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DINING SERVICES LACK EMPLOYEE INPUT PAGE 4

BOXING SHOWCASE COMES TO GEORGETOWN PAGE 6

CAMPUS FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHTS STUDENT FILMS PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w April 18, 2013 w Volume 48, Issue 13 w georgetownvoice.com

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2 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

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Voice Crossword “April Themeless Challenge” by Tyler Pierce 38. Untouched 39. Segmented worm 40. Saul from Breaking Bad is going to have one 41. Associated with legends 42. Sisterhood of rain nymphs 44. Much ___ About Nothing 45. ___ Khan 47. Pro vote 48. Victorian, for one 51. Spaciness 57. Unhappiness 58. Australian runner 59. 1968 hit “Harper Valley ___” 60. Kind of approval 61. Genetic initials 62. Tree juice 63. Unagi, at a sushi bar 64. “Sure” 65. Halloween prankster’s aid DOWN

ACROSS 1. Cool, once 4. Increase, with “up” 7. Clock part 10. “Act your ___!”

13. Anger 14. Salary 15. Mozart’s “L’___ del Cairo” 16. Grassy area

17. Basic postulates 21. One devoted to getting smarter 22. CBS logo 23. Catch-22 pilot 24. “What’s the ___?”

25. Be in a cast 28. Sasses 30. Mouth noise 34. Place to find honey

1. Old 45 player 2. ___ Brockovich 3. Flippant 4. In a fitting way 5. Syrup flavor 6. Combustible pile 7. Super low voice part 8. Observable 9. Greek earth goddess: 10. “___ well” 11. “Silly” birds 12. ___ of Eden 18. “Get it?”

19. Clickable image 20. Softer 25. Barley beards 26. Bloke 27. South American monkey 28. Psychological problem 29. Bingo relative 31. Big toppers 32. wwwIliad city 33. College in Easton, Pennsylvania 35. Hip bones 36. Competed 37. Taro tuber 43. Dines 45. Soul 46. Refuel 48. Circumvent 49. Précis 50. Aardvark’s morsel 51. Bad day for Caesar 52. Measurer 53. Questionable 54. De Valera’s land 55. Carol 56. Catch

Answers to last week’s sudoku

Answers to last week’s crossword

editorial

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VOICE the georgetown

Volume 48.13 April 18, 2013 Editor-in-Chief: Keaton Hoffman Managing Editor: Gavin Bade Blog Editor: Connor Jones News Editor: Matt Weinmann Sports Editor: Steven Criss Feature Editor: Julia Tanaka Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Leisure Editor: Julia Lloyd-George Voices Editor: Sara Ainsworth Photo Editor: Miles Gavin Meng Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Projects Editors: Alec Graham, John Sapunor Back Page Editor: Tiffany Lachhonna Puzzles Editors: Andrew Duverney, Tyler Pierce Contributing Editors: Leigh Finnegan, Kevin Joseph Assistant Blog Editors: Isabel Echarte, Ryan Greene, Caitriona Pagni Assistant News Editors: Lucia He, Julia Jester, Jeffrey Lin Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Almeida, Chris Castano Assistant Cover Editor: Lauren Ashley Panawa Assistant Leisure Editors: Alex Golway, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Voices Editor: Ana Smith Assistant Photo Editor: Andres Rengifo Assistant Design Editor: Teddy Schaffer

Staff Writers:

Emilia Brahm, Will Collins, Emlyn Crenshaw, Brendan Crowley, Laura Kurek, Maria Lappas, Alex Lau, Keith Levinsky, Claire McDaniel, Liana Mehring, Dayana Morales-Gomez, Joe Pollicino, Cole Stangler, Dzarif Wan, Sam Wolter, Claire Zeng

Staff Photographers:

John Delgado-McCollum, Kat Easop, Robin Go, Kirill Makarenko

Staff Designers:

Karen Bu, John Delgado-McCollum, Christy Geaney, Mike Pacheco, Tom Pacheco, Sebastian Sotelo

Copy Chief: Morgan Manger Copy Editors:

Kathryn Booth, Grace Funsten, Tori Jovanovski, Rina Li, Natalie Muller, Sonia Okolie, Caitriona Pagni, Ana Smith, Dana Suekoff, Kim Tay, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Patricia Cipollitti Editorial Board:

Aisha Babalakin, Gavin Bade, Lucia He, Keaton Hoffman, Quaila Hugh, Julia Jester, Caitriona Pagni, Julia Tanaka, Galen Weber

Head of Business: Aarohi Vora The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress,

online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

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

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

Email: thevoice@georgetown.edu 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: “Club Sports Injuries” Cover Drawing: Julia Tanaka (SFS ‘15)

the georgetown voice 3 LIVE FREE OR DIE

Vote ‘Yes’ to free D.C.’s budget this Tuesday Next Tuesday, April 23, D.C. residents will vote on whether to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to allow the District government to spend local tax revenues without having to wait for congressional approval. The Voice Editorial Board emphatically urges a “Yes” vote on Proposed Charter Amendment VIII, a measure that promises to bring D.C. closer to statehood.

In the past, the District’s budget has been subject to veto by Congress, a body composed of representatives from other constituencies whose interests are often not aligned with those of D.C. residents and whose current capabilities hardly fall short of absolute dysfunction. A majority “Yes” vote on the referendum would finally put the city in charge of its approximately $5 billion annual tax revenue, ensuring the budget autonomy necessary to deal with issues unique to the District and its demography.

An autonomous budget would allow us to deal with problems that affect D.C. residents and as such, can only be effectively solved by D.C. residents. For example, D.C.’s HIV rate of 2.7 percent is the highest in the country. Although the city has long recognized the epidemic and accordingly established HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention centers throughout the area, until 2009 the District was unable to address the problem at full capacity because Congress prohibited it from using its own funds to support needle exchange services. Not to mention continual congressional obstruction of access to reproductive care for the District’s low-income women. So long as we don’t control our own money, further obstruction is always possible.

Crucially, the District’s ability to make its own economic decisions would bring it closer to statehood, a struggle that has per-

sisted for far too long. Although it has a larger population than Wyoming and Vermont and is the second fastest growing state or territory, the District of Columbia has no elected representation with full voting rights in the federal government. It is nothing less than a travesty that the 632,323 residents of the District are not full citizens in the eyes of the Constitution.

As D.C. residents, if only temporarily, Georgetown students must understand the importance of Tuesday’s referendum. A large show of support for Proposed Charter Amendment VIII would not only mean budget autonomy, the very least owed to the District by its government, but more importantly, it could also mean an end to the centuries-long tyranny of taxation without representation. In the spirit of democracy, Hoyas should vote “Yes” for budget autonomy this Tuesday.

SACRED HEARTS

Dahlgren vandalism disrespects GU’s identity On the night of April 13, Dahlgren Chapel was broken into and vandalized, with the organ, piano, chairs, and part of the crucifix damaged as a result. While the intruder has yet to be identified and the motive remains unclear, this sort of vandalism against the religious and historical heart of our University should be interpreted as nothing less than an attack on the entire Georgetown community.

As of Wednesday evening, no one had been detained for the crime, so it is possible that the damage was caused by destructive alcohol-induced belligerence and not religious bigotry, as many on campus initially believed. From Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J.’s perspective, the damage to the crucifix appears accidental.

Nevertheless, accidental indifference in one of Georgetown’s sacred spaces can never be tolerated. In May 2012, the seniors of the women’s club volleyball team apologized

for littering the steps of Dahlgren with condoms and alcohol. Though this act lacked any anti-religious zealotry, the volleyball team’s actions demonstrated complete disregard for the religious symbolism behind many of Georgetown’s locations.

Dahlgren is not the only sacred place on campus. The Jesuit cemeteries, Copley’s Muslim Prayer Room and St. Williams Chapel, Makóm in the Leavey Center, and McSherry Hall are all religious sites reflecting the religious pluralism that exists here at Georgetown. In this sense, vandalism at Dahlgren is much more than vandalism against the Catholic Church—on the contrary, it disrespects the campus-wide commitment and investment Georgetown makes to respect diversity of religious expression.

Georgetown has a long history of being a collegiate leader in fostering a vibrant interfaith community. Georgetown employs both

a full-time rabbi and an imam on campus, staffs dormitories with chaplains-in-residence across the wide faith spectrum, and regularly organizes interfaith events, like Campus Ministry’s Hallelujah Shabbat and the Hindu Student Association’s Holi festival.

Keeping this identity in mind, we hope to see the intruder brought to justice and made to pay for the damages to the 120-year-old chapel. But more importantly, we hope this crime will be a reminder for students of the importance of paying due respect to religious buildings on campus, taking into consideration the personal significance they have to our peers.

Dahlgren is a Catholic space, but it is symbolic of our University’s inclusive emphasis on pluralism. If not of Georgetown’s particular religious affiliation, students should at least be conscious and respectful of our tolerant identity.

GENTRIFY ME GENTLY

Alexandria redevelopment unequal and unfair Last Saturday, Alexandria’s City Council voted six to one to approve a contentious development project that will raze 2,500 affordable housing units and replace them with stores, offices, and 5,000 new apartments. Unfortunately, only 800 of these new units will be reserved for the existing low-income residents, uprooting thousands of families.

The decision follows months of protests by community members and advocates, who insist the Beauregard development project will displace longtime residents without providing them viable housing alternatives. Although current residents will receive one-time compensation between $2,300 and $3,100, opponents highlight that such measures disregard the human and community elements of forced displacement.

Proponents of redevelopment argue that the project will give life to the area, meeting increasing demand for high quality housing in the DMV and improving mass transit. Moreover, a richer and larger population and more business activity is expected to bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue in the next decades, encouraging the region’s economic growth.

While the project is clearly a valuable enterprise for Alexandria’s residents, the city council failed to negotiate an adequate deal for its residents who depend on the lowincome housing available in Beauregard.

Because developer JBG’s promise of $158.6 million worth of new community infrastructure—including parkland and a fire station— is one of the largest developer contributions ever made in the region, the mere 800 affordable units are seen as an act of charity on the part of JBG. However, considering the everdecreasing amount of low-income housing options available within the Beltway and the 21 years the city is estimating it will take for all 800 units to be available, ensuring sufficient affordable housing is not supererogatory—it is imperative.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, minimum-wage earners spending no more than 30 percent of income on housing need to work 114 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, in order to afford the 40th percentile of rents in Virginia, or $1,078. In D.C., minimum-wage earners need to work

18 more hours to afford an even higher rent of $1,412.

When three minimum-wage jobs are needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the District, something is broken in our housing system. Such tendencies are blamed on gentrification, the combined economic and political forces that, in seeking to renew and revive older areas of town, raise living prices in an area and push out lowerincome residents who can no longer afford to live in more expensive communities.

If we want to build an equitable, diverse, and vibrant District, development should still occur, but it should be approached holistically. This requires that the interests of poorer residents, whose right to a dignified standard of living necessitates affordable housing and living wages, be as seriously considered as those of wealthier residents. As such, the city of Alexandria should require JBG to build more affordable housing more quickly, and not allow them to raise rents to the point where already marginalized lowincome residents can no longer afford to live in their longtime communities.

news

4 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

Workers silenced on Leo’s issues, call for new committee

by Lucia He On April 2, the Georgetown Dining Facebook page received 1,000 likes as the culmination of a campaign promising a Surf and Turf dinner for students if the set goal of likes were reached. This campaign forms part of the increasing efforts made by the Georgetown Dining management, run by Aramark, to increase student satisfaction with dining services offered on campus.

have spaces to voice these concerns through means such as the monthly Dine with Directors meetings, the ability of workers to voice their concerns about different issues is limited

by Aramark and District policy.

