3 17 2011

VOICE the georgetown

0

WORKER DIES AT SCIENCE CENTER SITE PAGE 4

HOYAS ON THE WRIGHT TRACK IN CHICAGO PAGE 7

GET WIRED WITH CALDER PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w March 17, 2011 w Volume 44, Issue 9 w georgetownvoice.com

Building up the sciences: New facilites, new horizons

2 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

latest Georgetown news

hot off the blog !

X VO

Clinton writes preface for GU roommate’s book

A ent e A g NC na m era u r ov to e c l iv

Target and Bloomingdale’s possibly coming to Georgetown

V P O P X

Big East Tournament Preview: The Kemba Show, Pt. 2

Effort to bring James Franco to Georgetown GoCard machine stolen from Henle laundry room Activities budget: Newspaper stands return, $250k for club sports

Vox Populi

blog.georgetownvoice.com

Voice Crossword “Luck of the Irish” by Scott Fligor

Across 1. Popular fashion trends 5. Battle of Normandy town 9. Sheer 14. Wings, to Daedalus 15. Pirate’s greeting

16. Sarge’s superior 17. Not in use 18. Charmin slogan 20. Pot o’ gold locale 22. Stone pillars 23. ___ and ahh 24. Pub offerings

Tw Tu ee esd ta ay cu la r

ca

mp u wa s cr tch i m e

r

ce on

Vox talks

a tc

a nd

r

le

c

We’re right on target. blog.georgetownvoice.com answers at georgetownvoice.com

25. Bid for 30. Quantum logic formalism (abbr.)

33. 007 and Maxwell Smart 34. ___ Meninas 35. Coffin cover 36. Bill Clinton and Robert Gates 37. ___ favor 38. Charlie Chaplin’s wife, and others 39. Phillies’ rival 40. “Please, ___ , can I have some more?”

41. Catch some Z’s 42. Two-time loser to DDE 43. NE mountain range 45. Fencing weapon 46. Grand ___ Opry 47. Youngest Oscar for Best Actress 50. “Great Famine” crops 55. Pique 57. Therefore, to Varro 58. Old French currency 59. Length times width, for a rectangle 60. Husband to Heidi 61. The Five Books of Moses 62. River traveled by Charon 63. Popular list heading

Down 1. Snow White is the ___est of them all 2. Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H 3. Spanish Surrealist 4. Spotted!

5. Wild, Wild West bars 6. “Baba O’Riley” band 7. Charlie Sheen doesn’t have one 8. Yiddish exclamations 9. A province of the orange, green, and white 10. Heavy reading 11. Monkey wrench 12. Home to the Blarney Stone 13. Roger of Cheers 19. The British ___ 21. Lonely Island transportation 24. Some distance away 25. Molten rock 26. Concur 27. Byron and Shelley’s pal 28. Concludes

29. Peanut butter : jelly : : ___ : fauna 30. Vietnamese capital 31. Home to Eloise 32. These twins will solve any crime by dinnertime 35. Piglet’s pal 37. Prop of Sherlock and Frosty 38. ___ year (annually) 40. Wiped out 41. Gabelle 43. Punishment given if no green 44. ___ Tunes (cartoon series) 45. Justice Kagan 47. China’s media ministry: abbr.

48. Aviation prefix 49. Peter the Great 50. Vivacious 51. The “T” in SAT 52. Lindsay Lohan dunks it in peanut butter 53. Yikes!

54. Jason Derülo is riding ___ 56. More, en Acapulco

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 44.9 March 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, Sam Buckley, Matthew Decker, John Flanagan Kate Imel, Satinder Kaur, Daniel Kellner, Matt Kerwin, Eric Pilch, Sadaf Qureshi, Abby Sherburne, Melissa Sullivan, Mark Waterman

Staff Photographers:

Sam Brothers, Helen Burton, Jackson Perry, Audrey Wilson

Staff Designers:

Megan Berard, Richa Goyal, Ishita Kohli, Michelle Pliskin Kathleen Soriano-Taylor

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, Ishita Kohli, Tim Shine, Cole Stangler

Head of Business: Kara Brandeisky The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

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.

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

Office: Leavey Center Room 413 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board.

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

On this week’s cover ... Science at Georgetown Cover Illustration: Iris Kim

the georgetown voice 3 THE PRICE IS REISS

Georgetown science facilities need renovation The global challenges of the coming decades, from climate change to the growing strain on water and food resources, will require innovative scientific research. The continuing global relevance of American colleges and universities rests heavily on their ability to break new ground in confronting these problems. The promise of adding 35 new science faculty and the construction of an entirely new science center show an encouraging commitment to the sciences, but Georgetown must do more to support a field that is increasingly crucial to the direction of the world’s economic, social, and political future.

Specifically, the University should commit to renovating the outdated Reiss science building and give greater attention to the sciences when allocating its limited resources.

Beyond the structural woes one would expect from an almost 50-year-old building, the Reiss Science Center does not have

the humidity and temperature controls or even adequate space necessary to facilitate groundbreaking work at what is ostensibly a top-tier research institution. The new science center will solve many of these problems, but it will not be able to accommodate any future growth of the science department. If new science faculty are brought to Georgetown, many will find themselves working in Reiss.

This underscores the importance of renovating the existing research buildings to supplement the construction of new facilities.

The members of Georgetown’s science department deserve praise for bringing prestige and attention to the University. Every month, research done by Georgetown’s science faculty ends up in science journals across the country, bringing recognition to Georgetown in a field that it is not traditionally known for. Georgetown researchers also pull in millions of dollars every year to spon-

sor their research. This year a Georgetown physics major was named a Mitchell Scholar.

With successful faculty, substantial outside funding, and top students it seems that all that is lacking is sufficient facilities.

Georgetown has a proud tradition of anticipating the innovations and ideas that shape global society. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., founded the School of Foreign Service in 1919, before the U.S. Foreign Service was even organized. He saw that the rise of the U.S. in foreign affairs warranted educating a class of talented people who would have the know-how to represent an emerging power.

Today, if Georgetown wants to continue to be a globally relevant university, it must recognize that the cultivation of quality researchers is just as important as the training of future diplomats and global businessmen to maintaining a stake in the future of this country and the world.

Need Public Radio!

Support federal funds for National Public Radio The past several weeks have been bad ones for National Public Radio, as congressional Republicans continued their relentless effort to cut the organization’s funding. It is important that the public be cognizant of the political motivations behind many of these proposed spending reductions. Under the guise of fiscal prudence, Republicans have deemed federal money for NPR wasteful, but in reality that verdict is the result of shrewd political calculation. If Republicans manage to slash federal funds for the program they will damage news media standards and lower the level of public awareness in America, all to cut an almost negligible expense from the federal budget and strike against a media outlet they view, incorrectly, as an adversary.

Although NPR would likely survive without federal support, the consequences of removing the program’s funding would have far-reaching impacts. Stations in large cities could continue to operate, but the decrease in funding would probably result in the closure of many stations in rural com-

munities, which are often heavily dependent on federal funding. Many of these rural areas and small towns have lost their local newspapers in recent years, leaving people to get their local news from the Internet or talk radio sources, both of which can be unreliable.

The need for NPR is greatest in these regions, yet the rural stations are precisely the ones that Republicans would shutter with the new budget cut.

Besides the practical implications, the elimination of funding for NPR is bad in principle. Ever since Richard Nixon demanded the elimination of government funds for public broadcasting in 1971, conservatives have been looking for a chance to gut the institution because of its perceived liberal bias.

But their assumptions have no basis in reality.

There may be progressive employees at NPR, but they more than compensate for possible bias in their coverage. According to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a media watch group, NPR invites more conservatives to speak on their shows than liberals. According

to Paul Farhi of the Washington Post, there are more self-described conservative listeners to NPR than there are conservative viewers of FOX News.

The American media needs a publicly funded news outlet. Public funding provides a different kind of incentive system for journalists—NPR’s journalists are not only responsible to donors and a corporate board, but also to the federal government and the populace. Private news organizations have no such responsibility. They are businesses in search of ratings and profits, and that often means the public receives sensationalist news, devoid of nuance and boiled down to soundbytes of screaming partisans. The elimination of federal funding for NPR has nothing to do with fiscal prudence. NPR receives a little under $100 million of federal funds each year, a miniscule portion of government expenditure.

The “zeroing-out” of NPR’s funding is irrational, and the most responsible path for Congress to take is to back down.

IF I HAD 3 MILLION DOLLARS

Broad focus key for Endowment Commission This past Tuesday was the first meeting of the Commission on Student Activities Endowment Reform, which has been tasked with spending the $3.4 million left over after SAFE reform passed last fall. The group will meet once every week until Apr. 25, when they will submit their plan to Georgetown University Student Association’s Financial Appropriations committee. The committee should keep some key things in mind as they begin their work. Specifically, committee members should appreciate the importance of looking at the big picture, making a longterm impact, and listening to the students, who this money really belongs to.

It is rare for students to have so much control over large sums of money, and the students chosen to serve on the commission should seize the opportunity to focus on broad issues faced by the student body. Their first concern should be addressing the need for more student space on campus. Last spring

the Student Space Working Group compiled a report on the issue which concluded that most students consider Lauinger Library the center of campus life. It is an unfortunate reality that a poorly designed and poorly furnished library serves as the primary social space on campus. As students, we need a facility that adequately meets our needs. Thirty thousand square feet of empty space lie under New South ready to be used. The committee should seriously consider spending some of the millions to open this space up.

Although the allocation of the money will occur over a short period of time, committee members should consider projects that have a long-lasting impact. For almost a decade, students paid a fee that funded this endowment.

Their contributions should not evaporate on one-time initiatives that do little to improve Georgetown in the long term. The initial purpose of the endowment will be done justice if the committee stands behind projects that can

benefit the larger student body for years, or even generations, to come.

Another area of concern should be student feedback. The commission was selected to represent a broad array of organizations and includes a handful of “at-large” members.

They must be cautious not to favor the groups they represent, and acknowledge their responsibility to the entire student body. It would be prudent to solicit feedback from students to ensure that there is a level of public discourse on the matter. Currently, the commission has planned two town hall meetings, but these need to be well-advertised and well-run, or, like many GUSA organized town halls, they will attract only a handful of students.

The members of the commission have a unique opportunity to bring significant changes to the Hilltop. But without prudence and an appreciation for the long term, that $3.4 million could end up being spent on a useless GUSA initiative, and that would be unfortunate.

news

4 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

Disaster in Japan prompts campus outreach

by Jeffrey Niedermaier While University officials confirmed earlier this week that all seven Georgetown students studying abroad in Tokyo are safe, those on campus have also been affected by the largest recorded earthquake ever to hit Japan.

Chirei Chang (SFS ’13), was visiting her family and friends in her native Tokyo at the time of the disaster. Since returning to the United States on Sunday, Chang has hosted her younger brother and a friend from high school in her Village B apartment, where they will stay until they feel it is safe to return to Japan.

“In Tokyo there was always shaking on and off,” Chang said.

“There were literally hundreds of aftershocks. It’s nice to know that things won’t shake here. It’s nice to be here, but my parents and friends and grandparents are back in Japan, so I’m glued to the news.

I find myself worrying a lot.”

Chang’s brother, Yupang, explained that technology played a big role in the crisis.

“The Internet was the only source of information,” he said.

“Smart phones were helpful in

Japan Network, a student group on campus, has spearheaded efforts to raise funds for tsunami and earthquake relief. As a result of interest from non-members and graduate students, Japan Network is planning to create a separate relief commitee to work on continuous aid for Japan this weekend.

Club members and other volunteers have also tabled in the Leavey Center and Red Square all week.

They handed out paper cranes, a Japanese symbol of hope, to those who donated.

