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VOICE the georgetown

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w April 24, 2014 w Volume 47, Issue 1 w georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

april 24, 2014

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Voice Crossword “Georgetown Day” by Allison Galezo

34. Cosmetician Lauder 37. You better show this off on Georgetown Day 38. Ale mug 39. Get these while answering trivia questions at Leo’s 40. Ed of “Up” DOWN

ACROSS 1. Forbidden or prohibited 6. Shanks 11. Generous order at a tavern 12. Hoyas’ favorite bar 13. Tree-lined walkway 14. Old English coins 15. Dignified women

17. Extra, abbrev.

18. To migrate from the Tombs to Rhino 23. Confucian path 24. “Yikes!”

25. “___ tu”: Verdi aria 26. Neighbor of Zambia 28. Cutest mascot ever 29. It is only 3 class days away 31. In the lead

1. “La-la” lead in 2. Email company that your grandmother probably uses 3. Georgetown’s favorite dog breed 4. 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year 5. Best stats professor 6. Hopefully won’t see too many people drunkenly doing this on Healy lawn this Friday 7. “___ __ Us”; popular company for children 8. Doctors’ org.

9. OPEC unit 10. Snake sound 16. Letter-shaped construction piece 17. __ _ standstill

18. Gossip Girl poet 20. Encourage or cheer 21. Soldier of Sauron 22. Water___; dental company 24. Evades 27. Bold, in Barcelona 28. Jokes 30. Big butte?

31. Skilled 32. IRS health plans, abbrev.

33. Refundable tax credit for low income workers, abbrev.

35. Aachen article 36. On the way, abbrev.

Last Week’s Answers:

editorial

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Volume 47.1 April 24, 2014 Editor-in-Chief: Julia S. Tanaka Managing Editor: Steven Criss General Manager: Mary-Bailey Frank Blog Editor: Ryan Greene News Editor: Julia Jester

Sports Editor: Chris Castano Feature Editor: Caitriona Pagni Cover Editor: Christina Libre Leisure Editor: Joshua Ward Voices Editor: Chris Almeida Photo Editor: Ambika Ahuja Design Editors: Pam Shu, Sophia Super Page 13 Editor: Dylan Cutler Technical Director: Noah Buyon Editor-at-Large: Dayana Morales Gomez Assistant Blog Editors: Grace Brennan, Marisa Hawley, Jared Kimler, Kenneth Lee Assistant News Editors: Shalina Chatlani, James Constant, Lara Fishbane Assistant Sports Editors: Kevin Huggard, Joe Pollicino Assistant Leisure Editors: Elizabeth Baker, Sam Kleinman, Manuela Tobias Assistant Voices Editor: Grace May Assistant Photo Editors: Sabrina Kayser, Gavin Myers, Joshua Raftis Assistant Design Editor: Leila Lebreton

Staff Writers:

Sourabh Bhat, Max Borowitz, Grace Brennan, John Connor Buckley, James Constant, Alissa Fernandez, Kevin Huggard, Julia LloydGeorge, Jared Kimler, Sam Kleinman, Lucius Lee, Claire McDaniel, Dan Paradis, Kate Riga, Max Roberts, Jackson Sinnenberg, Deborah Sparks, Heather Regen

Staff Photographers:

Marla Abdilla, Katherine Landau, Freddy Rosas

Copy Chief: Eleanor Fanto Copy Editors:

Judy Choi, Lauren Chung, Eleanor Fanto, Allison Galezo, Juan Daniel Gonçalves, Rachel Greene, Sabrina Kayser, Morgan Manger, Ryan Miller, Samantha Mladen, Nicole Steinberg, Dana Suekoff, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Ian Philbrick Editorial Board:

Chris Almeida, Emilia Brahm, Shalina Chatlani, Patricia Cipollitti, Steven Criss, Isabel Echarte, Lara Fishbane, Juan Daniel Gonçalves, Ryan Greene, Lucia He, Connor Jones, Ryan Shymansky, Ana Smith, Julia Tanaka

Managing Director: Tim Annick The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

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

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

Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Website: georgetownvoice.com Vox Populi: blog.georgetownvoice.com Halftime: halftime.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 Gannett Publishing Services.

All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover: “Playing Outside the Triple E” Cover Design: Trishla Jain

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ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Housing measures leave GU with few options On Monday, University Planning and Facilities Management announced its intent to convert Ryan and Mulledy Halls, the vacant former Jesuit residences, into undergraduate residence halls to house at least 385 additional students by the fall 2015 semester.

On Wednesday, University and GUSA representatives also announced changes to student housing policies that require undergraduates beginning with the class of 2017 to live in on-campus University housing three out of four years. The proposed renovation and accompanying policy updates, however, represent only piecemeal and potentially problematic measures to address an issue that has plagued Georgetown for decades.

Housing at Georgetown has long been a source of contention, with neighborhood residents constantly pressuring

the University to build more on-campus residences for students. The problem has been exacerbated recently by issues with dorm sanitation, a proposed—and rejected—satellite campus, and stalled construction plans for the Northeast Triangle, now scheduled for completion in 2016, far past the Campus Plan 2015 deadline.

