The Georgetown Voice, March 25, 2010

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w March 25, 2010 w Volume 42, Issue 24 w georgetownvoice.com

Spring Fashion 2010

VOICE

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march 25, 2010

comments of the week “What’s next, are they going to require video cameras in employees’ bedrooms to ensure they are not using protection?

That’s a ‘tenet’ of Catholocism too, no?”

—Eric “Catholic Charities changes benefits after gay marriage legalization”

“But…but…but Georgetown doesn’t distribute condoms on campus! How will H*FC obtain any! Pity no one is going to be holding a ‘Consequences of Your Choice’ Week” — Jacob “Voice’s On-Campus Choices: Condom Fun Day!”

“If they don’t protect students, what do they do??? FIRE THE CLOWNS IN CHARGE” —DOPS is a joke “Fifth area burglary in eight days takes place at 1400 block of 36th Street”

Talk Back

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classified Two AKC registered English Bull dogs for free, if interested please contact f123.anderson@gmail.com.

correction In the March 18 issue, the Voice reported in “Local assaulter convicted” that on August 22, 2008, Todd M. Thomas assaulted one student, and then assaulted another student at a different residence. Both students were in the same townhouse, but the other student was sleeping in another room. The Voice regrets this error.

Voice Crossword “Georgetown Day Preview” by Mary Cass and Jaclyn Wright

ACROSS 1. The Apostles had a few 4. Well done!

9. Representative 14. Deface 15. Spring flower 16. They come in three degrees

17. Card game 18. Highest class 19. Censorship noise 20. Legally justified 22. Retiree association (abbr.)

24. Fencing sword 25. N’__

27. Killed 31. Inform 32. Not those 33. Unrefined metal 34. Brainstorms 36. Grow accustomed to 38. Ebbing 40. Herons 42. Moves away from, in fright 43. Scorched 44. What fills a balloon 45. __ Bottom 47. Back, as in legs 51. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (abbr.)

53. Comply 54. Famous canal 55. Peak or knob 57. Comic giant 59. Get up 62. Bring about 65. “Rocks” at a bar 66. Hometown ties 67. Soak in a marinade 68. Web 69. African nation 70. Can’t see the forest for them 71. Compass point

answers at georgetownvoice.com DOWN 1. Talisman 2. Hors d’Oeuvres 3. Gardening tool 4. Type of dressing 5. Small brook 6. Boxer Muhammad 7. Dye holder 8. Nereids’ locales 9. R.B.I., or E.R.A., e.g.

10. Mouthfuls 11. Before, in a ballad 12. Miami-to-Boston dir.

13. Recipe amt.

21. Ocelot, for one 23. Buddy, in slang 25. Certain carpet or hairdo 26. Affirmative 28. Lummox 29. Makes mistakes 30. Lilliputian 32. Olympics ideal 35. Bad-mouth 36. Org. that awaits your return

37. Infernal 38. Iota 39. Snobs put them on 40. Daring, in a way 41. Fellow 42. Some ooze 43. “Act your __!”

45. Vest pocket 46. Double-reed woodwind player 48. University of California campus 49. “Uncle!” criers, perhaps 50. Expunge 52. Common name for a cowpoke 56. Badlands feature 57. Cogitate 58. God who cuckolded Hephaestus 59. Little Rock’s home, abbr.

60. Beluga delicacy 61. Cyclotron bit 63. Neither’s partner 64. Shark’s stick

Are you a logophile?

Share your love of words and help write crosswords.

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 42.24 March 25, 2010 Editor-in-Chief: Jeff Reger Managing Editor: Juliana Brint Publisher: Emily Voigtlander Editor-at-Large: Will Sommer Director of Technology: Alexander Pon Blog Editor: Molly Redden News Editor: Kara Brandeisky Sports Editor: Adam Rosenfeld Feature Editor: Tim Shine Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: Chris Heller Voices Editor: Emma Forster Photo Editor: Hilary Nakasone Design Editors: Richa Goyal, Ishita Kohli Literary Editor: James McGrory Crossword Editor: Cal Lee Contributing Editor: Daniel Cook, Dan Newman Assistant Blog Editors: Hunter Kaplan, Imani Tate Assistant News Editors: Cole Strangler, J. Galen Weber Assistant Sports Editors: Nick Berti, Rob Sapunor Assistant Cover Editor: Jin-ah Yang Assistant Leisure Editors: Brendan Baumgardner, Leigh Finnegan Assistant Photo Editors: Jackson Perry, Shira Saperstein Assistant Design Editors: Megan Berard, Robert Duffley

Associate Editors: Matthew Collins, Lexie Herman Staff Writers:

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

Staff Photographers:

Keaton Bedell, Max Blodgett, Jue Chen, Matthew Funk, Lexie Herman, Lynn Kirshbaum

Staff Designers:

Marc Fichera, Kelsey McCullough, Dara Morano, Holly Ormseth, Marc Patterson, Miykaelah Sinclair

Copy Chief: Geoffrey Bible

Copy Editors: Aodhan Beirne, Caroline Garity, Keaton Hoffman, Matt Kerwin, Molly Redden

TO THE LEFT, TO THE LEFT

Healthcare reform a welcome success At a rally held less than a week before this past Sunday’s monumental healthcare vote, President Barack Obama declared that the American people were “waiting for us to act ... waiting for us to lead.” The line was especially fitting for the president, who remained mostly on the sidelines for much of the healthcare debate. Perhaps he waited too long to assert his leadership. But in the end, Obama boldly demanded an end to the seemingly interminable debate and pushed the House of Representatives to take an up or down vote.

Obama risked a great deal by demanding a vote, as did Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other U.S. representatives who may have damaged their political fortunes by approving the legislation. They deserve praise for doing so.

But while the political consequences of

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

Head of Business: George D’Angelo

Director of Marketing: Michael Byerly

The Georgetown Voice

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On this week’s cover ... Spring Fashion 2010 Cover Photo: Emily Voigtlander

the bill for the Republican and Democratic parties remain unclear, the gains for the American people appear unquestionable.

In addition to allowing individuals to stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until they are 26 and preventing insurers from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has indicated that this bill will reduce the federal deficit by billions of dollars in the next decade.

Yet the battle for healthcare reform did not end with Sunday’s vote. Republicans have vowed to fight the bill in the courts, a long shot by nearly all accounts. Even more puzzling, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed to fight the reconciliation bill that is due on the Senate floor sometime this week. The reconciliation bill will repeal some parts of the

healthcare bill that Republicans found so disagreeable—notably the much derided “cornhusker kick-back” and “Louisiana purchase”—and includes vital reform of student financial aid.

With the passage of this historic healthcare bill, both Democrats and Republicans face a new political map. Democrats should push on with their progressive reforms, first passing the reconciliation bill in the Senate and then moving to reform financial industry regulation. Republicans should recognize that their obstructionist attitude prevents them from contributing to legislation in Congress. Opportunities for bipartisanship still exist, but both parties must realize that while “political victories” are ephemeral, serious reforms that improve the lives of Americans are what will make lasting impressions on voters.

SAC UP

SAC should embrace accountability The Georgetown University Student Asssocation and the Student Activities Commission are at a negotiating standstill—it’s time for them to resolve this conflict.

After months of political wrangling and debating, GUSA demanded SAC adopt its reforms before GUSA would approve the organization’s allocation from the Student Activities Fee. Out of the six reform points, SAC has currently agreed to five—including reducing reserves and allowing lump sum funding—but still refuses demands to implement the sixth: holding open votes.

Under SAC’s current rules, commissioners vote privately, a process SAC Chair Ethel Amponsah (NHS `11) claims protects them from receiving flack for the occasionally controversial funding decisions they have to

make. SAC sometimes deals with hot-button issues—this month, for example, SAC decided to fund a pro-choice panel hosted by the United Feminists—and Amponsah says she does not want individual commissioners to be attacked for their votes.

Amponsah’s argument is cowardly and illustrates SAC’s twisted conception of leadership. SAC commissioners—who volunteered for the positions—should publicly stand behind their funding decisions instead of hiding behind anonymity. Doing so would prove that they have confidence in their own decisions, while providing the transparency necessary to build a healthy relationship with the clubs and student leaders who regularly interact with SAC. While SAC’s justification for resist-

ing open votes is aggravating, GUSA is not blameless in the matter either. If they had adpoted a more conciliatory tone throughout the process of SAC reform, they might find the organization more willing to comply with its reforms and avoid the likely process of seeking out an impartial administrator to dictate the terms of the relationship between the two groups.

With time running out before the final budget must be approved, SAC commissioners should step up to the demands of their positions and embrace a new era of transparency and accountability. If they can’t handle the public scrutiny that comes with such powerful positions, perhaps it’s time for the commissioners to reconsider whether they are suited for the job.

BIN AND TONIC

Editorial Board Chair: Eric Pilch Editorial Board:

the georgetown voice 3

Make recycling easier for GU students In his book The Daily Planet, environmental activist Paul Griss observed “just as we cannot blame others for destroying the environment, so we cannot look to others to protect the environment. Responsibility for both begins at home.” While Georgetown has made great strides in embracing this ethos, seeking LEED certification for the new Hariri building and committing the University to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 percent by 2020, a recent survey found that many students do not feel like it is easy to recycle common objects like glass or cardboard and downright difficult to recycle things like batteries or ink cartridges. To alleviate these concerns, the University should take a number of steps to increase the already strong rates of recycling, by conveying better information about recycling facilities to students and improving the organization of its recycling infrastructure.

According to a survey conducted by the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board in January, only about half of the 645 students polled believe it is “easy to recycle”

cardboard in their residence, while approximately two thirds felt that it was “easy to recycle” glass, aluminum, plastic, and paper.

Only a small fraction of students—less than ten percent—believed that it was easy to recycle batteries or ink cartridges. These numbers, while not warranting drastic change, indicate that Georgetown has room for improvement.

The ease of recycling for students could be greatly enhanced by better labeling and organization of recycling bins on campus. For example, the recycling in Village B features a dizzying and contradictory array of options, with bins for cardboard, mixed paper, plastic bottles/mixed glass, plastic bottles only, glass bottles/aluminum cans, newspaper, plastic bottles/aluminum cans/glass, and cans only.

This system makes it difficult to determine how to sort recyclables at home and which receptacle should be used. Making this system easier to use and less conflicting would assist students in their recycling efforts and discourage frustrated residents from just

throwing everything in the trash.

