4 12 2012 by The Georgetown Voice

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FARMERS’ MARKET BACK FOR SPRING PAGE 5

GARZA LEADS IMPROVED BASEBALL TEAM PAGE 6

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w April 12, 2012 w Volume 46, Issue 12 w georgetownvoice.com

Under the bridge

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april 12, 2012

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JJ IS ON HIS WAY TO THE HILLTOP!

U.S. Census Bureau director Robert Groves to be next Provost

DONATE USED TEXTBOOKS TO AID MIGRANT FARMWORKERS

Campus Plan negotiations resurrected

The Harvest of Hope Foundation raises funds through the resale of college and high school textbooks to provides critical assistance to migrant farm workers. To donate textbooks in good condition, contact Philip Kellerman at 352 262 5421 or phil@harvestofhope.net

MIDDLE STATES VISITING TEAM THINKS GEORGETOWN IS THE BEE’S KNEES

Help us spread the word! www.harvestofhope.net

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SCS Dean named President of the University of Indianapolis

Talk Back

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Voice Crossword “Stacy’s Dessert ” by Tyler Pierce 1

14 17

21 25

28 31

30 33

40 42

20 22

41 46

45 48

51 53

Across

19. Degree sought after in the Harriri building 1. Kindspecialty of sale 22. Pierce 20. Cars43. Whipper 65. Metqpod's 7. Depressed ruler 23. Mrs. Dithers of21. 44. Inaneness theMideast Down 11. Gangster’s gun 22. Smelly comics 45. Gasteyer of "Mean 14. Tree related 24. Arabic for 25. Head wrap 1. Yak away Girls" 15. Miniscule amount 28. Fad footwear for a good "commander" 2. Lawyer's org. 48. Finished a marathon 16. “Aladdin” prince cause 25. Villain, colloquially 3. Harry's bro 49. Paypal 17. GUASFCU leader 29. Melodic operamoney passages 4. Bill Clinton, e.g. 5. Range 6. Gladden

26. Pakistani, for example 27. Composer Roti

50. Turkish bigwig 52. Ann or Cod 54. Scrooge expletive

30. Diva’s solo 31. Type of 20 Across 33. Famous circus 40. Life of ___ 41. Swampy ground 42. Pseudonyms 46. Ship’s front 47. Irresponsible grandmother, endearingly 48. Try to forget about 51. Indian’s home 52. Chocolate source 53. However, to a texter 54. Occasional Stacy offering at Leo’s, or a hint to 17, 25, 33, and 47 Across 60. Market: Abbr. 61. Crowning 62. Give a sheep a haircut 63. Like a Martini 64. “___, There and Everywhere,” 1966 Beatles hit 65. Metapod’s specialty Down 1. Yak away 2. Lawyer’s org. 3. Harry’s bro 4. Bill Clinton, e.g. 5. Range 6. Gladden

7. Partiality 8. Captain’s journal 9. Colorado indian 10. Type of canal 11. They wear green in Brave New World 12. Like Silas in The DaVinci Code 13. Princess accessories 18. Silent consent 21. Din 22. Pierce 23. Mrs. Dithers of the comics 24. Arabic for “commander” 25. Villain, colloquially 26. Pakistani, for example 27. Composer Roti 31. Free appetizer at Los Cuates 32. Memphis-to-Nashville dir. 34. ___ Major

answers at georgetownvoice.com

35. Appearance 36. Rude 37. Italian money 38. Freud’s life wish 39. Evergreens 42. Eased 43. Whipper 44. Stupidity 45. Gasteyer of Mean Girls 48. Finished a marathon 49. Paypal money 50. Turkish bigwig 52. Ann or Cod 54. Scrooge expletive 55. Corroded 56. ___’easter 57. Schoolboy 58. Elvis Presley’s “___ Lost You” 59. Half a score

ARE YOU A LOGOPHILE? Share your love of words and help us write crosswords. Email crossword@georgetownvoice.com

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Volume 46.12 April 12, 2012 Editor-in-Chief: Sean Quigley Managing Editor: Leigh Finnegan Blog Editor: Jackson Perry News Editor: Vanya Mehta Sports Editor: Kevin Joseph Feature Editor: Rachel Calvert Cover Editor: Richa Goyal Leisure Editor: Heather Regen Voices Editor: Connor Jones Photo Editor: Lucia He Design Editors: Julia Kwon, Kathleen Soriano-Taylor Projects Editor: Rob Sapunor Crossword Editor: Tyler Pierce Assistant Blog Editors: Ryan Bellmore, John Sapunor Assistant News Editors: Soo Chae, Morgan Manger Assistant Sports Editor: Steven Criss, Abby Sherburne Assistant Leisure Editors: Mary Borowiec, Julia Lloyd-George, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editors: Julian De La Paz, Abby Greene Assistant Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Assistant Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Contributing Editors: Geoffrey Bible, Nico Dodd, Iris Kim Tim Shine

Staff Writers:

Geoffrey Bible, Mary Cass, Will Collins, Jane Conroy, Emma Forster, Daniel Kellner, Morgan Manger, Kelsey McCullough, Eileen McFarland, Matt Pacana, Paul Quincy, Adam Rosenfeld, Jake Schindler, Melissa Sullivan, Fatima Taskomur

Staff Photographers:

Nick Baker, Sam Brothers, Helen Guo, Kirill Makarenko, Tim Markatos, Jackson Perry, Matthew Thees

Copy Chief: Kim Tay Copy Editors:

Keaton Hoffman, Tori Jovanovski, Claire McDaniel

Editorial Board Chair: Gavin Bade Editorial Board:

Tiffany Brown, Rachel Calvert, Patricia Cipollitti, Nicolo Dona Dalle Rose, Leigh Finnegan, Julia Jester, Linnea Pittman, Cole Stangler, Julia Tanaka

Head of Business: Keaton Hoffman Business Staff: Sara Ainsworth, Zoe Disselkoen, Meghan Fitzpatrick, Charmaine Ng, Aarohi Vora

The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday. This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org. Mailing Address: Georgetown University The Georgetown Voice Box 571066 Washington, D.C. 20057

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

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved. On this week’s cover: Graffiti Under the Bridge Cover Photo: Matt Thees

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SIR, THAT’S MY UNDERWEAR!

Strip search ruling violates Americans’ rights In a five-to-four decision last week, the Supreme Court decided to allow any arrested individual to be strip-searched, regardless of the degree of the offense. The constitutionality of the decision is debatable, but the ruling represents an egregious offense against the rights of Americans. The case in question involved a man who was strip-searched despite having been cleared of the crime for which he was charged. The decision expands police rights against women, a group that is already subjected to coercion and occasional brutality—although there are many honorable officers, there is also the minority who would willingly abuse the power not only to strip search, but also make arrests with an allowance to strip search as a motivation. It also detracts from the long-held assumption of “innocent until proven guilty”—many who

are arrested are not even on trial, yet they are immediately presumed to be dangerous and desperate enough to hide weapons, drugs, or other dangerous goods on their bodies. Not only is this is an unnecessary and gross breach of the rights of a prisoner, but the arguments on which this decision was founded are negligible and completely irrelevant. The argument that strip searches are necessary to maintain order and security is unsubstantiated. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy noted that Timothy McVeigh, the infamous Oklahoma City bomber, was arrested for driving without a license plate. This example is irrelevant. Strip-searching would not have revealed McVeigh’s plans, but only whether or not he had an item in a body cavity. Strip-searching for security purposes is reasonable if it is for the sake of prison security, but it is

completely illogical to argue that prisoners should be strip-searched for the safety of the population at large. The presence of criminals within our population does not mean that we should all be treated as security threats. There is no argument that can excuse the treatment of traffic violators with the same severity as murderers. This decision, along with the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, is another step in the country’s disturbing march toward a police state. If the Supreme Court concerns itself so greatly with our security, they should stop making it easier for police to target innocent individuals and instead work to reshape our broken, often racially discriminatory justice system. Physical strip-searching is no guarantor of security, but a population that knows its right to a fair trial is.

THE HUNGER GAMES

SNAP program assists in stamping out poverty Earlier this week, the United States Department of Agriculture released the results of a nine-year study demonstrating that the country’s food stamp program is effective in alleviating poverty among its participants. In today’s political climate, where conservative candidates and pundits have launched attacks on America’s social welfare programs for encouraging laziness and complacency, the results of this study present a strong argument in favor of the continuation of such programs and highlight the utter incoherence of the radical right and its view of poverty and government’s role in the economy. According to the study, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, which has been in effect in some incarnation since 1939, had a statistically significant impact on the poverty levels of its participants during the current recession. As the New York Times reported on Tuesday, the results show that the program brought the average participant’s income six percent closer to the poverty line, and the percentage was even higher for fami-

lies with children. This means for the approximately 46 million people whom the program serves, SNAP effectively eases one of the more crippling aspects of poverty—concern for the ability to feed oneself and one’s family—enough to allow participants to increase their incomes and bring themselves closer to breaking the cycle of poverty. For the approximately 14 percent of Americans who live in poverty, including 18 percent of D.C. residents, these results are promising, and demonstrate the vitality of such poverty relief programs. It also further highlights the danger of the rhetoric that has recently been thrown around by conservatives about social welfare programs. In January, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said that African Americans “should not be satisfied with food stamps,” insinuating that black people are complacent simply receiving public assistance and won’t work for themselves. This is one of the main criticisms that conservatives have historically made

against social welfare programs—that they encourage satisfaction with poverty. This study, which demonstrates the programs help impoverished people increase the income they earn for themselves, prove that such comments are not only utterly ignorant and insulting, but dangerous as well. Should a candidate who holds such mindless views come into power, as they have in state governments across the nation, systems such as SNAP would at the very least have their funding slashed. This would have disastrous effects for the millions of impoverished Americans. The results of this survey demonstrate that programs like SNAP provide small boosts with which poor Americans can begin to lift themselves up the income ladder. Voters must keep this effectiveness in mind come election day, when candidates who oppose such programs could threaten to push these people further into poverty, and show these false statesmen how disgusting their views are.

A WRINKLE IN TIME

Unprecedented bill curtails women’s choice

In the latest development in the redstate onslaught against women’s reproductive rights, Arizona is on the verge of passing one of the most egregious anti-choice bills yet. Unprecedented in scope, the bill would ban all abortions after 20 weeks, and require women to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before an abortion. In keeping with the theme of other personhood bills springing up across the country, this bill seeks to undermine Roe v. Wade, which guarantees women the right to an abortion up until the point when the fetus is viable outside the womb. However, this bill goes to great lengths to undermine women’s choice, while shaming the women who attempt to exercise their reproductive rights. Late-term abortion bans are based on the claim that fetuses at this developmental stage can feel pain. However, this bill goes farther than others of its ilk, pegging the moment of conception to the first day of the woman’s last period. Determining the actual moment of conception—largely accepted

to be when the sperm and egg implant in the womb—is more difficult than such a definition of conception would imply. Since women can ovulate up to two weeks after the last day of their period, this bill starts the clock up to two weeks before conception occurs, effectively banning abortion after 18 weeks. Banning all late-term abortions is a drastic attempt to impose right-wing values on Arizona women, and it disregards the realities of the situation. Only 1.5 percent of abortions occur after 20 weeks, and for the most part these are drastic situations, when the mother’s life is in danger or the fetus is found to have a life-threatening condition. Although the bill does include exceptions to protect a woman’s life, these exceptions do not extend to instances when the fetus would likely not survive birth. Furthermore, such an extreme ban would render most tests for the fetus’s viability moot, as most are inconclusive until this point. Given the rare circumstances under which women receive late-term abortions, the Arizona bill is

nothing more than a moralizing attempt to impinge upon women’s choice, regardless of the emotional or physical consequences. Although it remains unclear how the bill’s unusual and wildly inappropriate definition of conception could be deployed for future policies, reproductive rights advocates worry that this bill could be more restrictive than others of its kind. Besides the draconian policy implications, the crux of the personhood bill debate is about stigmatization and shame politics. All of the features of the legislation—from criminalizing late-term abortions to requiring emotionally manipulative ultrasounds—contribute to an environment that demeans female sexuality and stigmatizes even legal abortions. Overturning Roe v. Wade, the end goal of anti-choice legislators, would be extremely damaging. The proliferation of personhood bills like the one up for debate in Arizona create similar environments in their respective states, and all serve to curtail the control women have over their own bodies.