Construction delays have plagued both the Northeast Triangle and the new Healey Family Student Center, and similar setbacks could derail the University’s newly proposed measures.

The University’s more recent measures present only stopgap solutions to housing woes.

The problem remains one of incentive. While the University looks to entice juniors to live on campus, building more generic residence halls is antithetical to the clear student preference for apart-

ment-style housing. While collaboration with GUSA illustrates an attempt to listen to student voices, it still fails to interact with all students.

These new initiatives reveal only the most recent consequences of a decades-long, unresolved struggle to provide sufficient on-campus housing for undergraduates. Geographic, financial, and external constraints have effectively backed the University into a corner, leaving it with only inconvenient and incremental solutions to contemplate. Faced with these challenges, the onus will be on Georgetown over the next two years to keep to both the schedule it has set for itself and the promises it has made both to its neighbors and its students in order to ensure a permanent and acceptable resolution to the ongoing issue of student campus housing.

TURN OUT FOR WHAT

D.C. mayoral primary displays voter apathy

On April 1, the citizens of Washington, D.C. elected Muriel Bowser as the Democratic primary candidate for this fall’s mayoral race. Bowser, D.C. Council representative of Ward 4, defeated a large pool of candidates, including incumbent Vincent Gray. But the election also saw the lowest voter turnout since the D.C. Board of Elections began collecting data in 1974—only 26.9 percent of the 369,037 registered Democratic voters cast their ballots. Although weather and scheduling bear some responsibility, the low turnout demonstrates a dangerous apathy among D.C. voters that bodes ill for both future elections and the political health of the District.

Granted, the low turnout can be partially attributed to externalities. The mayoral primary has been held in September since 1973, but the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which aimed to increase the participation of active-duty

military service members, shifted the primary to April. This switch resulted in a host of unforeseen difficulties—most notably, the weather. The April primary coincided with one of the harshest winters in recent history. According to the Washington Times, one-third fewer early voters turned out compared to the 2010 elections.

Snowstorms during voter mobilization efforts limited the proliferation of information regarding the election, which likely impeded voter turnout.

But the main reason for the low turnout is also the most dangerous: a jadedness among D.C. voters about the returns of their political participation. As reported by the Washington Post, not only did Bowser win with fewer votes than a losing candidate received last year, but public dissatisfaction with the corruption, fraud, and scandal-wracked Gray administration caused Gray to lose over 28,000 supporters among working and mid-

dle-class as well as African American voters.

These numbers illustrate a creeping public cynicism with ineffective leadership that imperils the District’s political future. This disappointment has been attributed to District youth. Although candidates announced their determination to appeal to the youth vote, apathy among younger constituents unequivocally contributed to the diminished number of voters.

Solutions to this problem are few and far between. Although they had a demonstrable effect, the real issue is neither the timing of the election nor the weather. In a nation where voter turnout is routinely underwhelming, voter apathy represents a persistent and pernicious issue that can only be rehabilitated through inspired confidence in upstanding political leaders. Bowser would do well to remember this lesson of the primary as the mayoral election approaches.

LESS, NOT MORATORIUM

Adams Morgan liquor moratorium should expire

The moratorium on issuing liquor licenses to bars and restaurants in the neighborhood of Adams Morgan expires this month and faces possible renewal. The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board first issued the moratorium at the behest of the neighborhood’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission in 2000, when the District operated under the financial discretion of a congressionally mandated control board. Changing populations, demographics, and economics, however, have made the Adams Morgan moratorium an inadvisable barrier to the neighborhood’s future economic expansion.

The liquor license moratorium in Adams Morgan was primarily used for late-night noise control. It also helped reduce crime in an area under-patrolled by police. But the changing economic reality in the neighborhood makes an extension on the moratorium ill-advisable. Like Dupont Circle and Glover Park, which also maintain liquor license mor-

atoriums, Adams Morgan finds itself competing with retail and dining establishments in more developed areas.

All three neighborhoods have seen initiatives to lift their moratoriums within the past two years because of this disadvantage.

Adams Morgan businesses and community leaders have also recognized that businesses avoid the neighborhood due to the moratorium, preferring areas in which liquor licenses are easier to obtain. It also limited the expansion of establishments that have chosen to operate in the neighborhood. The overturning of liquor license restrictions would signify a potential economic boon.

Finally, the possibility of a resurgence in the noise complaints Adams Morgan experienced prior to the moratorium can be controlled without the need for a wholesale restriction on liquor licenses. In Adams Morgan, community members have successfully protested bars, restaurants, and

clubs that have been chief offenders of noise violations, and placed stipulations and restrictions on others through neighborhood commissions. Although such efforts require more advocacy than a unilateral moratorium, they allow for the potential economic benefits of lifting restrictions, while removing many of the possible repercussions of letting the moratorium expire.

In considering the advisability of a liquor license moratorium, the character of a neighborhood must be taken into account.

Though probably of little benefit for a neighborhood as commercialized and developed as Georgetown, the potential benefits of recommending an end to the Adams Morgan moratorium vastly outweigh the detriments.

Letting the ban expire would also acknowledge fundamental shifts in the economic and demographic character of the neighborhood, resulting in potential economic and social benefits as well.