Furthermore, Georgetown does not transmit clear information explaining where various items can be recycled. The website sustainability.georgetown.edu explains the breakdown of Georgetown’s waste and highlights the University’s participation in the annual Recyclemania program, but lacks any guidance about where advertised materials like furniture, electronics, batteries, clothes, and school supplies may be properly disposed.

Georgetown presently has commendable environmental programs in place, ranking 22nd out of 148 schools overall in the 2009 Recyclemania competition—safely in the top 25%. However, progress can still be made to make recycling more convenient for students, thereby increasing their chances of making environmentally friendly choices with disposable items. With a few simple fixes, the University can advance toward a cleaner, more efficient, and more sustainable campus community.

news

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march 25, 2010

GWU campus plan progresses, GU’s stalls

by J. Galen Weber While Georgetown neighbors are still waiting to see the University’s final 2010 Campus Plan, which the University had planned to present at the beginning of January, neighboring George Washington University is moving ahead on schedule with the 2010 Campus Plan for its Mount Vernon Campus.

GWU will present its plan for expansion at a hearing before the D.C. Zoning Commission this Thursday.

Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan—the draft of which included plans to increase graduate enrollment, add graduate housing, and reroute GUTS buses—has faced opposition from neighbors since it was first presented in May 2009.

Residents are especially frustrated that the University is planning to increase graduate enrollment and has not planned any additional on-campus housing for undergraduates, despite complaints about the noise and trash problems caused by undergraduates living off campus. The Citi-

zens Association of Georgetown recently created a fund called the “Save our Neighborhood Fund” to finance their efforts to oppose Georgetown’s plan. The “Save Our Neighborhood Fund” website features testimony from neighbors about acts of vandalism committed by Georgetown students and complaints about students’ disorderly behavior on weekends.

GWU, on the other hand, has enjoyed a much better relationship with the neighbors of its Mount Vernon satellite campus.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Anne Heuer, who represents the district containing the Mount Vernon Campus, said residents there approved GWU’s plans.

“It’s a reasonable plan, considering how they could have developed,” Heuer said. “It could have been much bigger. [The residents] are supporting the University’s plan.”

Additionally, GWU has managed to submit its plan to the Zoning Commission with only a slight delay, despite the fact that GWU’s

plan includes the development of six new buildings and a 15 percent increase in the number of students living at Mount Vernon. GWU administrators said last year that their hope was to present the plan sometime around February 2010.

Heuer said that the neighbors had asked the University that certain conditions be met in its plan, and that the University had been generally accommodating.

One point the University had not agreed upon was lowering the proposed increase in the student cap from a 15 percent increase to a 10 percent increase.

Drew Spence, a reporter for GWU’s student newspaper The Hatchet who has covered the university’s campus expansion plans, said that some local community groups opposed the plans, but that the opposition was generally centered on issues like traffic and has not turned into a major conflict between the university and its neighbors as it has at Georgetown.

“The majority of residents who have expressed frustration with

one attempted burglary on the 1200 block of 37th Street NW. A total of $10,000 worth of property was stolen, including two flat-screen TVs, a cell phone, jewelry, three computers, video games, a camera, an mp3 player, and cash.

In an e-mail, Joseph Smith, Associate Director of the Department of Public Safety, declined to speculate whether the four crimes from last week were related. The one similarity he noted was that all of the residences that were burglarized

were entered through unlocked doors or windows.

“I would like to point out that in each of these cases the perpetrators entered through unlocked rear doors,” Smith wrote in an e-mail.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment about Tuesday’s burglary.

The University is urging students to take proper safety precautions. In an e-mail to the student body, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson and Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco reminded students to make sure their doors and windows are locked before going to bed.

“We double- and triple-check our locks [now],” Caitlin Devine (COL ‘10), a 36th Street NW resident, said. Additionally, DPS has increased its presence outside the front gates in recent nights, according to several students that live in that neighborhood.

“DPS circles this area now,” Simone Dyson (MSB ‘10), a 36th Street NW resident, said. “They went to every door yesterday making sure it was locked.”

DPS could not be reached for comment to confirm whether this is a new official policy.

GWU, have done so because there is a certain issue they are concerned about ... not because they dislike the students in general,” Spence said.

Heuer credits the good relationship between GWU and its neighbors around the Mount Vernon campus to the efforts of GWU administrators, specifically GWU Dean Fred Siegel.

In contrast, Jennifer Altemus, president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, suggested that the tension between the University and its neighbors is due partly to unresponsiveness from the University.

“Many people feel that the residents’ concerns voiced in the [November] meetings have been ignored. They find that a bit frustrating,” Altemus wrote in an e-mail.

She noted that residents have not yet seen the final draft, which they hope will address their concerns.

Ed Solomon, the ANC Commissioner for the Burleith neighborhood, said that he didn’t fault Georgetown University adminis-

trators for the poor relationship between the University and the residents, and said that residents’ opposition stemmed mostly from concerns about potential changes to the quality of life in the neighborhood that the University’s plans could bring.

Heuer also noted that the Mount Vernon campus differs in notable ways from other campuses that have had town-gown issues.

“We don’t really have any problems with the university like some do around Georgetown and American,” Heuer said. “But [GWU’s Mount Vernon Campus] is a much smaller school, we’re not exacerbated by a lot of cars. You don’t have a lot of students living off campus.”

Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Andy Pino said the Campus Plan Steering Committee was in the process of finalizing the 2010 Campus Plan but did not have a specific date for its completion or for its presentation to Georgetown neighborhood residents.

Five student residences burglarized

by Matthew Kerwin A string of five burglaries and attempted burglaries occurred on campus or within two blocks of the front gates over the past nine days.

The latest incident took place early Tuesday morning on the 1400 block of 36th Street NW. Last Friday, another student residence on the same block was burglarized.

On March 17, an on-campus residence was broken into during the day. The string of incidents started March 15, with one burglary and

Hilary Nakasone

Two student residences were burglarized on the 1400 block of 36th Street NW.

Jackson Perry

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) encourages female Georgetown students to get involved in politics as part of Women’s Issue Week hosted by Women In Politics and the College Democrats.

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GU students MIA in anti-war movement revival network devoted to collective liberation within ourselves, our schools, and our communities.”

But Ryan Partelow, a freshman at American University who attended Sunday’s protest, said the anti-war movement lacks the organization needed to mobilize students. He said a strong, national anti-war student organization might help.

Without much in the way of national leadership, Georgetown’s student organizations tend to focus their attention elsewhere, as was the cause last weekend. The College Democrats decided to attend Sunday’s immigration rally on the National Mall along with Georgetown’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, the Asian Americans Student Association, and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán. The rally for immigration reform drew an estimated 200,000 people, according to the Washington Post.

College Democrats President Bryan Woll (COL ‘12) said that his group is active on other issues such as immigration and health care reform, advocacy for increasing student aid, extending marriage equality and ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but that ending the war in Afghanistan has not been a major cause.

“What we do is really dictated by the national agenda,” Woll said.

Although Woll said he wasn’t certain whether the majority of his organization supported the war in

Afghanistan, he said that there has been less student opposition to a war that has been perceived as defensive and more reasonable than the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

But Woll said that just because Georgetown students have not been involved in recent anti-Afghanistan war protests does not mean students are apathetic about the anti-war movement as a whole.

Julia Shindel (COL ’10), a member of Georgetown’s Solidarity Committee, said that while the club only organized a trip to the immigration reform rally, a few members of Solidarity attended both events.

Shindel said that despite the decrease in protest attendance, the student anti-war movement should not be considered dead.

“There are many people who are feeling the war over here,” Shindel said. “Like the Petraeus protest for example—people came out and fought against his propaganda platform. He made jokes over war.

He compared it to a baseball game.

There are students who don’t forget that there’s a war going on.”

Nader said students are not as engaged in the anti-war movement as they had been during the Vietnam War because there is no draft.

“When you’re part of the risk, you try to be part of the solution,” Nader said. “They’re not part of the risk. That’s what Nixon understood when he got rid of the draft.

He deflated the opposition on campus almost immediately.”

Besides Nader, the rally featured speeches by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark,

Brothel boss-cum-mayor?

seat. Tipped to the mayor’s drug use by sympathetic prostitution cops, a group known as the “Pussy Posse,” Sobin began offering the mayor a urine specimen cup to prove his sobriety. Barry never accepted the challenge.

by Cole Stangler At Washington’s first anti-war protest of the Obama administration on December 12, 2009, activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader said the small crowd on hand—about 100 protesters, far fewer than the 1,500 the organizers expected—was most likely due to the mainstream left’s continued faith in Obama’s policies.

“Until that really cracks, you’re not going to get a big national movement,” Nader said.

On March 20, Nader returned to Lafayette Park with a larger crowd for a rally and march sponsored by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, demanding an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The event drew about 2,500 protestors, according to a U.S. Park Police officer.

Among the diverse crowd of activists gathered in front of the White House, however, there was a noticeable lack of students, especially Georgetown students.

Despite the seemingly meager number of students at the protest, there have been attempts to reverse this trend. The day before the protest, students from neighboring universities attended a youth-oriented event called “Funk the War,” a part-dance party, part-protest event that called the government to spend less on war and more on education. The event was organized

by D.C. Students for a Democratic Society, a self-described “actionoriented student and youth power

One-time brothel owner and current mayoral candidate Dennis Sobin wears an Adrian Fenty for Mayor shirt underneath a tan blazer. It’s one of two things he says he got from supporting Fenty in his 2006 campaign. The other was six months in jail.

The jail time came from a family drama involving a hearing on prison reform, a restraining order, and an estranged son employed by Fenty. Now, Sobin says he’s running to make sure Washington’s government treats its citizens better than it treated him.

“I’m in the race to make this government more humane,” Sobin said.

Sobin came to the District in 1976. He founded a newspaper, Free Spirit, winning over prostitutes by printing court sketches of undercover vice cops. These relationships became big business when Sobin began purchasing strip clubs, adult bookstores, and brothels, of which he eventually owned a dozen. He also began producing pornographic films, an endeavor that he said taught him the importance of delivering a quality product to customers.

“It’s very much a business, supply and demand,” Sobin said.

Sobin dabbled in politics, with a 1982 mayoral run against thenmayor Marion Barry and a 1984 run for an At-Large City Council

city on a Hill

by Will Sommer

A bi-weekly column on D.C. news and politics The politics and the porn eventually caught up with Sobin. After dodging a racketeering charge for participating in organized crime in Virginia—”They thought I was better organized than I thought I was myself,” he said—Sobin ended up serving 10 years in prison in Florida for producing child pornography, a charge he denies.

cole sTaNGler

Come on all you big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again. peace activist Cindy Sheehan, ANSWER Coalition National Coordinator Brian Becker, and representatives from several anti-war organizations.

