connect in some way to the brilliant personalities of Raffo’s story. mon—they don’t have jobs, they love TV, and they have tons of free time. The only difference is that they weren’t introduced to technology in elementary school like we were, and so they need to learn our second-grade computer skills at an older age.

As much as we might dismiss Gramps’ ability to use a smart phone, educating people about technology is important for both young and old. As important as it is to get computers into grade school classrooms, it’s just as useful to get them into the retirement communities.

Show Nico how high-tech your gadget is at ndodd@georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

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

Toro y Moi, Underneath the Pine, Carpark Records Today’s indie music is somewhat dichotomous: on one side are the simplistic, folksy, vocally-driven bands, and on the other there are chillwave electronic maestros. But on his 2010 debut Causer of This, Toro Y Moi (real name Chazwick Bundick) managed to slip between the cracks, landing in an altogether undefined genre with a combination of catchy melodic vocals and trippy electronic samples. On his second album, Underneath the Pine, Toro Y Moi has shifted significantly toward the atmospheric, electronic scene. But while the first album’s pop tendencies have faded, Underneath the Pine brings fresh appeal to its sub-genre, substituting its contemporaries’ sheen with greater character.

Underneath the Pine is an unprecedented clash between ‘70s movie soundtracks and spacey disco—Toro Y Moi’s two primary inspirations for the album. The funky, upbeat tracks, notably “New Beat” and “Still Sound,” hearken back the most to his previous work. It features the same danceable bass lines but replaces the electronic samples with keyboards and synths that would be at home on the soundtrack to Starsky and Hutch or Deep Throat. On the other hand, tracks like “Good Hold” and “Light Black” place the instruments in center focus, recreating the sound of a vintage film’s score over poppy vocals.

This seemingly incongruous combination is precisely why Underneath the Pine prevails. By prioritizing the development of a new style of sound, Toro Y Moi has created an album that is bound together seamlessly, with very few weak spots. Unfortunately, this album is a little too seamless—it lacks the big, standout tracks that most albums require to turn into hits. Although enjoyable in one sitting, the individual songs are somewhat lackluster.

Because of its new, less accessible sound, Underneath the Pine has little potential to fully

Singing the iTunes blues

During my four years of college, I have discovered a common musical phenomenon— the scattered, disorganized, and unlabelled iTunes libraries of my peers. Again and again, I have been amazed to find that my friends had not taken the same time to painstakingly organize their music collections that I had, filling in every piece of information iTunes accepts, from album year to artwork.

Instead, most of their libraries are hodge-podges of partial albums and single songs. Laziness probably has something to do with it—but at the root of their messy libraries is a disregard for the value of music beyond the individual, hit song.

And while years of technological progression have contributed to this attitude, it is the development and ubiquity of

iTunes that have fostered and banked on it.

Apple’s iTunes store offers a laudably diverse selection of music to its users. So why, then, do the vast majority of users purchase the same Top10 singles? A major reason is that right on the store’s homepage, the day’s hit tracks all but smack us in the face. This feature helps the entertainment industry debut new artists—many are perfectly content to listen to what the store presents so readily when they sign in—but it hounds users into downloading a grab-bag of assorted hit tunes, without letting us sample enough to decide whether the artist actually deserves the steep $1.29 price you’re paying for the song.

By herding its users toward specific tracks like this, iTunes,

reinvigorate the appeal that Toro Y Moi gained in 2010. But the album’s creative foundation brings an undeniably funky vibe that will not leave existing fans entirely dissatisfied. As for newcomers, a listen to the first album might prove much more enjoyable. As gratifying as it is, the lack of standout sonds and its relative uniformity make Underneath the Pine an album with a dull surface but an inspired backbone.

Voice’s Choices: “New Beat,” “Still Sound,” “Go With You” —John Sapunor

Nicholas Jaar, Space is Only Noise, Circus Company You might have heard some unavoidable Internet buzz about this new release. After dropping a smattering of genre-bending along with other digital media stores, has homogenized musical tastes. Incredible resources like these could (and should) be used to explore new music and develop personal, individual preferences, but they have instead only served to further restrict the direction and development of popular music.