In response to the tragedy, Georgetown Campus Ministry organized an interfaith prayer service on Tuesday afternoon that

featured a Buddhist chanter, a Shinto priest, and a Jesuit priest.

At the service, University President John DeGioia spoke of the connections between Japan and Georgetown, noting that the University has dozens of Japanese students and hundreds of alumni currently in Japan.

Rebecca Saldivar (COL ’12), a student who has studied at Tokyo’s Keio University since last September, was in her Yokohama residence southeast of Tokyo when the earthquake struck.

“When it first hit, the quake didn’t seem like it was that major of a disaster,” she wrote in an email. “I wasn’t even sure right

that respect. But Facebook and Twitter caused a lot of panic, too.

There was so much information, no one knew what was real and what wasn’t.”

Michael Goulet (COL ’12) planned to begin his spring semester at Sophia University in Toyko on Apr. 1, but expects to change his academic plans in the wake of the disaster.

“As of now, Georgetown is recalling all students currently in Japan,” he wrote in an email. “Also, for those of us who were scheduled to start in April, we were told to expect not being allowed to go. However, Georgetown will be revisiting this decision in a week after events have had more time to cool down, as it has been less than a week since the first earthquake even struck.”

The Office of International Programs, which evacuated students from Cairo earlier this semester in the midst of mass protests, is carefully monitoring the situation in Japan.

“We are working with our partner institutions and other authorities following the recent events in Japan,” OIP overseas studies advisor Annette Kuroda Russell wrote in an email.

Japan’s historic earthquake leveled towns and displaced thousands.

The commission will meet every week to consider allocation proposals submitted by students and groups until Apr. 25, when it is due to present its recommendations to FinApp. The Commission can allocate the $3.4 million to a maximum of five projects, although GUSA representative Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) noted that FinApp could raise that cap if necessary.

“We have a chance here to hugely impact student life, and concentrating on tons of small projects might dilute that impact,” Malkerson said.

The funding board representatives agreed to contact clubs from each of each of their respective groups in order to solicit project ideas. Submissions will also be solicited through an online form made available Wednesday.

In addition to the online form, groups will be able to discuss ideas with commissioners at two town hall meetings, scheduled for Mar. 26 and Apr. 9. The group has set midnight on Apr. 10 as the cut-off date for submissions.

Curtis said that despite the compressed timeframe he was confident

by GUSA and SAFE reform for the process to run smoothly.

“About three years of thought have gone into this,” Curtis said. “I really see this as sort of the final step in this process.”

Several groups are already developing proposals for allocations from the endowment.

Former FinApp Chair Nick Troiano (COL ’12) and GUSA senator Clara Gustafson (COL’ 13) have created a website for their own proposed initiative, the Social Innovation and Pubic Service Fund.

The proposed SIPS fund would exist as a separate endowment to provide grants to service initiatives and social entrepreneurship by Georgetown students. Troiano said he was inspired by the $50 million Social Innovation Fund created by the Serve America Act in 2009.

“Nationally, we’re entering in this new era of citizen service for people at a local level,” Troiano said.

According to Troiano, he and Gustafson intend to seek $1.5 million to seed the endowment and

getty images

away if it was an earthquake, but I went to brace myself in the doorframe of my room until it was over. It lasted at least a full minute, and the thing I remember most were the power lines outside my window swinging so hard I was afraid they would snap.”

According to Saldivar, all utilities, including gas, water, and electricity, stopped functioning after the earthquake. Thousands of people gathered in a nearby train station, she wrote, confused and stranded. Shortly after, concerns about provisions emerged.

“I had to buy myself food in a convenience store with a line of people snapping up all the merchandise, the whole store lit by two emergency candles,” she wrote. “It wasn’t until very late that night, around nine hours after the quake I think, that we got power back and I was able to look up the real extent of the damage in northern Japan. I hadn’t even known about the tsunami until I saw the pictures online.”

According to CNN, citizens of Tokyo had utilities soon after the quake, but continue to suffer from sporadic blackouts and shortages of food and supplies in grocery stores.

GUSA endowment commission proposals take shape

by Sam Buckley GUSA’s Student Activities Fee Endowment Commission held its inaugural meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the allocation of $3.4 million to campus projects.

A provision of SAFE reform allows GUSA’s Finance and Appropriations committee to allocate the $3.4 million Student Activities Fee Fund and accrued interest. GUSA established the commission to determine how the endowment money will be allocated, pending final approval by FinApp. The committee consists of representatives from GUSA, the Corp, GUASFCU, and each of the seven club funding boards. Several atlarge student representatives also sit on the committee, including chair Andrew Curtis (MSB ’11).

Curtis was selected by GUSA due to his independence from other interests already represented.

“I think the commission is founded on that principle that it’s well represented from many different organizations on campus,” he said.

ideally raise at least an additional $500,000 from alumni donors, with the interest on the endowment funding SIPS grants.

“Our goal is to allocate at least $100,000 per year,” Troiano said.

“We think we can make a significant impact by investing that much money.”

Troiano listed a number of possible projects for the fund, including providing seed money for social entrepreneurial projects and businesses and offering loan assistance to students pursuing public sector careers. “[Non-profit and public sector jobs] are relatively low paying, and student debt has never been higher,” Troiano said. “Through loan repayment assistance we can incentivize students to continue on a public service track.”

Several other groups are also laying the groundwork to present proposals to the Commission.

Rich Rinaldi (MSB ‘12), representing the Media Board on the commission, said in an interview that he and New Media Center head Beth Marhanka were discussing a

potential submission by Lauinger Library.

“We’re talking a lot about group collaboration areas in which students can congregate and interact with each other,” Rinaldi said, listing space renovations or investments in new furniture as potential investments.

Commissioner Melissa Miller (COL’ 12), representing PAAC on the commission, noted the significant need for renovations and structural improvements to performing arts spaces.

“I’m hoping to look at the proposals that are submitted as a person in the performing arts community,” Miller said.

However, Miller said that she believes the commission will ultimately focus more on notable, longer-lasting projects.

“With $3.4 million we could do so much on campus in terms of ... all these little projects, but I don’t think ultimately that’s going to be what we end up wanting to do,” Miller said. “I think there are some smaller dollar value but essential improvements that could happen.”

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 5

Science center death GU’s tax-free status under fire Worker killed in accident

by Gavin Bade On Wednesday morning, a 36-year-old woman died after she was seriously hurt while working at Georgetown University’s new science center site.

The woman, who was not identified by University or city officials, was operating a forkliftlike piece of equipment known as a lift platform when she became pinned on an elevated surface between scaffolding and an overhead railing. After her coworkers freed her and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services rushed her to George Washington University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Whiting-Turner Construction, the company responsible for the building site, informed the University that the worker died later that afternoon, according to the University’s Senior Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas.

“It is not clear whether the injuries were work related or due to some kind of medical emergency,” Dimolitsas wrote in an email to the Georgetown community Wednesday evening.

At the time of the accident,

D.C. Fire EMS reported on Twitter that the worker, who was employed by Cleveland Construction Company, a subcontractor of Whiting-Turner, was pinned by a forklift in an underground worksite. Later, D.C. Fire EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer told Georgetown Patch that the victim’s injuries were consistent with reports that she was pinned between the scaffolding and railing. Piringer did not respond to requests for clarification.

Dimolitsas added that the worksite was shut down on Wednesday out of respect for the workers. The Metropolitan Police Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will open an investigation into the incident.

According to the Washington Post, the worker was taken to GWU Hospital instead of Georgetown University Hospital because emergency responders determined it had better resources for her treatment. As a level-1 trauma center, GWU Hospital has trauma specialists and equipment available for high-priority incidents 24 hours per day.

Officials from Whiting-Turner could not be reached for comment.

Sulaimon’s silly screw-ups There’s an old saying that all politics is local. A lesser-known but equally important corollary to this adage is that much of local politics is hilarious. If you’re one of the many Georgetown students who came to D.C. to get closer to the epicenter of national politics but you’re not paying attention to what’s happening at the local level, you’re missing out.

Few stories illustrate the amusing and engrossing potential of local politics as the recent saga of Sulaimon Brown, who first made an impression on D.C. politics enthusiasts this summer during his unsuccessfully mayoral run. Brown’s campaign often tended toward the absurd.

The main photo on his campaign website and promotional materials was of him photobombing a handshake between then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and a female supporter. He

threatened to sue the media for not covering his campaign. And, most notably, his main shtick during mayoral debates was hyping eventual victor Vincent Gray (D) and slamming incumbent Adrian Fenty (D), ending most of his closing statement with a variation on his central political credo, “vote for any color—Brown, Gray—just please don’t vote for Fenty.”

Brown ended up netting 209 of the 133,854 votes cast in the September primary, but that wasn’t the last D.C. voters would see of him. Last month, Brown made the news again when the Washington Post reported that Gray had given him a cushy $110,000 gig in the Department of Health Care Finance. Less than a week after the news broke, Brown’s stint with government employment had gone up in flames thanks to reporting from the Washington City Paper about his criminal record,

by Stephen Hylas On Wednesday night, D.C. City Councilmember Mary Cheh (D - Ward 3) announced plans to introduce legislation that could effectively revoke the tax-exempt status of D.C. universities.

Cheh, who was attending a meeting with the Foxhall Community Citizens’ Association, explained that the legislation will seek to change the definition of a charitable institution, adding that it is not meant to punish Georgetown and other D.C. universities, but to force the schools to compensate the city for lost revenue in lieu of taxation.

A central point of contention during the same FCCA meeting was Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan—specifically, a proposed one-way “loop road” along the western edge of campus near Glover Archibald Park, which is managed by the National Park Service.

According to the University, the road would facilitate rerouting GUTS buses away from neighborhood streets and would allow transportation between the north and south ends of campus. Currently, access between both ends of campus is

and he was soon escorted out of the DHCF office by the police.

Since his high-profile termination, Brown’s story took a turn toward the outrageous. He started by crashing Gray’s press conferences, but his real coup de grace was publicly accusing the Gray campaign of promising him a job in exchange for bashing Fenty on the campaign trail and giving him envelopes full of cash to keep

City on a Hill

by Juliana Brint

A bi-weekly column on D.C. news and politics his campaign alive. The District’s Investigator General refused to pursue Brown’s allegations, but Brown has claimed to be in talks with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Perhaps the best outcome of the farcical situation is the emergence of @secret_sulaimon, a Twitter account purporting to express the secret side of the

restricted by gates that, according to the 2010 Campus Plan, were “required as a condition of building the Leavey Center in the mid-1980s at the request of the community.”

Foxhall residents, however, argued that the University’s claims were unfounded and that the proposed loop road would cause undue adverse consequences to the neighborhood by reducing property values, increasing traffic and noise, and infringing upon the scenic and environmental value of a national park.

Cheh, whose district encompasses Foxhall but does not include the Burleith or West Georgetown neighborhoods, agreed, saying that she found the road unnecessary and “perplexing.”

After noting that she had been invited to a discussion and tour of the area with University officials, Cheh proposed two alternate locations, near the Lombardi Cancer Center and the Georgetown University Hospital helipad, which she believed would be more suitable for a shuttle bus turnaround location.

Cheh also agreed to support the FCCA, the Burleith Citizens’

Association and the Citizens of Georgetown campaign to oppose the Campus Plan, while arguing for caps on undergraduate enrollment and more information about the proposed increase in graduate student enrollment.

Cheh, who voted last November to grant $90 million in tax-exempt bonds to renovate oncampus facilities and complete the University’s new science center, was also criticized during the meeting by residents upset about that D.C. Council decision.