Sheehan, who was later arrested the same day for crossing a police line next to the White House, has recently launched a new campaign of civil disobedience by camping out on the Washington National Mall.

“We’re hoping that we’re going to make it so uncomfortable for them to keep the war going on,” Sheehan said. “And since it’s an election year, we can have some political success, I think.”

As Nader had predicted in December, Sheehan’s call to break with President Obama and the Democratic Party was a common theme of Saturday’s protest.

In a speech that drew loud applause, Reverend Graylan Hagler criticized the president for escalating the U.S. presence in Afghanistan while failing to address issues Now, Sobin operates a gallery of art made by prisoners.

In the K Street office his gallery shares with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Sobin explained why he refuses to accept monetary donations to his mayoral campaign.

“The mayor has accepted $4 million,” Sobin said. “There’s no way to compete with that.”

Sobin’s chances in the election are dim, but he expects to draw from the same constituencies he pulled in his 1982 election, in which he managed to defeat the Communist Party candidate for a third place finish.

Sobin said his campaign will appeal to Washington’s rich, who are comfortable enough to take a risk on him, and to Washington’s

that directly affect his supporters at home like poverty and unemployment.

“President Obama, if you understand the constituency that brought you to the White House, then you’ll begin to bend to be more accountable to those folks who walked streets and knocked on doors to get you elected,” Hagler said. “We intend to hold you accountable.”

For now, Shindel and other campus activists are devoting their time to those kinds of issues that directly affect students. Unlike many students during the Vietnam War era, activists are not as singularly focused on ending the war. They are equally as dedicated, and often, more dedicated to other issues like immigration reform or equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

“Now there’s just so much shit going on in this country,” Shindel said. “And that’s just the reality of it.” poor, who will be attracted to his promises to support ex-convicts in finding jobs. After talking with him, it’s not hard to imagine him winning at least a few votes—he has a way of making his campaign not seem totally quixotic, and he’s considering playing guitar during candidate forums.

Sobin said he supports Fenty’s re-election—just not this year. Instead, he thinks Washington deserves a friendlier mayor until Fenty learns how to treat people with kindness. After years spent trying to help Washington get off, now Sobin’s just trying to get the mayor to relax.

Leave the money on the dresser for Will at wsommer@georgetown voice.com

sports

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march 25, 2010

Women end historic season in loss to Baylor

by Nick Berti All good things must come to an end. For the women’s basketball team, their unforgettable season came to a close Monday night in Berkley, Calif. in the second round of the NCAA tournament against fourth-seeded Baylor. The Lady Bears defense proved too much for the fifth-seeded Hoyas, who suffered a 49-33 defeat.

Although it’s never fun to step off the court for the last time of the season, the team has a lot to be proud of this past year.

They added another accolade to a long list of accomplishments two days before the loss by winning the school’s first NCAA tournament game in 17 years against Marist.

“It feels great, and even better for the student-athletes,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

“You can talk about going to the NCAA tournament, but you really have to be in it to experience it.”

At first it seemed like the Hoyas’ 17-year absence from the tournament might have affected them early on, as they only shot 34 percent from the field in their first round game, going into the half up by only two. They knew they would have to play better if they wanted to advance, especially against a team like Marist, which was in the NCAA tournament for the seventh consecutive year. Junior guard Monica McNutt’s foul trouble didn’t help the struggling Hoyas, since she was limited to nine minutes in the first half. However, George-

town came out of halftime on fire and looked like a team that knew they were playing for their lives in the one-and-done format. Two straight three-pointers by McNutt sparked a 13-0 run that gave the squad a comfortable lead for the rest of the game.

“I told them at halftime that if you don’t come out in the first five minutes of this half and knock Marist off their feet that we were going to allow them to stay in the game,” Williams-Flournoy said.

“A team like Marist, you can’t let them stay in the game and keep them close because they are a very good team.”

The Hoyas followed the halftime plan brilliantly and left their pre-game jitters in the locker room as they loosened up and played like the team that had won 16 games in a row earlier in the season. After taking care of business in the opening round, Georgetown knew that they had a lot of work ahead of them with the Baylor Lady Bears and their freshman center Brittney Griner.

To be successful, it was vital that the Hoyas find a way around Griner and get open shots from the outside. As the number one incoming recruit in the country, the 6-foot-7-inch Griner averaged an astonishing six-plus blocks per game and led her team with 18.4 points per game. The key to the matchup was to shoot well because with Griner in the paint there would be few opportunities to score inside.

Unfortunately for Georgetown, their shots didn’t fall, the

HILARY NAKASONE

So close: the Hoyas’ loss to Baylor caps an amazing season for Georgetown.

team shot a paltry 17.1 percent from the field and only managed to put 33 points on the board.

The poor shooting began in the first half when the team went scoreless until Sugar Rodgers made a layup with 12:23 left. Although Griner got into foul trouble and was forced to sit for most of the rest of the half, Georgetown couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity.

“I think with [Griner] out of the game we wanted to get back in the game,” Williams-Flournoy

said. “But the shots just didn’t fall.

You can’t make them go in.”

The second half didn’t prove much better for Georgetown.

With Griner back in the game and other players stepping up for Baylor, the first half deficit was too big of a hole to dig themselves out of, and the season came to an end.

“I think they continued to play hard the whole game. They never gave up at all. It would be a whole different ball game if we had made shots,” WilliamsFlournoy said. “We forced them

into 21 turnovers and we held Griner as best as we could.”

While Monday was not the Hoyas’ best, the team has put together arguably the greatest season in the program’s history and laid a foundation for years to come. They learned how to win consistently in the regular season and survive in the postseason.

Although the team will lose two starters with the graduation of Jaleesa Butler and Shanice Fuller, the young talent is maturing and ready to thrive in the Big East.

The Sports Sermon “We’re so old school ... I’m in low tops, and our point guard’s name is Mickey. Enough said” — St. Mary’s center Omar Samhan

player safety, as extended overtime play could lead to more injuries. If the NFL is so concerned While many Americans that extra playing time could were focused on the passage of lead to injuries, why do teams health care reform this week, still play four pre-season games others were concerned with anin the face of a strong push for other, arguably more important shortening that number to two reform—a new NFL overtime or three? There is no answer. format. That’s right, the day has NFL players, in fact, are not at finally come. any more risk for injury in overWhen my roommate first time than they are in the last few told me the NFL had passed the plays of regulation. reform, I was quite the happy Obviously the NFL thought camper. I was so excited that I these changes were necessary. went straight to the Internet to However, they chose to test these confirm and investigate further. changes in the few games that Unfortunately, after reading up decide the Super Bowl Champion the new rule-changes, my on. In the meantime, enthusiasm turned Pete Rose Central having a different to timid approval Da bettin’ line set of rules govern with a tinge of disthe regular season. appointment. These Dookies Margin Hoyas The choice to start were not the so(underdogs) (duh!) (favorites) these reforms in the called reforms I had Cornell playoffs is entirely long awaited.

SATs Kentucky backward.

I had long held The field Respect Tiger As disappointthe belief, as had Ochocinco Time to Tango Erin Andrews ing as it may be, many football fans, I am not entirely discouraged get the chance to touch the ball. that the old overtime system was by the policy. It shows that This still makes the NFL the an absolute joke. Under the old the NFL realizes the fault with only sport I can think of where system, the first team to score their prehistoric policy, even if one team can be excluded from won, and a coin toss determined they are hesitant to make any the chance to score in the overwhich team received the ball first. meaningful changes. Instead of time period. The NBA, college In many situations, especially improving the sport, the ownbasketball, MLB, the PGA Tour, with the heightened accuracy of ers created two different sets of the NHL, and college football kickers in recent years, the team rules for the regular and post to name a few, all have overwho lost the coin toss never saw seasons. Unfortunately, these time policies that give teams an the ball in the overtime period rules are seperate but unequal. equal chance to win. and lost the game (see this past And just as the Supreme Court The most confusing part of year’s Vikings versus Saints NFC overrulled Plessey versus Ferthis new legislation is the fact Championship game). In effect, guson, the NFL ought overturn that the rules only apply to the a coin toss could determine the this policy to deliver a more just post-season. From the press conoutcome of an NFL game. overtime system in the hopes of ferences and interviews I have Under the new rules, there is creating a more perfect NFL. seen, the reason for this choice is still a coin toss for the first pos-

by Adam Rosenfeld

session, but it takes more than a field goal to win the game. If the first team scores a touchdown, the game is over. But if that team scores a field goal, the opposing team gets a possession to extend the game with a field goal or win the game with a touchdown. The changes are small steps in the right direction; however, with two steps forward comes one step back, as the new system only applies to the playoffs.

It is clear that the NFL did not go far enough. First, it is still very feasible that, barring a turnover, one team will never

sports

Hoyas speak softly, carry a big stick

by Rob Sapunor The Georgetown Baseball team’s bats have been lighting it up this week, helping the team win two of three games against the George Washington Colonials and secure victories over Delaware State and Navy. The Hoyas scored at least nine runs in four of those five games. In the Delaware State game Georgetown exploded offensively for an 18-7 victory.

While the Hoyas (12-8) can light up the scoreboard, they have also won a number of close games, including comefrom-behind situations.

Junior Sean Lamont hit a walk-off single in the final game against George Washington, capping off a five-run comeback in the final innings of the game. So far this season, the Hoyas have shown a knack for mounting comebacks.

“You know we’re never out of a game … we’ve proven it time and time again this year,” head coach Pete Wilk said. “We’ve got a skilled offense and guys who believe in themselves.”

This Wednesday saw the Hoyas defeat Navy 5-2. Starting pitcher Bobby Kirby threw six shutout innings for the Hoyas, paving the way to victory. Kirby only allowed four hits in his six innings, his strongest outing of the season. The team also

True Madness

By the second night of the NCAA tournament, my bracket was busted worse than the Irish property bubble. By the close of night three, I was nearing a disaster of Greek credit default swap proportions. Obviously there’s a lot more basketball to play, but with favorites Kansas, Pitt, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Marquette, New Mexico, Notre Dame, and Villanova falling to the likes of Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s, and Murray State, this tournament is shaping up like no other. Almost every game—our slaughter at the hands of Ohio University being one notable exception—has been decided by ten points or less, and the seedings, which usually predict the winner with an accuracy of about 80 percent, seem to be about as trustworthy as a Nigerian

played a fundamentally sound game, scoring twice off of sacrifice fly balls.