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GU announces new Provost by Vanya Mehta On Tuesday, President John DeGioia announced the appointment of the University’s next Provost and Executive Vice President, Professor Robert M. Groves. A professor at the University of Michigan, Director of the U.S. Census Bureau since 2009, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Groves will assume office on Aug. 20. Over the past month, the search committee for the Provost narrowed the 12 final candidates down to five, and conducted two-day interviews where each candidate was introduced to important members of the Georgetown administration, faculty, and community. Professor Wayne Davis, president of the faculty senate, was one of the leading members of the search committee. “Any one of the five candidates would’ve been absolutely outstanding, but pretty much the general consensus with Bob Groves was that he was the superior candidate in all respects,” he said. “They were all extremely accomplished scholars but his certified record is really beyond compare.”

One of the primary aims of the search committee was to find a Provost with a background in the sciences. According to Davis, no current faculty or administration on the main campus is a part of the National Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, Davis said, Groves’s role as Director of the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrated his strong management skills. “Getting a job done that people thought was going to fail, and getting it done under budget, significantly under budget, without horrendous political firestorms or scandal…indicated that he’s got pretty good administrative, political, people skills,” he said. Davis said the fact that Groves was not a Jesuit was “not a relevant characteristic,” and noted that the past four Georgetown Provosts have not been Jesuits either. During the interview process, Groves indicated a serious interest in the Intellectual Life Reports as well as a committed interest in working closely with the medical center. In February, the search committee held a town hall to inform students on the details and process for interviewing and finding

a candidate for Provost. “It is true that the Provost’s main role is with deans and faculty and the President, but we did get the impression that he will be more actively involved with students,” Davis said. “We got the impression that he … will go out and meet the students and interact, find out what’s going on in their minds.” Some students at the town hall expressed a desire to see more diversity in the search for a Provost. Davis mentioned that the pool of candidates was “a remarkably diverse pool,” with “men and women, a mixture of races, with Asians and African Americans.” The first tasks facing the Provost this summer will be improving University-neighborhood relations and instating the enrollment caps imposed by the District government. “One of the things we liked about his approach was that…the way to solve these problems is to work with the neighbors long before the official planning approval comes, you start developing relationships, walk around the neighborhood,” Davis said. “Who knows, maybe it’ll work a lot better.”

falls under the Constitution’s “commerce clause,” that it could technically be considered a “tax,” or that it’s “necessary and proper.” When asked why health care reform is such a “landmark decision” facing our government, Joseph Wender, the legislative director for Congressman Ed Markey, answered that Affordable Care is so monumental because, with its passing or overturn, we will witness “the extent to which the court will enter the political scene.” An overturn would mean “five unelected people reversing the will of two houses of Congress and the signature of the president,” Wender said. Many questioned why conservatives are opposed to the Affordable Care Act when it seeks to foster the health of our nation. Kraemer said he believes such backlash exists because “there is something strange about the federal government ordering you to buy something.” Many conservatives believe that, if we allow the government to tell us what to do with health care, then it will be difficult to determine where the line will be drawn on what we allow the government to mandate of us. “We’re going to get sick,” said panelist Professor Mark Rom, who

recently wrote an essay about the “impossible inevitability” of health care reform. “We’re all going to die eventually. That’s what makes this issue different from others.” Furthermore, people oppose the Affordable Care Act because it has become a symbol of party opposition. According to Wender, “this [issue] is different than all the others because it is the crowning achievement of President Obama,” and therefore “health care has become the quintessential vehicle to attack the presidential agenda.” “We are such an angry country right now,” Kraemer said. “Liberals and conservatives are so fundamentally opposed to one another,” implying that polarization hurt the ACA’s prospects of survival. Panelist Keavney F. Klein, a graduate of the School of Nursing and Health Studies and Georgetown Law who has studied the Affordable Care Act for years said, “you’re part of an economic system whether you like it or not. At some point, you’re going to need to see a doctor.” With that being the case, she said, the law’s constitutionality is not even a question, for its statutes fall under the commerce clause of our constitution.

april 12, 2012

Wisconsin median to be widened by Connor Jones This Thursday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3B will address the District Department of Transportation’s plan to reduce the number of lanes of traffic and widen sidewalks on a stretch of Wisconsin Avenue north of campus in Glover Park. At the meeting, ANC and D.C. government officials are expected to discuss concerns from residents that reducing lanes of traffic will only compound congestion on the road and hurt local businesses. The meeting follows a 2008 study by DDOT on ways to improve safety for pedestrians, maximize on-street parking, and develop a uniform lighting and banner scheme for the length of road stretching from 34th Street to Massachusetts Avenue. The study found that “Roadway geometry, lane balance, and parking regulations are not consistent within the study portion of Wisconsin Avenue.”

According to the report, although the resources for pedestrians are “extensive,” including “sidewalks, crosswalks, bus stops, and signals,” the width of sidewalks at locations in the business district around Safeway “is substandard for an urban environment.” Reducing the number of lanes of traffic would allow for construction of a larger sidewalk. Neighborhood opposition to the plan argues that a lengthy period of construction would severely clog the street, potentially reducing business activity in Burleith. Wisconsin Avenue currently has three lanes open for traffic, which is reduced to two in off-peak hours as cars are allowed to park on the outer lane of the road on each side. Logic would seem to dictate that a reduction in the number of lanes of traffic would increase congestion, but the plan could, in fact, decrease the number of cars traveling on Wisconsin, thus either keeping traffic constant or easing overcrowding.

Students, professors debate future of Affordable Care Act by Evan Sterrett Yesterday, the Georgetown University Student Chapter of Academy Health held a panel entitled “Constitutional Challenges to the Affordable Care Act: Perspectives and Reactions” in the Leavey Center Program Room. The panelists tackled the constitutionality issue surrounding the Affordable Care Act, and took a largely liberal and supportive stance. Rachel Piltch-Loeb (NHS ’12) opened the evening, and Professor John Kraemer gave the introduction. According to Kraemer, there are three ways to evaluate constitutionality: the “whatever the court says” is the constitutional outlook, the “interpretive,” based on reasoning and precedence sense, and the “normative” ideal of what should be constitutional. The panel announced its aim to speak with the “interpretive sense” regarding the act’s constitutionality. Kraemer highlighted the two main facets of the legislation that usually surface in constitutionality debates—the individual mandate, which officially requires citizens to purchase health care, and the expansion of Medicaid. The act has been defended on the grounds that it

Republicans claim that if the legislation is struck down, they will soon replace it with something else. Klein, however, is not convinced. “I have significant doubts that that would ever happen,” she said. “It’d be a really long time before anything this massive happens again.” And if the bill is overturned, Wendell says, “it’d be a sad state of affairs because that would say that it’s not even within Congress’s

power to decide one of the [nation’s] biggest problems.” But even in the event of a legislative overturn of the ACA, panelists insist that there is still hope for the future of the American health care system. “Even if it’s overturned, there are a lot of things in the Affordable Care Act that I think will carry on at a regulatory level,” Klein said. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

GU professors discuss the Affordable Care Act in a panel on Wednesday.

Lucia he

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the georgetown voice 5

From beef to bracelets: Farmers’ Market returns to Copley Lawn by Morgan Manger The Georgetown University Farmers’ Market made its spring semester debut yesterday on Copley Lawn. Vendors in attendance included Beechwood Orchards, Burekg Homemade Turkish food, Salsa Las Glorias, and Panorama Bread Company. Market organizers Melissa Gadsden (NHS ’12) and Bre Donald (NHS ’12) have plans to expand the scope and inﬂuence of the farmers’ market this semester beyond the current sale of produce. This includes the creation of a new mini-lecture series to take place each week, entitled “Fresh Foods, Fresh Thoughts.” Gadsden and Donald have reached out to a wide variety of professors to give short talks about how the subjects they specialize in relate to sustainable and fair food practices. “We’ll probably feature two lecturers at each market, each talking for ten minutes about food,” Gadsden said. “Topics will range from sustainability and agricultural issues to abstract ways of thinking about food.” The organizers intend to launch the lec-

ture series at next week’s farmers’ market on April 18. Farmers’ Market organizers are also looking to recruit more diverse vendors of vegetables, fruit, meat dairy, and specialty foods. Both Gadsden and Donald looked to other area farmers’ markets in Dupont Circle and the Eastern Market as models for the market at Georgetown. The group sent applications to vendors they wanted, and other vendors have approached them asking to be part of the market. Many of the vendors were pleased with the business they received at yesterday’s market. “I like this place,” Dilek Kaygusuz of Burekg Turkish food said. “The people are nice. We get a lot of good business, a lot of traffic, and people come back.” Salsa Las Glorias vendor Lily Castano agreed, saying she enjoyed interacting with the young customers she garnered at the Georgetown market. One of the new additions to the market this semester is Rocklands Farms, which raises pasture-fed meat and grows produce about 30 miles outside of D.C.