Stephen Brown, a Burleith resident, asked Cheh why Georgetown was granted bonds in addition to its status as a taxexempt institution. Brown and other residents tried to persuade Cheh to use the bond issue as leverage. If the University did not change key aspects of the plan, they suggested, the D.C. Council should deny it the lower interest rates associated with municipal borrowing. However, Cheh did not support the residents’ proposal.

The FCCA will coordinate its opposition to key parts of the Campus Plan in conjunction with other neighborhood groups when the Zoning Commission’s hearings begin on Apr. 14.

District’s seedy political scene.

Among his best dispatchers: “Just got followed by @dcboee [the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics], which is investigating me. Pardon the cliché, but shit just got real.” and “Didn’t want it to get to this with Mayor Gray. I said, ‘Ima do me, you do you.’”

The Sulaimon Brown scandal perfectly encapsulates what makes D.C. politics so entertaining and simultaneously depressing: the abundance of absurd characters who somehow manage to worm their way into important (or at least well-paid) political positions. There are other important and probably more legitimate reasons to follow local politics— issues like the District’s lack of federal representation, the city’s unique racial dynamics, and the tensions that come with gentrification—but the high level of absurdity is one of the most immediately compelling.

Each new mayoral regime seems to bring in a new cast of

amusingly inept characters. Fenty’s administration, for example, was marked by scandals about the dubious granting of contracts to his fraternity brothers Sinclair Skinner and Omar Karim.

Although Fenty is out of office, Skinner and Karim continue to entertain and befuddle. When an official report about their unearned contracts was released earlier this week, they decided that the appropriate response was to attend a press conference decked out in bright red sweatshirts emblazoned with their frat symbol.

Apparently the enduring message of the Fenty era is “bro up.”

With the Gray administration still in its infancy, there’s plenty of time to bone up on local politics so you can be in the know whenever the next set of outrageous antics inevitably starts up. You’ll get in a good laugh, and you might end up learning a thing or two about local governance in the process.

Tell Juliana your secrets at jbrint@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

GU changing the game in sports management

by Adam Rosenfeld While there is certainly no substitute for having an automatic jump shot, lightning-quick ballhandling skills, or being 6-foot10, when it comes to landing a fantastic job in the sports world, Georgetown’s Sports Industry Management program still makes the Hilltop a great place to be for graduate students interested in a career in sports.

The three-year-old SIM program is the brainchild of current Program Director and Associate Dean Matt Winkler. With over 15 years of experience working in the sports industry, Winkler’s unique perspective affords the program highly experienced leadership and direction—an invaluable asset, considering its youth.

Along with Winkler, the program boasts an impressive 78-member faculty, all of whom are sitting sports executives. By comparison, Columbia University’s program has the second-most faculty in the nation, with 15. The SIM professors come from over 45 organizations, including the NCAA, The Tiger Woods Foundation, NFL, and USA Today, bringing diverse perspectives to their courses. These differing viewpoints are built into the fabric of each SIM course, as each class is taught by two professors coming from what Winkler calls “the two sides of the sports industry”—the team side and the agency or organization side.

In addition to the list of distinguished faculty, the layout and highlights of the program itself give students a competitive edge to help them succeed at the next level. The most noticeable feature is its length. At only one year fulltime (with an option for two years part-time), it comes in at the shorter

end of the spectrum compared to the roughly 300 other similar sports management programs.

“Many of the other programs that have been in the water for much longer than us are three-year part-time programs, and that’s not what’s good for someone entering the industry,” Winkler said.

“Twenty-somethings have to get into the industry, and they have to do their program in one year.”

While the one-year program may be shorter than most, it packs in just as much learning and experience during that time. Along with four courses each semester, students intern with various teams and agencies to augment their education with meaningful experience in the industry. The courses are designed to support such fulltime internships, as all classes are held between 5:30 and 10 p.m. Students connect their work experience to the program through blogs and online journals.

“I was working in another industry full-time, but I decided that I would be better served doing internships in the sports industry with the help of the program,” current ESPN employee and graduate of the SIM program Kelty Carpenter said. “With the combination of internships, master’s degree, and connections I made at the program, I graduated on a Saturday and had a job on Tuesday.”

For students, the program culminates with a capstone or thesis project focused on what is lacking in the sports industry.

“We want students working on forward-thinking projects that will help them get jobs,” Professor Jimmy Lynn said.

With such a stellar start and great response to the program, the SIM faculty has high hopes for its future.

“Our goal is to make this the leading global sports management

Courtesy GU SIM

Matt Winkler (center, back) and students visited Emirates Stadium while in London.

program,” Lynn said. “We’re going into emerging sports markets, which strategically ties in to what Georgetown University is doing.”

This plan for global outreach again separates Georgetown from the pack of other sports management programs. In addition to the annual “London Week” trip, the program traveled to South Africa to meet with World Cup organizers, and plans to visit Brazil, China, and Qatar within the following year. Both Lynn and Winkler were in Brazil last month meeting with executives of the 2016 Olympic Committee and the 2014 World Cup Committee.

“All the next great global sporting events are not here,

they’re in new lands,” Winkler said. “Georgetown is an international brand, and we’re not scared to go into these emerging markets where other programs wouldn’t dare step foot.”

London will host the Olympics next summer, while Qatar is on tap to host the World Cup in 2022.

China is the world’s fastest growing sports market, especially after hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Once students graduate from the SIM program, they benefit from Georgetown’s superb alumni network in the sports industry, as well as the programs’ strategic partners, which include organizations

like Under Armour and the NFL Players Association. “[Georgetown’s] board has such figures as Ted Leonsis and former [NFL] Commissioner [Paul] Tagliabue, and the strategic partners we have are some of the leading names of the business,” Lynn said. “We’re also located in a huge sports town, which again makes our program really special.”

In only three years, the program has come far, showing why it is one of the best in the country. Still, all that progress has been met with soaring aspirations. Winkler and his colleagues won’t be satisfied until Georgetown becomes a global leader in sports management education.

the Sports Sermon “Tha Hoyas get Chris Wright back...I know they ready to come back from that loss in tha Big East. I gotta go with the Hoyas on this one.”—Snoop Dogg the record, there is actually a bracketology class offered at St. Joseph’s University, taught by alumnus Joe Lunardi.)

After spending hours completing my bracket, I’ll probably be ripping it up in disgust when my picks get destroyed before the Hoyas even take the floor on Friday night. Making a bracket is similar to playing golf. Before the tournament begins, my confidence is high and I’m thinking to myself that this is the year I win my

heave missed by inches in last year’s Championship game, I’m exhausted. It’s not bethe company entered into a cause I’ve been pulling late 14-year agreement to share the nights at Lau to study for my TV rights with Turner Sports. midterm or because I’m worThe $10.8 billion joint venture rying about all the projects will allow fans to watch every that will start piling up in the game live on TV for the first coming weeks. It’s because time ever.

I’ve been looking over a oneInstead of just CBS, Tru TV, page document for the last TBS and TNT will now also air three days trying to crack the the games. Fans now have even code. March Madness is here, more control over the action. and the bracket has taken over Before, you’d have to rely on my life.

CBS execs to switch back and As a student I forth to games, ofPete Rose Central have more importen missing thrillDa bettin’ line tant things to foing buzzer beaters cus on, but I can’t only to watch KanDookies Margin Hoyas help it—it follows sas throttle a small (underdogs) (duh!) me everywhere. It (favorites) school making its started popping up first appearance in VCU Just Wright the last week during Georgetown tournament. spring break, beJ. Beibs Fun, fun, fun Those days are R. Black fore the teams had over—the new deal Rose Fabulous Hill been chosen. Since puts that power in Selection Sunday it’s only been pool and get every pick right. the hands of the fan. Also, unharder to escape. I’m already in On the golf course, right be- like in previous years, the start four pools (not that I’m popu- fore I tee off, I have a ridicu- times are more staggered, maklar; I’m just a sports nerd), it lous amount of confidence. ing it unlikely that two games appears on every website I Thirty minutes later, after I will end at the same time, and visit, and it even dethroned slice my ball into the woods on making it almost impossible to the mighty Charlie Sheen for the third hole, all I want to do miss a memorable moment. at least a week. Who’s winning is pull a Happy Gilmore and If the madness grows evnow? throw my club as far as I can. ery year and more and more Don’t get me wrong, I love In the last 10 years, the people become enveloped in this time of year, but I am awed growth of the bracket has trans- it, how big will it actually get? by how consumed this coun- formed March Madness and the We’ve seen it turn small coltry becomes by the simple entire country during the sec- lege athletes into folk heroes bracket, especially when it is ond half of the month. The rise and the presidential bracket so unpredictable. Analysts on of ESPN and social networking has become an annual tradiESPN who call themselves has only helped fuel this behe- tion at the White House. At “bracketologists” (which I still moth. But this year, thanks to this pace, the next thing we’re can’t believe is a real thing) a new television deal, the Big headed for is a national holiaren’t guaranteed to do any Dance is entering a new phase. day on the first weekend. Not better than that nice old lady When CBS’s exclusive NCAA that it would make a differwho picks winners based on Tournament rights ended after ence. No one is productive tomascots and jersey colors. (For Gordon Hayward’s half-court day or tomorrow anyway.

by Nick Berti

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Hoyas get Wright before Big Dance Women are dancing too

by Tim Shine The Georgetown Hoyas know one thing for certain about the NCAA Tournament: Chris Wright, will be back, and at full strength, too.

The senior point guard returned to practice on Monday after missing a little more than two weeks with a broken left hand and will play without limitation in the tournament.

“He’s not feeling any pain,” head coach John Thompson III said. “After two full days he’s participated in every drill. He feels fine. He doesn’t need any protection. We’re—hopefully—business as usual.”

Wright’s return is one of the few constants the Hoyas can look to as they prepare for their opening game in Chicago. After winning eight straight Big East games at one point, Georgetown has lost its last four games by an average of 14.5 points.

There’s no telling which version of the Hoyas will show up on Friday.

Even their opponent was up in the air until late Wednesday night.

The sixth-seeded Hoyas will play Virginia Commonwealth (24-

11, 12-6 CAA), who defeated USC in a First Four game Wednesday night to advance to the second round. The Rams, one of the last at-large teams in the tournament, plays an up-tempo style and likes to press.

By all accounts, Wright will be fully capable of helping Georgetown beat the Rams’ pressure. He said that he is pain-free and will play without any kind of brace or support on his hand, and his teammates reported that he practiced without any hesitation. In fact, when Wright fell in practice, he caught himself with the injured hand, giving everyone a chance to see the extent of his recovery.

“Everybody stopped for a minute. It got quiet in the gym,” senior guard Austin Freeman said.

“But he got back up, and we got back to practice.”

If Wright can play at the same level he did before the injury, the Hoyas are due for a major boost.

The senior is Georgetown’s secondleading scorer with 13.1 points per game and he finished third in the Big East in assists with 5.4 per game.

JULIANNE DENO

The Hoyas will need Wright to perform like he did before breaking his hand.

Hope you like soccer When the Packers hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy in Dallas last month, a bittersweet air surrounded the celebrations. A strange anxiousness filled the hearts and minds of football fans around the country. Because of the impending expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Super Bowl may have been the last NFL game for a long time.

Anxiety has slowly turned into fear over the past few weeks as the NFL owners and Players’ Union have continually failed to see eye-toeye on a new CBA, causing the players to decertify the union, and the owners to initiate a lockout. Among the several issues separating the two sides is the players’ refusal to expand the NFL schedule to 18 games, citing multiple health reports that indicate the current season is already too ar-

duous and taxing on the players. But the main issue is that the players and owners can’t figure out a way to split the league’s $9 billion in revenue. As a result, the unthinkable may actually happen.