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El Centro shifts focus from spirits to culinary excellence.

Julia Jester

Newtavernlicenseararity

by Isabel Echarte “It is the scene of more than a hundred restaurants, jazz and disco dance spots, as well as homosexual bars, pizza parlors, movie houses, fast food joints and ice cream parlors. More than 115 liquor licenses have been issued for the 10-block square area. Like most urban areas, Georgetown is also the scene of traffic jams, overflowing trash barrels, vandalism, muggings, arson, and petty and grand larcenies.”

—The New York Times, September 25, 1982 This article was written seven years before the Georgetown neighborhood’s first liquor license moratorium was implemented to control nightlife in the area, and decades before it became the upscale shopping district it is today.

Georgetown recently made local headlines when three liquor li-

censes and one rare tavern license became available on April 10. The tavern license was made available when El Centro changed its license status from a bar to a restaurant. Only existing restaurants in the area can apply for the license—Smith Point and George both applied, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Smith Point, if it passes qualifications and a 45-day public comment period, will receive the license.

Liquor licenses are hard to come by today in Georgetown. All that remains of the vibrant nightlife of 1982 Georgetown is six bars, such as the Tombs, and several restaurants that operate as de-facto bars, such as Bandolero, that are frequented by university students and young professionals.

Karen Cruse, a member of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, lived on the west side of

University mandates third-year housing requirement

by Dayana Morales Gomez In an effort to finally address neighborly concerns of off-campus student misconduct, the University announced a new policy mandating students to live in on-campus housing for three years, thus moving the riff raff back on to campus.

Beginning with the class of 2017, students will be guaranteed housing eligibility for either their junior or senior year.

The new policy will apply to all junior-level students, including students who study abroad and transfer students, with accommodations. Students who study abroad will be able to count semesters abroad toward their fulfillment of the requirement.

Junior and sophomore transfers will be required to live on campus for one or two years respectively. Exemptions will be kept in place for students from the D.C. area who choose to live at home.

According to Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs, the policy was enacted in order to guarantee

that the beds the University is adding are actually occupied by students.

“We’re putting a good deal of money into building [the Northeast Triangle and the Jesuit residence],” Olson said.

“We’ve got to have a path to filling these new living spaces.”

Executive Director of Student Housing Patrick Killilee said, “I think we heard from the referendum last semester that [students] want to be here, anyway. It should be a little risk in terms of making it a requirement, so it’s sort of an insurance policy.”

Given that the renovation of the Jesuit residences is only slated to create 180 more beds, interim housing will accommodate 225 students in order to meet the agreements outlined in the campus plan. Plans for interim housing include housing students in the Leavey Center hotel, converting larger Southwest Quad and LXR doubles into triples, and reducing the size of larger common rooms in VCE. The university will not be adding beds to the Henle

Georgetown when the situation was coming to a head.

“It was just out of control,” Cruse said. “There was vandalism ... rowdiness … public urination … crime, and nonexistent parking, so we said we’ve had enough.”

Cruse joined others in the neighborhood in protesting new liquor licenses by going to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

Cruse said that a license has to be “appropriate” under certain conditions, but that they could protest any license, albeit one at a time.

Around that time, the city was rewriting its ABC regulations, which would allow for moratoriums.

“When the mayor signed in the legislation, Georgetown had its petition for the moratorium all signed, sealed, ready to go, we ran it down to the ABC Board [and] slapped it on the desk, so we were the very first ones in the city,” Cruse said.

The Georgetown Moratorium Zone allows for 68 restaurant licenses and an additional restriction allows only six tavern licenses.

These laws exclude hotels and other specific areas, such as Georgetown Park and Washington Harbor.

The number of restaurant licenses was increased from six to thirteen in 2010 when the moratorium was last renewed, though the tavern license limit went unchanged.

The license that Smith Point has applied for is only the second that has been made available in the past 20 years, according to Washington City Paper. and Village A apartments they are renovating.

GUSA President Trevor Tezel (SFS’15) and Vice President Omika Jikaria (SFS’15) said that although the policy was not the solution they had hoped for, they are satisfied with the administration’s decisions.

Tezel acknowledged that the new policy will most likely mean that sophomores will only be eligible to live in dorm style housing. It is unclear if accommodations available for seniors who want to live on campus will be available.

“I think students are going to be unhappy with certain aspects of the new policy,” Tezel said. “I hope they see that we were able to come to an agreement that includes a lot of benefits for student life.”

“We were worried that the university was considering a satellite campus location, and they were—that concern has been addressed,” he added. “We were able to come to an agreement that provides the best possible outcome given the realities of what the university had to do in line with the campus plan … The negotiating process brought us to a solution that worked out as well as it could for both sides.”

april 24, 2014 El Centro decided to release the tavern license to refocus attention on its food, as it is part of a larger restaurant company, Richard Sandoval Restaurants. Having a restaurant license requires that El Centro get a certain proportion of revenue from food. “[Sandoval’s] food is the star,” said El Centro General Manager Steven Chiang. “We don’t want to ever distract from that.” El Centro opened in September 2013 in the building on Wisconsin previously occupied by the bar Third Edition.