Banger Management

by Matthew Decker a bi-weekly column about music The result is a new brand of pop that is targeted towards a specific sound that iTunes sales prove is most marketable. Need proof? Think about how many times in 2010 you confused a Ke$ha song with one of Katy Perry’s.

Now, with producers pushing hits designed to capitalize on the single-song-sale phe-

EPs in 2010, this experimental producer—barely old enough to drink—is releasing his debut.

He’s got a keen ear for space and silence and his vocal-centric work suits headphones more than dance floors. No, I’m not talking about James Blake—this is Space Is Only Noise, the first full-length to come from 21-yearold Brown University undergrad Nicolas Jaar.

In an alternate reality, Jaar is getting the same amount of attention as London’s Blake, but this reality is one where the British capital is the center of electronic music and any passing reference to “dubstep” remains grade-A critic-bait. In this way, Jaar’s work is decidedly unfashionable. He draws on 1998’s downtempo, 2001’s minimalism, and even experiments with some non-dance styles, like the post-classical and found sound of the early 2000s.The skittering percussion on “Colomb” and “Etre” may bring Burial to mind, but the bass is too soft and the mood too ethereal to earn the stylish dubstep label.

But that’s why he’s so damn ed good. In an electronic scene that has spent five years asking itself what comes after dubstep, someone has stepped up with a fresh answer: what came before nomenon, popular music is no longer centered on the album.

With vinyl and, to an extent, tapes and 8-tracks, albums were much more difficult to break down into single songs, and required listeners to digest the entire work—or at least one side of it—in one sitting.

But with the birth of multitrack CDs and digital media, it is easier than ever to mix and match tracks. This practice has reached its peak with iTunes, the ultimate tool for picking and choosing (or, in the case of the top-10 list, having choices picked for you).

Before the digital age, artists produced dynamic albums with highs and lows between standout singles and equally enjoyable and top-quality Bsides. Today, virtually all pop albums are focused solely on producing a few huge, charttopping singles, whose indi-

it? Gone is the grey London mist, the vague multicultural and urban references. They have been replaced by a distinctly turnof-the-millennium dreaminess.

Neither the blurred-out reggae of “I Got A” nor the Indian motifs in “Too Many Kids Finding Rain in the Dust” come off as “multicultural” here—they’re just parts of Jaar’s pensive mélange of styles.

That pensiveness is on full display during the album’s back half. After perhaps his most accessible (and least interesting) track, the oddly disco-influenced “Space Is Only Noise if You Can See,” he delivers some of the most fantastic quiet music since Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock or the delightful side B of the Talking Heads’ Remain in Light—a hazy, flowing run that manages to be “ambient” without devolving into the new age schlock the term usually implies. It’s nice to be toeing this line once again—10 years feels like an eternity in the Internet age—but it’s even nicer to say that the most exciting electronic artist is here on American soil.

Voice’s Choices: “Colomb,” “Variations,” “Balance Her in Between Your Eyes” —Matthew Collins vidual iTunes downloads will make a sufficient profit. As a result, the more subtle aspects of music, album artwork, musical dynamism, and lyrical content have fallen by the wayside, and we are left with the dull glow of a cluttered iTunes library full of disposable singles.

So, iTunes users, take this as a challenge: The next time you open your iTunes, do a little exploring. Click past the Top 10 and search for something weird, interesting, and new.

Then, download the whole album, and play it start to finish.

It may be time-consuming, but if you move past what’s easy and standard, you may even find an album that deserves to have its title filled in.

Argue Ke$ha’s musical merit with Matt at mdecker@georgetownvoice.com

page thirteen

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the georgetown voice 13

Georgetown V. McLovin’ In the wake of the Metropolitan Police Department’s recent seizure of more than a dozen fake ID’s at Third Edition last week, there has been growing concern regarding the increased quality of forgeries.