“We really need workers to have protected speech,” said Erin Riordan (COL ’15), a student involved with workers’ issues on campus.

“They can talk about their conditions in the workplace and how they are being treated publicly, and they

Miles Gavin Meng

The campaign for 1,000 likes is the latest effort to make up for worsening quality.

However, several concerns have arisen in the University community—especially from workers and students—in response to changes made to the food at Leo’s in the past year. Even though students

also have a grievance procedure to deal with that, but in terms of food stuff, if they talk about the food and are retaliated against because of that, they have no legal recourse to protect themselves from that.”

Part of the problem arises from D.C.’s at-will employment policy, which allows employers to terminate a working relationship without previous warning and no subsequent liability.

“If an employee talks about food quality at Leo’s they can have their hours cut, they could be fired. Aramark has no protection for the workers in that sense, so there’s no way in which workers can comment about food safely,” explained Riordan.

While other universities such as American University and Gallaudet offer employees a space in their food committees, workers are not included in the monthly meetings held by the Student Food Committee at Georgetown, where students give the administration feedback on their dining experience.

“If the administration adopts a food committee with students, workers, and management, then students would know [when] managers are telling the truth about certain things, but right now workers don’t really have a voice in what they serve in the cafeteria,” said a Leo’s source who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

“Maybe something [food] is old, and workers are told to put it out and can’t say anything because if they say something they could suffer,” said the source. “If we had a committee we could talk about those issues, like what to do with old food, see if we can

donate it to homeless shelters or something like that. It would be a very positive thing.”

According to several current Leo’s workers who preferred to keep their identities anonymous, budget cuts have been affecting both the quality and quantity of food being provided at Leo’s.

“A lot of kids have been dropping their meal plans because the quality of the food hasn’t been getting better,” said one of the sources.

“We have a lot of senior workers who have been here for years. They say kids used to come as freshman and graduate students, not only to eat but just to stop by and see how workers were doing, how their health was, how their kids were.

They don’t come in as much as they used to and it’s not because of the workers, but the food quality.”

Abigail Cooner (SFS ’16), Vice Chair of GUSA’s Subcommittee on Food Services, argues that the main reason for the negative feedback on the food at Leo’s is not due to an actual decrease in quality, but due to the student culture surrounding dining hall food.

“A large part of the way people feel toward dining depends on the attitude on campus, and right now there’s definitely a culture of having a negative attitude toward the food that we eat at Leo’s,” said Cooner.

“Beyond the food being good or bad on a certain day, it’s just a thing to not necessarily love it.”

At the same time, Samuel Greco (SFS ’15), Vice Speaker of the Senate and Chair of the Subcommittee on Food Services, supports the way in which the administration is handling the budget cuts.

“When you have the average cost of food rising at about 7 percent a year, and the meal plans rise about 2 percent a year, you’ve got 5 percent that you have to make up somewhere,” Greco said. “From what I’ve seen, we have managed that difference pretty well. The administrators that we work with at Leo’s are open to listen to our concerns and we’ve seen improvements in the options of food.”

However, budget cuts not only have an effect on the food quality offered to students, but on workers themselves. Allegations have been made against Dining Services trying to cut employees’ working hours to 37.5 hours, a range that hinders workers from receiving the benefits of being employed for 40 hours weekly and thus considered full-time workers.

“If workers were given a protected voice, more could be done to address food and worker issues because they are the ones that care most about the students and about the food,” said Riordan. “They are involved day to day in knowing us as students and being our friends and at the same time in making the food and preparing it.”

Changes to intro history requirement Leads yes, suspects no

by Morgan Manger The Georgetown College is changing its general education history requirement by replacing one of the previously mandated general survey classes with a history focus course. The change will take effect with the class of 2017, although members of the class of 2016 are also eligible to take a focused course.

Currently, the College requires students to take either HIST-007, Intro to Early History, or HIST-008, Intro to Late History, in addition to a large regional survey course. After the change, students will have to take one survey course and a history focus course.

History focus courses differ from those previously offered as fulfilling the history general education requirement by focusing on a particular aspect of history, as opposed to an overview of an entire region.

“Whereas the current requirement is structured as two ‘broad’ introductory courses, the new structure will replace one of those two with a ‘deep’ introductory course,” said Prof. Tommaso Astarita of the History Department, who will be teaching one of the focus classes this coming fall. “The aim is to give students exposure to more varied and different facets of historical work.”

Two history focus courses will be offered next semester, the first taught by Dr. Astarita on the Italian Renaissance, and the second taught by Prof. Chandra Manning on the American Revolution. Both professors are still in the process of developing a plan and syllabi for their courses, as they are of completely novel design.

Manning’s course will contain, in addition to the traditional lecture and discussion, a history lab day once a week. The lab day

will allow students to do more of a hands-on inquiry into history by involving instruction on how to read a scholarly article, finding sources, closely reading primary and secondary sources, and workshops on writing.

The components of the course will combine together to complement the other broad survey general education history requirement. “The new class and the current survey class complement each other,” wrote Manning in an email to the Voice. “[They will] more fully introduce students to what the discipline of history is, what tools and methods historians employ, and how, as historians, we come to know what we know.”

S t u -dents will still be able to use AP creit to fulfill the general survey course requirement, but even with the AP credit they will still need to take another 100+ level history course.

Kat EASOP

According to Chief of the Department of Public Safety, Jay Gruber, DPS is currently pursuing several leads in its investigation of the vandalism in Dahlgren Chapel.

The investigation is being jointly conducted by DPS and the Metropolitan Police Department. “We are working with MPD on the latent evidence [fingerprints],” Gruber wrote in an email to the Voice. According to Director of MPD communication, Gwendolyn Crump, MPD has not yet identified any suspects. It is still unclear when between Saturday night and Sunday morning the crime was committed, or what was the possible motivation for the crime. Questions have been raised about the possibility of security cameras catching a glimpse of the perpetrator. There are no cameras within the Dahlgren Quadrangle, and few in the surrounding area.

Gruber would not say if there was any footage of a suspect. The final cost of the damage is unknown, according to Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien S.J., as the chapel is undergoing renovations. The damaged chairs were already being replaced as part of the renovation. -Matthew Weinmann

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the georgetown voice 5

Campus survey will help plan 20 years of development

by Jeffrey Lin The Georgetown master planning survey, which ran from April 10-16, will allow the University to incorporate student opinion into the campus development plan for the next 20 years. The survey was created by University officials and Sasaki Strategies, an architecture firm partnered with Georgetown, located in Boston.

The 2,731 responses of the survey came from undergraduate, law, medical, and graduate students. Gregory Janks, director of Sasaki Strategies, believes that the information from the survey will help them make recommendations to the University for future campus planning.

“What we’ll do is close the survey at around the 15th, and at that point we’ll do a complete analysis and look for patterns in the data,” Janks said. “Once those [patterns] are framed, we will take it back to the [Georgetown] team, representing all different areas of the campus, who will get to see the results. Then that team will make recommendations to the Georgetown Administration who will decide based on the recommendations.”

Responses can be filtered by factors such as students’ year, school, and how far they live from Georgetown. Although Janks realizes the value of the data Sasaki is collecting from students, he sees the data as a small part of the larger process of campus development planning. “This is a small piece—but a critical piece— in what will be a much broader comprehensive planning effort looking at the academic environment, student life issues, athletic and recreation issues, [and] transportation issues,” Janks said.

Robin Morey, the Vice President of Planning and Facilities Management, also thinks this survey only represents a small part of Georgetown’s data collecting plans. “If you look at the data, it’s scientific to the extent that this is how people feel,” she said.

“Somebody might not feel safe at a particular location, but that does not mean the location is not safe.”

Morey and Janks believe they will be able to use this information to create a framework to guide campus planning in the future. The survey will allow them to know the preferences of Georgetown students and faculty so that future construction can

Silverman the golden vote

You might not know it by the lack of media coverage, but there’s a critical citywide election in D.C. next week, on Tuesday, April 23.

On that day, Washingtonians will not only vote on a referendum to secure budget autonomy for the District, but also to fill an at-large seat on the D.C. Council, the city’s legislative governing body, vacated by democratic Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.

Out of the six candidates—four Democrats, a Republican, and a Green—the Democrat Elissa Silverman represents the best choice for any students who have switched their registration to the District, offering a formidable local résumé, deep, nuanced views on local issues, and a measured, progressive attitude toward governance.

Silverman comes into politics from a somewhat unorthodox field—journalism. Having been a local reporter for both the Washington Post and Washington City Paper, she would bring the critical perspective of her former field to a council that too often operates behind the scenes. When she was

at City Paper, Silverman wrote the local politics column and blog Loose Lips for three years, investigating the grit and grime of D.C. politics.

After that, she covered local issues for WaPo, including investigations into the impact of corporate money on the 2006 mayoral race.

Silverman then left journalism and headed to the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, a progressive organization that studies and critiques city financial decisions, leading local advocacy efforts on the budget and pushing a successful initiative to open D.C. budget negotiations to the public.

Most recently, she made her commitment to responsible governance even clearer, joining the D.C. Public Trust as it pushed for a ballot initiative to rid D.C. elections of corporate contributions.

From all of this, one thing is clear: Silverman has at least as much experience as any candidate with the ins and outs of D.C. politics. But, her involvement comes in the form of outside critiquing and advocacy, instead of multiple

facilitate interdepartmental cooperation and transportation.

“If the data shows that there are particular areas where people usually navigate and we need to strengthen those pedestrian pathway projects, that’s what we’re going to do and focus on improving those pedestrian pathways,” Morey said.

Using the data from the survey, Janks believes that the University can create a campus that not only provides the basic necessities to students but also the means to have an enjoyable university life. “I think the survey will help us confirm we have correctly identified the major pedestrian pods and activity nodes on campus so that we can reinforce existing districts and bring in an even more vibrant, active street life to the campus,” Janks said.

The survey also provided useful data on how the University can create a safer environment for the students and faculty.

“One of the big things we always hear about working on college campuses are potential vehicular and pedestrian conflicts,” Janks said. “So if there are potential safety hazards with cars, those are very helpful to our transportacampaigns, bureaucratic experience, or time on the ethically-challenged council.

Experience doesn’t always beget expertise, but Silverman also brings a wealth of knowledge about the issues D.C. faces. On Let’s Choose D.C., an online candidate questionnaire organized by the local blogs Greater Greater Washington, DCist, and PoPville, Silverman’s re-

City on a Hill

by Gavin Bade

A bi-weekly column about the District sponses to questions ranging from local transport issues to crime and public schools are consistently rated either at the top or in second place by users.

Her careful and even-handed approach to the issues earned her the endorsement of Greater Greater Washington, along with others including Councilman David Grosso (I-At-Large), the most independently-minded of the current councilmembers.

To be sure, there are other thoughtful candidates in the race as well. Democrat Matthew

sasaKi stRateGies

These survey results show where students feel unsafe across campus. tion planning and as part of this kind of larger picture in terms of trying to create very safe environments for the students.”

The data will also play a major role in Georgetown’s plan to house 385 more students on campus by 2015 and 90 percent of the undergraduate population by 2025.

“If we find that people eat a lot at a particular location, and it is right adjacent to the location we pick to build the new residence hall, then programming wise it might not be wise to put a food outlet in that hall,” Morey said. “However, if an area is underutilized maybe we

Frumin scored well on the Let’s Choose D.C. questionnaire as well, usually slightly ahead of or behind Silverman. But, while he displays a deep grasp of wheelhouse issues such as education, he lacks the breadth of knowledge Silverman offers from her years as a reporter. He also has not made many inroads outside of traditionally affluent communities in Northwest, a prerequisite to not only electoral success, but good governance.