“I know taking over the old Third Edition watering hole there was a lot of concern about El Centro coming through,” Chiang said. “[The license change] wasn’t anything that was forced upon us, we did it by choice. It was just complying with the community.”

While Chiang says El Centro looks forward to being a positive member of the community, he does believe the liquor license restrictions make being a new business in Georgetown difficult.

Molly Quigley, a member of the Georgetown Business Association, has worked at 1789 Restaurant for 16 years. While she appreciates the intention of ensuring neighborhood-friendly businesses, she also is not sure a moratorium is the best way to achieve that goal.

“It’s very restricting on businesses,” said Quigley. “Places that want to open in D.C., they look at Georgetown because of our reputation, and then they realize how difficult it is to do business in Georgetown. So we lose a lot of great restaurateurs and other businesses to other neighborhoods.”

Because of this effect, Georgetown may also lose attention as a destination on weekend nights, according to Quigley.

Tom Birch, a commissioner on Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission, on the other hand, doesn’t believe that the moratorium has had a negative effect on business in Georgetown. He maintained that the moratorium was successful in its goal of maintaining a commercial mix in the Georgetown area between restaurants, bars, and retail.

“If there has been a negative effect, I don’t see it,” he said. “I think so long as it has the effect of maintaining the effect of a good balance of businesses then it continues to have a utility.”

GUAFSCU to offer student loans

by James Constant In an online statement made April 14, the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union announced a new addition to its assortment of financial offerings: the option to take out student loans beginning next semester.

GUASFCU is accepting applications from both undergraduates and graduate students for the loans, which have a variable interest rate starting at 3.23 percent and are capped at $40,000 a year.

In an email to the Voice, GUASFCU CEO Laura Krivacek (COL ‘15) and Chief Lending Officer Peter LiVolsi (COL ‘15) said the rate compares favorably to those of major competitors, such as PNC and Discover, whose bottom line variable rates for undergraduate loans are 3.46 percent and 3.25 percent, respectively. Variable interest rates increase every year according to a fixed algorithm.

A federal unsubsidized loan has a fixed interest rate of 3.86 percent as well as a 1.072 percent origination fee for processing the

loan. Fixed interest rates, unlike variable rates, remain constant for the life of the loan.

It’s possible, however, that GUASFCU will change the variable interest rate to a flat rate that is not subject to rate increases.

“We’ll come out with news on that hopefully within the next month. It’ll be a little bit higher, but the rate will be fixed for the life of the loan,” said LiVolsi.

GUASFCU is able to manage the financial liability of offering student loans because cuStudentLoans, a credit union network GUASFCU is a part of, will absorb 90 percent of the loss taken if a student is unable to pay back loans.

According to Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, “Taking out a loan from GUASFCU or another provider will not affect the aid package provided by Georgetown to meet a student’s full financial need.”

According to LiVolsi, GUASFCU will attempt to lessen the expense of a Georgetown education by donating 5 percent of profits from student loan interest to a fund within the University.

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Healey pub vendor seeks student input $5 million energy prize announced

by Shalina Chatlani It’s no surprise that Bon Appétit Management Company, the newly announced vendor for the Healey Family Student Center Pub, had no difficulty in enticing students to visit its pub showcase this Wednesday in the Leavey Programming Room.

Students eagerly sampled the food, submitted their opinions on design concepts, offered suggestions for the pub’s name, and even applied for jobs with the business.

“What was most important to us was a partner that we could work with who would listen to [students’] wants and needs—we found that in Bon Appétit and couldn’t be happier about it,” said Samuel Greco (SFS ‘15), GUSA Senate Speaker and member of the student planning committee for the pub. “Based on responses from the showcase today, it looks like the student body is excited about our partnership and the pub as well.”

According to Joelle Weise, associate vice president for auxiliary business services, the purpose of the showcase was to help students get a taste of the future pub’s environment. “Some of our designers have come so that students can actually look at the layout of the room,” said Weise. “The food [was] set up with everything from Nutella shakes [to] lemonade, and the brewery

has come so that students can sample some of the beers, as well as a couple of vineyard [selections].”

Yvonne Matteson, district manager for BAMC, explained that feedback from the showcase would be used for further plans in the pub’s development. “Student input is very important moving forward,” she said.

“I think it’s the best approach.”

When asked about the challenges of operating a business that serves a student population, a large percentage of which legally cannot drink alcohol, Matteson said that the pub would operate more along the lines of a restaurant so that all age groups could be included.

“It’s a unique business model and we have to make sure that it’s managed appropriately,” said Matteson. “Currently we approach this project as a restaurant concept, and we’re working within what has already been planned.”

Students browse through potential pub design options.

Things done changed

To paraphrase The Notorious B.I.G., It was all a dream. You used to read my words up in this magazine.

After five semesters of writing City on a Hill and close to four years of involvement with this fine publication, it’s time to turn the page, so to speak. This column will be my last piece as an undergraduate for the Voice, and the occasion presents an opportunity to reflect on my observations of D.C. politics over the past few years.