Lamont and senior captain Tommy Lee, who had a grand slam in the game against Delaware State, have fueled the Hoyas’ offense. Lee and Lamont are tied for the team lead in home runs, along with Rand

Courtesy SPORTS INFORMATION

You there! Off my lawn, I have dogs...

Ravnaas, with four apiece. Lee is also leading the team in stolen bases, with eight.

It’s no secret Georgetown has benefited from having Lee back in the lineup. The team had to play six games without Lee as he was injured during the team’s trip to Florida over Spring Break for the Rollins Classic. prince trying to recover his family fortune. This makes for great basketball, right? Shouldn’t this be the point of March Madness?

Well, depending on who you ask, not exactly. As an extension of the for-profit NCAA, which has a yearly budget of just under six billion dollars and a staff of around 300, the NCAA selection committee has a vested interest in producing exciting championship basketball. This means keeping big name schools like Duke, Syracuse, and Kansas around until late in the tournament, and, more importantly, capturing the massive television audiences to which these programs appeal. Hence (some paranoid Hoya fans would say), Duke’s perennially high seed—they have been a No. 1 seed nine times in the past 13 years— is suspicious. Especially this year, when Duke garnered the last No.

“Getting Tommy Lee back changes the whole scope of our lineup,” Wilk said. “Sean has been getting back on track also and we’ve got a number of guys who are swinging the bat well right now including Rand.”

Another strong point for the Hoyas was pitcher Tim Adleman, the proven primary starter for the team and the team’s pitching leader in many key statistics. He has a 4-0 record and posted a 1.47 ERA while striking out 20 batters in 30 innings.

In Friday’s game against GW he got the win after pitching five shutout innings and only giving up two hits.

“The biggest thing about Tim is we’ve won every game he’s started for us this year,” Wilk said. “I think he can pitch against anybody in the country.”

Freshman Neil Dennison has also been an important link in the pitching staff. Although he hasn’t started any games, he has picked up a pair of wins and struck out 15 batters in 18 innings this season.

Georgetown looks to continue their strong play as they begin the Big East portion of their schedule.

The Hoyas begin conference play this weekend at home with a three game series against Rutgers. First pitch is slated for Friday at 3 p.m. at Shirley Povich Field in Rockville, Maryland.

1 seed over West Virginia. Despite the fact that both schools won their conference championships and had similar records, the committee’s choice seems to be tied more to commercial viability than athletic records. Duke fans buy the things they see advertised on TV. WVU fans just buy more batteries.

As Georgetown sadly showed, however, seeding isn’t everything.

Backdoor Cuts

by Jeff Bakkensen

a rotating column on sports A single bad game can sink a brilliant season—or, in the Hoyas’ case, a season that was alternately brilliant and exasperating. Georgetown’s sorry tourney showing highlighted the weakness that brought down a few of the major contenders last week: experience.

Between the high transfer rate and

the georgetown voice 7

Molly Ford

What Rocks

georgetownvoice.com

Courtesy SPORTS INFORMATION

The Women’s Lacrosse team has gotten off to a slow start this season as the Hoyas have struggled through one of the toughest schedules in the country. However, these early trials aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

“These losses will help us because we’re learning from our mistakes and correcting the problems,” said senior cocaptain Molly Ford.

Ford certainly has the credentials to be confident—she is one of Georgetown’s top performers. She has started every game for the Hoyas over the past two seasons and racked up an impressive list of awards.

Ford is a two-time All-Big East first team member and a twotime All-American. This year

high number of Hoya players entering the NBA Draft in the past few years, there were no players on this year’s squad who could remember the 2007 Final Four run, and only two players who took part in the subsequent year’s early loss to Davidson. It’s a similar story with Kansas, which fielded only one four-year senior this year.

Part of the beauty of March Madness is that, seeding aside, it often favors the mid-majors and less well-known teams that are responsible for most of the upsets. Whereas larger programs like Georgetown suffer from constant turnover to the draft, players from outside the BCS are far more likely to stay for all four years. While they might not be as talented individually, the players on these teams have more experience functioning cohesively as a unit. They’re also harder to pre-

she added the title of captain to her impressive resume.

“I’ve definitely taken more of a leadership role this year,” Ford said. “But that doesn’t put more pressure on me, because I feel like I was in a leadership role last year as a junior on the attack.”

The Hoyas will need Ford to build on her strong career as the team looks to win the Big East,Conference.

“Right now, our record is 0-0,” Ford said. “If we win the Big East we’re in the NCAA Tourney.”

With Ford’s leadership, it’s a safe bet the Hoyas will be a force to be reckoned with.

—Adam Rosenfeld

pare for—I’ll be the first to admit that before last Thursday, I wasn’t quite sure that Ohio University even had a basketball team.

This year’s upsets have set a lot of college basketball fans on edge. They wanted to see marquee matchups: Kentucky versus Kansas, Duke versus Villanova. But why shouldn’t we root for midmajor teams down the stretch? It’s a sad comment on college basketball when fans value the opportunity to see next year’s NBA Draft busts play each other one-on-one with eight supporting players in the background, rather than five men drawing on experience playing as a team to put together complex offensive and defensive schemes. It’s a lesson the Hoyas would do well to learn.

Bust Jeff’s bracket at jbakkensen@ georgetownvoice.com

fashion

8 the georgetown voice

march 25, 2010

georgetownvoice.com

fashion

the georgetown voice 9

In full bloom

Buds, buds everywhere, but not a flower to see! The balmy breezes and

sunny days of early spring seem like a tease when you’re still looking at stark, leafless trees and muddy strips of yellow grass. Why not help spring spring by being the very flower everyone has been waiting for?

This season, skirts are blossoming from waists in a cascade of petal-like

fringe, and floral frocks are making their yearly emergence from the cold soil of the back of the closet. A yearning for the verdant, vibrant colors of the perennial garden has been germinating all winter long, and it’s finally time to pull out those tulip-hued button-ups and lightweight scarves that were sadly stashed away a few months ago.

Show off those shapely stems with some high-waisted shorts, or free

yourself to stretch, unhindered, towards the sun in an effortless onesie. Target has been kind enough to team up with the British textile designers at Liberty to bring the charm of gardens across the pond to the sundresses of Americans everywhere. Their delicate floral prints are cheap and splashed across everything from rain boots to dunks, so stock up.

The gentlemen among us may not feel quite the same exuberance for

repeated pansy motifs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hop on the fun fabric train with some carefully chosen and exuberantly colored plaids. The addition of a smart bowtie never fails—it’s like a buttonhole flower that doesn’t wilt (as long as it’s properly tied!).

Summer will come soon and make us beg for snow again, so wear

rosebuds while you can—or just go ahead and make some out of paper.

—Katherine Norton

On the cover: On Margaret: Floral print dress $34.99 by Liberty of London for Target. On Jheanelle: Peacock patterned blouse $19.99 by Liberty of London for Target. Tiered skirt $128 from J.Crew. Jeweled feather headband $24 from Urban Outfitters.

On the backpage: On Margaret: Blue dress $221

by Amanda Uprichard from Urban Chic. Shoes model’s own.

On this page and backpage: On Jheanelle: Floral blouse $58, Nome de Plume from Urban Outfitters. Pink ruffled skirt $19.99 from Target. Shoes and bangles model’s own.

10 the georgetown voice

fashion

march 25, 2010

Onesie, twosie, redsie, bluesie!

georgetownvoice.com

fashion

the georgetown voice 11

On Jayson: Blue plaid shirt $17.95 from H&M. Jeans $58 from Levi’s. On Jheanelle: Pretty flower dress $58, Kimchi Blue from Urban Outfitters.

On Jayson: Red gingham button-down shirt $52 from American Apparel. On Margaret: Chambray jumpsuit $48 from American Apparel. Floral print scarf $18 from Urban Outfitters. Belt stylist’s own.

On Jayson: Multicolor plaid shirt $24.95 from H&M. Jeans $58 from Levi’s. On Margaret: Pinpoint oxford shirt dress $52 from American Apparel. On Jheannelle: Multicolored strapless dress $340, Shoshanna from Urban Chic.

12 the georgetown voice On Jheanelle: Black gingham button-down shirt $69.50 from J.Crew. Pink mineral wash denim shorts $32 from American Apparel.

On Jheanelle: Pretty flower dress $58, Kimchi Blue from Urban Outfitters. On Margaret: Figure skater dress $48 from American Apparel. Umbrella stylist’s own.

fashion

march 25, 2010

fashion

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 13 On Jayson: White dress shirt $59.50 from J.Crew. Jeans $58 from Levi’s. Seersucker bowtie $19 from American Apparel.

On Margaret: Red breezy button-down shirt $38 by BDG from Urban Outfitters. White shorts $24.45 from H&M. Floral headband $10 from American Apparel.

Get it right, get it tight­—tie up that bowtie and pull on those boots for a snug spring look.

Photographed by: Emily Voigtlander Styled by: Iris Kim, Kelsey McCullough, Miykaelah Sinclair, Katherine Norton, and Nico Dodd.

Modeled by: Jayson, Jheanelle, and Margaret

More at georgetownvoice.com

Floral rain boots $29.99 by Liberty of London for Target.

leisure

14 the georgetown voice

march 25, 2010

You rotten, dirty Motherfu— Scratch that Itch

by Mark Stern

The rural South Korean town in Joon-ho Bong’s Mother is a dark, ominous place for the film’s setting.

The weather is always rainy or overcast, the town’s hills are covered with tombstones and soggy debris, the residents constantly lurking in alleyways or suspiciously peering out windows. It’s a town full of secrets, but Bong doesn’t distract us with superfluous details. Instead, he focuses Mother on a single crime: the brutal rape and murder of a young woman. That the investigation of this horrifying incident opens up the floodgates of conspiracy should not come as a surprise. This is, after all, a small-town murder mystery, which wouldn’t be complete without a bit of communal culpability.

And yet, Mother is much richer than it might seem at first blush. The film’s main character, an obsessive mother (played by Hye-ja Kim), unravels as she attempts to prove that her mentally-challenged son has not raped and bludgeoned their neighbor to death. Delving beneath the townspeople’s serene exterior, she stumbles upon a web of violence and corruption, ultimately putting herself and the son she so desperately tries to protect in grave danger.