The Voice has received access to some recently confiscated fakes, and will present them to help local alcohol distributors identify falsified identification:

This is an example of an early ID created by the website ID Chief, before they learned to properly adjust for the American market.

The photo seems to be of a preteen Canadian girl, which is highly suspicious considering the Japanese characters.

Perhaps the most convincing of the bunch, there is little that gives this ID away as a forgery. The card was only identified as a fake when the suspect was not able to produce the necessary medical paperwork to verify the removal of his conjoined twin.

This ID appears to have been drawn by hand, and although the creator’s enthusiasm is impressive, there are a few dead giveaways. The font varies between serif and sans-serif, it is very poorly scanned, no state is ever mentioned, and the man pictured has no nose or ears. Still, a valiant effort.

Of all the seized fake IDs, this is the only example of a suspect attempting to appear younger than he really is. This is indicative of a growing number of older men hanging around college bars and “cruising for tail." We feel that local drinking establishments should be aware of this.

Though this is convincing at first, closer inspection reveals that this document is in fact a Pokéemon card.

Also, Squirtle would have evolved before reaching level 21, guaranteeing a forgery.

voices

14 the georgetown voice

february 17, 2011

A guide to midterm getaways for all styles of study

by Caroline Garity It’s the middle of February: officially too late to pretend it’s still winter break and too soon to pack a suitcase for Cancun. Stuck in this in-between phase of school, it’s hard for me to get excited about the long weekend this Presidents’ Day or the warming weather when something is weighing me down. I thought it was far away, but it suddenly leapt out from behind a corner to scare me: that sneaky, stressful surprise some people call midterms.

Whether it’s a harsh reminder that the book for that theology class has yet to be opened or a culmination of every hated problem set in physics, the midterm exam is one of the most despised events of the semester. Arguably worse than finals, midterms don’t finish over the course of a predetermined twoweek period. Like that awkward girl in your friend group from high school, midterms silently linger, waiting around for weeks or even a month for acknowledgment.

Though February has great potential to evaporate students’ social lives and cut essential hours

of sleep in half, I have found a way to greet the midterm monster with confidence and composure. You may still be in denial, but sooner or later you’re going to find yourself leaving your house a little earlier, coffee mug in hand and backpack loaded up for a long day of studying. You have no choice in the amount of work you have to do, but there are myriad choices available for students looking to spend a day studying.

For me, it’s all about the vibes.

It’s nothing particularly scientific, but I’ve found in my last three years at Georgetown that where I choose to study can make a huge difference in both the quality and efficiency of my work. In an effort to go beyond the standard routine of Lau, I share with you my top four places to study, listed in increasing levels of intensity, to help you find the best scene to match your study vibe.

Baked and Wired is a relaxing study getaway. It will take about fifteen minutes to walk there, but the edgy ambiance is worth the trek. The ideal setting for paper writing, memorizing art history flashcards, or completing more ca-

sual course reading, B&W will be sure to inspire you with its display of local artwork, soft indie music and friendly hipster baristas.

With one of their exotic chai teas, ridiculously delicious cupcakes, or the addictive “Hippie Crack” granola, I have been able to sit amidst families and young singles and pretending to be an artsy local with my laptop and books. No one had to know I was writing an eight-page philosophy essay.

Sellinger Lounge, meanwhile is productive yet social. When unsure about how serious I want to be during my study day, I make the quick walk over to Leavey to check out the scene. It may be hard to snag a table, but once achieved, Sellinger can offer a quiet but social study session with its convenient variety of couches, isolated chairs and group tables all in an open space with plenty of light. If hermitism is your key to productivity, avoid the Lounge as you will inevitably see someone you know who wants to stop and talk. If study snacks help you power through, then you’re at the right place. Between Hoya Court, Cosi, Grab ‘n Go and Vital

Vittles, munchies will never be far away and could provide the right boost to get through all of those seemingly endless PowerPoint slides.

Davis Center Tables offer a secret hideout. A little-known study spot, the lobby of the Davis Center for Performing Arts is stocked with a few small tables in the entryway. It is the perfect scene for students who consider coffee shops too distracting, but still want a casual setting and open space. Quiet and remote, you can fully focus on studying without having to worry about running into friends or eating too much from a store nearby.