Like many other cities, the District of Columbia is in the midst of a profound demographic transformation. Wealthy professionals are flooding into the city, bringing with them the potential for economic development. The gains from this trend, however, have been remarkably concentrated among the city’s white, affluent residents.

Even with the local economic boom and the federal government providing an economic anchor for residents, the National Urban League says black unemployment in the D.C. metro area is 12 percent, compared with just 4.6 percent for

Current design concepts include a keg wall, wooden bar top, dark ceiling, a large fireplace, pickup window so that students can order food online, and an outdoor deck with a grill overlooking the Potomac.

Students at the showcase expressed interest in the vendor and were eager to submit ideas for the pub’s development.

“It’s nice that they are including students in the discussion of the design and theme,” said Maggie Wardell (SFS ‘14), who attended the showcase.

“I wish that this had been built before I had come here so I could enjoy it more. From what I tasted of the food, the company seems good. The food might even be better than Tombs’.”

Wiese assured that the University has maintained its plans to open the pub, along with the rest of the New South Student Center, in time for the start of the 2014 fall semester.

whites. More startling are the income disparities. According to a report from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, the District ranks fourth among American cities in income inequality.

This influx of capital begets more than dreary statistics. As I’ve addressed previously, the skyrocketing cost of rent and other living expenses is pushing thousands of D.C. residents out of their homes each year, leaving them to scramble for cheaper housing outside the city or fall into decrepit homeless shelters. If nothing else, it’s clear the new wealth isn’t trickling down fast enough to those who need it most.

These economic developments should shock no one. The racial wealth gap is not a new phenomenon and other cities are dealing with increased inequality and gentrification as well. The question is how government will adapt to this new age of economic redevelopment. Will it be one that actively works to combat the root causes of inequality, or one content to step back and hope that a rising tide of growth will lift all boats?

AMBIKA AHUJA

On one hand, D.C. has always had a strong liberal coalition. Since home rule began in 1975, the city has always elected black Democratic mayors, buoyed by a largely minority working class electorate with a relatively high unionization rate. These leaders contributed their share of disappointment and depravity but they have, at least in theory, been accountable to this coalition.

City on a Hill

by Gavin Bade

A tri-weekly column about D.C. news and politics.

But in the last two decades or so, the city’s politics began to look quite different. Even in many neighborhoods east of North Capitol Street, the once-reliable voting base has already been broken, replaced with a wealthier, whiter electorate. These newer residents may be sympathetic to the struggles of marginalized Washingtonians, but by virtue of their social position are less likely to support populist policies aimed at boosting up the poor and work-

by Lara Fishbane

Following its tradition of fostering competition to enact social change, Georgetown University is offering an incentive of $5 million to the community with the best plan to reduce energy consumption.

The Program on Science in the Public Interest launched the Georgetown University Energy Prize on April 23 with support from Georgetown University Environment Initiative and the McDonough School of Business Global Social Enterprise Initiative.

“The Georgetown University Energy Prize fits in nicely with the focus of the Social Enterprise Initiative,” Ladan Manteghi, Executive Director of GSEI, said because it is concerned with “global health and well-being, responsible investing, economic growth, international development, and clean energy.”

According to Georgetown Professor Francis Slakey, Executive Director of the Energy Prize, the prize money comes from various sponsors and partners, including the American Gas Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

Kathryn Clay, executive director of AGF, explained that AGF is partnering with GUEP because AGF makes money based on providing access to gas, not based on quantity of gas sold. ing classes. Put simply, as the demographics change, the politics are changing, too. Already, every major city-wide election divides the city by racial and economic lines.

Perhaps a shakeup is good. The local political scene has long been corrupt enough to warrant a change and precious few of the city’s self-proclaimed progressive leaders have succeeded in delivering transformative reforms. The worry is not that the status quo is being disrupted, but rather whether or not the most marginalized residents in the District will be able to find a voice in a city that better resembles the Gilded Age each day.

It’s a rule in this country that political influence tends to follow wealth, and the District is no different. Unless the city’s progressive leaders can find a way to link the interests and destinies of poor and rich, black and white within the District, they will face an electorate that each year falls more out of touch with the struggles of the city’s least fortunate. That will mean our city will likely go down the path toward corporate liberalism, electing politicians like Rahm Emanuel

The nationwide competition is open to all communities with populations between 5,000 and 250,000. “The biggest cities in the country already have established programs for energy efficiency,” Slakey said. “We wanted to target smaller communities, but 70 percent of the country lives in the size range we’re working with.”

Competing communities are required to create a long-term plan to increase energy efficiency and sustainability over the two-year duration of the competition. According to Slakey, success will be measured by “the total amount of electricity and natural gas delivered by the utilities to the residential and municipal customers.”

After two years, the top performers compete in a final round, which is judged with additional criteria, including how replicable the plan is and how successfully it engaged their community.

Prior to the program’s launch, there were already 51 communities across the country signed up to compete. “What prizes have done for centuries is uncover a novel approach to solving the problem,” Slakey said.