Fewer dollars for charters

On March 29, some of the biggest names in educational reform descended on the District for a ritzy dinner and discussion on the future of school choice and public charter schools in the city. The FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools) Gala included speeches from former New York City Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown. Kaya Henderson, current Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, was also in attendance, although she did not speak. While the event was lauded by school choice advocates in the media, Mayor Gray and Chairman Brown seem to have disappointed. Both neglected to mention a topic on everyone’s lips—equal funding for charter schools. Hopefully, the two men did not omit the topic out of ignorance, but rather because they didn’t want to offend the proschool privatization crowd. D.C. charters do not deserve or need equal funding to traditional public schools in the city, and despite the well-funded advertising and lobbying efforts of the school choice

community, the bulk of our tax dollars should go to schools able to serve all students. One of the biggest arguments in favor of D.C. charters is that they are more successful at increasing test scores and graduating at-risk students. On the surface, this seems true—the 2011 graduation rate for D.C. charter schools overall stands around 80 percent, while newly revised numbers for traditional public schools put their rate at under 60 percent overall. School choice advocates would have us believe that this is all because of their innovative techniques and ﬂexible hiring and firing of teachers, but there are many other factors also in play. Although they bill themselves as open to everyone, charters are actually self-selecting institutions. A student and his or her family have to opt in to a charter school, filling out lengthy applications, surviving a random selection system for admittance, and often traveling considerable distances to get to school. This means that students who end up in charters are more concerned about their education and/or have parents

They will only be selling meat and eggs at the Georgetown market, but their vendor said they hope to become further involved in other ways with the Georgetown community. “We are hoping to engage people with our food and educate them,” Anna Glenn said. “We want students to start thinking about the real issue of where their meat comes from and for students to know that there is a farm close by.” Another new addition to the market is a group that sells crafts made by women from the Luther Place Women’s Homeless Shelter. The shelter learned of the possibility of selling their crafts at the market through its partnership with Georgetown sociology professor Sarah Stiles. The group sells crafts ranging from crocheted hats to hand-made earrings, all sold with a tag reading “a bridge for healing.” “The women come together to have a place to create,” Kirsten Kane-Osorto, Coordinator for Community Life and Justice at the shelter, said. “It allows the homeless women to experience some economic security.” who push them to an option outside of their neighborhood school. Meanwhile, the public schools get all types the unmotivated, those with broken family lives, and the children of apathetic parents. It only makes sense that these schools would not graduate as many people, and this is completely acceptable. Schools should look not only to educate those who come motivated and ready to learn, but to inspire those

city on a hill by Gavin Bade

A bi-weekly column on D.C. news and politics made bitter or despondent by circumstance to reach for something better. Traditional public schools fill this role, and should be funded more to deal with the unique challenges they face. Additionally, charter schools often do not offer the same services that public schools must. For instance, special education and English as a second language classes are often not offered at charters, so these students, who require more educational resources, are sent to their neighborhood schools.

The market currently sells a mix of products, but Gadsden and Donald aim to bring in vendors who will steer it in a more organic direction. As seniors, they said they intend to recruit leadership interested in continuing the legacy of the market they have championed for the past two semesters.

“We have five or six or people taking over different aspects of the market such as logistics, philanthropy, community outreach, and marketing,” Donald said. The market will continue every Wednesday for the rest of the semester until May 9.

Lucia he

The semester’s ﬁrst Farmers’ Market featured a variety of vendors on campus. Charters should not be funded as though they provide these services. Furthermore, charter schools often receive ample funding from private organizations. In fact, many of the biggest charter successes, like the Harlem Children’s Zone and the nationwide KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools, stand on the shoulders of countless wealthy donors. This means that they often have the means to hire more teachers, offer higher wages, increase technology in the classrooms, provide more after school programs, and much more. It’s well documented that charters nationwide don’t provide better education than their traditional public counterparts only 17 percent get better results to a level that is statistically significant and those that do are often the ones with the choicest students and most funding. Certainly, they do not need more government dollars. This private funding highlights an even bigger issue with school privatization—lack of oversight. Although all charters receive public money, they are privately owned and operated. That means there is no local

school board or, in D.C.’s case, a school chancellor and mayor to hold accountable for ineffective institutions. Their corporate benefactors or university sponsors cannot be voted out of office when things head south. This means that we are effectively giving money to officials who are not ultimately accountable to the public. They certainly do not deserve more of it. Most importantly, charter schools, no matter how good they are, cannot serve every student. While we do not need to make public schools better or more ﬂexible like some charters, they are the only institutions that hold the potential to serve every student. There is nothing wrong with school choice in principle, but we must first make certain the one universal option is a good one. Charter schools do not deserve more funding, but our traditional public schools certainly need every dime they can get. That’s the only way to truly make sure no child is left behind. Waiting for the real Superman? Find him in Gavin at gbade@georgetownvoice.com

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april 12, 2012

Garza leads improved Georgetown baseball team by Steven Criss With three Big East series out of the way in the 2012 season and a conference record of 3-6, the Georgetown baseball team appears to be putting together a better finish than it did in 2011. With a 16-17 record so far, this season is shaping up to be significantly better than last year’s, when the team ended 10 games under .500. Strong offensive bursts from the club have been essential to many of their wins against highly offensive opponents. Much of this offensive spark can be contributed to their strongest contributor, shortstop Mike Garza. Hailing from San Antonio, Garza is a redshirt junior leading the team in several offensive categories. Both in and out of conference, Garza has been putting up numbers that put him among the top in the Big East. His .390 batting average ranks fourth out of all players in the conference, and his 53 hits rank second. Practicing three days a week in addition to playing games every weekend and occasionally during the week has put Garza in a groove he hopes to continue, but the extra work that has fueled his success came earlier, during the fall months. “In the offseason, I did things a little differently, focused more on weight training and stuff like that but as far as the season I just try to keep a pretty set routine day to day,” he said of his workouts. Although many of the teams Georgetown has faced in the preseason were not as challenging as those they have faced in conference, Garza’s conference batting average is even higher at .424. His seventh-ranked overall slugging percentage (.596) has also improved during Big East matches, during which it reaches a teamleading .727. His fellow teammates have also helped put him on another

top-ten list with 28 RBIs, ranking him seventh in the league. Consistent performance from others in the Hoya lineup such as Justin Leeson, Corbin Blakey, and Rand Ravnaas has allowed Garza to drive in his team-leading RBI statistic and score 23 runs (third only to teammates Leeson and Kevin Johnson). With the bulk of the regular season ahead of them, the Hoyas want to keep up their hitting and improve their pitching as they move in to face the next set of conference teams in Villanova and Notre Dame. The pressure is mounting for the Hoyas with the two big upcoming series, and the team is sticking to the goals it set out at the beginning of the season. Wins in these series could put the squad in very good position to make its first ever Big East Championship run. “We came into this season looking to make the Big East Tournament,” Garza said. “I don’t think that’s ever been done in Georgetown baseball history, so I mean that’s kind of a team goal, but for me that’s also a personal goal. I want to try and help carry this team with the other guys that are playing and to get us into the record books.” As an individual, his performance this season extends past the Big East Championship in May. High stats and a deep run in the tournament mean a better opportunity to get drafted onto a Major League Baseball team. “I hope to get drafted, for me that’s probably my biggest personal goal,” said Garza of his future prospects. Despite this aspiration, he plans to take the rest of the season day by day, focusing his attention mainly on the game ahead. The team will be traveling to Pennsylvania this weekend to take on Villanova for a three-

GEORGETOWN SPORTS INFORMATION

Mike Garza’s early production has helped Georgetown improve.

game series, and will face Notre Dame next weekend after a stop at Coppin State University. Although a challenging two weeks are ahead, the Hoyas look to move up in the ranks among their Big East foes.

“I think every game in conference is a big game and a tough game,” Garza said. “Villanova I’d say is a big-time rival as far as baseball is concerned so it’s always a tough series. Notre Dame traditionally is always

pretty tough so you got to come out every Big East weekend and play A plus baseball to have chance to win so we’ll go out and hopefully we can do that and put some wins up on the board for these weekends.”

the Sports Sermon “Saints need to name Ozzie Guillen + Bobby Petrino as co-interim head coaches so every annoying sports story can merge into one.” -Bill Simmons thought of being hated, especially by an Orlando fanbase that has adored him since the Magic drafted him in 2004. Yet, as it stands today, he is the biggest phony of all three. Howard came out of high school as an affable and strongly Christian man, just trying to establish a foothold in the NBA. For years, that trend continued, as he carried the Magic to an NBA Finals appearance (albeit in an extremely weak Eastern Conference) and made himself the NBA’s version of Superman with his athleticism. Then, as speculation abounded this season, Howard demanded a trade from Orlando to the New Jersey Nets. That’s fine and well, at least in today’s day and age, where he was simply following Carmelo Anthony’s precedent from less than a year prior.

In an effort to be loved by all, Howard suddenly became “Water Pistol Pete Junior.” the least credible athlete in all of On Tuesday, former NBA player sports. He was exposed for his Jalen Rose gave fellow ESPN anmanipulative ways, no longer alyst Skip Bayless the nickname, shielded by the same Orlando mocking Bayless’s false claims management that he tried to about his high school playing escape from. Instead, he proved days. Bayless claimed to have that Bayless’s criticism of Howbeen the starting point guard for ard as “the LeBron James of a state championship contender, big men” was indeed true. Of which gave him the skill and excourse, Howard rebutted that pertise to criticize Russell Westclaim with the same athlete vs. brook’s shoot-first mentality. media mentality that backfired But the wheels came off on him. when sources tore down Bay“I don’t think he’s ever put less’s credibility, finding that he on a jock strap, stepped on the scored a grand total of 21 points floor and played any type of as a senior bench player in high basketball,” Howard said of school. Though the lie tarnishes Bayless. “That’s his job. That’s his reputation, Bayless’s slip-up their job to criticize players.” was very much in character. It’s good to see Howard Bayless has made a career acknowledging Bayless’s role out of openly criticizing athin the sports world. His main letes in harsh terms, like callproblem, though, is that he does ing Chris Bosh “Bosh Spice” not know his own role—flipand referring to ping between genPete Rose Central LeBron James as eral manager and Da bettin’ line “Prince James.” He victimized basketestablished himself ball player to siDookies Margin Hoyas as a journalist and multaneously get (underdogs) (duh!) a man that knows (favorites) his way and keep sports, and as such his fans. Cuban Russia he does not need Prokhorov At heart, HowSkip Bayless Varsity the credibility of Jalen Rose ard is an immature being a former Allsuperstar—nothNerlens Footsteps Shabazz Star point guard to ing else can exvalidate his opinion. But Howard did not plain his eleventh-hour deciSkip seems even to embrace stop there, as he flip-flopped sion to opt in for an extra year his role as an outspoken villain, throughout the process and with the Magic. He may be a one whom athletes love to rip tried to pin the media as the bad once-in-a-generation talent, apart. That trend seems to be guy skewing all of his words. but that does not make up for more common in the media, but Dwight was a loyal guy, all-in his mentality. certainly not among athletes, and all for the Magic, at least in A general manager or a who simply want to be loved the public’s eyes. But with the coach can probably look past a and adored. trade process, the public got the number of incidents—the Van Exhibit A: LeBron James. insider look at what Howard Gundy episode, his disappearExhibit B: Dwight Howard. truly desired, and the two ap- ance in fourth quarters, and his In the same manner as Bay- pearances conflicted drastically. rumored quitting of the team, less, LeBron lost his credibility The saga reached a preci- to name a few—because of his and the respect of many fans pice when the media began re- sheer talent. But to the fans, his overnight with his dramatic porting that Howard had asked act is up. Howard is not the bedecision to leave Cleveland the Magic to dismiss its coach, loved superstar he once was. Infor Miami in the summer of Stan Van Gundy. Howard, in a stead, he’s a villain, in the same 2010. Both men will always be bizarre scene, came to Van Gun- boat as Bayless and James. Like criticized, but both accept their dy’s side and once more blamed his two hated counterparts, he roles as villains (though it still the media for the rumors, not needs to move past it and get gets under LeBron’s skin from knowing that it was the coach back to what he’s good at – no time to time). Howard, on the himself who had informed more theatrics, no more manipother hand, cannot bear the them of the story. ulation. Just basketball.

by Kevin Joseph

sports

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the georgetown voice 7

Tarzian leads strong Big East play Noel spurns Georgetown by Abby Sherburne With a four-game streak of victories by a margin of seven goals or more, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team is on a convincing campaign for the postseason. Most recently, the women’s lacrosse team defeated Louisville 19-11, smack dab in the middle of a Big East run. After a rough three-game losing streak at the beginning of the season, the team has been on the rebound, only losing one of its last six contests—to top-20 Loyola in a 15-14 overtime match. Head Coach Ricky Fried says that the early losses have helped get the team to where it is now. “Biggest thing is we’ve improved over the course of the year,” said Fried. “[We’ve] attested ourselves with some top competition and while we’re disappointed with those re-

sults, I think it’s paid dividends for us down the road.” The streak is all the more impressive because of the depth and youth of the squad this year. At the beginning of the season, Fried said that the players’ athleticism would be a crucial factor in the team’s success this season, and so far this has proven true. The talent of junior midfielder and returning star Sophia Thomas has certainly played a large offensive role for the Hoyas. Leading the squad with 37 points, she has led by example for the youth of the team. Freshman Caroline Tarzian is trailing Thomas closely, with 32 points on the season. Tarzian has started all 12 games this season, and has surprised fans with her aggressive scoring techniques. But she wasn’t expecting all of this success, and has been humbled by her Georgetown lacrosse experience.