The thought of a football-less fall is too much for some to bear, but somehow, I think we’ll get through this. Nevertheless, I cannot pretend it will be easy. The sheer number of people who watch the tedious late rounds of the NFL draft in June just to catch a small taste of football’s upcoming season is evidence of the withdrawal many fans suffer from each offseason. By the time the preseason arrives, fans tune in by the millions to see backups run around for a few quarters. It doesn’t even matter that the games don’t count—it’s football. And let’s be honest—there are few better

Wright sees no reason for his contributions to change.

“I’m not going to act different about anything,” he said. “My teammates, they all noticed that I was out there just playing. I wasn’t favoring anything. I wasn’t trying to shy away from it. I was shooting left-handed layups, making lefthanded layups. I was just playing my normal game.”

The most important aspect of Wright’s game is that he makes his teammates better. In his absence, Georgetown’s shooting percentage declined and the offense’s ability to create shots suffered (against Connecticut, the Hoyas assisted on just six of the 22 baskets they made).

The most notable decline in play came in the frontcourt. Senior center Julian Vaughn failed to convert a single field goal after Wright hurt his hand, but none of the Hoyas’ big men have played well during the recent losing streak. They’ll need to step up in the tournament. VCU has a versatile forward in senior Jamie Skeen, who had 16 points and nine rebounds against USC, and Purdue forward JaJuan Johnson, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is potentially waiting in the next round.

Whether Wright’s return is a panacea for the Hoyas’ big men and the team’s woes in general remains to be seen. But with Wright, Freeman, and Vaughn all playing in what could be their last game in a Georgetown uniform, they know they can’t afford to dwell on past mistakes.

“At this point in time we all need to feel confident regardless of how we did in the regular season,” Wright said. “Everyone’s 0-0 now, so it’s just a matter of us going out there and executing to the best of our abilities.” ways to cope with Saturday night’s hangover than to wake up to a marathon of NFL coverage.

But there is hope yet. After all, we still have college football, right?

The Patriot League may not be the SEC, but perhaps the lockout will help fill the seats at Harbin Field.

If you show enough school-spirit from painting your face blue and

Backdoor Cuts

By Daniel Kellner a rotating column on sports gray for the Verizon Center showdowns each winter, why not find a different college team with an unusual style? Maybe the option offense or a dynamic running quarterback will help compensate for the lack of a team connection ... maybe.

Or perhaps the lockout will cause some to abstain from foot-

by Nick Thomas For the second straight year and only the third time in the program’s history, the Georgetown women’s basketball team is going to the Big Dance.

On Monday night, at the selection party in the Faculty Club, the Hoyas (22-10, 9-7 Big East) learned that they had received the No. 5 seed in the Philadelphia region for the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The team will make the trip to nearby College Park, Md. to take on the 12-seeded Princeton Tigers (244, 13-1 Ivy) in the first round on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

The excitement of the evening was high from the start, as the Georgetown players were joined by family, friends, and fans during the selection special. But those present only grew more anxious as the first three regions were announced without mention of Georgetown.

When the team’s seed was finally revealed, the room erupted into raucous cheering.

“It’s what we expected— anywhere from a 4 to a 5 seed,” head coach Terri WilliamsFlournoy said. “We didn’t end extremely well, so I knew that we could have been a four, but we’ll take the five. We’re just happy to be here.”

With two consecutive NCAA appearances and three straight 20-win seasons, the Georgetown program has taken a major step forward under Williams-Flournoy. The Hoyas will look to continue their success by building on last year’s experience in the tournament,

ball altogether out of spite or frustration. Students can turn to the country’s roots and actually watch the baseball playoffs. Yet baseball can only take us into the end of October, which normally gets us to the beginning of the NBA season and Midnight Madness, thus preventing a lull in the sports calendar. However, the NBA is threatened by its own potential lockout, with its own CBA set to expire after this season. Theoretically, we are looking at a freezing winter in Washington with not only no NFL, but no NBA. Here is where things get really frightening and force us to think beyond conventional fixes for our sports addiction. A crisis of multiple lockouts may be soccer’s big chance to gain a following in America. Unable to televise NFL and NBA games, major networks will have to show something to feed a sports-hungry nation. We can only

where they lost in the second round to Baylor.

“Last year we had to get over the excitement of being there,” Williams-Flournoy said. “It was the first year we had been to the NCAA tournament, so now we’re over that excitement. This year we know exactly what we want to do. We had our goal, we’ve reached it, and now let’s continue to go further.”

Georgetown will face a well-balanced Princeton team that dominated the Ivy League and has four players averaging in double figures. Though the assistant coaches immediately took off from the Faculty Club to start preparing for Princeton, the team believes it can beat anybody if they just play their game.

“If we can get down and play defense the way we’re capable of playing, it’s a hard day of work for anybody,” All-Big East Honorable Mention and senior guard Monica McNutt said.

The Hoyas enter the tournament in somewhat of a slide, having dropped five of their last seven games. The team will look to McNutt and fellow captains Sugar Rodgers and Rubylee Wright to help turn it around and make a deep tournament run. Rodgers was a unanimous First-Team All-Big East selection and the second-leading scorer in the conference, while Wright was tied for first in the conference with 5.3 assists per game.

“Coming off of the Big East Tournament and how we closed our season, we’re ready to go again,” McNutt said. “We’re ready to prove that we’re still a good team.”

hope they know that airing more golf and tennis tournaments simply will not suffice. Sure, it lacks the hard hits of football, but the English Premier League, which starts in August and finishes up around late May, offers an atmosphere and intensity similar to the NFL, while displaying some of the very best athletes from around the world.

Ultimately, something will have to fill the void in the sports calendar, especially if lightning does strike twice and the NBA has a lockout as well. In the coming months, rather than drive yourself crazy reading the pointless updates on labor negotiations, why not take up more interest in a different league?

Football will come back eventually.

Let’s just hope at this time next year we can say it never left.

Save Daniel from his eternal boredom. Email him at dkellner@georgetownvoice.com

feature

8 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

An experiment in expansion: from reiss to riches

by Juliana Brint When Steven Singer was hired as a professor of biology in 1999, he was told that Georgetown would have a new science building within five years. Other professors hired earlier in the ‘90s were told the same thing.

“It was always ‘in five years,’” Singer, now chair of the biology department, said.

In fact, construction on the new science center didn’t begin until more than a decade after Singer’s hiring. These days, though, it is easy to see the progress being made on the building, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012. An imposing steel frame now stands where for years there was only a patch of dirt, and construction workers are busy transforming the nearly $100 million building from blueprint to reality.

But despite the visible progress, many biology, chemistry, and physics faculty members still question whether the University is truly committed to improving its science departments.

The crux of the issue is size.

Reiss Science Center is full to capacity, yet Georgetown’s science programs are still dramatically smaller than those of peer institutions. The small faculty size means fewer graduate students, a limited research scope, and in-

adequate teaching capacity. To address this deficiency, the University has publicly committed to creating an additional 35 positions within the natural sciences, but finding space for new professors has turned into a logistical catch-22.

The new science center was built because Reiss is no longer usable. But at 155,000 square feet, the new science center is approximately the same size as Reiss—meaning it will be able to house current science faculty but no new hires. Renovating Reiss is at the top of the science programs’ wish list, but no timetable has been set for the project, leaving science department chairs uneasy about hiring new faculty.

“The thing that has held me up is that until we know when Reiss is going to be renovated, there’s not a lot of point in talking about recruiting new faculty because I don’t know when we’ll be able to put them somewhere,” Singer said.

It was the degenerating state of Reiss that prompted science faculty members to push for a new science facility. The building is full to the brim, with the biology department forced to house two of its professors’ offices in the observatory across campus.

Built in 1962 during the post-

Sputnik science boom, Reiss’s faltering infrastructure attests to the building’s age. Singer said professors routinely deal with problems such as failing temperature and humidity control systems and frequent water leaks that limit their capacity to conduct research there.

In one biology experiment involving the development of frog embryos, the researchers had to use freestanding temperature control units because they couldn’t get the air conditioning system to maintain the desired temperature of 68 degrees, Singer said.

Makarand Paranjape, a professor in the physics department and a member of the Science Center Planning Committee, said that a few years ago one of his colleagues was doing an experiment that involved toxic chemicals and the fume hood he was using malfunctioned, blowing the chemicals out into the lab rather than absorbing them.

“The situation is getting ridiculous,” Paranjape said. “We have … such poor facilities, and no one is doing anything to change that. The voices [from the science faculty] became louder.

They must have been heard by the right people.”

In addition to infrastructure

Matthew Funk

A new silhouette has emerged on campus next to the Leavey center and the ICC—the still-unnamed science center.

issues, Reiss’s spatial layout is ill-suited to modern science research. While the new science center is designed with plenty of common spaces and larger, more open labs to facilitate interdisciplinary interaction, Reiss follows a silo model, with small labs distributed throughout the building in isolated pockets. The conference spaces are also “miserable,” according to Singer. Former physics department chair and Science Center Planning Committee member Jeff Urbach said that this “inflexible” design is hard to change without full-scale renovations because the labs are surrounded by concrete walls.

The poor design and infrastructure problems create an overall impression that the building is “outdated,” according to Vice President for Facilities and Student Housing Karen Frank.

Paranjape said that when freshmen enter the labs in Reiss for the first time, many comment that the facilities at their high schools were much nicer.

“I’m sure it was state of the art at the time [it was built], but it doesn’t have enough support for research and the ideas for what were most appropriate for research back in the ‘60s are not the same as today,” Associate Provost for Academics Marjorie Blumenthal said. “And most importantly the core infrastructure of the building has degraded after decades. … The basic issue was that the building is not functioning well.”

The overall inadequacy of the facilities at Reiss, along with significant lobbying from the science faculty, convinced the University administration to finally make good on their promise of a new science building.

“You can’t expect a building built in the 1960s to be adequate for the science of the 21st century,” Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School Timothy Barbari wrote in an email. “Georgetown was significantly behind our peers in new facilities and the potential of system-wide failure of internal infrastructure to support research in Reiss was becoming greater. … We could no longer

ignore the state of our science facilities.”

Faculty members in all three science departments formed the Science Center Planning Committee to determine and articulate their priorities for the new building. According to Paranjape, the group took a number of field trips to see how other universities had built modern science facilities. The committee’s highest priorities were making sure the building would support the principal research activities of Georgetown professors, prioritizing flexible spaces, and in the words of Blumenthal, ensuring that the new facility was filled with “stuff that works.”

As many of the people involved in the planning process were knowledgeable about environmental science, there was also a push to make the new building energy efficient. Because science facilities require a high level of water and power usage for experiments, it is very difficult to make them environmentally friendly. But by working with outside consultants, the University was able to design the building to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s silver certificate standards.

Although construction of the new building was scheduled to start in 2008, the project was delayed by the financial crisis late that year, which made securing the necessary loans difficult.

Construction was jumpstarted in January 2010 when Georgetown obtained a $6.9 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The grant, which specifically funds an Institute of Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology that will be housed in the new science center, requires that the project be completed by 2012.

While the new science center will primarily be a research facility, two of its five floors will be used as teaching space, mostly in the form of teaching laboratories.

The rest of the building will be dedicated to professors’ offices and “wet” lab space, laboratories for experiments involving

feature

georgetownvoice.com chemicals or biological materials rather than just computational or theoretical research.

The layout for these labs will be dramatically different from the current set-up in Reiss.

“The research labs will be very large, open spaces,” Singer said. “Three to five research groups will be in the same room. Now [in Reiss] one group may be in three different rooms.

The open lab design … generates a lot of energy. It’s easier if you’re in there at 8 at night and there are five other people. It’s a lot more pleasant, more interactive.”

The open lab concept is one of many ways in which the new building is designed to encourage interdisciplinary contact.