Despite its simple premise, the film’s plot proves complex, serving as a springboard for Bong’s reflections on power, truth, and the limits of love. The director, aware of the scenario’s conventional nature, avoids obvious tropes by focusing on the characters rather than the investigation. Accordingly, the linchpin of the Mother’s success is Hye-Ja Kim’s astounding performance. During

“Your mom goes to college!”

IMDB

her interactions with unethical cops and amoral businesspeople—all of whom the community considers pillars of integrity—she conveys a perfect mixture of courteousness and outrage. She expertly crafts her character’s emotional attachment to her son into a relationship that toes the line between tenderly endearing and disturbingly Oedipal.

Both the presence of evil and intense family relationships are

themes Bong explored in his last film, the witty and subversive The Host. But the difference between The Host’s antagonist, a monster gobbling up Seoul, and Mother’s much less tangible culprit, the machinations of corrupt authority, keeps the director’s latest film from feeling like a retread.

While there is an overriding ethical commentary, the film avoids becoming a sermon on morality. Rather, Bong infuses Mother with tension and excitement, employing classic Hitchcockian rules of suspense without Americanizing his material. Mother’s social criticism is aimed directly at South Korean society, yet it resonates with the same power as American films of the same genre, with its characters unwittingly spiraling into inescapable madness. Unlike many American directors, Bong meticulously establishes theme and character, inviting the audience to connect with the characters and share the agony of their misfortunes. When the film’s final twist is revealed, we feel more enlightened than deceived. With this masterful work, Bong and Kye-ja Kim prove that even small town families can become entangled in large-scale conspiracies.

Raise a brow for D.C. artists

by Leigh Finnegan

According to the mission statement of Georgetown University Art Aficionados, “creativity is and remains Georgetown University’s Achilles heel.” While many students have never been to the second floor of Walsh and think “American Gothic” refers to the weirdos they went to middle school with, GUAA has been trying its hardest to give the University’s population a greater appreciation for the arts. With Friday’s GTOWN@G40, an event exposing Georgetown students to the underground New Brow art movement, GUAA hopes to usher in a new era of artsy Hoyas.

The event takes place at G40: The Summit, a month-long art exhibition presented by the Art Whino gallery in Arlington. G40 focuses on New Brow art, a contemporary genre influenced by graffiti, street culture, and cartoons. With five floors and over 500 artists’ works, the exhibition is an immense display of New Brow murals and paintings, organized by the artists’ respective

cities. Throughout March, G40 hosted events, such as musical performances and art workshops, to widen New Brow’s audience.

When GUAA first heard about G40: The Summit and its commitment to New Brow, its leaders didn’t immediately assume that salmon-shorts-wearing Georgetown students and raw, underground art could develop a mutual appreciation for each other.

“We started brainstorming about having a night at G40 with a band, food, and a bar, but didn’t entirely realize that it could come to fruition,” Alexandra Crane (COL ’12), a member of GUAA and GTOWN@G40’s organizational committee, wrote in an e-mail.

The club decided that an event would need involve more than just art in order to appeal to students.

This prompted GUAA to book SeeI, a local reggae band born from six members of Thievery Corporation.

The event looks to be a runaway success. “Once we booked See-I, we realized that the event was not only going to become a reality, but that it was going to be

huge,” Crane said. The club advertised GTOWN@G40 as a night of food, music, and an open bar, with some artwork on display—if you’re interested. With an expected 350 to 400 attendees, most of whom don’t consider themselves art aficionados, the night is shaping up to spread appreciation for New Brow well past its on-campus fan base.

With the expected success of GTOWN@G40, GUAA is planning more artsy events within the Georgetown community. The club, funded by SAC, hopes to transform our campus full of future politicians into a center of artistic appreciation.

“Although The Summit will most likely be a one-time exhibition each year, we could host one major art event [or] party, depending on what’s happening in the DC area,” Crane wrote.

The group also plans to organize an event with WGTB called “Dark Side of the Rainbow.” The event will involve the simultaneous screening of The Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon too see if the urban legend holds true and the two sync up.

by Shira Hecht Bruce Norris’s The Pain and the Itch is a tricky piece of dramatic machinery. Its structure is carefully convoluted, painstakingly difficult, and yet, by the end, complete and exact. It’s just a tough journey to get there.

Director Courtney Ulrich (COL ‘11) uses the main characters to speak out against the audience, presenting a worldview so accurate it seems to exist purely to ridicule and deflate the viewers. And for the most part, Ulrich gets away with it.

Because luckily, The Pain and the Itch is pretty hilarious.

I found myself laughing more as I got progressively more annoyed, and then getting annoyed at myself for laughing.

It’s sort of exhilarating to be in such a wacky labyrinth of expectations and self-righteousness, and Nomadic Theatre does a hell of a job executing the tricky contraption. The Pain and The Itch isn’t always exactly fun, but it certainly impresses.

Clay (Jamie Scott, COL ‘10) and Kelly (Lily Kaiser, COL ‘12) are an upper-middle-class, liberal-leaning couple. Kelly is a frigid career woman, Clay an emasculated stay-at-home dad.

They have an infant son with sharp teeth, and a daughter (played by child actress Helena Lessne) with some sort of pain and itch in her nether regions.

There is an Arab man (Joseph Grosodonia, COL ‘10) in their home, for reasons that are not immediately clear. Also around are Clay’s brother, Cash (Joshua Goode, COL ‘13), an arrogant plastic surgeon, his girlfriend, a sexy Slavic immigrant named Kalina (Kate Stonehill, SFS ‘12), and Cash and Clay’s mother, Carol (Francesca Pazniokas, COL ‘11), a teacher who watches PBS and repeats herself a lot.

These five or six people fight.

A lot. They fight about money, Republicans, family histories, Slavic countries, sex, lack of sex, how to raise children, porn, fig bread, violence in the media, the pronunciation of “perspective,” and who or what has been taking big bites out of their avocados. They fight loudly, quickly, and with everyone talking over everyone else.

The constant arguing is exhausting to watch, but thankfully, the cast handles the mood well. Kaiser and Scott may lack some heaviness in their roles, but they adeptly deal with mood switches, overlapping dialogue, and their complicated relationship with aplomb. Stonehill and Pazniokas are pitch perfect and immediately recognizable, often uncomfortably so. Grosodonia has real charisma, and may be the only sympathetic character in the play. (When the good guy has slicked backed hair and makes fun of his girlfriend, you know you’re in trouble.)

The production itself is gorgeous. The set is perfect— everything you need to know about this couple can be seen in their DVD collection, not to mention their art, photographs, and vaguely ethnic vases. A neat bit of stagecraft with the table helps flip from scene to scene, and the entrances and exits are welltimed as to never be distracting. The cast moves through their perfectly articulated world like a well-oiled machine, only stopping and slowing down at the big moments, which come telegraphed with poses and intense glares. It isn’t subtle, but it works.

A performance that takes its audience on a complicated mental rollercoaster generally doesn’t also manage to keep them laughing and entertained.

But after watching The Pain in the Itch, the viewer is left not only contemplative and slightly mind-boggled, but with a few surprising, quotable jokes to lighten the mood.

MAX BLODGETT

“Does it burn as well as itch?”

georgetownvoice.com

lez’hur ledger

Adventure to the land before time

by Brendan Baumgardner

A Neanderthal woman struggles under the weight of the antelope slung over her shoulder, carrying it laboriously back to her family’s shelter. The hunt was successful, and the meat will ensure survival for at least a few more days, provided she can elude predators.

Beside the huntress, two schoolboys giggle. Only about eight-years-old but her equal in stature, the first child explores the wound in the antelope’s side and shouts, “Hey look! You can stick your hand in the guts!”

His classmate has other things on his mind. While his friend explores antelope carnage, this little boy is furtively fondling the Neanderthal’s breasts.

The most obvious message of the Museum of Natural History’s new exhibit: kids love nudity.

I saw a lot more, however, than children groping bronze statues. At the David H. Kotch Hall of Human Origins, I witnessed a cross-section of civilized man: elderly couples wowed by the fossil record, and new parents trying to excite the imaginations of their children. I saw teenagers sneaking off to the dark theatre and a young girl pushing a stroller for her weary mother. And, of

course, lots of giggling about the term “homo erectus.” I saw joy, shock, love, and greed (seriously, gift shop? Four bucks for a pen?). In short, I saw the end result of the exhibit’s subject.

Every surface of the Hall of Human Origin is packed with information. There are glass cases full of skulls, tracing evolution from the diminutive skeletons of our ancestors. While these artifacts were incredible archeological breakthroughs, the most visually impressive displays were the recreations. Lining the hall were fantastically realistic busts of humans at all stages of evolution, which artist John Gurche imbued with spirit and emotion while still maintaining accuracy.

Looking from the monkeys to the masses around me really brought the exhibit to life.

SMITHSONIAN

Our Brendan is no Encino Man.

This is your brain on hookah Smoking is a fairly prevalent vice at Georgetown. We have all walked past that guy in the GERMS shirt smoking on the Village C Patio, and there is nothing new about having to pass through the eternal smoke cloud in front of Lauinger in order to get some studying done. But the other day, on the lawn, I noticed another kind of smoke cloud—a trendy, exotic, fruity kind of smoke cloud.

This one looked fun and inviting, and fairly harmless, especially since it was being generated by a vibrantly colored, narrow vessel at the center of a social circle of girls in sundresses.

Hookah, an Indian tradition, appears to be light-hearted and good-natured enough. Most see the smooth, water-filled smoke,

the georgetown voice 15

“Was that like a secret pudding?”—Punch-Drunk Love

and instinctively believe that all the chemical toxins and carcinogens have been filtered away, drowned out, and completely replaced by all of that white peach flavoring. But in reality, a hookah habit isn’t any better than a cigarette habit. According to a World Health Organization advisory, a one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. So, even if hookah is just a Saturday night social activity, it comes with some hidden health risks.

Hookah allows users to inhale a larger volume of tobacco smoke than cigarettes do, but that smoke is filled with just as many, if not more, toxic compounds. If you are inhaling hookah smoke, you are

Other aspects were less successful. The overuse of timelines, for example, was a flop.

One particular young girl misinterpreted a vertical timeline tracing the steps of human development to mean that she was approximately three million years tall. Her mother, also puzzled, was reluctant to correct her.

As is frequently the case with museums, the gimmicky often overshadows the educational. The sad fact is that hard science can be boring. But interactive displays and funny games sell tickets, which fund the hard science.

Case in point: I spent most of my time at the exhibit waiting in a Disney World-length line for a glorified photo booth. Once inside, I positioned my face in front of the camera, and through the magic of photo manipulation, my image morphed before my eyes into a genuine depiction of myself as a prehistoric man. I opted for the Homo neanderthalensis.