ABIGAIL GREENE

Freshman Caroline Tarzian is giving the Hoyas a major lift.

Guillen abuses sports’ big stage As fans, we often insulate ourselves from the complex relationship between sports and society. The games and narratives offer an exciting and romantic experience, allowing us to escape from the trials of reality. And yet, sports can also painfully remind us of conflicts and struggles in the all-tooreal sociopolitical world. Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen reinvigorated this idea with his remarks regarding Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in a recent interview with Time. He ironically expressed his admiration for Castro (albeit referring to him colloquially as a “son of a bitch”) for his decades-long staying power, in spite of the frequent attempts to take his life. The immediate public outrage and embarrassment, especially within Miami’s large Cuban community, prompted both a comprehensive apology from Guillen—unusual for his outspoken character—and a five-game suspension to be enforced by the Marlins. The reaction to Guillen’s comments underlines sports’ undeniable significance in the communities they engage. Guillen is more than just the manager of a

professional baseball team—he is a figurehead and representative of the Miami community. While most around the country will get over his poor judgment in expressing his simplistic and rather childish understanding of Castro, Cuban-Americans and those living in the Miami area struggle to find forgiveness for his insensitivity and immaturity. As someone who holds such a prominent role in the public eye, he should know better. His words are all the more discouraging given that he was specifically hired to foster stronger ties with Miami’s sizeable Latin American community. It only took him a few games to disgrace himself in the hearts and minds of this crucial group within the Marlins’ fan base, and his mistake could also not have come at a worse time for his employers. The Marlins entered this season oozing expectations, with a new ballpark, big-name free agent signees, and even a new name and logo to emphasize their commitment to building a new identity for the franchise. Though our country upholds cherished laws regarding free speech, the organization was left

“I knew I would be able to make an impact but I didn’t know how much,” said Tarzian, “It’s really exciting to be able to play as much as I am.” Fried is impressed with her gritty play, saying that she’s living up to his expectations. “She’s really stepped in and hasn’t missed a beat since high school,” Fried said, “We’re excited about how she’s doing.” The lefty attack certainly has an edge over defenders with her quickness. “She plays fearlessly,” said Fried. “She is a very athletic, determined player who has worked into our system rather well.” Tarzian is quick to point out that there was an opening for her. “Our offense is relatively new,” she said. “Our only returning attacker is Dina [Jackson].” But her success isn’t just luck: she was ranked number 16 in the top 25 rising freshman in the country. “She’s stepped up,” Fried said. “Not only can she dive, but she can distribute the ball.” On her strategy for the rest of the season, Tarizan is keeping her goals simple. “[I want] to do the best that I can out there with the time that I’m given.” She’ll need to continue to step up as the Hoyas reach their final stretch in the season. The team will face No. 3 Syracuse next on the road, and then No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 2 Maryland the following week. with no choice but to administer punishment to its main spokesman for such a foolish moment. Further action could still be taken, as protests throughout the past few days by the Cuban-American community have called for Guillen to get his pink slip. Should the Marlins’ front office find its connection to the fan base irreparably severed with Guillen at the helm, the team may be forced to move in a dif-

Double Teamed by Daniel Kellner a rotating column on sports ferent direction. His sincere and well-articulated apology seems to have only partially healed the wounds he ripped open regarding the incredibly delicate issue of Castro and Cuba. However, it is difficult to believe that had Guillen been the manager of another team, one with a smaller Latino and specifically Cuban following, that he would have been met with the same vitriol and potential consequences for these actions. Surely he would still have been attacked in the media and required to express remorse, but it is unlikely that his job would be

by Kevin Joseph “Then you’ve got Georgetown, and I really just like everything about them.” Nerlens Noel, the top high school recruit in the country, summed up the Hoyas in a blog post just one day before his decision on Wednesday evening. Ultimately, though, the Massachusetts native opted for Kentucky over Georgetown and Syracuse. He revealed his decision with the Kentucky logo shaved into the back of his signature flattop, disappointing Hoya fans who desperately wanted him on the Hilltop next fall. Instead, Noel will replace Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis in the middle of the paint, as the Wildcats look to defend their national championship next season. The move marks the latest rejection from highprofile big men for the Hoyas, as Andre Drummond and Rakeem Christmas opted for Big East rivals Connecticut and Syracuse, respectively, over Georgetown last season. But the recruiting season is just getting underway. Though today was technically National Signing Day for high school basketball prospects, the Hoyas

threatened, especially given the incredible hype that surrounded Guillen and the Marlins coming into the season. We must also ensure that Guillen’s chastising is not misrepresented or misunderstood. It is important to consider the reaction to Guillen’s comments as a specific case of stupidity and insensitivity, rather than a condemnation of athletes speaking publicly about political and social issues in general. Guillen’s comments came from an ignorant and uninformed position completely unrelated to politics. Though harmless and even innocent in their intent, his words directed remarkable insensitivity to a prominent local issue, inflaming the scars of a long, historic struggle. Athletes and coaches on a whole, however, should not be discouraged from entering in political and social discourse, as long as they can do so maturely, thoughtfully, and respectfully. This does not give anyone with an opinion the right to run his or her mouth, but rather that public figures should express informed, critical, conscientious opinions about important issues. As popular and revered public figures, these individuals have a consid-

remain on the shortlists for a number of recruits, with Devonta Pollard and Robert Upshaw foremost among them. Pollard, a six-foot-seven wing out of Mississippi, is down to Georgetown, Missouri, Texas, and Alabama. Pollard is expected to make his decision shortly after visiting the Hilltop this weekend. Upshaw, meanwhile, is relatively raw, but has undeniable size. The seven-footer de-committed from Kansas State after Coach Frank Martin left the program, and he now has the Hoyas alongside Louisville and hometown Fresno State on his shortlist. As it stands now, though, the Hoyas have a strong recruiting class coming in to fill holes. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, a combo guard out of the venerable Oak Hill Academy, should step in for senior guard Jason Clark. Joining him in the Class of 2012 is Brandon Bolden, an athletic big man who has been committed since October 2010. Still, a game-changing shot blocker in the middle would have been a recruiting coup for the Hoyas. But the Hoyas will retain their newfound defensive vigor, led by Porter and Whittington – not a bad consolation prize.

erable role to play in civil society, though few actually choose to do so, either out of disinterest or fear of a backlash. While it is important that such figures remain respectful and limit the negative publicity directed at their organization, they must also demonstrate the importance of remaining socially and politically conscious, lest our citizens and communities be taught that intelligently conversing about one’s political beliefs is a fault rather than an essential activity to maintain justice and progress. Otherwise, we all may become as ignorant as Guillen was during that interview with Time. We love to lose ourselves in the world of sports, but we must be careful not to confuse it with reality. Though we may forget them for nine innings, daily struggles and hardships continue to exist around us. Our athletes, with their tremendous public influence, have a privileged chance to facilitate change. Let’s hope the fallout from this regrettable incident does not further discourage them from aspiring to be more than just sports heroes. Run your mouth at dkellner@ georgetownvoice.com

feature

8 the georgetown voice

april 12, 2012

feature

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the georgetown voice 9

PHOTOS BY MATT THEES

Playing tag: Graffiti at the C&O Canal “Georgetown was kind of like our showroom.” “George,” who spoke on the condition of anonymity for legal reasons, was an active graffiti artist in the area until he left for college in 2008. “It was prime real estate. If you could hold a good rooftop for a week, two weeks, it was pretty admirable.” Georgetown is home to an amateur graffiti crowd, and their primary territory is the area at the intersection of the C&O Canal, Whitehurst Freeway, Key Bridge, and a remaining abutment of the Aqueduct Bridge. It attracts runners, walkers, and cyclists every day of the week. After dark, well covered

and away from nighttime foot traffic, this low-key spot has become a makeshift museum of D.C. graffiti, which includes a variety of styles. Techniques include tags, or simple signatures, throw-ups (larger, more complicated pieces), and illustrated stickers. These artists fly under the law enforcement radar, which is anomalous in a heavily policed neighborhood where residents lean heavily on city law enforcement to tamp down on petty crime. This year, the Metropolitan Police Department has cited underage drinkers using fake IDs at Third Edition, Rhino Pumphouse, and Towne Liquor, and parties almost inevitably end with a knock on the

Limited resources hinder the Park Service’s efforts to keep up with vandals.

door from neighborhood SNAP patrol. The canal, though, consistently operates right under the nose of law enforcement. The spot’s seclusion minimizes risk for graffiti artists, but its low profile and lack of visibility deters the more central writers of Washington’s graffiti scenes. “A little more experienced guys … you don’t see any of their work down there,” said Matt, a blogger who also requested anonymity. “It’s mostly new upstarts, sometimes just Georgetown students. Got a lot of guys trying out new things down there.” His blog, Illegal DC Graffiti, features photos of anything he can find on the city’s walls. According to him, the artists who frequent the canals are looking to hone their skills before displaying their work in more public spots. “That’s also what the bridge was for us, as was the tunnel underneath the canal. They were practice areas until you could wait for the city to die down and nail it on a roof,” George said. In addition to copious graffiti, the canal provides a haven for people to drink alcohol and smoke by the aqueduct abutment. A daytime walk around the area reveals a dozen or so empty beer cans, lots of broken glass, a few cigarillo wrappers, and spray paint can caps. “I’m not trying to blow up the spot, but for people who are underage…it’s just a spot to drink at or hang out,” Matt said. A local named Patrick frequented the canal during his

high school years in the District. He is now a photographer who often bikes around the city late at night. According to him, the area became a haven for late-night debauchery during the years when the District was slow to adopt the 21-year drinking age required by Virginia and Maryland. “The District really quickly, until this law changed, was really a hotspot for activity like this,” Patrick said. “Georgetown in particular used to be one of these spots for drinking beer or whatever. It’s a place where young people tend to congregate.” Patrick has witnessed the neighborhood’s rising affluence and changing character, but insists that the canal has stayed the same. “As the law changed and as Georgetown became really hip real estate, I think most of that element left Georgetown real quick, but the canal has pretty much remained unchanged,” he said. Deputy Superintendent of the C&O Canal Historic Park Brian Carlstrom witnessed this trend firsthand. “As one of those people that was part of that, yeah, that could have been a carry over, sure,” he said. “I grew up in Northern Virginia. The drinking was in that range where you’re still legal in D.C., but not in Virginia or Maryland.” Correlating with this characteristic youth, an air of artistic immaturity permeates a lot of the work around the canal, with work skewing towards the cruder side of the average graffiti tag. Selections include