Instead of dedicating one floor to each of the three science departments, professors’ offices will be grouped together by subject matter rather than by department. Like the Hariri building, the new science center will boast plenty of common areas, which will feature ample seating and white boards, to foster more casual interaction between faculty members and students and more interdisciplinary endeavors like the Soft Matter Institute, a collaboration between members the physics and chemistry departments.

Many students were enthusiastic about this new focus on interdisciplinary interaction.

“In medical schools, there’s been a huge shift over the last five years to an integrated, problem-based approach,” Matt Pacana (NHS ’12) said. “I feel like that’s something that the undergraduate level needs to come around to, the idea of integrating multiple subjects.”

The administration is also enthusiastic about the idea, particularly because the small size of Georgetown’s science programs gives them a competitive advantage in interdisciplinary fields.

“Because of our scale, it’s actually easier for us to explore interdisciplinary areas than when you’re at some of the larger research powerhouses where the

individual departments can be so large that people tend to work more among their own kind,” Blumenthal said.

But for all the new building’s advantages, it is smaller than some on the planning committee would have liked.

“I think [the major priorities] were all included and addressed to a large extent, but there’s only so much space and so many dollars,” Urbach said. “Of course we wanted more space, [but] that had to be worked in to the budget constraints.”

The fact that the new building has the same capacity as Reiss leaves the science chairs unsure of how to proceed with their next major goal: expanding the size of the science faculty. Each of Georgetown’s science programs has only about 15 professors, but Singer said that when he looked into biology programs at similarly situated schools, the next smallest department had 21 professors.

Fewer professors means fewer research projects and less grant money for the University.

“The sciences are by nature research-intensive, their research footprint tends to be larger,” Urbach said. “Having small sciences makes Georgetown’s overall research footprint smaller, and that hurts our international profile.”

Besides limiting research output, the small faculty size also puts a cap on the size and strength of Georgetown’s graduate programs in the sciences.

All three departments would like to increase the number of graduate students they train, but that will be a tall order without more faculty to supervise them.

Additionally, the small size of the departments—and, by extension, the limited number of research projects—makes Georgetown a less attractive option for potential science graduate students.

“When the size of the department is small, that acts as a detriment in some sense,” said Steven Ryckbosch (COL ’11),

Matthew Funk

Singing songs of joy: Singer has waited more than a decade for new facilities.

who is planning on going to graduate school for chemistry.

Some undergraduates, like Alisse Hannaford (COL ’13), like the small size of the faculty because it allows them to have personal interaction with many of the top professors in their field. But a larger science faculty would also have positive implications for the undergraduate science experience, such as fewer courses taught by adjunct professors and greater opportunities to participate in research.

The current process for getting involved with research as an undergraduate is “cumbersome,” according to Mukherjee, because there are so few open spots.

More science professors would also allow Georgetown to move forward on what has been one of its major intellectual priorities since 2009: incorporating a science requirement into the core curriculum for the SFS and MSB. There are not currently enough faculty to meet the demand that would arise if all SFS and MSB students were required to take science courses.

“Everything is tied together,” YuYe Tong, chair of the chemistry department, said. “If you want to increase the teaching load in general, you need to increase the faculty line and you need a new space.”

Given the infrastructural inadequacies of the building, many administrators and science faculty members believe a full-scale renovation of Reiss is immediately necessary.

“To truly advance our science vision, Reiss must be basically gutted and rebuilt on the upper floors to mirror the flexible, modular ‘look and feel’ of the [new science center],” Barbari wrote in an email. “From my perspective, Reiss should be renovated as soon as the faculty vacate and occupy the new facility. Any significant delay in that timeline would only delay building our science programs to be closer in size and scope to our peers.”

There is a campaign mounting to start renovations on Reiss as soon as the new science center has opened. While Barbari says that renovating Reiss is “very high” on the upper administration’s list of priorities, he and Blumenthal confirmed that there is not yet an official timeline for the project.

Without such a commitment, some are skeptical about whether an immediate renovation of Reiss is in the cards.

Paranjape says he has made small bets—wagering a cup of coffee—with colleagues about when the renovations will actually occur. He believes the proj-

the georgetown voice 9

Matthew Funk

Blumenthal and Tong are both excited for the opening of the new building. ect won’t be completed for at least five years.

“I’m probably being a little optimistic with five years … it may never happen,” Paranjape said. “They wanted to see a renovation such that if someone’s in Reiss or the new building, they can’t tell. That’s all well and good, but I’m not sure it’s realistic.”

It is hard to say how realistic plans for renovating Reiss are— in addition to the absence of a timeline, there are also no official cost projections, according to Frank. Wayne Davis, president of the Faculty Senate, estimated that renovation would cost at least $50 million and complete teardown and rebuild would cost at least $100 million.

The price tag is steep, especially since the University just spent nearly $100 million on the new science center and will be spending approximately an additional $6 million per year for the new building’s annual operating budget, according to Davis. Any new hires will come with further expenses, since new researchers often need as much as a million dollars in start-up funds, Paranjape said.

While Blumenthal believes the new science center shows that the University recognizes the need to correct “historic deficiencies” in the sciences, the University’s finance subcommittee may be leery of undertaking another major project for the main campus right away.

“You cannot have a research university that is only strong and effective in social science and humanities—you have to have the natural sciences,” Blumenthal said. “But from time to time, in a resource constrained environment, there’s a bit of turn taking. … If the institution decides we’re going to do this for the main campus, it means we’re not doing something else.”

Given the uncertainty about the future of Reiss, it is hard to say what the new science center means for the future of science at Georgetown. Some, like Singer, believe that “there is a commitment on campus to treat the sciences with respect.”

But others aren’t so sure.

Tong, for example, sees the new building as simply “paying down the debt.”

“In terms of the future of sciences at Georgetown, sustainability is more important than a one-time investment,” Tong said. “The [new] building would be a one time investment if [there is] no sustainable investment in the sciences in the future, for instance, renovating the Reiss science building.”

Still, with the new building set to open next year, optimism for the future of science at Georgetown runs high.

“Other parts of campus have made great strides and grown significantly over the last 50 years,” Singer said. “Now it’s our turn.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

Film festival provides good, green fun

by Mary Borowiec In our generation, going green has gone from a hippie-centric fad to a full-blown industry. From celebrity-designed reusable totes to trendy organic food stores, it seems that “saving the planet” is, to some degree, on everyone’s mind. But beyond our Sigg water bottles, what do we really know about the problems facing the environment today?

For those yearning to learn more, look no further than D.C.’s 19th annual Environmental Film Festival, which runs Mar. 15-27.

With 150 events taking place in museums, libraries, theaters, and universities all over the District, the film festival invites viewers to step back and join in a “celebration of the natural world” that is both varied and thoroughly 2011-pertinent. This diverse lineup, which, according to its website, includes “documentary, narrative, animated, archival, experimental and children’s films,” is designed to engage its participants in current, pressing debates about the environment, like the impact of energy on our increasingly consumptiondominated society.

With this aim in mind, this internationally-renowned festival includes countless films worthy of recognition, including numerous world premieres. Equally impressive is the breadth of films, which highlight subjects as diverse as oceanography, nuclear wastelands, and the threats facing the wilderness. Likewise, the festival’s featured filmmakers bring a host of fresh perspectives, with works from 40 different countries by professional filmmakers and students alike.

For the plant- and food-loving naturalists, today features the “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Wine” program, which includes the world premiere of America’s Sustainable Garden: United States Botanic Garden, and the D.C. premiers of Portrait of a Winemaker: John Williams of Frog’s Leap, and Out to Pasture: The Future of Farming. Shown at the Maret School, this program also features a discussion with Allen Moore, director of Out to Pasture and his student film crew.

Travel enthusiasts, or just those who are big fans of 3D movies, will enjoy the IMAX Arabia 3D at the National Museum

d.c. environmental film festival

Introducing the new, eco-friendly Hajj: All pilgrims are required to use organic cotton prayer rugs. of Natural history on Saturday.

Arabia immerses the viewer in a story of Saudi Arabia’s rich faith, culture, and natural beauty.

Filmmaker Hamzah Jamjoom, a 22-year-old Saudi film student, profiles the millions of Muslims who have taken the sacred pilgrimage of the Hajj. The film, which was a post-9/11 effort to correct the extremist stereotype that Jamjoom felt Americans had assigned to Muslims, bridges cultures through a powerful visual experience. It’s heavy, unexpected topics like this—which focus on so much more than just grass growing—that make this year’s

festival such a dynamic and multifaceted event.

But if you don’t feel like taking a bike or Envirocab to an offcampus screening, Georgetown is also hosting events right on the Hilltop. This Friday, Black Wave: the Legacy of Exxon Valdez and The Sinking Ship will be shown on campus as a part of the United Nations Association Traveling Film Festival. Documenting two oil-based environmental disasters, these films draw on personal reflections of the incidents and the communities that they hit the hardest, a topic that is especially timely and pertinent in

the wake of this summer’s British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite the fact that everybody seems hell-bent on being eco-friendly, our generation still faces a plethora of environmental issues that continue to define the world we live in. D.C.’s Environmental Film festival not only provides information, entertainment, and artistic value, but a forum for discussion about solutions to these issues. So pack up those Sigg bottles in your reusable tote, and go learn exactly why you put so much effort into going green.

Get wired in Portrait Gallery with A New Language

by Heather Regen History may have awarded John Hancock and Queen Elizabeth with fame for their bold and ornate signatures, but sculptor Alexander Calder deserves points for creativity—when signing his works, Calder brandished cold copper wire as elegantly as any calligrapher. In sculpting wire portraits of famous people, which

lack any trace of a brush or a stone surface, Calder marked each of his wire sculptures with an inventive inscription. Woven behind an earlobe, under a chin or at the base of a neck, Calder looped wire to form his signature on each of his whimsical wire portraits.

These wire portraits are the subject of Calder’s Portraits: A New Language, on display now through August 14 in the Na-

smithsonian american art museum

After The Wire was cancelled, cast members found work with Calder.

tional Portrait Gallery. Although best known for his invention of the mobile as a form of sculpture, Calder also crafted a prolific set of three-dimensional, caricaturelike, copper and steel wire portraits throughout his career. The exhibit highlights this delightful, though often overlooked portion of Calder’s canon.

The gallery divides Calder’s works roughly by the profession of the subject, with portraits of actors, athletes, and fellow artists each displayed in a room of their own. However, Calder also sculpted portraits of subjects he knew personally, and as a result, portraits of Calder’s neighbors and cousins strangely appear among the wire visages of Babe Ruth and Jimmy Durante. The not-quite-perfect organization that arises from Calder’s mix of subjects nicely breaks up the rigidity of the gallery, allowing space for unknown but expressive faces to shine.

Situated at the entrance of the gallery, Calder’s portrait of

Slavoljub Eduard Penkala sets the tone for the rest of the exhibit with his warm, wire smile.

Though Calder did not immortalize the inventor of the first solid-ink fountain pen in his own medium, wire serves Penkala well—the inventor’s square face and bright eyes pop from their copper threads, suggesting a playfulness of character in a man who spent his years innovating the designs of the modern mechanical pencil.

Just as in Penkala’s portrait, Calder expertly captures the character of former president Calvin Coolidge in his own wire doppelganger. Crafted with a single, thick steel wire rather than a multitude of thinner, copper threads, Coolidge’s portrait accentuates his striking, expressive facial features. Beside the portrait, the gallery notes that “especially in his early wire portraits, Calder straddled the line between portraiture and caricature.” The artist himself described his methods by saying that “where you have

features, you draw them; where there aren’t any, you let go.”

Coolidge’s exaggerated portrait speaks strongly to this mantra.