Republican Patrick Mara, the Ward 1 member of the D.C. State Board of Education, is clearly the highest-profile competitor, but lacks the necessary perspective to represent the interests of the entire city. Mara is a perennial candidate—this being his third run in a row for the council—and each time he’s run, the Washington Post has endorsed him. In a way, they get Mara right—he would provide a “break from the past” on the council, just not one that’s friendly to most residents.

Although he’s from the moderate wing of the GOP, Mara has still refused to support efforts to raise the city’s minimum wage or man-

could help increase utilization by adding a food outlet.”

The University plans on continuing its data collection with Sasaki along with the cooperation of other consulting firms, such as Forest City, to gather more specific information.

“The next phase is that our consultants will go out and interview focus groups of people,” Morey said. “They will ask teams of faculty, staff, undergraduates, and graduates more specific and more pointed questions. The anecdotal questions from the first survey will help us devise more specific questions for the next round of surveys.”

date paid sick days for restaurant workers, two crucial workplace justice issues. Silverman, on the other hand, has been the most vocal in her support for the initiatives.

Additionally, Mara simply refused to answer many of the questions from Let’s Choose D.C., giving the impression that he will be less responsive to the community if elected. At the very least, it’s clear he is out of touch with most Washingtonians, especially compared to his competitors, and the last thing D.C. needs is a millionaire Republican on its council who prioritizes management over labor.

In the end, it’s likely a very small number of votes will determine this low-turnout election, and no clear frontrunner has emerged, even this late in the game. Every vote will count, so, when you’re at the booth, choose not only a set of policies, but a candidate that embodies the correct perspective and principles, and elect Elissa Silverman for At-Large Council.

Send Gavin your blank ballot at gbade@georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

Georgetown Boxing Club showcases national talent

by Chris Castano After 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, if a student chooses to leave the shelter of their dorm and bravely venture into Leo’s Down Under, they may find themselves rubbing elbows with one of the most underappreciated, dedicated sports programs on campus. Following a long practice of “keeping calm and dropping bombs,” the members of the co-ed Georgetown Boxing Club like to cool down by heading to late night for a family dinner. The relationships forged between these teammates on the Hilltop ring give a whole new meaning to the term “tough love.”

The Georgetown boxing program was founded in 2007 in an attempt to resurrect the illustrious (yet mostly unknown) boxing history found within the annals of the Hilltop. Since its creation, the club’s membership has grown rapidly.

Where five fighters once stood, 40 active members now attend practice regularly, and condition with a group or with a partner Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“We have practice five or six times a week, and we have 40 active members, so yeah, normally we’ll have 25 people show up to work,” smiled junior co-captain Blair Vorsatz (COL ‘14), radiating pride.

As the club has grown larger, it has also become one of the most diverse groups on campus.

“The boxing club supports so many different cultures and ideologies,” said sophomore boxing cocaptain Adan Gonzalez (COL ‘15).

“All the students on the boxing team are so different in an interesting and unique way. No two boxers are the same!” Vorsatz added.

He isn’t exaggerating. The boxing club boasts members of Bajan, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, and Jamaican descent.

Beyond growing in numbers, the team has quickly expanded its reach outside of D.C. In just two years they’ve gone from practicing semi-regularly at a gym 40 minutes away from campus to competing internationally, send-

ing fighters to the collegiate boxing nationals, and hosting the first boxing showcase Georgetown has seen in fifty years.

“We hope that after this event the program will be more recognizable,” said Gonzalez.

On Saturday, April 20, the Georgetown Boxing Club will be hosting a group of fighters from the U.K. in the first real boxing event this campus has seen in half a century. But, the showcase isn’t all about throwing fists.

“At the end of the day we are Georgetown,” Gonzalez said.

“We’re promoting that the campus is diverse. There’s the opportunity for different clubs around campus to work together as one and represent what the school has to offer.”

Aside from the Saturday night fights, the event will feature clubs and organizations of all purposes. A capella group Achordance will sing the national anthem and perform, while groups like Ballet Folklórico will also contribute to the festive atmosphere.

Besides getting the green light to host their own boxing showcase, the club has also found success nationally, as five Hoya fighters travelled to the U.S. Intercollegiate Boxing Association’s national championships in San Diego this semester, including Gonzalez himself.

“Being in the ring knowing that I’m not only representing myself, but my family, my community at home, and Georgetown University was difficult! Being one of the captains and the more experienced fighters here on campus, I felt that pressure a lot. If I failed, I would have felt the program had failed, “ said Gonzalez.

Thankfully for Gonzalez and the program, he won his final fight against Sebastian Doehr from San Francisco University and now holds the USIBA national light welterweight boxing title.

Said Gonzalez, “Hearing that I won, the first thing that came to my mind was my parents wishing me luck before coming to Georgetown.

I didn’t know what I was going to encounter [on the Hilltop] but I’m

COURTESY GEORGETOWN BOXING CLUB

Adan Gonzalez sees his fellow boxers as more than just a group of teammates.

thankful I found the boxing team and was able to grow.”

Both captains hope that their recent success in nationals, and their upcoming events will attract more attention to a program they feel is worthy of the notice of the Georgetown community.

“My goal is to have this event become a sort of SAC fair,” laughed

Gonzalez. Vorsatz quickly followed up, “And to have it be annual! The flyers [for the event] say annual!”

Despite their aspirations for recognition here on campus, the members of the program remain grounded in humility.

“We got a lot of compliments from every school,” said Gonzalez. “Our team really showed

those Jesuit ideals of being one of helping each other through everything. Once fans from the other schools started chanting Hoya Saxa, at that moment, we knew what we did as a team.”

The Georgetown Boxing Club will host their boxing showcase on Saturday, April 20. The event begins at 3 p.m. in Yates Field House.

the Sports Sermon “SITTING OUT TONIGHT’S GAME, if you disappointed I didn’t try to go for the scoring title, oh well!!” -Kevin Durant via Instagram on bowing out love accentuated by a peaceful demeanor to train competitors since his return from fighting in World War II as a member of the storied 442nd Infantry Regiment.

Takemori is joined by Nalls, a 6th degree black belt and international referee, in teaching everyone from us novices to the more than 30 black belts.

With the expertise of additional instructors ranging from 4th to 8th degree black belts, Washington Judo Club lays claim to instruction that can be matched by few other organizations in the U.S. “We are the biggest club in the area and one of the highest levels because in most states you

Nazeri taking the top spot in the Masters division.

Georgetown is all about From the list of gold medalists world-class programs. From fialone, it is clear that Washington’s nance to athletics, we take great judo is not limited to a specific depride in being ranked alongside mographic as our practices include the best. Among the celebrated an array of faces and personalities. top tier programs here on the The accommodation of differHilltop resides yet another noences in the club is representative table group of competitors—the of the sport at large, giving it a Washington Judo Club, which substantial international appeal in includes members from the UniEurope and Asia. The sport underversity and surrounding commuwent numerous changes in recent nity. The club has been producing years to make it more accessible nationally acclaimed competitors and attractive to countries withunder the instruction of venerout a large judo presence. These able coaches for over half a cenchanges will hopefully make judo tury. As a novice member of the a mainstay in martial arts. club, being thrown week after For me personally, judo has week by these competitors has been a lot more than a sport; it’s been a lesson in pertaught me a new Pete Rose Central sonal development. understanding of reThe Washingspect that can really Da bettin’ line ton Judo Club was only be learned from Dookies Margin Hoyas founded just after the challenges judo the end of World (favorites) presents. Takemori’s (underdogs) (duh!)

War II by James reinforcing presence Don’t Matter Takemori and Don King’s Ruling and the welcoming LeBron Draeger with the Slumping City of Angels community of playHamilton Pentagon as their ers provides an opRock Bottom Recruits Kentucky home for practimal forum to build tices and training. As Draeger might not have 31 black belts. We upon the discipline that is necesmoved on from the club, Take- have 31 plus very high ranking sary to successfully compete. mori took the reins and eventu- black belts, so our level of coachEven though judo lacks a ally merged his group with the ing and our expertise is excep- significant commercial presence Georgetown University Judo tionally high,” said Nalls. “Peo- in the U.S., the Northeast’s preClub, led by Michael “Tad” ple who were running other judo mier judo club has swelled with Nalls, in 1985, building the pro- clubs used to come here to train, talented athletes as well as with gram that exists today. and we taught them, so when we beginners with a sparked interest.

Nalls had taken over as the hold clinics we’re usually the cli- Takemori and Nalls have effechead of the Georgetown Univer- nicians or the head instructors.” tively constructed a competitive sity Judo Club in 1969 and ever This congregation of judo atmosphere that is able to foster since had maintained close rela- talent and experience does not improvements for black belts and tions with Takemori and his club. disappoint in molding quality newcomers, such as myself, alike.

Under the leadership of Takemori competitors. This past week VirThe old gym at the top of the and Nalls, Washington Judo has ginia Beach hosted the Judo Se- hill may not seem like the most flourished, becoming one of the nior Nationals, where our club appropriate residence for a worldpremier organizations for the made a strong showing. Three class judo program, but nonethesport of judo in the U.S. members won a total of four gold less, the humble attitude instilled Finding a more respected medals and eight other members in judo athletes has allowed them and accomplished member of the finished in the top ten. Washing- to thrive on the Hilltop. Such a judo community than Takemori ton’s competitors participated in mixture of expertise and experiwould be a daunting challenge, an array of divisions, with Ojito ence as our group has is hard to as the 87-year old 9th degree Ernest winning gold in the Male come by, even for Hoyas, makblack belt ranks as one of the 55 Kg, Angela Moran placing first ing the presence of this legendary highest in the U.S. He has used in both the Visually Impaired program all the more unique of an his seasoned method of tough and Female 48 Kg, and Dimitri opportunity for Georgetowners.

by Steven Criss

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Women’s lacrosse finally falters in Big East Men’s lax lacking discipline

by Joe Pollicino After defeating Marquette (212) 13-7 in Milwaukee this past Friday, the No. 8 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (9-3, 3-1 Big East) completed their Midwestern road trip in South Bend , Ind. on Sunday with a 13-12 loss at the hands of No. 6 Notre Dame (11-1, 5-1 Big East). Despite three goals by senior midfielder Sophia Thomas, as well as two apiece from senior midfielder Kelsi Bozel and junior midfielder Meghan Farrell, the Hoyas failed to complete a last-minute comeback.

With both teams entering the third quarter tied at 4, the Fighting Irish scored four unanswered goals to claim an 8-4 lead early in the quarter. The Hoyas replied with four unanswered goals of their own to tie the game at 8. Notre Dame, however, took control in the fourth quarter as they grabbed a 13-8 lead that the Hoyas couldn’t overcome.

Georgetown has struggled recently in matchups with Notre Dame; the loss marks their fourth loss in a row to the Fighting Irish, as well as the second consecutive game between the two teams with a 1-goal margin.

Head Coach Ricky Fried simply believed his team didn’t take advantage of its opportunities throughout the game.

“I don’t think it’s too much about Notre Dame,” Fried said.

“One-goal games the last [two] years. I think it’s about what we’ve been doing this year.

Frankly, I thought we outplayed them. If we outshoot them by 15 shots, we shouldn’t lose the game by a goal. It’s more discipline on our part and how we are finishing our plays across the board.”

Fried took some positives and negatives from the loss, which drops the Hoyas to fourth place in the Big East standings.

MILES GAVIN MENG

Meghan Farrell contributed two goals in a close loss to Notre Dame.