The exposed brick walls and tall ceilings give the venue an artistic flair that could provide the necessary inspiration to write the perfect conclusion paragraph to a postmodern literature essay.

The Medical School Library represents extreme study domination.

If you know that the only way to tackle the four midterms you have next week is to go into complete isolation mode, the Medical Library is the ideal place. You can try the lower level of Lau, but you might run the

risk of receiving the “wanna grab coffee?” text and accidentally committing yourself to two hours chatting in Midnight Mug. To engage in full-force focus, take a seat at a cubicle, spacious table, or cushiony couch, and let the library’s stark silence suck away any distractions from studying. It may be a brutal immersion into work, but with limited cell phone service and the intensity of the medical school students thick in the air, it is impossible to not work hard. If you’re ready to go to the study extreme, make sure to pack a snack as there is no nourishment around. With the hike past Yates, you’ll be camping out there all day.

These spots are only four of the many available on and around the Georgetown campus. Of course, the most important decision for many is to study at all, and after that, everything else is a piece of Baked and Wired cake.

Caroline Garity is a junior in the College.

She changes up her study location to better her chances of showing up on Like a Little.

Food truck craze hits Georgetown student, but not campus

by Kelsey McCullough Foodies everywhere are rejoicing at the latest culinary trend sweeping the nation: food trucks. And unlike the personal espresso maker or the “foam on food” trend, this one is cheap.

These trucks are not the traditional roach coaches that serve construction workers greasy burgers with a side of Twinkies, but rather adventurous, relatively low-risk ventures in un-

conventional cuisine that bring high quality but inexpensive food to anyone willing to wait for it.

Most college students are willing to do almost anything for cheap food, quality be damned (Qdoba Monday, anyone?) and some food trucks are capitalizing on this. UCLA has started contracting food trucks to provide a tasty, affordable alternative to dining halls.

And with a cadre of trendy

FLICKR

Twitter followers knew that DC Slices was last at Farragut Square.

food trucks already roaming Washington, D.C., Georgetown should follow UCLA’s lead.

Of course, food truck fare is limited in scope because of their size, but what they lack in variety they make up for in flavor. Since they cannot offer a Cheesecake Factory-sized menu, the trucks typically specialize in one specific type of food. Drive around the business district of Los Angeles at lunchtime and you will find trucks selling grilled macaroni and cheese sandwiches, French toast sticks, or French fries topped in marinated steak with jack cheese and poblano chiles.

In D.C., trucks range from pizza to cupcakes to Mexican-Korean fusion. The Big Cheese offers a goat cheese sandwich; fries with truffle kethcup are a specialty at The Fry Captain, and Pleasant Pops boasts cantaloup lemonade. There are over 30 trucks in D.C., and most tweet their daily locations, though most never come that close to Georgetown.

For only eight dollars at the D.C. based TaKorean truck, you can get a balgogi steak taco, chicken taco, and a caramelized tofu taco, easily enough food for two meals. By comparison, if you’re on a 75-block plan at Leo’s, that mediocre stir-fry you had for lunch cost

$11.36. Even on the best of days at Leo’s, when they splurge for ground beef at the burrito bar, that burrito is still not worth the price. The one expensive ingredient at Leo’s, the guacamole, is kept guarded like the Sorcerer’s Stone, and even then you would probably have to eat the entire tub of guacamole to get your money’s worth.

Anything Leo’s can make, these trucks make better and at a more affordable price.

The University has more to gain from embracing this trend than just popularity. Associated Students UCLA has negotiated with the trucks to receive a percentage of all truck sales in exchange for the right to park in the center of campus. And I will reiterate, college students love cheap food. When the Nom Nom Truck, a Vietnamese fusion truck, first parked on UCLA’s campus, it sold nearly twice as much as during a normal lunchtime stop, even running out of its signature menu item. When the Sweetflow truck pulls up to the Lau steps on a warm day, students swarm.