But although Calder’s curling wires give life to his subjects, the National Portrait Gallery misses an opportunity to present the artist in his full character. Calder himself often hung his wire creations from walls and ceilings, allowing the portraits to dangle and spin, just as his mobiles did.

While two of Calder’s portraits are presented suspended from the ceiling, the rest sit boring and immobile in plexiglass boxes on simple white stands.

But despite their presentation, Calder’s portraits still reveal the artist’s playfulness just as well as the subjects they represent. Calder would often craft miniature wire carnival models as a hobby, claiming the title of “ringmaster of the Lilliputian circus.” The swirling copper and steel wires of Calder’s portraits similarly indicate that this artist clearly took great joy from his creations.

georgetownvoice.com

“having sex with her was like reading the Wall street Journal.” —Wall street

the georgetown voice 11

Inside Tennessee’s bedroom Reviews, Haiku’d

by Annalisa Quinn After a long day of class or a stressful all-night cram session, the sight of your bed is a comfort and a relief, representing a haven of well-deserved rest. But to troubled playwright Tennessee Williams, his bed lost all symbolism of warmth, and came instead to embody loneliness, insomnia, and substance abuse. This unfortunate association is the subject of Service of My Desire, a 15-minute solo performance which runs this weekend in the Gonda Theater as part of The Glass Menagerie Project.

This performance, a monologue adapted by and starring Jimmy Dailey (COL ’11), is drawn from Williams’s own memoirs and notebooks. Performing as the playwright, Dailey highlights Williams’s complex and often tortured relationship with his own sexuality, and with one partner in particular, Kip Kiernan. The performance is entirely set in Williams’s bedroom, which the monologue makes clear is a chamber of his sorrow and solitude.

The format of the performance is untraditional, with Williams speaking casually to the audience from his bed, with the audience members, according to Dailey, “descend[ing] beneath

the Gonda stage…where they discover Tennessee Williams in his bedroom,” Dailey wrote in an email.

“I wanted to make the event as intimate as possible,” Dailey wote. “Where is a person his most

dePartment of PerforminG arts

Next up: The Wooden Zoo Project

comfortable and vulnerable? His bedroom. Tennessee Williams has such a lovely charm about him that resonates most fully in this bedroom atmosphere.”

The story focuses on Williams’s love affair with Kiernan, whose death from lung cancer devastated Williams. But their relationship was brief, with Kip leaving him for a woman because he feared Williams was “turning him homosexual.” The performance chronicles the trauma that Williams experienced through

Green beer, black out

Between a boyfriend and boyfriend-wannabe is not a comfortable place to sit. But about two years ago, I had just that unfortunate experience. The former hailed from Beverly, Chicago, the last Irish stronghold of the Chicago South Side, the latter from Breezy Point, a Queens neighborhood so Paddy it may as well be Galway. And that was pretty much the meat of their conversation.

“We’re 95 percent Irish,” my boyfriend said.

“We’re 99 percent Irish.”

“We have the single largest St. Patrick’s Day parade of any neighborhood community in America.”

“We consume the most Bud Light per capita of any neighborhood in America.”

And so on. They went on like that for a while.

I bring this up because today is St. Pissing Contest Day—a holiday on which I can most certainly look forward to hearing similarly stupid bickering on a cruel, never-ending loop. There will be some harmless behavior. Rubes will shell out big bucks for corned beef at establishments that have bought edible shoe leather for this one day a year and said rubes will proclaim it to be just like grandma’s. Hundreds of Baileys Irish Cream cream cheese frosting cupcakes will tumble from the ovens of M Street’s Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Stores will be decked out in green. But then things get fanatical. Hair, beer, bagels, cookies, the White House fountain, and the Chicago River will all be dyed green. As the day wears on, out-of-tune renditions of “O Danny Boy”—the

this relationship, with his bedroom coming to mean both love and loneliness. Kiernan’s death and Williams’s inability to find a lasting partner helped to spark the cycle of addiction and madness which characterized the later years of his life, in which he often went days without leaving his bedroom.

But Dailey chose the story of Kiernan as the subject of his monologue for another reason besides Williams’s subsequent downward spiral.

“Kip was Tennessee’s first great male love,” Jimmy said.

“He had had long-lasting, loving relationships with women and several flings with other men, but Kip was his first real male love.”

And it’s this presence and power of love, despite the relatively quick end to the relationship, that Dailey really hopes to emphasize in his performance.

“Kip loved him,” Dailey wrote. “He finally gave Tennessee the opportunity to show another human being how full of love he was, and the opportunity to know what it is like to have another person love him.”

Service of My Desire runs in the Gonda Theatre Thursday, Mar. 17 at 10:45 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 19 at 4 p.m., and Saturday, Mar. 26 at 12:30 p.m. first two lines at least—will be belted and Gaelic accents attempted. Georgetown students will compete to wear as much green as possible, and if the weather warms up in the afternoon, they will compete to wear as much green as possible in as little clothing as possible.

Most aggravating of all,

amuse-Bouche

by Molly Redden

a bi-weekly column about food and drink many of them will compete to be the most Irish, blathering about how many of their grandparents are of Irish descent and how Emerald Isle their last names are—or how Emerald Isle they are, despite being surnamed “Budinsky.”

The more committed among them will lay claim to a specific region of the country—which will always be the County

Battle: Los Angeles We built the fences And increased border control But they still got in.

Red Riding Hood “What big eyes you have!”

After just half of this film You might gouge them out.

Mars Needs Moms If Mars needs dads too To sleep all day and drink beer They can just have mine.

Hop I want Russell Brand To be my Easter Bunny.

Eggs filled with cocaine!

Limitless NZT lab found In Georgetown grad’s movie.

Oh, Bradley Cooper.

The Lincoln Lawyer Once, Lincoln’s lawyer Emancipated himself In front of the judge.

—Leigh Finnegan, John Sapunor, Heather Regen Cork—and have an Ellis Island story or two. Even I’ve been guilty of a little Mick braggadocio. (Ask me about my highwayman great-great-grandfather! He’s from Cork!)

But like the Peanuts gang, we have all forgotten what St. Patrick’s Day is truly about: the opportunity to gather with friends who typically care about homework on weekdays, cast all obligations aside whether we can afford to or not, get blotto, and then not bother to hide our hangovers from professors the next morning. Or afternoon. By some miracle, a holiday that began as a fractious, aggressive display of nationalism in prejudiced America slowly metamorphosed into a holiday that fetes the steadfastness of our nation’s livers. That’s a gift— one that you don’t need to be a novelty shamrock glasseswearing jackass to enjoy.

Today, bars that are prohibitively expensive on ordinary days will boast spontaneous happy hours, and all our favorite dives will be even cheaper than usual. Food specials will abound for no good reason other than the fact that today is the seventeenth of March, the traditional day of observance for a nominally religious holiday that Western culture slowly perverted into a day for debaucherous excess. Isn’t that enough? Today should be about capitalizing on a silly excuse for a holiday to tax our tolerance—not who can wear the most, drink the most, and vomit the most green-colored substances. So tonight, please, when Joe McHoya begins to wax nostalgic about his potato-bloated family tree, tell him to put a sock in it—or better yet, a domestic beer.

Get lucky with Molly at mredden@georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

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

The Strokes, Angles, RCA Records After five years of silence, solo projects, and anticipation, The Strokes have reunited and reemerged with Angles, their first release since 2006’s First Impressions of Earth. During the interim, the band had become characterized by tensions between frontman Julian Casablancas and his bandmates, who accused him of being a creative tyrant. Angles was a joint attempt to mollify these tensions.

It was the first of The Strokes’ albums to be composed collectively. But if you’re a superfan, don’t get too excited—Angles will disappoint anyone looking for more of the Strokes’s trademark electronic dance vibes. This is a newer, more experienced band, trying to develop a new sound. Unfortunately, not even The Strokes themselves seem to know what kind of sound that is, and as a result, Angles fits to-

gether about as well as the average “Best of” CD, creating a disjointed, though not entirely unenjoyable, mix.

With its members hitting their thirties, The Strokes have evolved from fast-paced dance music into something more subdued, better suited for background listening than a high-energy pregame or stress-release dance party. In fact, beyond the outrageously fun “Under the Cover of Darkness,” the album lacks anything beyond a subtle nod to the band’s past.

“Darkness” easily stands alone as one of their best songs, combining emotive vocals with high energy and a fast pace—a masterfullymade synthesis of everything fans look for in a Strokes song.

Several songs are tied for second-best. “Taken For A Fool” is another standout, driven by a beat so defined that it’s hard not to bob along. “Call Me Back” offers a hypnotic potion of the album’s best melancholy elements, while “Gratisfaction” uses vocal melodies—a rarity in previous Strokes songs—to add a welcome musicality to the garage-synth sounds of the rest of the album.

But aside from these tracks, the rest of the album is a jumble of forgettable filler—tracks like the dull, inoffensive album closer “Life is Simple in the Moonlight.” None are awful, but all

Lights, camera ... action?

Last summer, Hollywood brought out its big guns for The Expendables, a hedonistic bullet-fest that claimed to be nothing but that. But the movie did have one sizable surprise: its cast of aged veterans— Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Willis—felt oddly refreshing.

The disheartening truth is that the classic action movie, with its dual-wielding protagonists, blond Russian enemies, and unforgiving muscles, is at a low point in its existence. Recently, studios have managed to churn out some movies in this dwindling genre, but superhero and comic book films have gotten a stranglehold on the good ol’-fashioned blockbusters in which the aforementioned California Governor thrived.

But as tragic as this phenomenon is, the few but tireless propagators of guilty-pleasure action flicks deserve a little credit. Liam Neeson, old man that he is, has become the new face of badassery. His sober résumé has not hindered a recent stint in action movies that includes the delectably classic, revengedriven Taken, and Unknown, his most recent thriller and an obvious byproduct of the former’s success. In fact, fans loved Neeson’s CIA agent/angry father act in Taken so much that it spawned a likely uninspired— yet very welcomed—sequel.

Let’s hope studios recognize Neeson’s abundant box office rewards as the American audience’s plea for more nonsensical bloodbaths.

are sub par for a band that has shown itself capable of much mor. This makes for a real letdown, given how exciting “Darkness” was when it was released in advance of the record. Angles’s clearest message is that while The Strokes remain an extremely talented group, they still don’t have enough control over their internal politics to successfully create the mature, solemn sound they strive for.

Voice’s Choices: “Under the Cover of Darkness,” “Taken for a Fool” —Paul Quincy

Travis Barker, Give the Drummer Some, Interscope Records It’s hard to think of Give the Drummer Some, the solo debut from Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, as a product of the man who helped craft the sound of one of the most quintessential pop-punk bands of the late If these action movies can still be big moneymakers, there must be some other reason for the genre’s demise. Look no further than the superhero genre. Sure, The Dark Knight, which combined popcorn action with superb acting, was an acceptable replace-

fade to Black

by John Sapunor a bi-weekly column about film ment for the kind of mindless violence we saw in Commando.

But this was the exception in an ocean of cookie-cutter films scraping the bottom of the barrel for lesser-known comic book heroes. (Or, even worse, they’re going back to the top, rebooting the Spiderman franchise just like Edward Norton reincarnated the Hulk in 2008.) Unfortuantely, it’s

1990s and early 2000s. Instead of Blink’s power chords and whiny vocals, the drummer’s solo effort is a rap-rock project, packed with A-list vocals and production— with the latter category including Barker’s own talent. While the album lacks consistency, it displays Barker at his best, showcasing his undeniably brilliant drumming skills while blending his own sound with the distinctive styles of his featured artists.

Barker has never been shy about baring the hip-hop influences in his drumming. Long before GTDS, he had been featured in remixes and collaborations with rap artists from Kanye West to Soulja Boy. For his own album, Barker recruited a host of hip-hop vocal talent, including Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Lupe Fiasco, Raekwon, and Cypress Hill.