Sport in its simplest sense

Sept. 11 did not come to my mind on Monday, at least not initially. Instead, my mind wandered to 10 days after that fateful day in 2001, to September 21. That day, Mike Piazza and the Mets resurrected New York City’s vibrancy from the horrors of the attack on the World Trade Center. For about three hours, people around the city and the nation were afforded an escape from it all. Piazza’s game-winning homerun that day simply topped an incredibly unifying day.

I was 10 years old. I lived 20 minutes away and continually marveled at the World Trade Center whenever we so much as approached the George Washington Bridge. All of a sudden, it was gone—but my Mets were still there, providing solace to everyone in mourning, even if it was just for nine innings.

And so, when the bombs struck in Boston, marring one of the greatest traditions in sports— the Boston Marathon—I took my

time to reflect on the immediacy of the attacks and the death and injury toll.

But then I thought back to 2001 and the simplistic comfort I drew from that small window of distraction. In that sense, on Monday, those two worlds collided. What once provided almost 40,000 people in Shea Stadium a temporary reprieve—a sporting event—was now the target of someone else’s vitriol.

The Boston Marathon represents everything that is right about sports. It brings people together, shuts down an entire city, and affords thousands of participants who have been training for months, years, or their whole lives a venue to achieve greatness.

Aside from all that, marathon runners are the opposite of the spoiled athletes we glorify on television. It is something I only realized a few weeks ago, when I had to make a list of 50 life goals for my entrepreneurship class. Creating the list itself was a rewarding

“I guess the biggest thing we are looking for is to be disciplined and hit the target,” he said. “I think we are doing a good job in aspects of our game but there’s other aspects that we aren’t doing enough and those are the things that are letting us down at the end of the day.”

When asked about how his team could improve on the Notre Dame game, Fried responded, “Shooting and turnovers.” The Hoyas struggled to find the back of the net despite outshooting the Fighting Irish 37-22 and went only 3-for-10 on free-position shots.

What’s more, they also racked up 15 turnovers.

Because these frustrating stats prevented the Hoyas from taking advantage of a winnable game, Fried is emphasizing reducing turnovers and improving shot-selection in practice this week.

“We are tracking things a little bit better in practice about who’s turning the ball over and trying to make that a little more public to the team so that they are aware of it,” he said. “I don’t think in practice you are always aware of when you turn the ball over. For shooting we are emphasizing as much as we possibly can about what a quality shot is, and what we are expecting [them] to shoot.”

Georgetown will look to rebound from their most recent loss when they travel later this week up to Piscataway, N.J. on Friday to take on Rutgers (9-4, 1-3 Big East), and then travel south Radnor, Penn. to play Villanova (5-7, 0-4 Big East) on Sunday afternoon. experience, especially because I conjured all kinds of aspirations. I happened to throw in “finish one marathon in each of the next three decades” near the end of the list without giving it much of a second thought.

Monday forced my hand.

There is something special about a marathon runner, someone

Double-Teamed

by Kevin Joseph A bi-weekly column about sports

willing to endure the rigors of training tirelessly for a grueling, 26-mile run. I struggle enough to recover from a bit of soreness after my slow-and-steady runs that typically equal a quarter of that distance. But if they want to succeed, they go at it again, and again, and again.

Running is sport in its simplest sense. It brings together every class, race, creed, with no regard. It’s not an expensive endeavor where an athlete needs to

by Chris Castano Despite gaining momentum after a dramatic 14-13 overtime win against St. John’s (7-4, 2-3 Big East) on April 6, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-7, 2-2 Big East) couldn’t hang on to a 4-goal lead this past Monday against No. 4 Notre Dame.

The Hoyas burst right out of the gate at the first whistle.

Sophomore midfielder Charles McCormick took advantage of an early man-up situation to notch the Blue and Gray’s first goal from 15 feet out off an assist by sophomore attacker Reilly O’Connor. O’Connor tallied his second assist of the night just a few minutes later when sophomore midfielder Joseph Bucci doubled the Hoyas lead.

Goals from O’Connor himself and senior attacker Travis Comeau gave Georgetown a 4-0 lead with 7 minutes to go in the first quarter.

Two Fighting Irish goals from Sean Rodgers and Tyler Kimball went unanswered until Comeau scored his second goal of the game to close the first quarter with the Hoyas leading 5-2.

“We put in a new system recently ... so it was just a matter of going out there, doing what we’re told, and also being lacrosse players and just working off the situations that we were in,” Comeau said of their offensive performance.

go out and buy a pair of Air Jordans and a basketball or a leather glove and a bat.

In and of itself, that is part of why this attack hurts so much.

The bombs devastated an international sporting event. The marathon is not just for Bostonians or even Americans. An Ethiopian or Kenyan man has won the race 24 of the past 25 years. Even handicapped participants in wheelchairs go through the course.

By attacking the Boston Marathon, the very fiber of an open, tolerant society that is capable of accepting greatness from anywhere—be it a poor African country or a native Bostonian—was threatened.

Still, I hesitate to say the attack cements the Boston Marathon as an even more important race now, as a place where people triumphed over adversity and the world came together. Frankly, that acknowledges the attackers in a light that I am not too comfortable with.

Regardless, next year’s race takes on a new level of publicity.

Turnovers haunted the Hoyas as Notre Dame scored twice as a direct consequence of Georgetown errors. The Blue and Gray wasted chances in the opponent’s half and saw their lead cut to 5-4 heading into the interval.

Notre Dame scored two quick goals in the first minute after the break to take the lead. Georgetown battled back, as Comeau and Bucci combined for another goal, but couldn’t stop the Irish onslaught as Notre Dame scored two more bringing the score to 8-6.

McCormick continued to work and was rewarded when he scored his second goal of the game, but his effort was cancelled out when the Irish put another goal on the board just before the beginning of the fourth period. Both teams scored once more to bring the final tally to 10-8.

“You should be exposed to whatever a defense or an offense does at this point in the season— somebody’s done it already,” said Head Coach Kevin Warne.

“So we do a lot less teaching and a lot more focusing on yourself, more focusing on the fundamentals that we harped on in January to get us ready.”

The Blue and Gray are back in action for their final home game against Syracuse at the Multi-Sport Field on April 20 at 1 p.m.

This year’s winners do not matter more than any other year, nor will next year’s matter all that much.

That is the underlying point of sorts, as the winner is crowded out by the eclectic group of athletes that are able to cross that finish line.

That joy does not have to come from a sporting event. Patriot Monday would roll on just fine in Boston without the marathon by its side. It just makes it all the more special. In the same manner, New Yorkers did not need the Mets to pick themselves up after September 11.

But it helped. All of America was tuned in on that day, just as they will be on Patriot Monday one year from now for the marathon. On a national level, perhaps a heightened interest level is a bit contrived. It’s not my team, it’s not my city. But that doesn’t matter all that much in the face of national tragedy like this—I know come next year, I’ll be watching.

Never forget with Kevin at kjoseph@georgetownvoice.com

8 the georgetown voice

feature

april 18, 2013

FRIDAY NIGHT PLIGHTS the health concerns of club athletes

by chris almeida

room of nearby hospitals and the it’s like $150, but even that is too Georgetown Emergency Response steep for me to do, so I just carried on Medical Service, for serious in- resting since then. I’m playing sports juries. During events away from again, but my knees aren’t great.”

Lindsay-Bayley’s case is not a rare campus, the ABCS requires that the nearest hospital is notified in case one. Club sports athletes routinely of any injuries. There are sports face great risk in practice and compedoctors on staff that are connected tition, in part because of the occupato the ABCS and are available, but tional hazards, and in part because of the inadequate facilities. only by request.

Tim Hughes (COL ‘13) is the presMichael Lindsay-Bayley (MSB ‘14) is a member of both the tennis ident of the club baseball team at and soccer club programs. Lind- Georgetown. While Hughes has not say-Bayley sustained injuries to his been seriously hurt during his time knees during an intramural basket- on the team, he has seen his fair share ball game after the club seasons for of injuries. the fall semester had ended. Lindsay-Bayley made an appointment with the Student Health Center and, after two weeks, went COURTESY CLUB BASEBALL to receive medical The club baseball team competes in a game against Loyola Maryland, in Clinton, Md. attention. The docWhile the successful Division I at advanced levels of competition. tor that he saw there Hoya sports squads garner the most Members of varsity teams have train- was unfamiliar with attention on campus, club sports ers on-site at games and are provided sports injuries and make up a substantial portion of the trainers when something goes wrong misdiagnosed the undergraduate body at Georgetown, at practice. Club sports athletes, problem, but sent with over 1,000 of the 7,600 enrolled however, have to make do with less him to physiotherapy at Georgetown Unistudents belonging to at least one specialized attention. club team. There are over 30 club Alex Skarzynski (SFS ‘15), the versity Hospital.

“I went [to physsports teams on campus, which in- current safety representative for the clude standard teams like soccer and ABCS and the elected chair for next iotherapy] and they basketball, but also teams for eques- year, has been working on getting knew exactly what trian, fishing, and rock climbing. funding for an athletic trainer as well they were talking Many of these programs are selective as other medical improvements for about. I didn’t quite know the details of and compete at a high level against club sports. other universities.

“We are currently in the process of at- my insurance plan The Georgetown University tempting to get an athletic trainer,” Skarzyn- with regards to physWomen’s Rugby Football Club, for ski said. “It is something a lot of people are iotherapy,” he said.

“I thought I was instance, has won the the Potomac talking about on campus. That being said, at Rugby Union championship four a big university like this, before you do any- going to get eight free times since its founding in 2000, and thing like this, you have to sort out the logis- visits. It turned out continues to compete in Division II. tical issues, you have to understand funding, that I was only going Club baseball is a perennial playoff liability, all those things. So we are taking a to get $60 off the total contender. The women’s squash team lot of time, making sure it’s done right. No- cost of each session. won the most competitive champion- body can guarantee that it’s going to hap- I was getting hour miles GAVIN MENG ship available for their division, the pen, but we are doing everything we can long sessions, which Club tennis practices at the tennis courts near McDonough.

Epps Cup, in 2011. and we are progressing far along this process was two sessions at a time. After two sessions, I asked how Hughes said, “We’ve had players However, the medical attention of bringing a trainer to Georgetown.” given to club programs is not held to Currently, the procedure depends much it was going to cost, expecting on the team with separated shoulthe same standards as that given to on the severity of the injury. Athletes it to be $150, but it turned out to cost ders, we’ve had two torn ACL’s their varsity counterparts. Although are left to fend for themselves if an ... around $560 for my two sessions. over the last two years. We had one it has been a concern of the Adviso- injury is deemed minor, or they are That was too much, so I couldn’t guy who seriously threw out his elcarry on with that,” he said. “There bow playing baseball. So, a couple ry Board for Club Sports, these ath- sent to the Student Health Center. letes are not given access to a trainIn the case of serious injuries­ , are a couple clinics in D.C. where you pretty bad ones.”

Athletes in every level of sport are er—considered an essential resource club athletes rely on the emergency don’t need to give insurance details,

georgetownvoice.com vulnerable to ACL injuries. ACL tears are one of the most prevalent knee injuries, and rehabilitation alone is not enough for athletes to recover from this injury. Usually, in order to play again, an athlete will require reconstructive knee surgery and ample recovery time, which ranges from multiple months to a year.

The anterior cruciate ligament is one of four major ligaments in the knee, allowing the knee to rotate properly and expanding lateral movement.

ACL injuries can result from a variety of causes, including sudden changes in direction, high impact jumps, and sudden deceleration—in other words, very basic components of any sport.