by Nico Dodd

a middle finger and a cannabis leaf with the accompanying advice “smoke weed… and maintain.” Daytime joggers might also encounter tags of “PUSSY” and “SLUT,” alongside a manifesto ending in the phrase “smoke blunts and eat cunts.” “There’s an element of immaturity that definitely runs in high school kids,” Patrick said. “That’s still there today. I would attribute it to that there are high school kids who go up there to have a beer or something like that.” Shannon Waldo, who is currently homeless and living under the Key Bridge, has noticed such illegal activity. “Seasonally, right past the bridge, you’ve got the point, or what we call ‘the ledge,’” he said. “There’ll be a lot of young college kids drinking and smoking and that. About two weeks ago a bunch of bicycle cops come down and they busted about 25 college kids over there. Drinking, partying and that.” Despite the occasional encounter between these kids and the police, there is a relatively weak police presence along the canal, which lies in the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Some believe that the agency’s minimal day-to-day presence contributes to the area’s secluded vibe. “The park system is a little less active…like I said—the financial constraints,” said Matt. “They [NPS] go out and they paint that thing once a year or when someone complains, or there’s an incident down there, or something.” “I know for myself when I’m biking down there taking

photos I’ve never seen any police presence. Now, MPD could probably work with NPS on this. I haven’t seen any such cooperation,” Patrick said. But despite the perceived lack of patrol, Waldo has noticed law enforcement officials around the area, with patrollers coming to pick up trash and check for illegal activity. “Yeah they do come down,” Waldo said. “Even regular police undercover in plain clothes.” Part of the lack of consistent and effective patrolling may derive from the multiple agencies which claim jurisdiction over the area. Metropolitan Police Department has authority over some of the property in the canal area, but that does not necessarily mean that it is more thoroughly managed, and the question of “who’s in charge of what” leads to confusion. “There’s a multitude of jurisdictions through there,” said Carlstrom. “It’s all along the canal, but the surfaces consistently tagged do not necessarily belong to the Park Service. A lot of the surfaces that get tagged are not actually property of the Park Service for managing or painting.” This shared jurisdiction breaks up the area in ways that are sometimes counterintuitive—a person could be

standing on Park property, like the towpath, and paint a building that is private property, or one of the abutments of the Whitehurst Freeway or the Key Bridge, which are managed by the District of Columbia. For administrators like Carlstrom, this presents a problem. “Sometimes it won’t mean that we won’t paint over them, but for us, we’ve got very limited resources for maintaining the canal,” he said. “So, we’ve basically got half a dozen people maintaining the functional waterway, the canal, from Seneca, which is 23 miles upstream from Georgetown, all the way into Georgetown.” The C&O Canal relies on volunteers to paint the surfaces by the bridge, and the park has a “working relationship” with the Georgetown Business Improvement District to organize volunteer groups to paint over the surfaces. “I mean, I wish I had a maintenance staff that would be doing that one day a week. We just don’t have the resources to do it,” Carlstrom said. “We try to [paint over graffiti] on a periodic basis when it really gets bad,” said Carlstrom. “It’s really been a losing battle to clean up the graffiti.” Of the two agencies in charge, MPD is more active

than NPS when it comes to repairing surfaces. “You can call the number that’s the same for the MPD and report graffiti, and they’ll pretty much come and clean it up,” said Matt. “There are incentives for D.C. residents and tax incentives for residents and D.C. business owners to keep their businesses clean.” Although Matt said “the task force is pretty responsive,” MPD is not focused on the small-time graffiti artists who frequent the canal. “They crack down on a lot of the, you know, kind of the bigger crews.” This focus on gang graffiti makes the canal a sort of tragedy of the commons. If the walls don’t belong to any single business, it might not be worth keeping it clean to those footing the bill. But despite this focus on gangs, artists are still very cautious of revealing their identities, as police presence outside of this complicated and secluded area is pervasive. When asked for contact information of frequent taggers, Matt was hesitant. “The D.C. scene, there are so many policemen,” he said. “They get busted so much that they like to keep their circle pretty tight. You might be hard pressed.” Even among artists, personal associations with graffiti are

Artists use the walls along the C&O Canal to practice “hollows” (left) before filling out finished pieces (right).

also tenuous. Artists are anxious—even paranoid—about the possibility of their work being linked to them publicly, and as a result are fiercely pro-

they’ve heard that it’s kind of easy online,” said Matt. “People write about it and people post pictures about it and write about how easy it is. A lot of

Graffiti around the canal is often characterized by crass language. tective of their identities. “I would just prefer there was no possible connection to me,” George requested. “It was a very immature time in my life. The thing is that the D.C. Vandalism Squad has every single tag that I ever did, like they do with everyone’s, logged into their books, so that you can be threatened with everything.” ±plusmn is one of the more accessible street artists in the city. In addition to updating a personal blog with her wheatpastes, stickers, and tags, she can also be reached via email. Despite this openness, however, she denied requests for a phone interview. Despite its inherent threats to anonymity, Internet exposure does have its benefits for graffiti artists, which is another factor that could contribute to the popularity of tagging the abutment. “People come into the Georgetown area because

other D.C. spots are less publicized, because the artists that are D.C. and local have to really fight for it, so that newcomers and people that are really experienced in the area, you know, don’t have to work as hard to get there.” As more high-profile graffiti artists stake their claim to prime real estate, the C&O Canal maintains its local reputation as a haven for amateur tags and murals. For those who grow up in the area, it has become tantamount to an institution—close enough to hang out, and just on the law enforcement’s periphery. “All the Georgetown kids, all the people who grew up there, have been doing the same shit for over 15 years,” said George. “I still drive by Canal Road, and I still see kids hanging out be the aqueducts. That’s what’s amazing to me, is that shit hasn’t been fucking closed off.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

april 12, 2012

Mask & Bauble bewitches the Davis Center with Macbeth by Julia Lloyd-George “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!’” As sinister as this line is, it captures the effectiveness of Mask & Bauble’s production of Macbeth—this fresh version of the play presents no danger of inducing naps. Rather than dryly rehashing the Shakespearean classic of fond high school English memories, the innovative production breathes life into an ageless tale of dark ambition. A collaboration between the Theater and Performance Studies program and Mask & Bauble, the play caps off a year-long focus on Macbeth by director Maya Roth. Her fall seminar, Macbeth: Witches, War, and Performance, analyzed the classic from every possible angle and allowed its students to experience various live performances that each put a unique spin on the play. From a silent version to an interactive, site-specific dance theater performance in an abandoned New York warehouse, students

Evidently, this exposure translated into an effective ensemble production on Georgetown’s own stage. With 15 cast members each performing mul-

the ensemble approach begs the question, “Whose nightmare is it? It passes from one character to the next, shared across times, across people, haunted

by fears…it’s a cycle of nightmares streaming in and out of each other.” The audience experiences this eerie atmosphere upfront through warm lighting that recalls the image of blood and ghostly visitations from murdered characters; Roth’s directing vision is realized in that it is never clear whose consciousness the play inhabits. The flawless combination of performance elements, from moody lighting to an impressively macabre set reminiscent of a Tim Burton film, evoke the nightmarish atmosphere of the play. In Roth’s words, “Ultimately, the power of this staging is that we use ensemble to trace how the nightmares spiral, fusing with our own.” Designed by Professor Natsu Onoda Power, the set features a twisted red tree and a platform that allows easy movement for the ensemble. Rather than confining themselves to the stage, actors flit in and out of trapdoors built into the set and spontaneously walk down the aisles and the box seats on each side of the

en quite an interest in the Tassie Tiger—they believe its DNA possesses vague, MacGuffin-like qualities ideal for weaponization. And so mysterious mercenary hunter Martin David (Dafoe) flies to Hobart with his high-powered rifle and, posing as a university researcher, rents a room in a remote Tasmanian town. He’s staying with a family of two near-feral children and their mother, who’s been in a drug-induced stupor since the disappearance of her husband, a zoologist and activist who may have been searching for thylacines himself. The rest of the community is menacing towards Martin and his host family—it’s a logging town, and local jobs are threatened by the efforts of academics and activists to protect Tasmanian wildlife. The hunter is a silent, solitary man with an iPod full of operatic arias. We receive no clues to his past except the lines on Dafoe’s craggy face, which suggest a life of rugged exposure. Martin is so central to the plot that he appears in every scene, including long spells alone in the wilderness, stalking his prey. Dafoe’s steely reserve adds consider-

able gravitas to the part, and yet it would have been nice to see a supporting character like the guide Jack, played by Sam Neill, probe Martin and bring his internal conflicts out into the open. Though he’s billed alongside Dafoe in publicity for The Hunter, Neill, a New Zealander and mainstay of local cinema, is criminally neglected onscreen, detracting greatly from the Australian character of the film.

The best parts of The Hunter are the stunning visuals of the Tasmanian landscape, with its vast untouched valleys and snowy mountains. But every time Martin’s physical and mental struggles in the bush start to show promise, Nettheim decides it’s time for him to head back into town and become pointlessly embroiled in local melodramas. As the only developed character, Martin is

were able to experience Macbeth in ways that stripped the play down to its base elements of blurred consciousness and nightmarish brutality.

tiple roles, both the actors and their audience are forced to understand the interdependency of every character. According to Roth’s note in the program,

Julian De La Paz

“Look yonder, Macbeth! I doth see Russia from our Scottish castle.”

theater. The climactic scene, in which Byrnam Wood moves to Dunsinane, presents its own surprise in the form of hanging trees that actors use to swing in and out of action à la Tarzan. The titular character and his murderous wife, Lady Macbeth, are played with convincing madness by Ben Prout (COL ’15) and Maria Edmunson (COL ’12). Their downward spiral into murderous ways is portrayed with chilling calm that devolves into tormented derangement. Yet strong performances across the board reflect the ensemble approach that Roth emphasized in the production. “Each of these characters participates in a strand of the tapestry of what spirals dangerously awry,” she wrote in the program. Every actor contributes to this collective sense of havoc. Worlds collide as the living and the dead mingle, while the waking and dreaming realms are blurred. War and brutality invite this chaos, meaning that a tree swinging into the audience is always a possibility.

required to be in every place at once. It leaves the audience pondering which of the many halfdeveloped themes and plotlines the movie is actually supposed to be about—the hunt for the thylacine, Martin’s need for human connection, corporate treachery, or environmentalism. There’s really no clear answer, except that perhaps in the midst of this mess, the well-meaning thylacine is better off extinct.

Daniel Nettheim hunts for awards, shoots self in foot by Jake Schindler The Tasmanian “Tiger” took its name from a big cat and resembled a dog, but it was, in fact, neither. Thylacine, as it is properly called, belonged to the marsupial group, that quirky family of (mainly) Aussie creatures that defies classification—the hipsters of the mammalian world. On YouTube, you can still watch the last thylacine pace around its tiny enclosure, then stand on its hind legs—almost kangaroolike—pawing at its cage. Since the animal went extinct in 1936, repeated “sightings” in the Tasmanian wilderness have created a persistent mythology around the peculiar creature. Cut to the present, and Australian television director Daniel Nettheim’s takes on the storied creature in his debut film The Hunter. Featuring engrossing veteran leads Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill in pursuit of an iconic mystery down under, it should be an easy bulls-eye, but thanks to Nettheim’s muddled direction, The Hunter ends up missing its mark. In the world of The Hunter, sinister defense contractors have tak-

IMDB

“You wanna fuck with me? Okay. You cockroaches want to play rough? Okay. Say hello to my little friend!”