As I typed in my e-mail address to have my photo sent to me, I couldn’t help but wondering what the point was. Had the gift shop somehow invaded the exhibit proper? This wasn’t science.

But as I left the booth, I spied a group of kids, enthusiastically pointing at a squatting Neanderthal man’s junk. I was still giggling as I left the exhibit.

inhaling tar, nicotine, and other carcinogens, so you can’t expect to avoid cancer any more than the average cigarette smoker.

Hookah has two additional health risks, which may make it an even worse stress-reliever than the classic cigarette. Often, wood cinders or charcoal are used to burn the tobacco. When

Rub Some Dirt On It

by Sadaf Qureshi

a bi-weekly column about health substances like these are burned, they release some pretty toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and carbon monoxide. The other problem with hookah is the sharing of mouthpieces amongst a group of friends, and even among strangers, if hookah bars provide customers with mouthpieces that have not been sufficiently cleaned

Concert Calendar THURSDAY 3/25

Jukebox the Ghost with Tally Hall and Skybox Black Cat, 8 p.m., $13 Alicia Keys with Robin Thicke Verizon Center, 6:30 $49.50—$128

p.m.,

FRIDAY 3/26

Imperial China with Cephalopods Velvet Lounge, 9 p.m., $8, 21+

SATURDAY 3/27

Natalia Clavier DC9, 11 p.m., $12 Winard Harper Bohemian Caverns, 7:30 p.m., $25

SUNDAY 3/28

The So So Glos with The Pharmacy Black Cat, 9 p.m., $10 A Sunny Day in Glasgow with Phil and the Oscars DC9, 8:30 p.m., $10

MONDAY 3/29

Japandroids with Love is All Rock & Roll Hotel, 8 p.m., $135 Bon Jovi with Dashboard Confessional Verizon Center, 6:30 p.m., $49.50—132.50

or sanitized. These are ideal conditions for the spread of germs, bacteria, and infection. Anything that can spread via saliva can spread via hookah, which means that smoking hookah puts you at greater risk for transmission of viruses like herpes and hepatitis.

Despite all of the equally ugly health risks, hookah seems to have a much greater appeal for college students than cigarettes do. To begin, it is a fairly affordable habit.

(And I say habit because it is, in fact, addictive.) At somewhere between five and 25 dollars for a pipe at a cafe, the average college student doesn’t need to worry too much about breaking the bank.

The large variety of flavors means there’s always something new to try. The social aspect is important as well—it’s a relaxing, low-key activity to engage in when hanging out with a group of friends.

TUESDAY 3/30

Jello Giafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine with Sick Weapons Black Cat, 8 p.m., $12

THURSDAY 4/1

The Smith Westerns with So Cow, The Cheniers Black Cat, 8:30 p.m., $10

FRIDAY 4/2

Nada Surf with Dawn Landes and the Hounds 9:30 Club, 8 p.m., $20

SATURDAY 4/3

Ron Carter Bohemian Caverns, 10 p.m., $40

SUNDAY 4/4

Wale with K’Naan 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $27.50 Past Lives with Snack Truck DC9, 9 p.m., $8

MONDAY 4/5

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with Alberta Cross 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $20

THURSDAY 4/8

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with Obits, Screaming Females 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $15

For those who prefer something slightly more serene than the average party or bar-hopping scene, hookah can seem like a pretty good alternative outlet. Finally, hookah is steeped in a tradition and culture that is foreign and new to most of us. It has the appeal of all things strange and unfamiliar, the appeal of curiosity and imagination.

While all good scholars value curiosity and imagination, don’t let yourself get carried away. Reality and awareness are just as important, and separating fact from fiction is essential. So don’t let yourself get caught up in the myths and mystique that serve to mask the unpleasant truth— smoking hookah isn’t nearly as harmless as it appears.

Teach Sadaf how to inhale at squreshi@georgetownvoice.com

leisure

16 the georgetown voice

march 25, 2010

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

Fang Island, Fang Island, Sargent House According to Jason Bartell, one of Brooklyn-based Fang Island’s guitarists, the group’s goal is to “make music for people who like music.” Chances are, if you’re reading a music review in Georgetown’s left-leaning, artschampioning newsmagazine of record, you’re one of those people. And you’ll be happy to know that Bartell wasn’t kidding—Fang Island’s self-titled debut is like one big celebration. It’s raucous, inventive, and a ton of fun.

Fang Island is a blueprint for how to do bombastic rock right.

There are layers of guitars and extended solos galore, accompanied by crazy drum fills and loud crescendos. But the band wisely avoids many of the pitfalls of arena rock—the cheese, the balladry, the “hey, while we slow

down, take a look at how gratuitous we can be” moments. They avoid those moments because they rarely slow down, pummeling through ten tracks in just over a half hour.

Although they might not break for air too often, they do know how to build into their frenetic jams. Opener “Dream of Dreams” starts with some crackling noises, then gives way to what sounds like a Ratatat track without their signature beats.

Soon afterward, infectious vocal harmonies take over and lead into the instrumental “Careful Crossers,” one of the album’s more rhythmically interesting tracks.

Like everything else on the album the song is relentlessly happy, full of catchy hooks, and short on introspection and surprises.

The album’s third track, “Daisy,” with its chanting vocals, rollicking drums, and progressive structure, is another highlight. But because the collection is so rushed, its songs so energetic and driven, it’s an exhausting listen, even just at a half hour. Occasionally, it seems like Fang Island is out of ideas. “The Illinois” sounds like a less masterful version of “Daisy,” and “Treeton” is surprisingly lacking in catchiness. When the band finally slows down at the album’s end with “Davy Crockett,” its

Booze in your back pocket In the Prohibition era, knocking one back—or two, or three, for that matter—was about more than just getting sloshed on a Saturday night. “The defiant rebel with his pocket flask had become an almost irresistible symbol of dignity, courage, manhood, and liberation from hypocrisy and pigheaded repression … a symbol which could elevate drinking into a sacrament of true individualism,” Norman Clark wrote in Deliver Us from Evil.

The repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment largely stripped the act of drinking of its appealing “Fuck the Man” quality. But there’s still something that we can take away from Clarke’s defiant rebel: his flask. Prohibition may have gone the way of the flapper and the Charleston, but even in 2010, the flask is as classy

as ever. And it’s time we brought the flask back.

This only applies, of course, if the flask is used in the proper setting. Your internship on the Hill, for example, is not the best place to be surreptitiously stealing swigs of Scotch. Same for your 8:50 micro class, or that dinner with your girlfriend and her parents.

When used judiciously, the benefits of a tumbler full of the good stuff in the right setting are legion. A well-deployed flask at a packed rooftop party, for example, can allow you to enjoy some fine bourbon while avoiding the herd of thirsty freshman crowding the keg. And forget about worrying when the jungle juice is going to run out. Your flask lets you maintain a pleasant buzz throughout the evening with no fear of becoming sober or blotto.

gradual build proves a blessing, providing much-needed catharsis and a bit of new direction.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I like some of the cheesiest, most lyrically cringe-worthy hard rock around. Fang Island is like that, but without the cheese.

Voice’s Choices: “Careful Crossers,” “Daisy,” “Davy Crockett” —Justin Hunter Scott

MGMT, Congratulations, lumbia Records

Co-

From its scratch-off lowbrow album art to its panned leak of “Flash Delirium,” critics and bloggers were eager to make scant predications about MGMT’s follow-up to 2008’s smash hit Oracular Spectacular. That is, until the rest of the album leaked.

The group announced that no sinThough the flask might seem like the accessory of the loner, when passed among a group of friends standing in the cold, each taking a hit of rough whiskey, it can create a bond similar to that between smokers who bum cigarettes from each other. (And without the lung cancer!) There’s nothing like a

Bottoms Up

by Sam Sweeney

a bi-weekly column about drinking shared vice and a bit of generosity to bring people together.

Before you rush off to buy your own little stainless steel flask, there are a few questions for prospective flask-owners that should be answered.

What alcohol should be put in a flask?

Good alcohol—I prefer scotch or whiskey, or maybe

gles would be released from the album so that fans and DJs will listen to the whole album and play the songs that “jump out at them.” The sad thing is that there aren’t any that do. What’s surprising about Congratulations is that MGMT does not fail by going overboard.

Instead, they drastically confine themselves, which is even more disappointing. With drums and bass solidly in their lineup, MGMT has eliminated the electronic aspect of its sound, and the result is an album that remains slow from beginning to the end. Lead singer Andrew Van Wyngarden’s voice barely rises above an urgent coo. There are no anthems, and no songs that can be danced to.

That’s not to say that the album sounds horrible. It’s just surprising that a band would entirely change its approach when singles like “Kids” and “Electric Feel” were huge hits. Relatively speaking, MGMT maintains the pop psychedelic sound found on its last album, but adds la-la folk to it. The album is well produced and well recorded. Plenty of time was spent making the songs sound good, but unfortunately they are not provocative musically, lyrically, or thematically. Where Oracular Spectacular had verses filled with hedonistic scenes and curse words, Congrateven a nice rum. The booze can be used for spiking drinks, but it’s primarily meant to be swigged. Considering this, the type of alcohol really doesn’t matter too much as long as you can drink it straight without grimacing like Muhammad Ali just punched you in the liver.

Also, on a more personal note, I’d also avoid high proof alcohol like Bacardi 151—the extra bang might be a bit more than you bargained for.

What kind of flask should I get?

I’d recommend a basic stainless steel flask, small enough to be discrete, but not so small that you run dry half an hour after refilling. Sparse decorations on the outside—get your initials engraved if you must. If you’re in the mood to splurge, you can get a flask with a glass lining inside, which should keep your booze from taking on an unpleasant metallic taste.

ulations’ lyrics are neither memorable nor anthemic. One has to wonder how an audience will respond to these songs.

Congratulations is a psychedelic slumber party. In tracks such as “Brian Eno,” the music goes on and on without engaging the listener because the weak lyrics do not create any mental images, while the music is not exciting enough to carry itself. There is no suspense, no surprises, and little ground is broken. The album sounds like a more naïve and less creative version of The Flaming Lips.

Perhaps the only track deserving of a pat on the back is the final track, “Congratulations,” an acoustic ballad with a David Bowie bass line that reminds us of how genuine the band can be. What makes this track better is that it does not sound like it was under the microscope of a producer. It’s enjoyable because it sounds like they are making it by themselves. Congratulations shows that MGMT need to get out of the studio and back into the house party.