These injuries are usually serious and take multiple months to a year to heal when treated properly. This injury has recently affected many of the largest names in American sports, for instance, after tearing his ACL in December of 2011, it was considered a small miracle that Vikings running back and 2012 NFL MVP Adrian Peterson was able to return for Week 1 of the 2012 season. ACL tears have also been responsible for Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo’s extended absences from the NBA. Another issue at hand is care for concussions. Women’s rugby routinely suffers 1 or 2 concussions a semester. Head injuries have come into the spotlight in not only professional sports, but also in sports at the college and high school levels. Most prominently, many former National Football League players are suffering from mental illness and are taking action against the league after suffering repeated head trauma and not receiving

feature

proper treatment or protection. The procedure for playing after possibly sustaining a concussion has become more strict recently, but concussion testing has still not been completely integrated into club athletics.

“Concussions can be particularly dangerous to an athlete’s future health, so there are specific concussion treatment procedures,” Carter said.

“Additionally, they can sometimes be hard to diagnose without proper medical attention, leading to a greater risk of repeated injury. Concussion testing and follow-up is something that we very much hope to combine into the athletic trainer program.”

As of late, the procedure for concussions is to go to the emergency room or to call one of the sports doctors at the Student Health Center to let them know that you have a concussion and need attention. Of course, it is important to have on-site concussion testing in order to prevent an athlete that has sustained a concussion from re-entering the game and possibly injuring him or herself further. Due to the possible cognitive impairment that could result if head injuries are not handled correctly, concussions are at the center of concerns for club athletes.

“I think there is definitely a lot to be worked on. That being said, we are in the process and we are making big strides toward getting increased medical care every year,” Skarzynski said. “Last year it was getting first aid kits, this year it’s hopefully working toward an athletic trainer and a concussion testing program.”

Club athletes at Georgetown have an increased risk of getting hurt compared to regular students. Facilities also play a large role in contributing to the increased danger.

“As opposed to the average student, we’re at a higher risk because we’re playing sports more often. Being at a higher risk, you would need somebody to go to, because injuries are going to happen,” Hughes said.

“The other thing is, we don’t have a lot of practice space available to us and Kehoe field is basically the only place available,” he added.

“If you take one look at it, that place is just an injury trap. It’s basically rolled-out carpet on top of a cement floor with some potholes in it. So you’re going to see twisted ankles, you’re going to see torn ACL’s like we have, you’re going to see numerous bruises, things like separated shoulders because you’re falling on solid concrete.”

Hughes is not the only one who has Miles gavin meng qualms with Kehoe.

The men’s rugby team practices on the Multi-Sport Field.

Lindsay Fountain (SFS ‘15), who plays for the women’s club rugby team, also sees the limits and dangers of insufficient practice facilities. She said they only practice the contact el-

the georgetown voice 9 The ABCS submitted a request to the GUSA Finance and Appropriations Committee Board that outlined the funding that would be necessary for a program involving club sports train-

Club baseball has seen routine success in competitions in their division. ement of the game when they get the opportunity to practice on the MultiSport Field, where varsity football and lacrosse is played.

“Kehoe is really dangerous and limits our chances of succeeding because we can only tackle in 50 percent of our practices and because it results in injuries that keep our players unnecessarily out of practice and sometimes even out of games,” she wrote in an email to the Voice.

“Usually we’re left with the part of the field that receives little to no stadium lighting,” wrote Juliann Jefferson (MSB ‘14), a member of the club softball squad, in an email. “I’d definitely feel a lot safer practicing at a facility with better lighting.”

Contact sports in particular could benefit from having a trainer. Injuries commonly occur not only games, but practices as well, and at present, there is no medical expertise standing by to treat the athletes.

Before an athletic trainer can be brought in for the club programs, the ABCS has to negotiate with the Georgetown University Student Association, who is responsible for approving the funding that goes toward club sports. The ABCS submits a budget to the Georgetown University Students Association, who in turn allocates funding they think is appropriate for the given issues. This past year, the ABCS’s push in the medical area was for first aid kits. This was granted, and now these kits can be checked out by club sports that want to use them.

Though nothing is finalized in terms of getting a trainer for club sports, Skarzynski is optimistic. “We made a request for this athletic trainer funding to GUSA. They denied it as of now because they wanted to put together a plan ... I feel very confident that [we could get a trainer] if we get a particular structure in order and we get a program that is sustainable and reasonable ... GUSA said that they are committed to helping us get the money we need.”

COURTESY CLUB BASEBALL

ers. However, the Board responded by saying that they would like the current funding to be used to get the program up and running. Hopes are that if this is successful, the Board will approve additional funding to allow the program to expand and improve.

Luke Carter (COL ‘14) is a member of GUSA who has been working toward gaining funding for a trainer program and concussion testing. He finds that there also needs to be input on the part of the administration.

“The University could definitely do more in terms of providing medical care for its 1,000 club sport athletes,” Carter said. “Some studies suggest that club sports athletes are even more at risk than varsity athletes for injuries, due to the lack of preseason training camps and the like.

That said, if we were able to institute an athletic training program, it would be a massive improvement for club sports medical care.”

It is clear that club athletics could benefit from the presence of a trainer, but this program and improvements in concussion testing are even more important when considering the impacts that substantial injuries that are left untreated could have on the lives of athletes. The wait for funding is leaving this problem untreated and is leaving athletes vulnerable to injuries that could have very serious effects on their long-term wellbeing.

Medical treatment is clearly on the minds of the Administrative Board and GUSA, but the athletes themselves are especially concerned.

Said Hughes, “I say it’s hugely important. Like I said, for most sports injuries, the key is how fast you can get it seen and how fast you can get it treated.

Same thing as if you roll an ankle, the faster you can get off it and get ice on it, the faster it can heal. Especially when we have these short seasons, when you suffer an injury, you don’t want to be out for the season. So the faster you get it seen, the faster you can heal, the faster you can get playing again.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

Georgetown student filmmakers search for their Muse

by Julia Lloyd-George Spending a Saturday afternoon in the bioethics library isn’t atypical for Georgetown students, except if you have a camera and a crew of 10 people trying to turn it into a film set. Whispering directions to his two actors, Alex Waldon (COL ’15) and Taylor Mansmann (COL ’15), Andres Figueredo (COL ’13) is in the middle of shooting a scene for his Film & Media Studies thesis project, Muse, and attempting to avoid the wrath of the librarian in the process.

At a university known more for its strong political bent, this kind of occurrence is something that turns heads. Though Georgetown boasts a high-ranked theater department and famous alumni in both the film and comedy worlds, it’s never been known for a strong arts community, and student films are few and far between. A severe lack of arts funding and unification of arts groups makes pursuing projects like Figueredo’s, which was principally self-funded, a major challenge for students.

“I had a very hard time getting sponsorship from the film program,” he said. “I think that there needs to be more unity in the arts at Georgetown—more activities and events around campus. There are actually interesting creative people here and if they find each other, it can work.”

Producer Katherine Propper (COL ’15) agreed, “Georgetown is not necessarily hostile but it’s definitely inconvenient to film on this campus because there’s not much support or connection between the arts departments. We had to

go out of the way to ask people to get involved, so it would be nice to have easy access to people with artistic abilities.”

Figueredo emphasized the collaborative aspect of filming, from the writing stage to postproduction.

“One thing I try to emphasize to other film minors is to work together—not making it an individual process. The more talented people you bring on board, the better it will be.”

Featuring a talented director of photography, Brooks Birdsall (COL ’14), and original compositions from Lyell Evans (COL ’13), Muse certainly highlights the span of Georgetown’s artistic talent.

When asked about the inspiration for Muse, Figueredo pointed to a quote from Albert Camus: “A guilty conscience needs to confess.

A work of art is a confession.”

“With this film, I was just trying to capture the internal struggles of an artist or writer, related to that quote from Camus,” Figueredo said. “I was trying to go for the dichotomy of trying to create from experience and from imagination—there needs to be a perfect combination.”

The film itself has a metaphysical aspect, following an uninspired screenwriter (Mansmann) who lives between two worlds of reality and imagination. In his imaginary world, an artist is struggling to complete a painting and is inspired only by death. The muse of the title is a girl (Waldon) who flits in and out of his conscience to inspire him.

Currently in the editing process, Muse will be screened at 4 p.m.

ROBeRTO BOCCI

“Guys, this is good, but you might want to put a hot chick in this scene.”

on April 22 and May 1 in the Film Screening Classroom. This Saturday, April 20, however, GUTV will stage a film festival with over 20 short films from undergraduates.

The focus of the festival will be narrative films, though it will also include documentaries.

The festival chair, Nick Sennott (COL ‘13), noted in an email to the Voice that he was inspired to revamp the event and create

more opportunities for student collaboration out of his own personal experience.

“I wanted to make a film but didn’t know how to find cameras, actors, or any of the necessary tools,” he said. “I managed to figure it out but realized that the final product could have been much better with support.”

Sennott also emphasized that the expansion of the Film & Me-

A book as bland as matzah

Mystery, a love triangle, cross-cultural conflict, and a foreign setting—what more could you want in a summer read? And for us internationally aware Georgetown students, Second Person Singular’s author, Sayed Kashua, is yet another of its attractions.

Kashua is an Arab-Israeli living in Jerusalem, saturated in the mix of cultures that makes up modern Israel. Kashua has written two other novels (Dancing Arabs and Let It Be Morning), writes for the Israeli weeklies Haaretz and Ha’ir, and is the creator of the popular sitcom Arab Labor, a satire of Arabs trying to fit in in Jerusalem. So Second Person Singular seemed full of promise, not only for the new information and angle it could give to a part of the world I don’t know very well, but also for the author’s great reputation.

But man, sometimes, even when everything seems like it’s meant to be, the chemistry just isn’t there. It was just plain boring. I kept waiting for the characters and plot to jump off the page, twirl me around and engage me, but they refused.

Rather than alternating between the third person and the first person, between a crass, nameless lawyer and more endearing, but still distant photographer, maybe the author should have followed the command of his title. Recognition, agitation, scuffle, perhaps a final endearment with second person singular—with you, the reader—that’s what Kashua missed.

In that way, Second Person Singular is like a high budget movie—impeccable set, the best of the best actors— that totally flops because it’s just not good. The characters aren’t very believable; the plot doesn’t draw you in.

One of the two protagonists is not evil enough to be an enemy, but egotistical enough to force distance. An Arab-Israeli lawyer falling out of love with his wife in their posh Jewish neighborhood buys a book in a used bookstore and finds a note written in his wife’s handwriting, saying that she waited for him. Following an explosion, the unnamed lawyer decides that his wife is about to leave him for “Yonatan,” the note’s addressee and the subject of Kashua’s first-person narrative.

under the Covers

by Emilia Brahm a bi-weekly literary column It’s off-putting how intensely he responds to this note with no proof whatsoever, and I think that’s what Kashua intended. His Israeli characters stereotype Arabs: “They’re unpredictable and can be aggressive. Honor is desperately important to them; in fact, it’s all that matters to them. Even the ones who seem the most enlightened are still, in some very basic ways, primitive.”

This is the image Kashua gives us in his third-person nameless lawyer. “He” is gross, over the top at times, but it’s just not compelling or meaningful. Reflection on this point feels totally forced. The other protagonist, Amir, is theoretically easier to connect with—he compensates for the lawyers lack of feelings, at least. But he just doesn’t pull you in.

Still, Kashua is able to provide political and cultural context that is necessary to understand at least some of the layers he creates for those unfamiliar with Arab society.

Moreover, he does it in an un-

dia Studies program to include narrative storytelling as well as documentaries marks a new direction for the arts community.