According to him, only approximately 5 percent of the public is actively engaged in increasing sustainability. “We are hoping that the prize will help us blow through that barrier and get more community engagement in energy efficiency.”

or Michael Bloomberg more concerned with big business growth than rethinking the social contract for the city’s poorest. It will also likely mean that our city falls into the same sort of divisive, racialized politics that have poisoned the Obama era and have already shown signs of surfacing this election cycle.

There is another option. The best mayors throughout history have always understood one thing—a city does best when it takes care of its worst off. If we are ever to see the day of victory over the pernicious, entrenched injustices our residents face every day, it will mean putting the most vulnerable voices front and center. Those shut out of the American promise of a good education, housing, and employment, are the ones our policymakers must listen to first—not the denizens of luxury popups on 14th street. No matter the cost, District politicos need to learn to cope with the transformation of the local electorate, because there is no going back. As Biggie might say, things done changed.

Bade farewell to The Notorious G.A.B. at gbade@georgetownvoice.com.

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april 24, 2014

Despite initial lead, men’s lacrosse surrenders to Marquette

by Rob Iannaccone The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (4-9, 1-4 Big East) traveled to Milwaukee this past Saturday to face the Marquette Golden Eagles (6-8, 4-1 Big East) for a crucial game. The Hoyas failed to defeat their Big East opponent as they fell in overtime by a score of 11-10. Following a dominant performance in the first half, Georgetown found itself up 9-3 midway through the third quarter. The lead would not last, as the Golden Eagles went on a 7-1 run to force overtime. The Golden Eagles scored on the first possession of overtime and eliminated the Hoyas from Big East Championship contention.

Following a Marquette goal early in the first quarter, Georgetown responded fiercely with five unanswered goals. Junior attack Reilly O’Connor struck first with a goal at 12:51 left, followed by an unassisted goal from fellow junior attack Bo Stafford. Stafford would assist O’Connor’s second goal of the game with 9:44 left in the quarter, followed by two additional Hoya goals. Marquette would finally stop Georgetown’s offensive surge late in the first quarter, scoring while a man up.

The Hoyas’ offensive dominance continued into the second quarter. This time the Blue and Gray struck first as junior midfielder Mitch Hugdahl scored with 10 minutes left until halftime. Marquette would answer with a goal at 5:44 remaining. Unfazed, the Hoyas continued to bolster their lead, as senior attack Jeff Fountain capitalized on a 4:20 Marquette slashing penalty to score the final goal of the quarter. After a strong first half performance, the Hoyas entered halftime with a 7-3 lead.

“I think we came out really strong, and we were confident. You could definitely feel prior to the game

that everything was gelling. Everything leading up to the game felt good and that really flowed into the first half,” said senior captain Tyler Knarr.

Early in the third quarter, the Hoyas showed no signs of slowing down. Corey Parke started the Hoyas off with his first goal of the season at 8:55. 19 seconds later, Stafford scored his second goal of the day thanks to an assist

by Knarr. Following Stafford’s goal, though, the Hoyas began to struggle. During the last 4:50 of the quarter, Marquette’s offense began to click. The Golden Eagles recorded three goals and trailed the Hoyas by a score of 9-6 by the quarter’s completion. When asked about the team’s mindset coming into the second half, Knarr said, “I think we were confident, but we began to worry about holding onto the lead versus continuing to play solid offense. You have to play to win. You can’t play to not lose.”

During the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles scored once again cutting the Hoya lead to two. The Hoyas tried to weather Marquette’s offensive storm, as Stafford scored his third goal of the game with 11:54 remaining. This was short lived, as Marquette answered 10 seconds later with another goal, bringing the score to 10-8. The Hoyas tried to regain momentum as they won the ensuing face-off, followed by two unsuccessful shots on goal. With 7:04 left in regulation, Marquette scored again after capitalizing on one of these missed shots. The Hoyas, who had already turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter, turned the ball over twice more leading to a game tying Marquette goal.

With 4:17 left in regulation, the Hoyas had surrendered their commanding lead and found themselves tied with the Golden Eagles

STEVEN CRISS

Men’s lacrosse will honor its seniors in their last home game this Saturday.

at 10 apiece. Knarr won the subsequent face-off, but the Hoyas still could not get their offense going.

The Hoyas were heading to overtime for the third time this season (1-1 in OT). Marquette won the faceoff and quickly took an unsuccessful shot on goal. The Hoyas failed to regain possession allowing the Golden Eagles to once again set up their offense.

With 3:06 remaining in overtime,

Marquette scored the game-winning goal completing their second half comeback and dropping the Hoyas from Big East championship eligibility.

“It was a tale of two halves. I think we executed the things we wanted to execute early on but we got away from everything in the second half. I just think our decision-making wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be against a good team

like Marquette.” said Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne. “You’re only as good as your next play and we did that for a little bit, but I think we got away from some of the things we had success with early on that let [Marquette] get back in the game.”

The Hoyas will honor their seniors on this Saturday at 12 p.m. for senior day on the Multi-Sport field as they face off against Rutgers.

the sports sermon

“Owner, a lot of companies.”- Shaquille O’Neal’s LinkedIn profile

by Chris Castano People are going to spend ridiculous amounts of money on my favorite holiday, but it’s not Christmas or Chanukah. People dress up and drink heavily on my favorite holiday, but it’s not Halloween, or St. Paddy’s Day. There is a spike in birth rates nine months in the wake of my favorite holiday, but it’s not Valentines Day. My favorite holiday is one month long, is celebrated by all different kinds of people, and couldn’t be more inclusive.