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“We’re on a mission from God.” — The Blues Brothers

lez’hur ledger

“Titanic” exhibit: My art will go on by Mary Borowiec If you’re not willing to shell out $18 for a Titanic 3D ticket, National Geographic has you covered. The museum’s new exhibit, “Titanic: 100 Year Obsession,” takes viewers on an interactive journey from the ship’s historical beginnings to the latest discoveries about the fateful night of April 15, 1912. Opening in conjunction with a series of speaker events hosted by National Geographic to commemorate the disaster ’s anniversary, “Titanic” runs until June 8. While truly obsessed fans might not learn too much from this exhibition, an artful combination of history, new discoveries, and movie props makes this exhibition truly enjoyable—if nothing else, for a photo op on the reconstructed bow of the ship, à la Rose and Jack. Starting with the ship’s construction, the exhibit delves into the vessel’s history from the origination of its architectural plans to the newspaper headlines describing the Titanic as the dawn of a “new epoch in naval architecture.” Pictures

and descriptions illuminate the ship’s 4size in creative ways—the exhibit showcases the Titanic by the numbers (there were 1,500 bottles of wine on board) and boasts a to-scale model ship. Beyond the iPads and touch screen televisions, an interactive Morse code station provides the most engaging use of otherwise kid-friendly technology. The device illuminates the sinking of the ship through the succession of mistakes made that night—ultimately proving wrong boasts from engineers and passengers that even God could not sink the ship. Striking newspaper headlines from the disaster also abound, as the White Star Line refused to admit the news of the sinking. In fact, only the New York Times got the story right the first time, on a hunch from the editor that the ship had indeed sunk. Meanwhile, headlines like “Her Side Ripped as by Giant Can Opener,” and “Band Played Till the End” capture the drama of the weeks following the unforeseen tragedy. A tribute to the centurylong “obsession” would not be complete without defer-

Plato ﬂunks Ghetto University

In my theology class about death, we watched esoteric films like The Fountain and read the hallowed works of Plato. Although I can see what the professor was trying to accomplish, this characteristically Georgetown class was merely another attempt to dilute the real education that I should have been receiving from the true role models of modern society. Hip-hop idols are among us, and they are the ones who now teach the facts of life and impart logical wisdom upon the masses. It’s baffling that we aren’t studying rap and its sociological implications in a large amount of our classes instead of the inane commentary of the long-gone philosophical minds like Plato. As I look through the preregistration course schedule for next year, I find only frivolity.

Two classes that absolutely flummox my understanding of a modern education at Georgetown are “The Poetry of the Bible” and “Plato and Aristotle: Political Philosophy.” The former focuses on the books of Job and Psalms, examining the true “foundational source for Jewish and Christian religion” in terms of literature. The latter kicks off with Aristotle’s Politics, purporting itself as the lens through which we can look at the works of Aristocles, who later went by the stage name of Plato. But by fixating on the past, we have forgotten about the present. As students at an American university, how do we keep putting the writings of deviant Italian scholars and Greeks on a pedestal, while slandering the hard work of American philosophers like

ence to James Cameron’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers Rose and Jack. Movie scenery and props line the exhibit, bringing the story of this disaster to life. From the security room where Jack is handcuffed to one of the lifeboats used in the film, these props give visitors the sense of what life on the boat was like, and should entertain the film’s super-fans. The exhibit parallels the ship’s history with the most recent discoveries made by National Geographic explorer Robert Ballard along with his partner Jean-Louis Michel. A documentary of Ballard’s exhibition complements models and pictures of the wreckage. Interestingly, his search for the Titanic provided a cover-up for his “Sponsor the U.S. Navy” voyage, which was actually in search of missing Cold War nuclear submarines. While the exhibit doesn’t offer much more than what can be learned by watching Cameron’s 1997 film, the combination of history, new ocean discoveries, and of course, movie paraphernalia—yes, cameras are allowed—makes for an engaging, pleasant visit.

Kid Cudi and Wiz Khalifa? They rap about clothes, women, sex, money, drugs, alcohol, and power. Nothing is more relevant to the progressive education of a young Georgetown student. The antiquated formal dialogue about morality and the literary dissection of Christian poetry is horribly

Blast That Box by Matt Pacana

a bi-weekly column about rap music inept at providing fledgling scholars with the real erudition they need to survive in our hip-hop and pop- dominated world. The important cultural impact of artist-cum-philosophers like Kanye West is why they are worthy of study, and precisely why the supposed virtues of King David and Aristocles are positively codswallop.

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CONCERT CALENDAR Friday 4/13 Lotus with Archnemesis 9:30 Club, 8 p.m., $22 Saturday 4/14 The Ting Tings Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD, 7:30 p.m., $25 U.S. Royalty with John Davis, Chris Richards, and Law Abiding Criminals Bulldog Alley, 8:30 p.m., $5 Lost In The Trees with Poor Moon Black Cat, 8:30 p.m., $12 Sunday 4/15 The All-American Rejects with A Rocket to the Moon 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $30 Sister Crayon with Pree Black Cat, 8 p.m., $10 Monday 4/16 Mickey Hart Band 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $35 Cheyenne Marie Mize with Donora Black Cat, 8 p.m., $10

Perhaps, though, I protest too much. Just maybe, there’s a point in ignoring the here, the now, what matters. Maybe rappers are merely icons, and the true philosophical demigods are those of the past. However, after examining the syllabi of “Plato and Aristotle” in detail, these men cannot offer intellectual stimulation comparable to Lil Wayne on the seminal hit “6 Foot 7 Foot.” Focusing on The Republic for nearly half of the semester, “Plato and Aristotle” demonstrates why the scholars of old are completely out of place in an educational setting. Lil Wayne, contemplating his consciously arrogant proclamation of triumph, brings discussions of pride to the forefront of the American consciousness. His meditation on the cultural significance of being a real “G” that moves silently like lasagna brings to light the higher pursuits of living in a world that is always coming for you.

Tuesday 4/17 Say Anything with Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band, Fake Problems, and Tallhart Black Cat, 7 p.m., $21 Mayer Hawthorne and the County: How Do You Do World Tour with The Stepkids 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $20 Wednesday 4/18 The Masquerade with EOTO and Phutureprimitive 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $25 Washed Out with Memoryhouse Black Cat, 8 p.m., $15 Thursday 4/19 Fountains of Wayne with James Iha 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $25 Eleanor Friedberger with Hospitality Black Cat, 8 p.m., $15 Friday 4/20 Trampled by Turtles with These United States 9:30 Club, 8 p.m., $20

It’s hard to believe we are still studying Plato when Jay-Z is a living, breathing source of philosophical knowledge and insight on the world we live in. On his crossover hit, “Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z raps, Alicia Keys croons, and blissful perfection is achieved. If students were able to take the words to heart and be inspired by the concrete jungle of New York City, they clearly can recognize the absurdity of taking classes that focus on the antediluvian teachings of ancient “scholars.” In fact, one student I spoke to about his theology courses self-consciously confessed that he had no idea why he had not attended the Spring Concert featuring the distinguished intellectual Wiz Khalifa instead of studying the Book of Job. Escape the cave with Matt at mpacana@georgetownvoice.com

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april 12, 2012

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

Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Young Money Records Since her breakout in 2007, Nicki Minaj has integrated contradictory elements in both her personality and musical style—the 5-foot-2 girly-girl of “Super Bass” also raps frequently about having a dick. Minaj takes this creative clash to the extreme in Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, relying on her alter-egos to sing out her brash lyrics. Although Minaj has released songs in which she sings through her alter-egos in the past, Roman Reloaded features much more of Roman Zolanski, her gay “brother” borne out of Minaj’s rage; Martha, his austere mother; and Barbie, the allaround girly-girl. The record opens with “Roman Holiday,” which features a

call and response between Martha and Roman that focuses on Roman’s mental illness. In the refrain, the personality of Martha sings “Take your medication, Roman / Take a short vacation, Roman / You’ll be okay.” Minaj’s stuttering response in Roman’s internal monologue establishes a dark, disturbing tone for the track. Near the end of the song, she adds a haunting rendering of “Come all ye faithful,” evoking a religious intolerance of Roman’s homosexuality. Beyond “Roman Holiday,” the first nine tracks constitute the rap core of the album. The 2 Chainz-featuring “Beez in the Trap” is the traditional rap star boast-fest: “Bitches ain’t shit and they ain’t saying nothin’ / A hundred motherfuckers can’t tell me nothin’.” The rest of Roman chiefly consists of clubby pop music, which is likely to rise to the top of the charts. Buzzing synths blare in the background of “Come on a Cone,” creating a jumpy, disturbing sound reminiscent of a swarm of hornets. This loud, electric backdrop sets the scene for most of her pop tracks, and certain songs, like “Stupid Hoe,” cross the line from catchy to annoying. Minaj manages to combine her talent as a rapper and a pop

Gaming the system

I have a quest I need to complete. It’s a bit of a grind, but if I finish it I’ll get enough experience points to level up. All I have to do is run two miles, do 40 push-ups, and then complete 100 crunches. In real life. This isn’t for some bizarre Final Fantasy/Wii Fit crossover. My quest doesn’t come from a video game at all. I got it from Fitocracy, a social network/workout log that uses gaming principles to motivate you to exercise. Unholy union of video games and physical activity aside, Fitocracy isn’t all that unique. Bolting game-like mechanics onto everyday activities and services is all the rage these days. It’s even got a name—gamification. It’s the corporate buzzword that launched a thousand start-ups, with companies looking to get users to experience the same compulsions that make World of Warcraft players

neglect their hygiene and inspire gamers to keep playing “just one more round” of Call of Duty. Even if you’ve never heard of gamification, you’ve undoubtedly experienced it. Most products and services are a little more subtle with their implementation of it than Fitocracy, with its explicit quests and levels. Foursquare gets people to divulge their location to the entire world in exchange for badges and mayorships, rewards no different than the high score on an arcade game. Personal finance site Mint awards you points for fiscal responsibility. Twitter keeps track of your progress—how often you tweet, how many followers you have— and always makes sure you see that scoreboard when you log in. It’s a strategy that makes sense. People who villainize video games as mind-warping, addictive time sucks aren’t en-

artist to create an interesting album. At the same time, Roman largely does not deviate from the formula that she established in Pink Friday. Nicki Minaj’s idiosyncrasy sets Roman apart from other rappers, but her style hasn’t largely developed since her last release—the second track is called “Come on a Cone,” after all. Voice’s Choices: “Champion,” “Beautiful Sinner” —Connor Jones

Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls, ATO Records In the 1960s and 70s, the musicological spontaneity of artists like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix popularized a fusion of soul, blues, and rock that has been virtually unrepeatable in tirely off base. With their transparent goals and regular positive reinforcement, most games are designed to draw players in and keep them stuck on a treadmill with the promise of clearly indicated progress. We are motivated by a sense of accomplishment, and games are particular adept at bombarding our minds with “re-