“With so much recent success by Georgetown alums in the film industry, the program is growing in significance and reputation,” he said.

With this kind of progress, time can only tell if we have an Oscar contender in our midst.

obtrusive way—he doesn’t define words and he isn’t a tour guide. He’s just telling the story in a way that anyone can understand.

The novel’s highlight occurs when Kashua directly addresses the reality of working in an unfair system. He says, “The lawyer was fastidious with the details, just as he had been during the trial itself, even though he knew full well, as did the accused and his family, that the man would be sentenced to multiple life sentences and that his only chance of release would be in a prisoner exchange with the Israelis.”

This is one of many pointed but subtle revelations that are worth amassing. It was a trip, a submersion into daily life for an Arab in Jerusalem, something I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. So I wanted to like it, I really did.

But if you’re looking for compelling, educational, modern fiction from Israel, there is so much more (and probably more interesting) where this came from. IsraeliPalestinian Anton Shammas’ Arabesques is one of the most famous modern novels on Palestinian life in Israel, Israeli Haim Be’er is known for her magical realism focuses on Israeli women and family life, and Ghassan Kanafani’s classic collection Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories is a perfect foundational piece for exile Palestinian literature, though a little outdated. These are better choices for summer reads, and Kashua’s TV show, Arab Labor, is a fun option, too.

Don’t worry, they’re allowed to unionize.

Visit the promised land with Emilia at ebrahm@georgetownvoice.com

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“I’ve never seen purple underwear before!” — Back to the Future

the georgetown voice 11

Company You Keep: Not what it seems Restless in Washington

by Larissa Ong Terrorists aren’t oceans away; they are in our midst. The radical freedom fighters that were born out of ‘60s rebellion are on full display in The Company You Keep, an enthralling though not quite fully satisfying reminder that this term, which was still used only once in the film, is but a name for ideological fierceness and misguided passions that have a role in this country’s history as much as that of any foreign land.

Directed by Robert Redford, the film is a retrospective look at homegrown terrorism—of the best intentions, but terrorism nonetheless. The anti-government Weather Underground Organization took their radical activism against U.S. participation in the Vietnam War to the absolute extreme by killing a security guard in their violent 1970 Michigan bank robbery. While perhaps lacking in factual accuracy, the film spins a compelling tale of how

each member’s life spiraled out of control 30 years later.

Robert Redford gives a stellar performance as the protagonist— Jim Grant, a Weather Underground member-turned-lawyer-turnedfugitive. His upstanding nobility inspires the support, yet suspicion, of viewers as questions about his actual guilt remain unanswered.

The film successfully evokes certain questions regarding this paradox that characterizes all freedom fighters—whether we can still vilify them once cognizant of their motivations, and if we can justify civilian attacks when peaceful means failing. I was intrigued by each member’s innocuous and domesticated home lives in contrast with their revolutionary mindsets, and it was a sensitive rendering of the two motivations that gave each character depth.

30 years on, the veteran freedom fighters bear the distinct mien of the weary, and yet expertly elude

IMDB

“Don’t think of it as divorce. It’s a chance to not screw up your next marriage.”

the FBI—evidence that the fiery passion of their youth is all but extinguished.

Shia LeBoeuf does what he does best—charming and annoying your socks off as a pesky-but-brilliant small-time reporter named Ben Shepard. Young, provocative, and unstoppable in his quest for facts, he embodies the Weather Underground youths in their heyday. The relationship between his character and Redford’s wizened revolutionary Grant is one of distance and suspicion, however, as Grant accuses Shepard—and by extension, his generation—of hollow ambition.

Though crotchety, this stand seems to point to the reality of revolution today being a muted version of that in the past, when fiery political movements were full of red-blooded life that just doesn’t come across in a tame tweet.

Despite this intriguing commentary undergirding the narrative, however, the film’s resolution was somewhat abrupt and lacking in explanation, appearing rosier than reality would suggest. Restricting this kind of story to the confines of a Hollywood thriller formula does it a disservice, sweeping under the rug the inter-generational tension that grounds Redford’s drama and the legitimate questions it arouses about the death of idealism for the sake of tidy plot structure. For all its glorification of revolutionary fervor, The Company You Keep doesn’t color far outside the lines.

by Kirill Makarenko The millennial generation has much more to offer artistically than a 22-year-old writing songs about never ever getting back together. With this mentality, theINcrowd founder and creative director Seun Oyewole (SFS ’14) launched The Young and the Restless hip-hop showcase in 2010 to promote “people our age who are trying to take their music to the next level,” a goal that resonates with the event name.

In its third iteration, The Young and the Restless, hosted by theINcrowd, is sponsored by a growing array of organizations including the Georgetown Urban Arts Patrons, the Black Student Alliance, What’s After Dark, and the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice, among others, ensuring a showcase of considerable talent.

“I just invite artists I’m listening to the most,” many of whom “are on track to be signed with a major label,” said Oyewole.

Despite its rather unscientific nature, this approach appears to be perfect for the task—the acts appeal to both the hip-hop fan and a critical ear.

Philadelphia native and rapper GrandeMarshall, recently affiliated with Fool’s Gold Records, will be joined by the more soulful Brooklyn collective Phony Ppl

and the Atlanta-based Two-9, who promise a refined hip-hop experience.

Emceed by Nehemiah Markos (COL ’14), the showcase opens at 9:30 p.m. in Hoya Court this Friday, with tickets on sale for $5 to Georgetown students.

The Young and the Restless III, however, has been expanded to feature more than promising musical acts. Live art curated by the Georgetown University Art Aficionados will appear alongside the performances, adding another medium to the mission of showcasing the artistic prowess of our generation.

“Just because you get a liberal arts education doesn’t mean you get a fine arts appreciation,” said Megan Schmidt (COL ’15), a featured artist. The Young and the Restless III “is encouraging a wide range of students to get in touch with that world.”

Artists invited by the GU Art Aficionados are encouraged to use their own materials as well as those provided for the event, creating a far more eclectic artistic environment in an eye-opening assault on the senses.

Before the student body descends into the crushing depths of Lau, The Young and the Restless III may provide a brief instance of hope and enlightenment in the vibrant world that awaits those who survive finals.

Newseum fondly remembers John F. Kennedy’s humanity

by Rio Djiwandana There are certain events in history we return to again and again, the controversy and the spectacle surrounding them driving our fascination and drawing us back to look for more. The assassination of John F. Kennedy is one of them, a catalyst of unrest and one of the omens that predicated what would be one of the most tumultuous decades in American history.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the event, the Newseum is displaying two new exhibits of never-before-seen artifacts and photography covering Kennedy’s presidency and assassination.

The first exhibit, “Creating Camelot: The Kennedy Photography of Jacques Lowe,” features the Kennedys’ personal photographer’s snapshots of the family during their time in the White House. One of my

favorite photographs from the exhibit is a candid shot of JFK with one of his children, a toddler at the time, because it reminds me that while history books often portray JFK as some great martyred hero-figure, he was also a regular guy (albeit a really, really rich one) who loved spending time with his family, just like everyone else.

The second exhibit, entitled “Three Shots Were Fired,” examines the events following JFK’s assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Consistent with the Newseum’s tradition of using journalism and media as “the first draft of history,” the exhibit uses photographs, articles, television news clips, and other media to demonstrate the enormous socio-cultural impact that JFK’s assassination had on America.

In my opinion, this exhibit is definitely the highlight of the collection; simply being in that room,

surrounded by newspaper articles and magazine covers, with Walter Cronkite narrating the events of the assassination on an archaic black-and-white television, effectively transported me back in time and clearly portrayed the confusion and distress people must have felt on that day.

The exhibit also features amazing never-before-seen artifacts that include the long-sleeved shirt Lee Harvey Oswald was wearing during his arrest an hour and 20 minutes after the assassination, and the radio logs recorded by the Dallas Police Department on the day of the assassination.

Lastly, “A Thousand Days” is a Newseum-produced original documentary that recounts the Kennedys’ brief time in the White House.

One of my favorite parts about the film was how it highlighted Jacqueline Kennedy’s role following the

assassination. While she may have lost her husband, her home, and her social role in a mere six seconds, the strength and dignity she demonstrated in the public eye helped to keep the nation from coming apart at the seams.

Overall, I thought the documentary and both exhibits were phenomenal. Although the ex-

hibits and the documentary do a fabulous job in portraying the human side of JFK and his family, their central purpose is to emphasize the significance of the media’s response to the assassination.

Though they put a presidential icon under the spotlight, the exhibits never neglect the journalists telling the story.

Newseum

He may have ended the Cuban Missile Crisis, but he won’t be smiling for long.

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

C ri t i c a l V o i c es

Fall Out Boy, Save Rock and Roll, Island Records Bands returning from a long hiatus have a difficult choice to make.

They can pay their oldest fans a service and return to their musical roots, or they can pursue a new sound. After ending a five-year break with the unexpected release of Save Rock and Roll, Fall Out Boy has proven that they’ve still got the creative spark needed to produce compelling, fresh material unlike anything they’ve done before.

Save Rock and Roll’s greatest achievement is its novel disregard for the restrictions of genres. Lead vocalist Patrick Stump belts out nearly every line with his characteristically cutting delivery, but the band ventures outside familiar territory by embracing electronica, from

throbbing, electronic basslines to lighter techno-esque rhythms.

“The Phoenix” and “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up),” the album’s singles and first two tracks, exemplify the band’s stylistic transition. “The Phoenix” begins with an urgent, symphonic intro which soon gives way to pounding drums, matching the lyrics’ striking cry for war. “My Songs Know” offers another heavyhanded chorus and is one of the few songs on the album to give the guitars a lead role.

Save Rock and Roll features several guest vocalists, whose contributions to the album are rather hit-or-miss. The backing vocals of Foxes on “Just One Yesterday” make this track the best on the album and create a trinity of noises, as Stump, Foxes, and the synth beat play off each other perfectly. Similarly, Elton John’s deep voice offers a nice contrast to Stump on the album’s title track. The inclusions of Big Sean and Courtney Love, on “The Mighty Fall” and “Rat a Tat,” respectively, seem tacked-on and distracting, in comparison.

It’s hard to tell if Fall Out Boy entitled their comeback album Save Rock and Roll out of their brand of self-aware humor, but it’s easy to hear that this record marks a new

Risqué, violent movies ‘R’ us

Most movie fans remember the first R-rated movie they watched. If you have trouble recalling this formative experience, you probably had awesome parents who let you watch Commando when you were three. But that’s beside the point. A couple hundred R-rated movies later, we cannot help but miss the visceral reactions our younger selves felt as we saw explicit images on the screen, images that opened the door to terror, sexuality, and humor which our virgin eyes and ears had never been exposed to.

Bear with me as I guide you through my first encounter with an R-rated movie. When I was five, I found myself wandering around a house full of much older kids (like seven or eight year-olds). Oh, and this house happened to be in Denmark, a country where kids know what condoms are before they’re potty trained.

The Dane babysitting called all the children over for a movie: Alien. Oh cool, I thought, this is probably like E.T. The movie began, and before I know it, John Hurt’s stomach popped open as he gave birth to the eponymous creature.

The nightmares flooded my evenings, prompting the purchase of several dream catchers and a nightly ritual that helped to keep the creature out of my dreams. Saying that Alien changed my life is an understatement. Three or four years later, I still found myself showing off to friends as I recounted the bloodiest movie I had ever seen. Gore, nudity, and profanity became the standards for what constituted a good movie. Questioning older kids about the most explicit films they had seen led me on an Rrated movie spree.

But as the years advanced, the novelty of R-rated movies began

direction for the pop punk princes.