To best spotlight Barker’s drumming talent, the album varies musically—the more energetic guest vocalists, like Lupe on “If You Want To,” occasionally push the beats to the background, and his most impressive drum solos are usually pushed to the intros or margins of tracks. However, the wide variety of rap styles featured on the album gives Travis the chance to show off his drumming versatility, as he skillfully adjusts tempo and rhythm to complement the numbed vercome to look like landing a superhero gig is the new hallmark for success.

So what makes a Stallone movie, with few redeeming qualities and utterly laughable performances, superior to these comic book films? Like many genres, superhero films have outlived their appropriate lifespan. While the Batman franchise, like the James Bond series, has earned the right to live on, Captain America and other less popular superheroes look like desperate attempts to profit from a genre that is on its way out. Gun-toting action stars can always adapt to current affairs— think North Korean despots as the new Russian villains—and take pride in their reprehensible behavior, rather than feel shame for it. These films are not artwork, but the one-liners and

balizing of Kid Cudi on “Cool Head” or the fast-paced and frenetic “Let’s Go,” fronted by Busta Rhymes and Lil Jon. Unfortunately, the impressive ensemble of featured artists sometimes works against the album.

Barker’s production isn’t enough to reconcile the stylistic differences between tracks. He doesn’t do himself any service by introducing guitarists like Tom Morello and Tim Armstrong into the mix, which makes the album’s more rock-oriented tracks, like “Carry It,” contribute to the inconsistent, compilation-esque feel.

However, the album succeeds more often than not, and Barker offers several hit-worthy tracks, including the mellow “Knockin” (with a hook by Dev), which combines Barker’s well-blended beats with drugreference-addled lyrics like “my shit rocks like Lindsay Lohan.”

Tracks like this one, along with several exquisite drum solos highlighted in songs like “Devil’s Got a Hold of Me,” certainly do give Travis “some,” and show why he is—and deserves to be—one of most sought after drummers working today.

Voice’s Choices: “Can a Drummer Get Some”, “Knockin”, “Devil’s Got a Hold of Me”, “Cool Head” —Samuel Buckley predictable endings are like cinematic comfort food—pure, enjoyable entertainment.

As the well of superhero films runs dry, we can only hope that a resurgence of action-packed movies with bulletproof protagonists will follow. Jason Statham, whom The Expendables featured right alongside the action heavyweights, has proven his abilities in the Transporter series, and his soft-spoken yet biting language makes him a plausible successor to Bruce Willis. With actors like Statham and Neeson leading the charge, it’s high time for the new spew of action movies to wash out the Green Lanterns and Hulks. After all, the Governator promised, “I’ll be back.”

Invite John to your next hedonistic bullet-fest at jsapunor@ georgetownvoice.com

page thirteen

georgetownvoice.com

W

e all had fathers. We all had brothers. We all had sisters. Of course, we all had mothers. We all had cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents. Hell, we all had children, sons and daughters both. That’s the only thing you think of in the classroom. It’s all that’s in your head when you straighten your gig line, shine your shoes, adjust your hat so it’s just above your eyebrows. You forget it for a second when you try to remember the chain of command at inspection, but then it all comes back. But when you’re riding the bus to Chokecherry, when you’re hiking the path up the cliff, when your ass is dangling high in the air while your hands grip tight to your best friend the rope, all of that goes away. All that’s left is the air, and your family includes a carabiner, a figure-eight knot, and dozens of teenage eyes sneering at you from below. This was beautiful, this was combat, this was duty to your country, and it was a pleasure to serve.

It might have been the classroom simulation which set me up for such failure. My mind often wanders back to that first fall and wonders how things might have been different if I hadn’t felt my body violently collide with gym mats that day.

How could she let me go like that? We didn’t even have to go. I didn’t have to put the uniform on at all; there were easier ways to get on with one’s life. But then we didn’t do it for the PE credit or the CPR lessons or some future pay-grade. We did it because we loved our country, we loved our uniforms with their badges and stripes and buttons, we loved the others who lined up with us in those uniforms only to be criticized for a stray scuff or unbuttoned pocket button.

I guess that’s why so many of us signed up to go that day and risk our lives for the Panther Battalion. When the option came up for not going, not a one of us gave it a second thought. It was just assumed. There were a lot of things we didn’t have to do, though, so it’s useless to dwell on what choices we had. Still, I can’t help wondering why I was so willing to go even after that disaster during training. Was my head so full of stars and stripes that I was unable to see that I was not made for this work or this mission? Could I see the stars and stripes in everyone else’s head and vainly wished the same for my own?

When the instructor at the top of the cliff asked me if I had gone through the training, I said yes.

He asked how it went. I could only cry and blubber that I fell to the ground. He knew I was a lost cause, still drowning in my shellshock.

Of course, I’m no special case. I’m no hero and what I went through was only the latest in an entire history of trauma. JROTC battalions had been going to that cliff for decades and young cadets by the hundreds had found ways to bounce themselves down t h e sandstone face.

By: Jared Watkins

F A L L

Heights weren’t the worst part.

It was that you had to Have control in The free Fall.

the georgetown voice 13 The fear didn’t grip me on the bus ride. It was all too unknown to be an object of fear. We drove down Piñon Hills Boulevard until we were nearly out of city limits. I recognized the spot we parked at as a common meeting place for four-wheelers or teenagers going out to shoot cans in Chokecherry Canyon. Exiting the bus that spring morning, I knew that not even my “Cadet of the Month” award would save me from what I had to face. We all chatted nervously together while we waited for instructions. My older brother had chosen not to undertake the mission that day due to a test in his English class. I was alone in this. I saw Adam milling about by himself near the pile of equipment. Our friendship was a spillover from sharing a seat on the bus to our middle school. I was fat, he brought a suitcase to school every day; it was a perfect collusion for surviving the daily twenty minute commutes amongst hostile company. He kind of followed me into my freshman year, but I was glad he was there for me the day we had to fall.

I gave him a meager wave. “Hey Adam. You ready for this?”

He replied, “I think so. I’m a little freaked out by the height of that thing, but it should be fine. It would suck to fall on your head from up there. I think that’s happened before.

What about you, are you ready?”

“Yeah, I think I got this. Ugh, I just hate standing here and waiting. Let’s just do this thing!”

He gave a little laugh. “Yeah, I hear you.”

Our attentions were caught by the Sergeant Major when we were addressed as a battalion on how to use the equipment and how we would proceed. Adam helped me put on my harnesses and tie my knots correctly. Damn I was glad to have him in that moment. His company had always been bothersome and more for convenience, but I trusted him with my life that day. Soon, they started calling for volunteers to go first.

A lot of the older cadets were the first to hike the path to the top of the cliff. They had done this a few times before and were eager to get their small adrenaline rush.

Some were jokingly arguing about going first and how they wish we had a higher cliff to rappel down. These were the true men of our battalion, jostling to be the first in line to dangle in the air for their country. I had done my part earlier that year representing the Panther Battalion in a knowledge competition, but the cliff didn’t care about how much I knew about military history or regulations. All the cliff cared about was the L-shape of my body and whether the hand which gripped the rope was far enough behind my back.

The first man went down smoothly and easily, the cliff was easily conquered and he exclaimed that he was going to do it again. Even then I had the choice to back out, to just watch everyone take on gravity with only a harness and a rope. But would a true soldier back out of such a simple task? You can’t defend the nation if you can’t even defend yourself against heights. I saw Tim go down. Tim was my older brother’s friend and I was somehow included in their group. We would play Dungeons and Dragons in our garage or go to Taco Bell or just be loitering teenagers. Tim would eventually have his back broken by an improvised explosive device while part of a convoy in Baghdad. Real Army shit. I couldn’t back out in front of him. I was already the pariah of the group. But then my legs didn’t match my conviction, and I could feel the eyes upon me as other cadets took their second trips down the cliff face. I don’t remember hiking the trail to the cliff face. All I can remember is holding a rope and staring into the face of fear.

...to be continued

voices

14 the georgetown voice

march 17, 2011

Rounding the bases in an Australian league of their own

by Rob Sapunor As spring training comes to a close, I’m beginning to feel baseball in the air. I’m just counting down the hours until Opening Day. However, my wait hasn’t been as long as most Americans. While the last whiff of baseball most got was the World Series in October, I found myself wrapped up in the world of Australian baseball through December.

I went to Australia last July expecting to pick up popular Australian sports like cricket, rugby, or Aussie rules football. Instead, in my first week I was recruited to the University of Melbourne’s baseball team simply because I am American. Within days of the start of school up I was playing in games— initially in the outfield and eventually moving to shortstop. But by the time UniGames, the Australian national championships, came around in September, I had become a starting pitcher. Having not played baseball since the eighth grade, I was pitching against the best Australian colleges had to offer, which on some

teams included minor league-quality players, but in other cases just included a bunch of cricketers and softball players. I picked up a win against the team that finished in second place, but ended my team’s shot at the gold medal when I gave up five early runs to future champion Sydney. This devastating loss, which left us in third place with a 6-2 record, was not to be the end of my Australian baseball career, however.

A teammate told me about the new Australian Baseball League, a professional league created only months earlier. I sent an email to the general manager of Melbourne’s team, the Aces. By the end of the week, I was the proud fourth employee of the Aces, working in a former preschool with no computers and borrowed desks and chairs. The first couple weeks involved trying to sell memberships and sponsorships on behalf of the team, as well as organizing everything that came into the office, whether it was the players’ uniforms, merchandise, or 2,000 boxes of baseball cards.

Opening day finally arrived after six weeks of preparation, during which we had to rebuild the mound and home plate five times each. And of course, as it always does in Melbourne, it rained, delaying the game. So we had a doubleheader scheduled for the next day.

And then it rained again. We were eventually able to squeeze a game in after hours of sponging the field, with the Aces pulling off a victory thanks to four home runs—not all that impressive, considering that it was only 260 feet to the right field fence. Sadly, as soon as the game ended the walls and dugout were torn down to convert the stadium into a music venue for the weekend, complete with a sailboat bar sitting in right field.

But one thing that had happened during the first game would change my job for the remainder of the season.

The stadium announcer, who was a professional radio host, completely sucked. So the team decided to give the position to me, because I knew baseball terminology and more importantly, I have an American accent.

I announced the next week’s games against the Sydney Blue Sox. The night before the first game I practiced my best Bob Sheppard impersonation in my dorm. Though I announced the players’ names perfectly, the entire crowd was ready to kill me by the end of the game, because every foul ball was “brought to you by Swann Insurance.” And there were a lot of foul balls. But I had plenty of fun doing exaggerated pronunciations of the local Aussie baseball heroes such as Justin Huber and the Tokyo Giants players we had on the team, dragging out names like Takahiro Hashimoto and Yoshiyuki Kamei.

The team was an interesting squad of players. Most were Australians with minor league contracts trying to stay fresh over the winter.

There were even some veterans from the MLB among them, in addition to others who spent their entire career navigating the minors.

Some young hot shot players who had just signed their first contracts dotted the league, and six players from Tokyo tore up the league and

partied harder than anyone else on the team. I tried convincing manager Phil Dale to put me on the roster, but he wasn’t open to bribes.

Besides, my editor informed me that this would end my amateur status, making me ineligible for the annual Voice-Hoya softball match.

But regardless of my failed attempt at becoming a professional baseball player seven years after getting cut from my high school’s freshman team, I still had a dream job. I got to watch baseball games, announce them, and got paid in baseball cards and ballpark dogs. It was sad having to leave the continent before the conclusion of the season, but the Aces lost in the first round of the playoffs anyway. If only I had gotten the call up—who knows how far they could have gone?