God Mode by Tim Shine

a bi-weekly column about video games wards” like new levels, upgrades, and points. It’s no surprise that a company that wants customers to keep using their product would want to transfer those mechanics to the real world. Of course, it’s not like businesses needed game designers to teach them how human psychology works. Frequent flyer programs and reward points existed long before anyone coined

the decades since. But this year, that streak of trial-and-error has finally ended—on its debut album Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes replicates this unique sound while still managing to create an identity all its own. The single “Hold On” kicks off the album with steady thumping drums and a slightly distorted repeating guitar riff that immediately showcases the band’s voice. Steve Johnson’s powerful punkrock drumming style, which forces its way through the LP, competes with the soul rhythm of the bass and Brittany Howard’s scratchy vocals, giving Boys & Girls a striking edge that throws the listener into the music of a bygone age while maintaining a consistent image of a modern garage rock band. “I Found You” accelerates the pace of the record, allowing for more diverse instrumental passages as Howard demonstrates the full capacity of her malleable voice. The result is a track combining the best of Janis Joplin and Otis Redding in a soulful song driven by unexpected changes in tempo and backing vocals. This steadily building energy culminates in “Hang Loose,” a track whose rapid guitar riffs add a repurthe term gamification. However, the difference now is that rather than develop their own psychological hooks to capture consumers, companies are consciously trying to ape the tools of games. And that’s where gamification misses the point. The logic behind gamification is simple—people like to play games, so if a website or app is like a game, people will want to spend more time with it. It’s not a bad idea, especially when paired with a noble purpose like helping people lose weight or manage their money. The mistake most companies make though is that they’re copying the wrong aspect of games. Games are supposed to be fun. That’s why people play them. But gamification ignores that purpose and focuses on the mechanics game designers use to create “fun.” And unfortunately, gamification seems to only pick out the most cynical and un-

posed soul-and-blues-infused Steve Miller Band to the list of influences. After a strong start, however, the record takes an unfortunate turn towards the middle, especially with slower tracks like “You Ain’t Alone.” While each of the songs in the album’s middle slump has a distinguished rhythm and style, all pale in comparison to the spirited tracks that kick off the album. The skip button is tempting, but the commanding drums of “Heartbreaker” and Howard’s wailing emotion of the title track make the wait worthwhile. “On Your Way” returns to the tempo that permeates the beginning of Boys & Girls through a percussion-heavy crescendo culminating in a satisfying guitar solo, which rounds off the album on a memorable note. If the number of influences is directly proportional to a band’s success, Alabama Shakes’ debut record is in a class of its own. Boys & Girls has the clear potential to lead a revival of the hardly-breathing genre of rock and roll. Voice’s Choices: “Hold On,” “On Your Way” —Kirill Makarenko inventive mechanics. The best games dangle a carrot in front of the player, yes, but they also let the player eventually claim their reward. Gamification just wants to take advantage of the compulsion for forward progress. Companies don’t ever want you to “beat” their products, they just need you to keep coming back. But I don’t want to write off gamification entirely. If experience points can somehow make me choose exercise over the sloth and indulgence of second semester seniordom, gamification can’t all be bad. But I don’t want to start seeing a progress bar everywhere I go. I fear a future where every product and service I use is seemingly inspired by FarmVille. If you really want me to use your product, just make it fun and useful. I play enough video games already. Level up with Tim at tshine@ georgetownvoice.com

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DAHLGREN MASS: RESURRECTION On Easter Sunday, Georgetown caused a national stir when Rev. Kevin O’Brien, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, announced that the University would be hiring a slate of celebrity film directors to direct masses in Dahlgren Chapel for the rest of the semester. While Page 13 views this as a desperate attempt to increase attendance at the confessional box and collection revenues, we are intrigued by how each of these filmmakers can make a mark on the Catholic services. While churchgoers are still trying to adjust to minor changes to bring the dialogue closer to the original Latin, these new changes will surely stun the faithful.

At ast week’s 7:30 Mass, parishioners were shocked when the alter transformed into a Decepticon.

MADHURI VAIRAPANDI

5:00 pm: Mel Brooks

The director of some of the funniest movies, plays, and plays about movies about plays comes to bring some laughs to mass. He’s also a veteran when it comes to dealing with the Bible, as he depicted Moses bringing the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. And while some of his work might offend some Catholics, it should bring in the Druish crowd. Expect the priest to give a hilarious stand-up sermon, but make sure to bring your yarmulke.

7:30 pm: Michael Bay

This time was already affectionately called “Mass: The Musical” so to up the production value they brought in big time director Michael Bay. He’s going to bring some big changes to mass promising to increase the number of explosions by at least 50. There will also be lots of green screen action as he depicts scenes from both the New and Old Testaments. Some of his changes are slightly controversial, such as his shortening of Jesus Christ’s name down to JC. There are also rumors that he will make him come from the Moon or Mars. (But if long, meandering masses are for you, stick to the 7:30 Mass!)

9:30 pm: Quentin Tarantino

Dahlgren has been host to some weird stuff in the past—The Exorcist featured a scene inside the chapel of a defaced statue of the Virgin Mary. But things are about to get a lot weirder when Quentin Tarantino takes the reins on 9:30 mass; while his films have featured stunning cinematography, they have also been host to some crazy shit. Mass might not go in order. It’ll open with the Our Father and suddenly jump into the first reading. And Samuel L. Jackson will deliver that first reading, and it will be just like the scene from Pulp Fiction. At least that’s what we’re dreaming about. And you can bet that the 12 Apostles become a gang of Inglorious Basterds to hunt down Pontius Pilate. Okay, once again we’re dreaming, but Quentin will definitely deliver something this crazy.

11:00 pm: Wes Anderson

This mass for procrastinators is notorious for being, well, different. There are some good songs. It’s shorter than other services. It has kind of a cult following. So, Wes Anderson should be the perfect director for this late night special. And we’re really excited to see the detail that he can put into the greatest story ever told. The church flock will love all the things going on during the mass in the background. Altar boys will be doing awesome things with the candles, the organ will start rocking a David Bowie song (possibly in Portuguese), and every person in a pew will be given meticulous instructions on how to act during mass. The priests enter in slow motion. It will be heartfelt and earnest but a little bit sad, pregnant with the melancholy of an estranged Jesus wishing he had a better relationship with his two dads.

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april 12, 2012

As president, Romney would not govern as a moderate by Connor Jones Although Rick Santorum’s withdrawal from the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday may have liberals cheering, the most dangerous candidate is still in the race. Although Mitt Romney is perceived as a moderate, he has given the American people more than enough reason to believe that as president, he would act in a way that would appease the conservative Right, allowing for a narrow ideology to take control of the executive branch. As a candidate for senate against incumbent Ted Kennedy in 1994, Romney professed that he would oppose overturning Roe v. Wade (1973), and, in a letter to the Log Cabin Republicans, he wrote that he would be more pro-gay that Kennedy himself. As governor of Massachusetts 12 years later, he pushed through the state’s historic 2006 heath care reform statute, which requires all residents of the state to purchase health insurance. Earlier, in 1994, he had expressed support for a similar national program. Beginning with his run for president in 2008, Romney reversed most of his previous positions to appeal to a national Republican audience. To fit the Republican Par-

ty’s contemporary shift rightward, the former governor said that he would sign a national amendment barring gay marriage, and would reinstate the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He said that he would attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade, and that he would repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act—all of which cannot be explained away by mere changes of heart. Furthermore, the 2012 primary season has dragged Romney even further to the right. To compete with the rhetoric of Gingrich and Santorum, Romney has been compelled to say that he would completely defund Planned Parenthood, which spends $33 on women’s health and STD testing for every dollar it spends on abortions. The deficit hawks in his party forced him to express support for the toxic Paul Ryan budget, a hugely unpopular proposal that would privatize Medicare. Bill Clinton famously tweaked his positions based on public opinion polling, but such deviations were largely in the name of pragmatism—to decide which piece of his proposed policies would gain more traction than others. He used polling to determine what to emphasize, not what his opinion should be, and, in the end, such politicking increased

Clinton’s efficacy as president. Romney, however, has recalibrated his convictions based on the electorate he is attempting to appeal to, and as a result is fooling almost no one. Romney is deeply distrusted among the conservative wing of his party—a Mormon former private equity fund manager who once supported civil unions hardly fits the mold for a Republican candidate for president. Even in Romney’s decisive one-point Ohio primary victory, Santorum carried self-described “very conservative” voters, a category in which Romney has regularly underperformed, by a margin of 13 percent. Of the 18 states Romney has won, only three voted for John McCain in 2008. Surely the Republican base will still fall heavily for Romney in November, but every one of his moves, if he were to be elected President, would be scrutinized by GOP loyalists. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were able to compromise with the opposite party because their party bases trusted them not to make too many concessions. Though Clinton was criticized from the left for allowing Republicans in Congress to overhaul welfare, he ultimately emerged unscathed, largely due to the Democratic Party’s trust in

him. Similarly, Reagan was able to work with Democrats in Congress to stave off the demise of Social Security, yet he is remembered as the stalwart figurehead of the modern conservative movement. Romney would have no freedom to compromise with Democrats, or even with moderate Republicans. If he did so, it would only confirm for most of the Republican Party that their president truly is the Massachusetts moderate that Santorum and Gingrich painted him out to be, which would severely damage his chances for re-election. Such a narrative might prompt primary challengers, like Pat Buchanan to George H.W. Bush in 1992, and discourage turnout among the Republican base in 2016. Romney would not be a moderate chief executive. The deeply conservative, religious right wing holds enormous sway in the party, and Romney could not risk losing their support; he would need to go along with the totality of right-wing legislation. In a larger sense, however, this dependence on party leaders with such narrow ideology puts the United States in danger in another way. Presidents need a level of independence from political concerns. Reagan was smart to disavow the

overly belligerent faction of his party and work with the Soviets on the INF treaty. Romney would have no such freedom. If the calls in his party grew loud enough to attack Iran, for example, he would be under much more pressure than other presidents to actually do it. Such a scenario is not implausible; Rick Santorum came in second in the primaries and himself strongly suggested that the United States join Israel in planning to use military force against the country. Moreover, given Romney’s weak personal and political convictions, reliance on strength of character to prevent such a development is foolish. Fortunately, Romney’s rhetoric during the primaries became so heated that he will have a hard time returning to the center for the general election. Obama holds an 18-point lead among women and an astonishing 56-point lead among Latinos. Even so, Americans should be worried. The deceptively dangerous Romney could be the next President of the United States.

help myself, the weather was just so “Nice”). Memories of bike rides along picturesque canals and picnics in verdant parks remind me that I’m incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to go abroad. Nevertheless, I’m not sure whether three and a half months in Strasbourg was the most worthwhile use of the fall of my junior year—and not just because it caused me to miss a visit to campus from my favorite actor/rapper/person, Donald Glover. Rather, it is because between sporadic bursts of excitement at the occasional adventure, I felt a general listlessness that I attribute in large part to my near-complete intellectual idleness.