Even if the angsty anthems of fond adolescent memories remain, they’re full of new maturity that doesn’t allow dwelling on the past.

Voice’s Choices: “Just One Yesterday,” “Miss Missing You” —Ryan Greene

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mosquito, Interscope Records Though their usual musical nuance is missing throughout most of their fourth album, Mosquito is the kind of eccentric experimentation that could only come from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. While it lacks the clear highlights of prior albums, such as “Maps” from the now decade-old Fever to Tell, Mosquito is not without its moments—but listeners will have to scratch beyond to wear off. The shock and awe of those first couple R-rated movies fades as our brains become desensitized to hours of formulaic porn and Hostel-like torture series. And it’s a pity, because that first-time thrill is an essential component of cinema’s allure.

Reel Talk

by John Sapunor a bi-weekly column about film Following Alien, it’s rather easy for me to trace the increasing numbness that eventually consumed the kind of thrill that had me talking about a movie for weeks; Gremlins, The Omen, Predator, Child’s Play, and Event Horizon defined the type of nightmare-inducing movies that I grew out of at the onset of puberty. Quickly, raunchy comedies and sex-heavy anything filled the void left by the horror films, but they lost their edge after three or four years of exposure.

the surface to discover these glimmers of artistic success.

“Sacrilege” kicks off the recording with the standard layering of Karen O’s peculiar whispered screeches. With perhaps the strongest instrumental presence in an otherwise primarily-synthesized project, as common for the YYYs, the opening drums and consistent baseline are a strong musical backdrop for the steady, yet frantic buildup to the final coda, in which a gospel choir makes a powerful and uncharacteristic appearance.

The title track, “Mosquito,” begins with a mesmerizing cadence, and it’s not until Karen O’s scratchy voice breaks into the chorus (“I’ll suck your blood!”) that the listener realizes the absurdity of this song. Even with a valiant vocal effort to make it work, there’s only so much you can do with a song in which the strongest lyrical moment is “Mosquito sing, mosquito cry / Mosquito live, mosquito die,” and its use as the title track makes its shortcomings even harder to ignore. As if the literalism of “Mosquito” wasn’t enough, after listening to “Area 52,” a playful yet perplexing assertion of wanting to be an alien, the immediate reaction is, “Go home, Karen O, you’re drunk.”

The nostalgia for those moments of lost innocence may be overwhelming, but there is a silver lining: a new, more mature sense of movie going. As the mind continues to yearn for novelty, our mind finds that novelty in the intricacies and subtleties of movies.

This is where the newly matured, observant viewer begins to appreciate clever screenwriting and stylized imagery. Dr. Strangelove becomes more than a blackand-white talkie. Rushmore takes the place of the fuck-laden dickathons that used to spawn tears of laughter. And Alien is appreciated as a groundbreaking shift in sci-fi as its place in the genre becomes more evident.

One of the many beauties of cinema is its ability to combine multiple layers and mediums into a compact, two-hour emotional roller coaster. Different aspects of a film appeal to different people, but even more curious is a film’s ability to evolve over

Mosquito does produce a few gems, however. The poignant sounds of “Subway,” which effectively uses the subtle, soothing hum of an actual subway train as its percussion line, echo the hypnotizing reverberations of “Maps.” The track is a flicker of artistic beauty on a record severely lacking conceptual splendor. “Despair” and “Wedding Song” also stand out as touching moments, as they reveal O’s emotional fatigue and bliss, respectively.

If nothing else, Mosquito provides the opportunity for fans to once again embrace the juxtaposition of tranquility and freneticism that is Karen O’s voice.

As the bonus acoustic version of “Wedding Song” clearly reminds us, vocal talent like hers just might be enough to allow the unconventional trio to get away with the questionable musical choices made in creating this oddity of an album. And, let’s be honest, with a group like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, we’ve always been conditioned to expect the unexpected.

Voice’s Choices: “Subway,” “Always” —Julia Jester multiple viewings. Take E.T. At many points in the film, it would not be unlikely to find a child viewer shielding his or her eyes from the grotesque alien as the mother of the child simultaneously holds back tears.

The hunt for that ever-dwindling sense of novelty does not even require viewers to look into unexplored territory; as with E.T., finding new meanings and appreciations in previously viewed movies is itself a source of adrenaline—no beheadings or fellatio required.

The point is, with a little selfeducation, a little bit of patience, and an openness to try new things out, you can re-kindle that intimate relationship your childhood self had with an off-limits film.

Before I let you go, though, I have a little piece of advice: don’t show your toddler Alien. I’m sure my shrink would concur.

Rate John’s home videos at jsapunor@georgetownvoice.com

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the georgetown voice 13

- Christy Geaney

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14 the georgetown voice

april 18, 2013

Visceral visuals vital to vanquish varied violence

by Sara Ainsworth Monday, violence hit home once again. The explosions that went off at the Boston Marathon eerily mirror the Oklahoma City bombings almost exactly 18 years ago. The images taken at the scene are visceral and haunting, and there has been no attempt to shield the general public from them.

The front page of CNN was a man covered in blood being carried by police officers to an ambulance, the New York Times showed a woman lying in a pool of blood.

There are some that would argue that forcing us to face this violence through images is excessive, that each individual should have the choice as to what they want to see.

But ignoring the violence in our society is a disservice to progress.

As anyone who has seen photos from Boston or Newtown can attest, it’s hard to separate oneself from violence and its impact when it’s staring you in the face. The old adage that a photo is worth a 1,000 words is never more true than in

the case of indiscriminate bloodshed. These images are difficult to look at, but no matter how gruesome they are, it’s important to do so in order to truly understand and internalize the brutality of these attacks.

Nowadays we are constantly inundated with images of violence, whether it be in movies or video games. While these do include excessive violence, killing a Nazi zombie on Playstation 3 or watching Sylvester Stallone chop someone to pieces on a TV screen is different than seeing photos of children running from a school shooter or the horror-struck faces of victims’ relatives.

Video games and movies make violence seem abstract—the people are either virtual or actors, the deaths fake. The first video game kill or death scene may be difficult, but after two or three scenes it’s no longer an issue.

You, as the player, or the viewer, are separated from it by the knowledge that what you’re seeing isn’t real. News images make

violence concrete and relatable on a deeper level.

Why, you may be asking, do we need to internalize the meaning of violence? Just like a child saying a dirty word, it’s easier to perpetrate an attack when you don’t fully understand the consequences. When death seems as easy to bring about as pressing a button on an Xbox controller, it can be difficult to comprehend just how detrimental it is. This is when visceral visuals come into play.

Seeing is an important part of human development. Infants learn to recognize facial expressions very early on, and 65 percent of the population are visual learners. On average, the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text.

That means that one image depicting a bombing victim being placed on a stretcher while bystanders look on in horror does more to educate an individual about the evil of violence than an extremely detailed article about the same event.

Of course, images of violence shouldn’t be overused, which

ends up happening with movies and video games. But when events of terror occur it’s important that these images are shown. It’s easier to ignore the reality that indiscriminate violence doesn’t happen in the developed world when we don’t see it. It’s easier to see these events as marginal when we can skim over articles about them instead of being faced with images.

That is why national media is so important. Even in the age of social media they are responsible for providing us with the majority of these images. That being said, they need to do a better job of presenting us with images of violence even when there’s no spectacle of terror and the participants are among the population’s marginalized.

The death toll in Boston is sickening, but more people were murdered in Chicago just last weekend, and there was no media frenzy, statement by the President, or national push to find the killers. Media sources have a duty to expose us to the violence around

us—but especially those that don’t constitute massive acts of terror.

This public acknowledgement is paramount to our being able to grapple with violence as a national issue. As a country, we need to not shirk away from the visuals just because they’re distressing, we should see them as an effort to educate.

What happened in Boston and Newtown is abhorrent, and as a nation we need to strive to do better in teaching non-violence. There are a number of ways to do this, but first and foremost we need to confront the fact that this level of violence, while rarely publicized, still happens here every day. The first step is to see—to see what violence is and what it does. Only after we face the visual evidence can we begin to work to stem it.

Sara Ainsworth is a junior in the SFS. The most violent movie she’ll watch is Pokémon: The First Movie—Mewtwo Strikes Back.

Maduro’s win presents a crossroads for next generation

by Juan Daniel Gonçalves I am many things: a student, a writer, a brother, but I am also a Venezuelan. Being Venezuelan entails a mixture of experiences, misfortunes, and privileges that play a fundamental role in developing our unique character. But in order to truly understand where a Venezuelan comes from, you need to know his story.

My generation has grown up in a country of immense wealth, but one plagued by corruption, social tension, political polarization, economic uncertainty, and rampant crime. To add insult to injury, our childhood was filled with stories which depict the Venezuela of old as a country where people could walk the streets without getting shot, where the oil boom created one of the best infrastructure development projects the world has

ever witnessed—a country preferred by immigrants who sought to escape the miseries of Europe, a country where a common catchphrase used to be “está barato, dame dos” (that is cheap, give me two).

Unfortunately for Venezuelans, and future generations to come, the cherished relics of the past are nowhere close to resurfacing in our country.

My whole life I have never known any other political reality than that of Chavismo. I was six years old when Hugo Chavez won the presidential elections in 1999, running on a platform against corruption and poverty. Chavez won with almost a landslide victory, boasting a vast number of supporters who believed in his movement. However, slowly but steadily, Chavez deviated from his moderate campaign speech.

It was in 2004 that Chavez first

TEDDY SCHAFFER

Clearly the right hand is unsure what the left hand, or moustache, is doing.

announced to the country and to the world that he would embark on a Bolivarian Revolution, a self-proclaimed radical agenda to rid the country of the historical oppression of the bourgeoisie.

It needs to be understood that Chavez’s idea of a Bolivarian revolution is not foul, but rather initially a noble claim. Venezuela boasted one of the highest socioeconomic inequalities in the world. He wanted to reduce this inequality and bring the Venezuelan people together by giving those more unfortunate the tools to overcome their situation in the forms of social programs, agrarian reform, and improved education and healthcare. Chavez had the world’s largest proven oil reserves—with oil prices at an alltime historic high—at his disposal.

He also had a majoritarian support of the electorate, complete support from the Armed Forces and most importantly, a clean slate.

In spite of apparently holding all the variables of the formula needed for development and success, I hold Chavez responsible for what has become of my Venezuela today. I have witnessed how rampant expropriations have led to hunger strikes and suicides. I have witnessed how police officers have tried to plant drugs in my car in exchange for bribes. I have witnessed how yes, inequality has been reduced, but only because the middle class is being wiped out. I have witnessed how government rhetoric has fueled social tensions, leading to resentfulness and hate deeply engrained within

Venezuelan society, and I have witnessed my government calling on people to hate their brothers, simply because they think differently.

As accustomed as we were to his figure, Chavez’s death was officially announced on March 5, 2013. The Venezuelan Constitution clearly declares that runoff elections have to take place 30 days after a head of state is deemed unfit to carry out his term.

Enter Nicolás Maduro and Henrique Capriles Radonski. The former is Chavez’s appointed successor, who has held the positions of minister of foreign affairs and vice president. Capriles, on the other hand, is a young politician from an upper-middle class family of Caracas. He is a trained lawyer and has been a member of parliament, a mayor, and is the current governor of the state of Miranda.

What followed was a blitzkrieg campaign by both candidates.

Maduro claimed to follow the legacy of Chavez and invoked his figure for support while Capriles continued his efforts to offer Venezuelans an alternative to the economic, political, and social reality Chavismo had left in the country.