Since the bottom of Lau steps is public property, Georgetown does not stand to gain anything from this, but if they worked with Sweetgreen, they could schedule times for the truck

to come onto campus, giving the trucks better publicity and Georgetown more control. The University could always use a new source of income, not to mention the boost in popularity that would come along with this change in dining options.

I appreciate Leo’s for its convenience and the social interaction it encourages. It serves as a hub on campus and is the place where you inevitably run into friends you have not seen in a while or people you might not ever want to run into again after last weekend. Unfortunately, its main purpose is to serve food, and I find the food to be the least interesting thing in Leo’s. I don’t believe that students should have to settle for bland flavors for the sake of convenience or a sense of community. If Georgetown contracted food trucks to come to campus, students could get a fast, high-quality meal. And because the lines are sure to be long, no one would miss out on the social interaction offered by Leo’s.

Kelsey McCullough is a junior in the College. The food trucks fit her social scene, because eating alone is acceptable.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Recent debate fails to sway Texan on gun legislation

by Kate Imel A few weeks ago I found myself sitting across from two of my friends listing off, bullet by bullet, why I firmly believe in the right to bear arms.

It was unexpected, considering I’m not a staunch defender of the Second Amendment. Nor am I a gun-lover by any means.

But I shouldn’t have been so surprised by my need to jump to guns’ defense—of my op-

ponents, one was from London and the other attends University of Vermont. And while I’m playing into the stereotypes of others, I should say that I am from Texas, I have shot a gun— albeit only a handful of times— and I took all of my high school prom photos in front of the antique musket and pistol we have hanging on the wall in our living room (a tradition my dad began solely for intimidation purposes).

FLICKR

Guns don’t kill people, people who take pictures like this kill people.

Disneyland do’s and don’t’s Summer jobs have long been the subject of coming-of-age teen comedies, elementary backto-school essays, and of course, youthful scorn. All the same, they are usually the only way to make decent money before resuming an education (unless you really took Risky Business to heart).

I, too, have spent my summers working to earn my keep. But my flirtations with wage work have been quite a unique experience compared to most. No, I didn’t intern for Obama, volunteer in South America, or compile a research project for the Library of Congress.

I spend my summers laboring under the heavy yoke of the service sector, guided by the leadership of a mouse. Because I work at Disneyland.

Let me clarify—I work for the Disneyland Resort. My specific title is “Attractions Hostess” in Disney’s California Adventure.

You can find me at Soarin’ Over California, a flight simulator that features some of my home state’s most beautiful locations, or working guest control at outdoor events like the new nighttime spectacular World of Color. I wear hideous uniforms that come up to my ribs, I pretend to like interacting with children, and I deal with really, really stupid people.

I’m sure that in their daily lives some of these people are very intelligent. Disneyland gets visitors from all walks of life: doctors, scientists, politicians, teachers, and everything in between. But for some reason, once these people check in to their hotels and put on their Hawaiian shirts, all common sense goes out the window.

In light of the many frustrating experiences I’ve had with less-than-informed guests, I’d like to provide the Georgetown community with a few insights

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Our argument came about organically, with no reference to the recent shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (DAZ) or an accidental gun death.

The issue, rather, was whether we as citizens should have the right to bear arms. What struck me most in my dinner table debate was my inability to convince my friends that the right to bear arms is not an antiquated amendment in need of revision. As objects constructed to kill, injure, and incur mortal fear, guns and the ownership of guns is by no means off the table for debate.

To me, however, the issue at stake is not whether ownership should be legal, but who should be able to own a gun.

Obviously our need to revolt is not present today, as it was following the Revolution, when the amendment was written.

Buy it does raise an interesting question as to how we as citizens should feel if weapons were only available to elected authority.

Though the gun control debate has heated both political parties recently in light of the shooting in Tucson and into the wonderful world of theme park work.

1) Everyone paid the same price you did to get into the park.