There’s no sort of religious connotation attached, even though some people worship and celebrate like their lives depend on it. In fact, the powers that be want so many different kinds of people to participate, they’ve seen fit to move the ceremonies to a different country every time it rolls around in the calendar.

The absolute worst thing about my favorite holiday? It only comes once every four years.

This summer, Brazil will play in and host the 2014 edition of the FIFA World Cup, and I for one could not be more excited. For as long as I can remember, the World Cup was a fixture in my home. Even when I was a kid, my dad would make sure I was awake for the first games of the day, waffles and orange juice on the counter at 7:30 a.m. sharp.

Despite my best efforts, I was never a terribly gifted athlete, but watching the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Christian Vieri take the field was enough to make any skinny kid run out to his local park after a game to kick around with his friends.

My love for this event wasn’t even about the sport itself. In my early days, the game on this large of a stage seemed to be the only time on television where I saw all different types of people congregating to enjoy a common interest.

As a child growing up in Vermont, there was limited diversity. Seeing Swedes and Senegalese, Germans and Paraguayans, and Koreans and Mexicans all together enjoying the most popular sport in the world was something special. Watching the 2002 Cup and seeing so many cultures come together was poignantly refreshing, considering that only a year earlier, my eightyear-old self had tried to figure out why anyone halfway across the world would ever fly planes into buildings.

Posting up in front of my television every day in 2010 was something special. I was just old enough to really begin to understand the politics behind FIFA tournament selection and preparation. I had done a decent job of keeping up with how South Africa was gearing up to host. The usual problems were present in the run up to the big month. Would the infrastructure hold up? Would the stadiums be ready on time? Lo and behold, they pulled it off and hosted the very first World Cup held on African soil. The excitement was genuinely palpable. You could see it in every face around the stadium. Each country in Africa was proud to be hosting the world game, not just those on the Horn. And you know what?

They did a hell of a job.

It’s for reasons like these that I value the World Cup so highly,

not because of the soccer on its own, not because of the specialty burgers at McDonald’s, not even because I’ll get to watch Clint Dempsey and his face strike fear into the hearts of his opponents, but because every World Cup game is 90 minutes where the whole world stops and bears witness to one thing that needs virtually no explaining. One ball.

Two nets. A single goal: win.

That’s not to say that a host of problems don’t plague a World Cup. It’s an international tournament and, therefore, international problems are inevitably going to play out in its wake. I’d be surprised if fans trying to attend games in Rio weren’t met with hordes of protesters fighting against government corruption, poor public services, and heavy investment in international sporting events.

I’d be surprised if, in the run up to the World Cup in Qatar, people weren’t incredibly concerned about the quasi-slave labor being employed to ensure stadiums are built on time. That’s the power of such a tournament. Issues such as these find their way into the eyes of the world thanks to its colossal scale.

These days, there seem to be more and more reasons to be divided as a species. Whether they be race, religion, or what have you, people focus on things that make them different. Despite the tournament being heavily commercialized, it will be good for the millions of people watching to slow down and appreciate the shared love of the beautiful game. Whether it be for 20 seconds, 90 minutes, or the full month, it’s something that doesn’t happen every day.

sports

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the georgetown voice 7

Women’s sailing changes course D.C. United on the rise

by Jeremy Dang The Georgetown women’s sailing team won the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Spring Conference Championship this past Saturday and qualified for the Women’s National Championship that will take place in June. Earlier this month, the team had secured a spot in the Team Race National Championship for their performance at the MAISA Conference Team Race.

Considering the team entered their qualifiers unranked for the first time in years, the Hoyas turn of fortune has been nothing short of spectacular.

Upon entering their team qualifier three weeks ago, Georgetown was coming off an 8-13 performance that left a bitter taste in their mouths.

Describing their disappointing performance as a “wake-up call,” Mike

Callahan, Georgetown sailing coach, said he and his team went straight to work to turn things around. This paid off, as the team came out of the gates at full speed.

The MAISA Women’s Championship featured the 14 top schools in the conference, with the teams finishing in the top six moving on to compete at Nationals. In the A division, sophomore Mary Kate Mezzetti and senior Amanda Taselaar, despite having limited experience sailing together competitively, managed to finish just six points short of second place.

The real heroes of the race were the Hoya sailors in the B division, junior Katie DaSilva and sophomore Bettina Redway. Despite almost no time in-boat together, the duo managed to win five of the first eight races. Eventually, sophomore Madeline Higgins subbed in for Redway, helping the boat to finish out the day 11

JOSHUA RAFTIS

The sailing team will compete in its final regular season event this Saturday.

It’s been such a long time

The NBA doesn’t have “surprise champions.” The long, four-round, best-of-seven format of the pro basketball postseason ensures, much more than the college basketball, pro football, or even pro baseball systems, that the best team will prevail. Of course, every once in a while, an underdog will take a series, but sixth seeds don’t win championships like they can in the NFL. Hot streaks will always be stemmed by this format, which allows top teams to regroup and dig in their heels. As a result, it is a confusing feeling to root for a team that is seeded fifth in their conference.