Elections were held this past Sunday, April 14 and Nicolás Maduro was declared victor over Henrique Capriles with roughly 1 percent advantage. The National Electoral Council said that these results were irreversible, but later announced that it would be willing to comply with a full audit of the votes.

Maduro went on to celebrate his victory giving a speech surrounded

by figures of Chavismo. Immediately after, Capriles proclaimed that he will not recognize the results amidst suspicions of electoral fraud.

Capriles has explicitly called the de facto government illegitimate and demands a full audit of the votes.

Ever since Sunday there have been numerous reports of how the Armed Forces have explicitly vandalized ballot boxes under the instructions of the government.

Regular Venezuelans are taking to the streets and documenting the reality they face using social media, especially Twitter. Videos and pictures show police and military repression, abducted ballot boxes, and both opposition and pro-government violence illustrate the Venezuelan reality.

The preservation of Chavismo is not a matter of a struggle between the political right and left.

Chavismo in itself is not an ideology. It may have started as one, but has devolved instead into a group of bureaucrats which seek to retain power at all costs.

This is a crucial moment for my generation. I will be following the news very closely, and hope that this tense political panorama reaches a peaceful climax in accordance with the principles of justice, truth and democracy. All in all this shouldn’t be another brick in the wall.

Juan Daniel Gonçalves is a sophomore in the SFS. He aspires to have more go-to hand gestures than the late Hugo Chavez.

voices

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the georgetown voice

15

Biracial student snubbed by Georgetown cultural society

by Sonia Okolie Although we live in the capital of a country led by a biracial president, discrimination against multiculturalism is blatantly manifested here on campus. As a biracial student myself, I have had the burden of facing prejudice within one of the ethnic communities I belong to at Georgetown.

My mom is Indian and Hindu, and my dad is Nigerian and Christian. As such, I was raised at the intersection of two cultural spheres that otherwise share little middle ground. I’m

sure others would readily agree that being biracial, or multiethnic more generally, isn’t easy.

I’m a living, breathing contradiction, racially ambiguous to most. I am regularly faced with the process of categorizationsorted and identified by checking off the “other” box in the question about race. I’ve never quite fit perfectly in either ethnic group; my skin is too light to be Nigerian, and my hair is too curly to be Indian. There’s no question that I look mixed, though only a select few can correctly guess my ethnicity.

KAREN BU

This is just a classic case of ebony, ivory, and all the notes in between.

Not ready to put a ring on it

In the series finale of Gilmore Girls, Yale student and allaround perfect human being Rory Gilmore is proposed to by her cute, well-bred, and douchey boyfriend Logan at her college graduation. To much surprise, Rory turns down the proposal, opting to spend her post-grad years travelling the country pursuing her journalism career. And when that episode aired, somewhere in the world Susan A. Patton was clenching her fists and cursing at her television over Rory’s stupidity.

Patton, of course, is the mother who intentionally frustrated thousands when she wrote to the Daily Princetonian urging female Princeton undergrads to snag a marriageable man while in college and cling to him with their French-manicured nails for the rest of their lives. The author was deservedly berated for her medieval

values and blatant sexism, and for perpetuating the idea that a woman who graduates college at 21—no matter how high her grades, how good her job offers, how rich her experiences—has wasted her time and money if there’s no prospect of having a pricey ring on her finger in the near future.

Forget the purposeful offensiveness, the gross elitism, and the rehashed arguments about what it means to “have it all.” As a female college senior reading this article, my gut reaction was befuddlement—Get a husband in college? What a comically horrible idea.

This isn’t to say that marrying someone you date or meet in college is always a bad thing—I know there are plenty of happily married couples whose first meetings were over red Solo cups in sweaty apartments. But encouraging girls to find hus-

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I, along with my sisters, was born and raised Hindu and have only been to church a handful of times. I’ve grown up fully exposed to all aspects of my Indian heritage. I go to temple, speak Hindi, go to India, eat meals using only my right hand, and debate the hottest Bollywood actors. And after 20 years, I can easily tell my mint chutney from my coconut chutney without tasting a drop.

Despite growing up steeped in Indian culture, the Georgetown community has yet to accept me.

So maybe I can’t dance bhangra and maybe my hair is too crazily curly to look like the standard silky Indian hair.

But I have received no greater than being asked if I only attend weekly Hindu prayer services as a requirement for a class, or having simple customs and Hindi words patronizingly explained to me as if I were a small child.

I’ve been approached at South Asian events at Georgetown and asked from whom I borrow all my Indian clothes because they couldn’t possibly be mine. I’ve had a tableful of Hindu girls get up and move to another table afbands puts additional pressure on the social lives of female students: Don’t meet people for the sake of meeting them, don’t harmlessly flirt, don’t pull a Taylor Swift and date a guy who you knew was trouble when he walked in. Between the ages of 18 and 21, you’re on a mission to find the father of your future Princeton-students children, and if you don’t then you’ve failed miserably.

Carrying On

by Leigh Finnegan

A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

Obviously, adding pressure to find a husband at a young age in a world where we live until we’re 100, more people are having children older, and post-grads (like Rory Gilmore) bounce across the country between jobs and grad schools seems both impractical and unnecessary. But my other reaction to Patton’s letter was that, from my observations, college students really suck at relationships.

I have friends and acquaintances who fall onto all ends of the bad-at-dating spectrum: the cripplingly emotionally dependent, the too-obsessed,

ter I tried to sit with them when prayer services. I’ve watched the Indian community embrace Indian freshmen and transfer students, forming instant friendships upon first meeting, while I’ve stood on the sidelines for two years awaiting their acceptance.

I don’t naïvely expect to be best friends with the entire community, but public acknowledgment would be nice.

Recognition of our shared culture without the need for me to circulate a copy of my family tree at the next South Asian event would be even better. I find that I would much rather have people openly ask me about my racial background than have them make baseless assumptions about it. It is the strangest and most absurd thing, to have so many people ostracize you without knowing anything about you, and do whatever they can to exclude you from a public student group at Georgetown.

As hurt as I am by the discrimination I face on a regular basis in the Indian community, I am not about to stop attending their events or going to

the narcissistic, the materialistic, the list goes on. But when you’re young, being bad at relationships is no big deal— you’ll realize you’re unhappy/ unhealthy, you’ll break up, you’ll cry about it, you’ll move on, and you won’t make the same mistake the next time.

But, if you follow Patton’s logic, there won’t be a next time.

So that childish relationship that should be a learning experience becomes something a girl is scared to let go of, at risk of never finding something better. And that’s not to consider if the guy—who, paradoxically, has no such need to find a spouse in college—decides to explore other options. Then, in addition to heartbreak, our poor college girl is terrified that she’s been doomed to “Cat Lady”-dom, with a diploma on her wall and no man to show for it.

Of course, Patton was talking about a specific school in her letter, and there are many who would say that comparing the dating pool at Princeton to that at Georgetown is like comparing apples to much lower-caliber apples. But on the Hilltop, the attitude is strikingly similar. We’ve all heard some made-up statistic about the high percentage of

prayer services just because I don’t have anyone to sit with.

I have a right to engage in and celebrate my culture, and I won’t give others the satisfaction of excluding me from it.

All that said, I love being biracial. I wouldn’t give it up for anything, or elect to be one race over the other. The different perspectives I’ve been exposed to have made me more open to new experiences and given me a unique appreciation for other cultures. We attend a university rich in diversity, dedicated to religious and cultural pluralism. That is what makes racial profiling and prejudice on campus so disappointing. Maybe if we set aside our preconceptions and hasty judgments, we would realize that we have more in common than we thought. As for the South Asian students, I’ve got some chai and samosas; so why can’t we be friends?

Sonia Okolie is a sophomore in the College. She eats her fufu with coconut chutney and her suya with naan. #thirdculturekid Hoyas who marry other Hoyas (60 percent? 70 percent?). And, although they don’t tell you it on your campus tours, somewhere deep in the Georgetown mythology there’s the idea that you’ll find your future-senator husband sitting next to you in IR, that you two will get married in Dahlgren Chapel with JTIII as the officiator and Jack the Bulldog as ring bearer, and you’ll finally become Mrs. Joe Hoya. Now that’s 200k well spent.

But perhaps the strangest part of Patton’s article to me is that, despite my gut aversion to everything she stands for, I see the effects of logic like hers on my peers. Within the past year or so, pictures of engagement rings have dotted my Facebook newsfeed, and it seems droves of people around my age are getting engaged like it’s going out of style—which, to be fair, it is. And while I can’t speak to every (or any) one of their situations, I wonder how many of those engagements are at least somewhat underlied by fear of becoming an old maid.

To those people, I suggest watching a few seasons of Gilmore Girls. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be a cat lady than have to wind up with Logan.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT Tyler Pierce Atlanta, Georgia

College, Class of 2015 Majors: Philosophy & American Musical Culture

Know a Georgetown Artist?

Contact Tiff at tdl25@georgetown.edu with your suggestions!

Tell me a little about your art: Yeah so I write music, play music, put music together—that’s just what I do.

What instruments do you play?

Well I play a few instrument.

Guitar is my main instrument, but I played flute in high school, I was all-state flute player. I’ve always sung, and I also play piano, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica, too.

Wow, that’s incredibly impressive!

You know music is all written the same way, if you know that, it’s just a matter of transposing it. The thing is, music is a language and once you learn to speak that language learning a new instrument is just a matter of overcoming the physical barriers—getting used to the way that instrument is used to speaking the language.

How did you get started?

I started writing songs my freshman year of high school, kind of as a personal exercise, whenever I was going through a stressful situation or needed to relax, music really helped.

It cleared my mind.

But I didn’t really get started per forming in front of people u n t i l e a r l y t h i s y e a r, m y s o p h o m o r e y e a r. O n e t h i n g l e d t o a n o t h e r, n o w I h a v e f o u r shows this week.

Currently listening to: I’ve been listening to a lot of Debussi and Van Morrison, but The Beatles are my favorite band!

Likes: When I’m not making music, I like to get out into the city—U Street has an awesome music culture and jazz scene.

Oh and Hoya Snaxa Slushies—they’re so good!

“We’re playing our first show this Friday in UG at 6:30!”

What inspired you to get more serious about performing?

I think I kind of always liked the idea of playing for people but I was never really super confident, but people started telling me I was good and it started to build my confidence— my girlfriend telling me I’m awesome all the time really helps. [laughs] What do you think about the Georgetown music scene?

I think its good and bad. I like that if you’re really into music here you get to know everyone else, the community is pretty small, but it’s good in a sense because I get to know other musicians pretty well. It’s cool to be able to hit someone up whenever and be like “hey wanna play together” or “can you record something for me,” but with that said I think Georgetown’s administration could be more open.

How so?

I think they could be more open about music groups on campus, I don’t think they support the ones they have enough, and worse, they’re not very open about having

new ones. I’ve experienced this as being a part of an a cappella group trying to get funding right now.

What a cappella group?

We’re called acCHORDance, its pretty cool because we mix our a cappella with live instruments.

Who are your musical influences/ inspirations?

Well I love the Beatles; I think everything they did was incredible. But also Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and The Beach Boys are where my real influences lie. I am also just very inspired by their stories from The Beatle’s crazy drug years, their amazing art and their changing sound to Bob Dylan’s beginnings as a folk artists to a social activist— they’re all incredible. My one suggestion to everyone is to go listen to The Beach Boy’s Album, Smile—I think people should know about that.

Do you see yourself pursuing music after graduation?

Music is my passion, if I could

make a life out of it I definitely will. My friend who is transferring to Georgetown this summer will be living with me and we’re planning on tur ning my room into a recording studio and hopefully we’ll put out our album with Hilltop Records by this fall. We’ll see how things go.