You are not special. More than of 100,000 people come to Disneyland and California Adventure each day, and logic dictates that they cannot all experience everything. If you did not get a Fast Pass for World of Color, there is alternate viewing. If the line for Toy Story Midway Mania is too long, there is nothing I can do. If you want to be escorted to the front of

Carrying On

by Julie Patterson A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

the line because of some clearly bullshit medical condition, take it up with Guest Relations. It is incredibly frustrating to see guests acting like the Resort is in operation to please them alone.

2) Rules are there for a reason.

We are not keeping you from doing what it is you want to do just to make you miserable. Climbing on rocks is dangerous. Letting your child stand on a lightpole to see the parade is dangerous. Taking a child who does not meet the height requirement on a ride is dangerous. Keeping guests safe is

the controversial nomination of anti-gun advocate Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, raising questions of tougher regulation, I still find myself unmoved by anti-gun advocates. Sitting across from my two friends, though I found that my arguments—our right to protect ourselves, to encourage regulation—trigger no retreat on their side either. Perhaps it is my southern background that has instilled in me the strong belief that every qualified individual has the right to own a gun, whether it is for protection, hunting, or show. I was brought up in a community where going the boys go hunting on long weekends and the question of Second Amendment validity is non-existent.

Though I have previously unaware of how this cultural difference has set me apart from my fellow classmates, I now find, as is often the case, that my Texas background has crept into my fundamental beliefs and views of what rights are inalienable. While I might not want a handgun in my house the most important aspect of the job for Disney employees, and this is stressed this in every level of training.

3) The Walt Disney Company knows what it is doing. Thousands of college graduates across many different fields work for and with Disney to make things run perfectly, from the track on a roller coaster to the flow of guests into and out of an area. No aspect of theme park planning is left untouched. It is not advisable that you walk up to any employee (or “cast member,” as we like to be called) to complain about the way things are done.

We have no control over that sort of thing, and unless you are a municipal planner or civil engineer, whatever method you have of correcting the problem you think exists will definitely not be better than the current system.

4) Please read. The return time for your Fast Pass is clearly indicated on the ticket. Your map is labeled with the name of every attraction in the park. Large signs with arrows indicate the location of bathrooms. I’m happy to help guests, but it is baffling to see, judging from the number of times I am asked the exact same question, just how many people fail to discover the most obvious facts.

A co-worker once told me that a guest approached him while he was standing next to a restroom

when I’m older, I should not be denied that right by others who fear I might misuse it in some way.

The reality is that there is no way to fully prevent gun violence.Rep. Mike Ross (DArk.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (ROhio) are proposing the “Second Amendment Enforcement Act,” which would lift the ban on semi-automatic weapons in D.C.—forcing me to confront the thought of more guns just outside our gates, which makes me feel more anxious than secure—I cannot deny that we have a right to bear arms, and that these weapons are much better in the hands of law-abiding citizens than illegal underground purchasers. For now, though, the debate outside the gates may be ongoing, on campus all we have to worry about are water guns and the occasional, and severely punished, toilet bowl shooters.

Kate Imel is a junior in the College. Her father’s intimidation was unnecessary, because she took her cousin to prom. and asked, “Are these the nearest bathrooms?” Every summer a few people ask what time the 5:00 parade starts. We like to respond cheekily, “4:59.”

5) We are only human. Mistakes happen. I’m genuinely sorry that a ride broke down, or that the park is too crowded and no one is being let in, or that your child does not have a good view of the fireworks. There is only so much a single cast member can do to make an experience great; sometimes it is simply out of our hands and we’re left to do damage control.

A little patience, understanding, and empathy rather than anger, threats, and complaints can go a long way.

All told, it’s not such a bad gig. I get paid well over minimum wage, I’ve made some great friends, and I get free entry to any Disney park in the world. The stories—both horrifying and hilarious—make it interesting, and cast members have something to talk about on the shuttle ride to the parking lot. But damn, sometimes even Cinderella can’t keep me from wanting to hurt somebody.

Julie Patterson is a junior in the College. Her dream job was Tigger, but she was rightly cast as Eeyore.