Voice’s Choices: “Congratulations,” “It’s Working,” “Siberian Breaks” —Nico Dodd Where should I buy my flask?

Where do you buy anything else? Online. Amazon has a fair selection of basic flasks for as little as five bucks. If you can’t wait to have one shipped to you, Georgetown Tobacco carries a variety of stainless steel, chrome, and leather bound flasks, though they’re more expensive than their online counterparts.

One last note: flasks aren’t just for men anymore. For women, too, a flask can now be an irresistible symbol of dignity, courage, liberation from hypocrisy, and ... well, you get the idea.

So men and women alike, carry your flasks proudly, knowing that next time the keg runs dry or the cold is too much to bear, you can just reach for your inside pocket. Drink up, friends. Here’s to true individualism.

Tell Sam where to hide his flask at ssweeney@georgetownvoice.com

fiction

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 17

Fluorine Elemental Fluorine is the most chemically reactive and electronegative of all the elements. It has an atomic number of 9, preceded by Oxygen and followed by Neon. Elemental Fluorine, F2, is mainly used for the production of two compounds of interest, uranium hexafluoride (used in uranium enrichment) and sulfur hexafluoride (used as a gaseous dielectric medium in the electrical industry, an inert gas for the casting of magnesium, and an inert filling for windows).

Teacher: Fluorine … Fluorine, Fluorine, Fluorine. Fluorine is my favorite element. Fluorine (he says it like FLOW-reen) is a slut, a whore, a skank. She is the Jezebel of the elements.

You can see her on the periodic table, flashing her big old F for all the elements to gawk at. What are you looking at me like that for? Fluorine is sexy, oh boy is she sexy. Oh, I’ve wanted Fluorine for a long time. I can’t have Fluorine, though, because she is a poisonous gas when she is in her elemental form of F2. She sure looks pretty on that chart, but she is a black widow, well I should say a pale, yellowish brown widow. Fluorine is the sexiest of the elements. All the other elements want her! They see her and they say ‘Hey Fluorine, you looking fine tonight. Why don’t we do some bonding?’ That’s right, Fluorine is the easiest element to bond with. She has seven electrons on that outer shell and she is just dying to get the first guy element’s electron all over her outer shell. Let me ask you, who is the sexiest element?

Class: Fluorine …

Teacher: That’s right. Makes me need a change of pants just looking at her. Ope, I’ve been warned about saying those kinds of things. Let me ask you this, what’d you do this morning Marshall?

Marshall: I brushed my teeth, said my prayers, and went over my flashcards.

Teacher: That’s right, that’s good. I don’t care if we already had the test, you still gotta be doing three things when you get up every morning: brush your teeth, say your prayers, and read over your flashcards. And spend extra time on any flashcard with Fluorine, sweet, sweet, tempting Fluorine. Makes me miss my Suzy just thinking about Fluorine. She’ll come back.

Fluoride therapy is commonly practiced and generally agreed upon as being useful by dentists. Fluoride combats the formation of tooth decay primarily in three ways: 1. Fluoride promotes the remineralization of teeth by enhancing the tooth remineralization process.

2. Fluoride can make a tooth more resistant to the formation of tooth decay.

3. Fluoride can inhibit oral bacteria’s ability to create acids.

Oh look at that. Yeah, I see that. Hmm. So how you doing, Lionel? How’s your dad? What are you, a junior? Almost there. Hmm, your gums are looking awfully puffy and we’ve got decay in multiple regions. Have you been brushing and flossing? Oh you have? Well that’s strange since all of the evidence on your teeth tells me otherwise. How much soda do you drink? Two, three cans a day? Cut it out, cut it all out. How much soda are you going to drink? No, look me in the eye and tell me you will cut soda. Great. Now back to brushing and flossing. Have you been brushing? How many times a day? Yeah, yeah, sure. Flossing—once a day, right?

Yeah, well when you’ve heard that story as many times as I have, it starts getting old. Now, Kellie just flossed your teeth?

Did it hurt? I hope it hurt. I hope you tasted the blood filling up your gums and you were too afraid to swallow with her hand still in your mouth. You just kind of existed somewhere between breathing and drowning. That’s the punishment. I can sit here and tell you all day about how you’re going to get cancer if you don’t floss, but your gums find a lot of great ways to punish you. Look me in the eyes. It’s just you and me, Lionel. Brush twice a day, floss at least once a day, but you’ll get off my shit list sooner if you floss in the morning AND at night. Now, I’m going to look at your X-rays while you watch this video on proper brushing and flossing. If you

By Jared Watkins

didn’t want to be treated like a child, you would have been flossing a long time ago. You’re lucky we started fluoridating the water or you’d be just gums by now …

All right, Lionel, I took a good look at your X-rays. You remember last time you were here, I told you to see my friend Dr. Herman? You’ve got an overbite the size of Kentucky and you’ve got crowding on the lower jaw. Did you see Dr. Herman? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Like it or not Lionel, you will be in braces if I have my way. It may not look serious now, but you are going to have some major troubles flossing in the future if we don’t fix that now. Not that you’d know anything about flossing, but we’ve already gone over that.

Now, I’m going to give you this referral again. For your own good, see him. You need Dr. Herman, how will you ever be happy with these crowded chompers? They’ve got flexible payment options if that’s what you’re worried about. By the way, make sure to let your parents know that they can’t make anymore appointments here until they pay their account in full. All right, time for fluoride. What flavor do you want?

I’ve got cherry, black licorice, root beer float, grape, and— my personal favorite—banana split. Remember, no eating or drinking for an hour. I’ve got one of these little goody bags for you: a toothbrush, some fluoridated toothpaste, some brochures on braces, and—most importantly of all— your floss. I don’t want to see any bleeding gums next time you’re here. And remember, every time you want a soda, just drink a cold glass of tap water. It’s healthy for your body and your teeth.

Fluoridation does not affect the appearance, taste, or smell of drinking water. It is normally accomplished by adding one of three compounds to the water: sodium fluoride, fluorosilicic acid, or sodium fluorosilicate.

I told them … I really did.

Look up the Pendaloosa Post dated 30 February 2004.

Here are my words: “I don’t know how it got past us.

Maybe it was the Commie rage.

They didn’t believe them.

Please believe me.

I’m rational … I love science.

I love reason.

But Fluorine will never love me … ”

It goes on like that for a while.

I didn’t know about persuasive writing back then.

But you can’t say I didn’t see this.

I was passionate, too passionate.

It looked like I lost my reason but I didn’t.

And now people are dying because I was laughed at in the Pendaloosa Post.

Here’s some more: “We all thought strong teeth were good enough.

No cavities, give it to the children.

I’ve been bottling my own spring water since 1996.

My electricity got shut off two, three days ago.

I don’t blame anybody, I didn’t pay my bill.

I heard them say that strong teeth were better than pure water.

Think of the children.

Think of the children.

That was a distraction, the health costs are minimal.

Look at me, I’m rational.

Some streaks, your teeth are fine.

Nobody’s ever died from Fluoride overdose.

Ever tried swallowing toothpaste?

Nothing happens.

No, the Fluoride is just a symbol.

They can do whatever they want to your water.”

I used to buy bottled water, then I found out it’s just bottled tap water.

Here’s today’s Pendaloosa Post, I wrote another letter but I’ll save that for later.

It says “Five more dead from mysterious poisoning.”

I told them.

Pendaloosa Post dated 30 February 2004.

They threw me in with the autistic vaccines.

But then we always treat our most important people in the worst ways possible.

If we treated them well, they wouldn’t be important.

You think anyone will remember the well off?

Not on your life.

They still have my address on file.

It doesn’t matter, if they need me they’ll come for me.

Oh, and they’ll need me.

Or at least want me.

Pendaloosa Post dated today of all days …

“You are wrapped in panic avoiding ingesting all things.

Boiling your water.

Buying the plastic stuff.

Kneeling by your child’s hospital bed and wiping tears with her gown.

You wish she had a wound you could suck.

You wish you could wander all eternity for her life.

You wish you had moved from Pendaloosa when you could.

You wish you had stopped drinking water like they do in Mexico.

I told you … I told you all this would happen.

Pendaloosa Post dated 30 February 2004.

The Fluoride … it was a symbol.

And now we shall fall under plague.

We shall roll in our vomit.

We shall let our cavities come.

I did it.

You trusted too much.

Now drink from the toilet.”

The Pendaloosa Post opinion page.

Where dreams come true.

The Fluorine in your system will last long after you die. Let it absolve you, let it wash away your tartar, let it have your electrons, let it save you from your own damn mouth.

Ji-Nah Yang

voices

18 the georgetown voice

march 25, 2010

Turnitin.com turns profit on students’ work

by Byron Tau Georgetown University prides itself on a strong ethical tradition. In my own journalism masters program, an ethics class is one of two mandatory graduation requirements. The University also boasts a policyoriented ethics institute whose mission is to “serve as an unequalled resource for those who research and study ethics, as well as those who debate and make public policy.” And, in a nod to the University’s Jesuit tradition, undergrads are required to take a year ’s worth each of philosophy and theology courses. In short, a Georgetown education is supposed to be an ethical education.

So why does the University condone coerced trampling of students’ intellectual property while presuming we are all possible plagiarizers?

The problem stems from the presence of Turnitin.com on the Georgetown campus, a website

through which students submit papers that are then compared against a database to detect possible instances of plagiarism. In a 2006 interview with the Washington Business Journal, thenHonor Council Executive Director Sonia Jacobson reported that 10 to 15 percent of professors were using the service.

You might wonder what students who don’t cheat have to fear from plagiarism detection software. What’s so wrong with a harmless software program whose only aim is to ensure an honest day’s work?

First, there’s the dubious ethics of presuming students’ guilt and forcing them to demonstrate their innocence. An ethical education should involve a degree of trust. Georgetown should be confident that the ethical precepts it emphasizes would be reflected in the actions of their student body. A presumption of guilt goes against Western legal and ethical principles and has no place in an academic setting.

But more importantly, there’s the issue of mandatory copyright violation that’s built into the Turnitin.com business model. In trying to detect plagiarism, the website does a tripartite search. First, it crawls the free Web in a manner similar to Google. Second, it searches a database of copyrighted material like newspapers and academic journals—a database that it pays copyright holders to access. And finally, it searches its own databases of every student paper that it has ever received.

Under U.S. law, students retain the copyright to their work.