“Another Georgetown overachiever,” you’re probably sighing, right? Let me assure you that I’m not writing this for the alumni newsletter. In fact, I never thought I’d be the kid who missed school. I complain about Our Esteemed University as much as Jack DeGioia’s most dedicated critics do, as I try in vain to make the time I spend actually studying in Lau equal the time I spend procrastinating at Midnight MUG. Still, though it might be hard to see the big picture as we juggle papers, presentations, and lab reports, in the end, aren’t we all at Georgetown because we have ambition, because we see ourselves doing big things in the not-so-distant future, or because deep down, we really do love a good challenge? Few institutions lay out the expectations for exchange program participants that Georgetown does for its full-time students. This has its advantages— ample time for travel being one of them—but for me it proved to be the shortcoming of my semester abroad. Somehow, in all those hours of OIP orientation, nobody ever oriented me to the fact that, for something like three-quarters of my waking hours in Strasbourg, I would have no responsibilities. This is partly a consequence of France’s seeming aversion to homework, but also something to which I suspect students in other host countries can relate. And for me, it was totally incomprehensible that

nearly four months of (let’s face it) sightseeing, clubbing, and pretending to study was meant not only to satisfy me, but to constitute a meaningful and transformative broadening of my horizons. Though I’m a jaded study abroad returnee now, back in early September I was fresh out of an inspiring summer teaching job. I wanted nothing more than to keep learning and talking about social justice and public education, and I even flirted briefly with the idea of backing out of my study abroad plans to do it. But the zealous members of the Georgetown Study Abroad Fan Club (SAC recognition pending) had me convinced that going to Strasbourg would be a truly irreplaceable experience. Instead, my semester there left me feeling stifled and useless in an environment where I couldn’t pursue my goals. Naturally, my critiques don’t apply to all study abroad programs; I have even heard of students who find they are so overwhelmed with work that they barely have time to enjoy the culture around them. On the other hand, I know plenty of students who name their time overseas as their best semester yet. But I would encourage other students to consider that a semester at a foreign university is not the only way to taste life off the Hilltop, as a wise friend reminded me a bit late. Independent travel, volunteer work, a job abroad,

or even an OIP summer program could have helped me approach my dream of fluency in French, without leaving me regretting a semester not used to the fullest. Furthermore, we should strive for a more balanced presentation of the experience of studying abroad. In a sea of students waxing lyrical about their days in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, and Beijing, some less enthusiastic returnees can feel subject to a certain shame that is an inadvertent but unfortunate consequence of Georgetown’s intensely pro-study abroad culture. But not enjoying a semester away from campus is no reflection on a student’s openness, maturity, worldliness, or any other qualities. For the sake of Hoyas considering a semester abroad, and for that of returnees themselves, we should welcome, not suppress, differences of experience and opinion. I don’t mean to tell you, underclassmen, that your semester abroad won’t be all you dream it can be. On the contrary, if you do decide to go, I hope sincerely that it is. But contemplate the matter thoroughly first, and make sure that you are the one who is making the decision to study abroad.

Connor Jones is a freshman in the College. He’s one of the only people in the country who has strong opinions about Mitt Romney.

Study abroad: Vacation disguised as intellectual expansion by Tori Jovanovski Before you dismiss this piece as a personal gripe coming from a homesick, Hilltop-crazy Hoya, a disclaimer: my semester in Strasbourg, France, was fine. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Like any student abroad, I met interesting people from all over the world, I got to know a little bit about my host region’s culture, I ate way too much delicious local food, and most importantly, my French improved in ways it simply couldn’t have at home. I reenacted some of the tamer scenes from In Bruges on a trip to Belgium, and made some awful puns in the south of France (I couldn’t

Unfortunately for Tori, this is not where Georgetown students stay.

FLICKR

Tori Jovanovski is a junior in the College. What’s worse, after coming back from France, she stopped shaving and showering.

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Martin protestors challenge corporate domination of politics by Robert Byrne By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about it: on Feb. 26, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin just 70 feet from the boy’s home. In response, President Obama promised an investigation and remarked that if he “had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” At the same time, Republicans have accused Obama of “race-baiting,” as they either dismiss the plausibility of prejudice or avoid the subject entirely. During a radio interview, Newt Gingrich claimed that “it’s not a question of who that young man looked like.” Mitt Romney, on not quite the other hand, dodged journalists’ questions about the incident in a manner that reinforces Dr. King’s timeless adage, “There comes a time

when silence is betrayal.” Yet in vitriol or reticence, the G.O.P. has not dealt a betrayal as much as a perpetuation of grand ole American racism. A cursory examination of Zimmerman’s 911 call reveals an antiquated racist fury. As Trayvon walked to 7-Eleven moments before his death, Zimmerman allegedly told the dispatcher, “These assholes … always get away … fucking coons.” So let us call Trayvon’s murder what it is—a lynching. A lynching in defense of imagined private property. Worse, the state evidently condones his killer’s actions. Not only does a murderer remain free, but Trayvon’s parents went three days without being notified of their son’s death. As they filed missing person’s reports, the Sanford Police Department tested Trayvon’s body for drugs and searched for

John Carroll still doesn’t know how to dress himself.

THEA HOLMES

Twilight takes it all off

I was recently tasked to suffer through all 400-something pages of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight for my Young Adult Literature class. That’s 400-something pages of “Edward’s piercing golden eyes” and “smoldering stares” and “Bella’s aching pull to be with him,” which makes for 400-something pages of my own smirking. But for one generation of Twihards, the Twilight trilogy leaves a certain carnal stone unturned. With all the glaring moments of passion in the book and the film, Edward does little to seal the deal with Bella. Though this does much to appease abstinencepreaching parents, it does little to satisfy the middle-aged Twilightmoms who have appropriated the novels. Lucky for these Twimoms, a community of readers

and obsessed fans began to fill in the gaps on fan fiction websites, fleshing out the more “heated” moments of the novel to something more than mere intense gazes and heavy breathing. A fan favorite soon emerged on the fan-fic message boards. Garnering over 37,000 readers, Master of the Universe; written under the username Snowqueens Icedragon (government name E. L. James), has inspired Fifty Shades of Grey, an actual erotic fiction paperback that has been surreptitiously disappearing from bookstore shelves for the past few weeks. The novel rose to the New York Times bestseller list in March, with the majority of purchases made online. Apparently women don’t like to be seen buying erotic books.

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a non-existent criminal record. This leads the American people to wonder what protocol would have been followed if the complexions of victim and perpetrator were reversed. If a black man shot an alleged trespasser like Trayvon with white skin, would he have been released? Would they have returned his gun? Above all, George Zimmerman’s defense is Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which states, “A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked … has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly.” Zimmerman, however, was in no way targeted by Trayvon Martin. According to Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement, justifiable homicides have tripled since Governor Jeb Bush enacted the law in 2005. Written by the Koch Brothers’ American Legislative Exchange Council, the law has spread to 20 other states through lobbying by the National Rifle Association and activism by the Tea Party, which is 77 percent non-Hispanic white. As Barbara Ehrenreich wrote in the New York Times, “What do you get when you combine the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the first black president? A surge of white racial resentment, loosely disguised as a populist revolt.” Although he dreamed of a career in aviation, Trayvon Martin now The book details the relationship between virginal college student Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, a wealthy and mysterious businessman. Though the characters, and the relationship itself, are loosely based off of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Fifty Shades of Grey takes the relationship to the opposite spectrum where the two engage in a sadomasochistic love affair, com-

Carrying On by Kate Imel A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

plete with bondage, safe words, and whips. Without any advertising on a large scale, the book is a New York Times bestseller, is just below the Hunger Games in sales on Amazon. com, and is now being vetted for a movie deal. Perhaps more than any other book in recent years, this book’s best asset is its taboo nature. Its success relies on wordof-mouth of women in the neighborhood or at the grocery store. It takes these women back to the “did you hear about so-and-so”

shares the same historical station as Troy Davis, Sean Bell, Danny Chen, Emmett Till, and countless others. Simultaneously, the Kochs and their allies enjoy their place among history’s plutocrats, which begs the question—how far have we come in terms of fair representation? In 1914, during a similar period of income inequality, 1,200 coal miners went on strike against John Rockefeller. Erecting a tent colony (sound familiar?) in Ludlow, Colo., the strikers sought collective bargaining rights and a 10 percent wage increase. The National Guard, hired by Rockefeller, gunned down the strikers and set the colony ablaze. Today, there is evidence of historical rhyming, if not repetition. Rockefeller conquered the energy industry through ostensible philanthropy. “We will unite together…on the basis of cooperation,” he said. As Barry Lynn reminds us, “All understood perfectly the ultimatum hidden in the honeyed words: Join or be crushed.” Today, this mentality is the norm in corporate America. Koch Industries expanded 2,500-fold since 1961 by exerting similar tactics and public influence behind a facade of entrepreneurship. Just as Rockefeller beckoned the National Guard, so too have today’s monopolies encouraged excessive force against poor people’s communities and movements. The undue influence of money in today’s political system is prov-

moments in high school that left them looking over their shoulders before they said any more. For an older generation, detailing the various encounters within the novel amongst friends is perhaps equally as thrilling as reading it. Despite the readers who whisper the book’s praises in the shrouds of anonymity, many have publicly announced their disapproval of the book. On a recent Today Show interview, Dr. Drew Pinsky voiced concern that the book advocated violence towards women and that “it says something socially about us that’s a little bit disturbing.” Relationship experts, however, have commented in defense of the novel, arguing that the relationship, though at times violent, is consensual. Regardless of one’s stance on the book, the discussion raises an important issue of what women’s sexual fantasies should look like. It seems that for some, the feminist ideal of the woman on top has come to define not only what women should strive for professionally, but also what women should strive for within their relationship. What seems to be amiss, however, is that a woman’s private fantasy does not have

ing correct the observation made by Malcom X nearly half a century ago, when he said that “you cannot have capitalism without racism.” So far this election season, the top 100 individual Super PACs constitute 3.7 percent of contributors, but over 80 percent of contributions. As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, there will be more Trayvon Martins for one simple reason—historically marginalized communities cannot financially compete for adequate representation against the legacy of the G.O.P.’s Southern strategy and conservative talk radio’s call for the privatization of public services, for example, via neighborhood watch volunteers like George Zimmerman. Yet, through bottom-up organizing, there is cause for optimism. Tens of thousands of Floridians rallied for Trayvon Martin in the weeks following his death, with ripple effects swelling across the country that even incited protests at Georgetown. So while Time may have deemed 2011 the “Year of the Protester,” dissent is alive and well in 2012, and it is through this dissent that Martin’s murder will be vindicated.

Robert Byrne is a senior in the College. He’s been featured in nearly every photo of the Voice’s coverage of GU Occupy. to define her or her public persona. In fact, biologically speaking, women are naturally attracted to a powerful and dominant male who is better able to protect her. Though E.L. James takes this power dynamic a bit further, it is nonetheless a consensual interaction for both parties. While reading excerpts from the novel this afternoon in Lauinger, I wondered if a woman’s experience perusing the shelves for a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey is anything like flipping through a copy of Maxim or Playboy for a man. I wonder if women will sneak in droves to matinees on Monday morning lunch breaks to see their fantasies fleshed out on screen once the film is released. And I wonder if I’ll have the daring to unabashedly purchase my own copy of Fifty Shades of Grey in line at the bookstore. But such things, after all, should only be discussed in a whisper among friends.

Kate Imel is a senior in the College. Fifty Shades of Grey isn’t the ﬁrst time she’s read the equivalent of Maxim in print.

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