Rob Sapunor is a junior in the MSB. His gametime double wasn’t the only time he reached second base last semester.

Students must step in to reduce Georgetown’s footprint

by Madeline Collins Georgetown students are wellinformed and resourceful, and often uphold the University’s values of service, community, and global engagement. Environmentalism, however, is not one of the more widely discussed global issues on campus. Perhaps out of convenience, most students don’t see sustainability as especially important. Yet as Georgetown students, who typically place a high premium on international issues we must make the effort to prioritize environmentalism.

First, let’s be clear: Georgetown has made improvements in sustainability in recent years. Since 2006, the University has reduced emissions by 19.8 percent, replaced washing ma-

chines and dryers in residence halls with Energy Star models, launched a program to test-drive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and introduced Capital Bikeshare locations near campus. As of 2009, construction at Georgetown meets LEED standards, which are voluntary standards established by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council. The University participates in Recyclemania, a nationwide competition to decrease consumption and increase recycling. This year we earned a solid B on our College Sustainability Report Card, which is funded by the Sustainable Endowments Institute and has the highest participation rate of any sustainablility report.

Student organizations have also led the way in promoting environmentalism. I am a part of EcoAc-

HELEN BURTON

Solar compactors have a positive impact, but only if they’re used.

tion, Georgetown’s main environmental student group, which has organized a variety of initiatives this year, including a low-energy light bulb giveaway and recycling drive, sales of recycled and recyclable gift wrap during the holidays, park clean-ups, movie screenings, and events during Eco-Week and Earth Hour. The Corp Green Initiative has introduced energy-efficient appliances and sustainable coffee to Corp locations, and composts coffee grounds with the Georgetown Garden Club. Another group, the Georgetown Conservation Corps, promotes environmental education in D.C., and the Center for the Environment offers academic opportunities for environmentally minded students.

However, it’s undeniable that Georgetown lags behind other colleges in environmental activism.

Over 100 schools, including the entire Ivy League, outscored Georgetown on their Sustainability Report Cards. Middlebury will be carbonneutral by 2016, Yale’s president has called for his school to be the greenest in the country, and Brown spends 20 percent of its food budget on local products.

Meanwhile, Georgetown environmental clubs tend to have woefully small memberships. If students are not active with environmentalism, there is no hope that the administration will be. Furthermore, many of us are guilty of unsustainable choices in our daily lives. We use disposable coffee cups at Corp

locations, buy water bottles from vending machines, and take plastic bags at the bookstore. Without widespread student involvement, neither administrative nor club efforts can make Georgetown a more environmentally friendly school.

I don’t believe that Georgetown students are actively against or apathetic about environmental issues. Rather, these issues seem less compelling to us than our other concerns. The benefits of reduced energy usage are not as tangible as, for example, a stack of dollar bills raised for a charity. Studying for exams has clearer results than saving a few cents when you remember your reusable bag. If you’re late for your internship on the Hill, you may not want to take public transportation. And when you’re buying a Red Eye at Uncommon Grounds to survive an all-nighter, remembering your reusable travel mug isn’t a top priority.

But notwithstanding these constraints on our time and energy, we are capable of improving sustainability at Georgetown. We can take simple actions that will also save us time and money. Bringing a travel mug will get you a 25 cent discount at Corp locations, and ten cents off at Starbucks. Buying a reusable water bottle to save money on disposable plastic bottles, carrying reusable bags to avoid the D.C. five-cent bag tax, and printing double-sided at Lauinger can all make a difference (after you click print, click properties and eco-print.)

There’s also no reason why we can’t recycle, now that the campus boasts so many blue recycling stations and solar-powered trash compactors. If you use a disposable coffee cup, recycle it. Don’t throw away Solo cups or yogurt containers or pizza boxes—they can all be recycled too. Old cell phones can be dropped outside Vittles or in the Harbin garage. Old clothes can be donated at a green drop box by Village A, Leavey, or the tennis courts.

If students want to take the next step, they can get involved with one of the environmental groups listed above. Students can give as much time to these groups as they want, and involvement can dovetail with existing commitments and interests. Writers can contribute to EcoAction’s blog, aspiring teachers can promote environmental education with the GCC, and those interested in the scientific aspects of environmentalism can attend seminars and lectures with the CFE. It is our responsibility to make our campus as sustainable as possible, and no matter how overcommitted we are, there are ways to incorporate environmentalism into our life and work at Georgetown.

Madeline Collins is a sophomore in the College. She’s blue that no one at Georgetown is green.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

A Hoya’s future depends on Congress renewing Pell Grants

by Kelsey Hendricks Everyone spends a lot of their life waiting, but most of the time we spend in limbo is pretty trivial. Sure, no one enjoys the hassle of being patient, but what we’re waiting for rarely determines our future. I face the exception now. I am waiting for a decision that may decide everything in my near future. On the brink of financial disaster, I’m enduring a wait that makes me unbearably anxious and often sick to

my stomach. My future, my senior year at Georgetown, is on the line.

A sizeable part of my financial aid comes from Pell Grants, which are federal awards for low-income students that do not have to be repaid. Without them, my family would not be able to afford Georgetown’s steep tuition. But Pell Grants and other aid programs, like Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, are on the chopping block in the House Republicans’ proposed

Futures hang in the balance as Congress debates cutting Pell Grants.

FLICKR

The kids aren’t all right I’ll come right out and say it: Children repulse me. They frighten me. They make me anxious. Babies all look the same, and they are all ugly. Toddlers are praised for doing ordinary things like speaking and waving.

Children have a comment and a question about everything. And adolescents—if YouTube sensation Rebecca Black has taught us anything—are totally selfabsorbed and completely lacking in any sense of shame. Each stage of development brings with it new things to annoy me.

I don’t understand why children are instantly adorable and appealing. It’s not okay for a strange man to stand next to me and hold my hand. Adults don’t stare at me with fascination on public transportation. And I am certainly not impressed when

a fully grown woman colors inside the lines. Why should these things be permitted, even praised, when done by children?

I would love to return to the preVictorian days, when childhood didn’t exist—children were simply small adults, and they were expected to act like them.

Imagine my relief when it came time to go to college, where, presumably, I’d be surrounded by people my age or older: peers, grad students, faculty, security guards—anything but children. Disappointment did not take long to set in once I arrived on the Hilltop. The appeal of Healy Lawn on a sunny day, the lure of New South hill after a heavy snow, and carnivals on the front lawn mean children infiltrate my campus on a regular basis, disrupting my day-to-day

Let the Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences, and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves the right to edit submissions for accuracy, length, and clarity. To submit, email voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office in Leavey 413.

Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily reflect the views of the General Board of the Voice.

set of budget cuts. The cuts they are seeking would slash the maximum Pell Grant award, which I currently receive, by $845 per year. To some that might not seem like a lot, but that difference determines my ability to attend Georgetown.

My parents’ divorce in 2003 and the ensuing 180-degree change in my financial situation is the root cause of my need for aid.

A lot of students share my experience, especially in today’s economic atmosphere. I went from living in an affluent suburb of Dallas to living in a house owned by my grandfather in Louisville, thankful to even have a roof over my head. College was always an expectation in my house, but after I moved, the question was no longer which school I would attend, it was whether I would be able to attend college at all. Tuition and money suddenly took precedence over prestige. I applied to schools with a prayer for a favorable outcome—aid, and lots of it. Even when I got my acceptance letter to Georgetown, it wasn’t a sure option until my aid package came a few weeks later.

Everything rested on a number that included federal aid.

Cut to the present—lawmakers have made my life a waiting existence and making me ever more certain that not every girl is born with a maternal instinct.

The greatest challenge for someone suffering from a fear of children is navigating the surrounding neighborhood.

Georgetown is, unfortunately for me, a great place to raise children. Fathers play with their daughters on our green spaces, pink-faced children play in the snow in their Patagonia jackets,

Carrying On

by Julie Patterson A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

mothers buy their sons candy in Wisey’s. Nowhere is free from the echoes of their jovial screeching.

Saturday morning walks promise at least one encounter with families on a stroll, where the daughter might loudly ask her parents, “Why is that girl so tall?” and the little boy might make lightsaber noises, spit flying from his mouth as he does so. Halloween means these creatures are knocking on doors all night, prowling the neighborhood like candy-crazed zombies.

game again, one with grave consequences. The proposed $5.6 billion cut would be catastrophic for more than nine million students and their families, not to mention the millions more whose college dreams would be dashed before they even had a chance to begin. Even though I receive aid from Georgetown, if these cuts are passed, Georgetown would likely struggle to make up the difference for me and other students who receive federal aid.

It amazes me that members of Congress don’t consider education aid a necessary part of government spending, and baffles me that that they cannot find another program to cut from, such as tax cuts for the wealthy.

It feels personal, as if I’m waiting for House Republicans to decide whether my future, and the futures of the nine million other Americans who receive Pell Grants, are worth anything.

The actions of Georgetown administrators, however, have made my wait slightly easier. For the first time in my Georgetown career, I actually impressed by its efforts. Led

by Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming and the Office of Federal Relations, the University has not And that bastion of bacchanalia, Georgetown Day, is always tainted by their presence. What a total buzzkill to share the bounce house with seven year olds.

The many schools in the Georgetown area provide another source for the raging tide of youth that flows through our campus. The greatest threat to my sanity is not one of the many high schools nearby; it’s elementary school Holy Trinity on 36th Street. Their 10 a.m. recess always wakes me up in the morning. Their gym class in Yates totally disrupts my workout routine. The way they hang around the neighborhood after school makes me afraid to go outside.

I could muse on how the source of my discomfort lies in how the promise of youth that shines in their carefree eyes makes me lament my own loss of innocence, but it’s probably more accurate to say that these kids just suck. They’re loud, they’re obnoxious, they have too much energy, and they’re still learning how to conjugate irregular verbs.

I have no time for that in my life.

The absolute worst and most jarring disruptions of my child-free existence are the weekly invasions of Leo’s by middle school classes on field

only been in contact with students who rely on federal aid, but also speaking out on our behalf on Capitol Hill. President John DeGioia has sent letters to Jacob Lew, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Three students, myself included, were asked to film a short video for representatives on Capitol Hill describing our reliance on federal aid to members of Congress. Georgetown students, encouraged by the University and student clubs, are making calls to their representatives expressing their support for the federal student aid programs. Knowing that the University and its students are fighting on my behalf and that I am taking an active role in my future makes it easier to bear having my future on hold, hoping that the wait will be over soon. I am unsure of what’s to come, but I am hoping that someone in Washington takes an interest in my future and that of millions of my peers.

Kelsey Hendricks is a junior in the College. Her video might not be as widely viewed, but at least she knew what seat to choose . trips. Sitting upstairs when they begin to pour into the foyer is one of the most terrifying experiences you’re likely to have at Georgetown. It’s like watching a giant army come over the crest of a hill, about to bear down on you with weapons ready. You’re helpless; you just have to sit and watch, and maybe scramble for one last fruit tart on Good Dessert Thursday before they lay waste to Leo’s supply of pizza, sweets, and ice cream.

Your only hope for mercy is that they’ll sit downstairs so you can slip away unharmed.

My hatred for children is not crippling. I can make it through life coexisting with these little people under a ceasefire. I assume that they, like many predators, can sense fear, and will therefore leave me in peace. But there are no guarantees in life—not even the success of birth control.

Here’s to hoping no little accident ever “blesses” my life.

Julie Patterson is a junior in the College. She might be a hater now, but just wait until a kid gets stuck on her porch.

before i leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of JACK ’cause when i leave for the night i ain’t comin’ back.

happy st. patrick’s day georgetownvoice.com go as hard as andrew w.k. would tonight, but please drink responsibly.