Turnitin.com makes a profit off of archiving copyrighted student material without any recompense. A 2008 lawsuit against the website’s operators was dismissed in court, partially because the students had forfeited their right to sue by accepting Turnitin.com’s Terms of Service.

If a school mandates that students use Turnitin.com, what practical recourse do they have?

The thorny legal question remains unanswered. If Turnitin.com pays a fee to license published content from copyright holders like newspapers, magazines, and academic journals, why are student copyright holders any different? Turnitin.com charges schools to use its services, then archives the papers it receives to expand its database. A non-profit foundation or crowd-sourced version of Turnitin.com might have a legitimate case for existing.

But paying corporate copyright holders while greedily arguing that students have no legitimate rights is unacceptable.

Ultimately, these issues are for courts to grapple with.

But in the meantime, there is something that can be done immediately. Students can start to refuse to use the service. Submit a physical copy of all papers to your professor, but refuse to hand over your copyright to a third-party company. At my undergrad

alma mater, McGill University, it only took two acts of civil disobedience to convince the school that Turnitin.com was a violation of student rights.

Jesse Rosenfeld and Denise Brunsdon both refused to submit their assignments to the site. Both were vindicated by the University Senate, which curtailed the use of the site by professors and prevented them from requiring its use.

In banning this website, Georgetown would be in good company. Following McGill, top-tier schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton soon followed suit in banning the site completely. It is up to us to add Georgetown to that distinguished company.

Byron Tau is a masters student in journalism in the School of Continuing Studies. No, cheaters, not cheetahs. Cheetahs are fine.

Agoraphobia on the Hilltop: Unreasonable insularity

by Emily Fink & Marcie King Ask Georgetown students to list the top five reasons they chose this school, and the one thing that almost everyone will include is the location. Here we have the best of both worlds: a beautiful campus on a hilltop overlooking our nation’s bustling capital. But how often do Hoyas really venture beyond the brick paths of M Street and cross over to the cemented reality of what is commonly known as Pennsylvania Avenue? Not very often.

This insularity is surprising, especially because so much of the Georgetown student body consists of experienced world travelers. If you have gone through New Student Orientation, you have met at least one person who has built a house in Costa Rica, another who splits the year living in England and Italy but is actually American, and at least ten people who summer in Spain with their families. With all this globe-trotting, why is Third’s on Wisconsin Avenue the farthest Hoyas dare to travel on a Thursday night? The irony of the situation is obvious: Georgetown students come from all over the world, but once they get to campus, they seem stuck on the Hilltop.

Part of the problem comes from getting too comfortable on campus. When it finally feels like you’ve gotten to know

seem like it’s the responsible choice to sit and study, at the end of the day—at the end of the four years—the memories

bility to educate the entire person. This doesn’t just mean universal philosophy and theology requirements. It means taking

JIN-AH YANG

The White House! Lincoln Memorial! Foggy Bottom! Wait ... actually, “Foggy Bottom” isn’t that enticing. your way around campus, it is difficult to find the motivation to explore what’s beyond the front gates. It seems so much easier to seclude yourself at a table in a corner of Lau and cram for a statistics test than it is to navigate the streets of Washington. Although it might

made off campus will be more important than the equations you learned for your test.

Upon stepping onto Georgetown’s campus, students take it upon themselves to fulfill the philosophy of “Cura Personalis.” As members of a Jesuit community, it is our responsi-

the initiative to enrich all aspects of your life—intellectual, spiritual, and cultural. There are many ways to go about doing this. You could take an art history class that requires visiting a museum, participate in any of the community service clubs on campus, see a performance at

the Kennedy Center, or just sit on the front lawn and strike up a conversation with a friend or a complete stranger.

To its advantage, Georgetown is located in a city rife with opportunities for personal growth.

For us, first semester was all about getting acclimated to college life in general. Being on campus was overwhelming enough without having to think about exploring a new city.

Coming back second semester, however, we realized it was time to go to Barnes and Noble and make the investment in a “What to Do in D.C.” book. We realized it would be pathetic to look back in four years and realize that we didn’t know anything about the city in which we lived.

Whether you are a seasoned traveler or a homebody, this is a city worth getting to know. Living in Washington, D.C. is just as cool as living in any other major city. Embrace this opportunity. The only thing left to do now is get out of Lau, get on a GUTS bus, and go.

Emily Fink and Marcie King are freshmen in the College. After they visit all the D.C. hotspots, they’re thinking about going to Scranton.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

19

One student’s premeditated path to medicine

by Scott Wisniewski Even before you get to college, people ask what you want to major in, a choice that could set out what you’re doing for the rest for your life. You did pretty well in all your math and science classes in high school: all APs, all fives, no big deal. So you say that you’ll go pre-med. Hey, after all, a doctor’s salary doesn’t sound too shabby.

But then you start your chemistry and biology classes, and after the first tests, your classmates start dropping like flies.

With the requirement of eight years of school and up to seven years of residency looming large, many people decide that the profession’s not for them after all. The initial commitment is often made on a whim, but it takes much more—like a life-changing experience—to pledge the next 15 years of your life and hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans to achieve this one goal. My reason is Adam.

I was nine years old when my cousin Adam became sick.

He was as healthy as any other four-year-old boy, until one day he came down with a 105degree fever. The doctors said it was viral and would run its course. Two nights later, as

Adam fell asleep in my aunt’s arms, he had his first seizure.

He spent the next seven weeks in the intensive care unit under a drug-induced coma. During this time, Adam experienced kidney failure, liver problems, and heart complications that demanded he be placed on a heart transplant list.

I visited Adam with my family almost every weekend while he was in the hospital.

The once smiling and laughing little boy lay speechless and motionless. I could not understand why this had to happen.

Why didn’t the doctors have a cure? They diagnosed his condition as viral encephalitis. If they knew what was wrong, why couldn’t they fix it?

Adam was eventually released after nine months in the hospital, as the doctors again admitted that there was nothing that they could do. He has been at home since, under the constant care of my aunt; he is essentially unresponsive, experiences countless seizures each day, and recently had to be saved from an episode of cardiac arrest brought on by a severe case of pneumonia.

For the last ten years, I have been focused on a career in medicine not because of the money,

Courtesy SCOTT WISNIEWSKI

Scott and Adam shortly after Adam’s illness left him in a vegetative state and changed his family’s life forever.

but because of the diseases to be cured, the patients to be saved, and the families in the waiting room that deserve a doctor who can walk in and say, whatever the outcome, that he gave his best effort.

Now more than ever, entering the medical field is not just something that can be done on a whim. With the recent passage of the new healthcare bill,

Oh V.P. Magoo, you’ve done it again!

Vice President Joe Biden is one of the most recognizable men in the country. He is Barack Obama’s right-hand man. He helped pass universal healthcare. But when he said, “this is a big fucking deal” on national television, Biden cemented his place in my heart. Biden was embracing the president in front of television cameras and microphones, and he probably thought that he was speaking out of range when he blurted out this statement to his boss.

He was not.

Ever since he was selected as Obama’s running mate, the most common descriptor of Biden has been “gaffe machine.” In fact, a Google search of the terms “Biden,” “gaffe,” and “machine” reveals over one million results.

Vice President Biden’s absurdity brought me back to the first few months of President Bush’s first term, when Comedy Central premiered a show called That’s My Bush! from Matt Parker and Trey Stone, the minds behind South Park. The premise of the show was that Bush was essentially the embodiment of every out-of-touch and simpleminded father who has starred in sitcoms. And so Stone and Parker attacked the tropes of ‘70s and ‘80s sitcoms instead of the biting political and cultural attacks of South Park. They went so far as to give the White House a whacky next-door neighbor and a mouthy maid.

I would love to see a sitcom about Biden’s life. He already has the way too attractive wife, a staple of any sitcom. I don’t think that there is any way the

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, e-mail voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office Leavey 413.

Administration could be hurt by a reality television show crew documenting the daily life of our most delightful Vice President.

Even though he has 36 years experience in the Senate, it is difficult to take Biden completely seriously; as much as

Carrying On

by Daniel Newman A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

he may want people to see him as a serious legislator, he can’t help coming off like the shiftless uncle crashing in the White House. In the past year Biden has been the subject of numerous Onion headlines playing to this personality, including “Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway” and “White House Infested With Bed Bugs After Biden Brings In Recliner Off The Curb.”

Between the on-camera swearing and plethora of other faux pas that Biden commits,

the future of the medical field is as uncertain as it’s ever been.

Fifteen years of intensive study is a long time, but to me, it will all be worth it. When I checked the box labeled “Pre-medicine” on my college application, it wasn’t just another form to fill out, a possible plan for my four years at Georgetown, something to have on my diploma when I leave the Hilltop. It was

we don’t even need the Onion to create amusing Biden-related stories. Take for example, Biden’s review of his pick for Best Picture, Avatar: “I think one of the odds on favorites ... is um, is uh, this uh, this, this, this new program that I looked at and wished I was seeing it ...”

Oh, Joe, please never leave us.

When comparing the Bush Administration and the first year of the Obama’s time in office, it is important to note the different types of satire on public officials. The Biden mockery centers on his persona as it is lodged in the national consciousness. Biden is the first boob that we have had in office in a long time. It is important to differentiate between Biden being a boob and Bush being an incompetent dud. A boob is closer to The Office’s Michael Scott, offensive and boorish but able to do the job at the end of the day.

This is not to say that Biden is not a smart guy. Whether or not he is smart is in no way important to the jokes. It is not important whether or not Dick Cheney is the spawn of Satan—he is, by the way—, it just matters that that is how he is

a life decision, a commitment of my life to the many other lives that will eventually be placed in my hands.

Scott Wisniewski is a freshman in the School of Nursing and Health Studies. No male nurse jokes, please. He’s a little sensitive.

perceived.

It has been a long time since there was someone in the executive branch as harmlessly amusing as Joe Biden. As That’s My Bush! shows, the last time was that first Bush year coming off of the halcyon post-Clinton, pre-9/11 days. But suddenly, after 9/11, Bush was no longer the harmless fellow who couldn’t pronounce “nuclear”—there were actual lives at stake.

The theme of Biden as boob could be seen as a return to normalcy after the paranoiainducing years of the Bush Administration. I can’t say that I really buy it, especially since we still have troops fighting two wars and we’re in the middle of a recession.

Even though the Obama Administration is far from perfect and has a long road of recovery ahead of it, I just hope Joe stays his loveable irascible self as long as he is in office.

Daniel Newman is a senior in the School of Foreign Service and a contributing editor for the Voice.

J.B. and Champ: friends fur-ever.

last look