It’s been a long time since the Washington Wizards have played in the postseason. The last time the Wiz earned a playoff berth, it was 2008. That team was entirely different than the squad that exists today. The

“Big Three” of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler had already begun their fall from grace and Washington, seeded fifth in the East, unsuccessfully challenged LeBron James’s Cavaliers for the third straight year.

This year, the new John Wall-led team boasts a decent array of weapons, but looks nothing like a squad that could feasibly get anywhere near a title. The last time the Wizards won a playoff series, in 2005, they were seeded fifth and downed the Chicago Bulls behind a legendary (among Washington fans, at least) performance from Arenas. This time around, the Wizards again face the fourth-seeded Bulls.

While history strongly suggests that an upset is possible, and is looking even more likely after Washington’s rousing 2-0 start,

points ahead of Navy, the widely-regarded favorite.

“I’m really proud of the way the girls practiced hard all semester, got really good, and were able to overcome some really top notch teams,” said Callahan. Despite being largely satisfied with their performance, Callahan notes that there are additional intensive practices ahead in order to be successful at any one of the three National Championships in which his sailors will participate.

While the team can certainly race with the best of them, key injuries mean that the team will have to shuffle roles to fill in the gaps. Callahan remains positive, though, saying that, “From a recruitment standpoint, we have a lot more we can be better at. I think that, come Nationals, provided everyone stays healthy, we can definitely compete.”

This season has been a bit of an anomaly. Usually one of the top ranked programs in the country, the Hoyas had produced poor results, which few had expected. Their recent hard work and success has propelled them back into contention for national honors. While the team still has room for improvement before the ultimate test in June, they can be proud of their recent efforts. The team’s final regular season event will take place this weekend starting Saturday in New York at the Co-Ed Free Racing Conference Championship. history also says that success later in the playoffs is unlikely.

After all, the 2005 Wizards went on to get swept by top-ranked Miami in the second round.

Of course, I’m excited for playoff basketball. The last time

The Tight End

by Chris Almeida

A tri-weekly column about sports

I had a team to root for in the NBA playoffs, I was in middle school. But, there’s a large difference between knowing that your team has a one or tworound ceiling and knowing that there is a legitimate chance that a title could come to your city.

While Wall, Bradley Beal, and company could certainly manage a win in their first series, it’s unlikely that they could win a best-of-seven against any one of Indiana, Miami, San Antonio, or

by Kevin Huggard After dropping their opening two games, DC United has turned their young season around, winning two of their last four matches, while taking draws in the two others.

This year ’s squad more closely resembles the group that finished second in the Eastern Conference in 2012 than last year ’s team, which sputtered to only three wins and a last place finish in the conference.

Last year, they were easily the worst team in Major League Soccer, with 16 points—10 points behind Chivas USA, the next worst team. The only consolation came as United took home a shock victory in the US Open Cup, beating Real Salt Lake in Utah in the final. In a dramatic reversal, DC now sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

In their most recent game, they traveled to Columbus to face the conference-leading Crew and came away with a tie, which would have been unthinkable a year ago. In the game, Columbus tied the score at the 90 minute mark after the referee failed to call a few potential penalties in United’s favor. It is a mark of how far the team has progressed that they could take a point from the conference’s best team on the road.

Oklahoma City, let alone three of them in a row. That being said, has this season been a waste?

Washington isn’t a team full of veterans hanging onto their last decent year in the League, but at the same time, they aren’t a team brimming with youth and the next faces of the NBA. These Wizards are a strange amalgam of young stars (not superstars) and journeymen, such as Trevor Ariza, playing far above their ability. This team won’t be bad next year, but even with large improvements from Wall and Beal, they won’t make the jump into the group of the NBA’s elite title contenders. One has to be concerned that this team is simply on the wrong trajectory, neither on the path to a future title nor dropping into the hotbed of talent that will come from the early first round of this year’s draft.

There’s always the chance that a superstar free agent

This remarkable recovery, however, is far from complete. After all, the team has played only six games of its 34 game marathon season.

But, given that a win against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday would match their 2013 total of 3 victories, it is hard not to think that DC has turned in a positive direction.

The team had stood by Head Coach Ben Olsen, who had overseen steady improvement since taking over in 2010, until last year ’s disastrous campaign threatened to undo all of that work.

Apart from their coach, however, the roster could not look more different. Andrew Dykstra has taken over regular goalkeeping duties from Bill Hamid and, for the most part, has performed well. Long-time fixtures at the club like Dwayne De Rosario departed and, in their place, United acquired defensive-minded veterans such as Bobby Boswell, Sean Franklin and Davy Arnaud. In the hope of scoring more goals, DC signed forward and US International Eddie Johnson, who has struggled, failing to score a goal for his new team.

The roster looks different, even unfamiliar to those who have followed DC United, but when familiar looks like a 3-win season, different starts to seem much more appealing.

eventually decides to come to Washington: a particularly popular theory among my group of Wizard-supporting peers is that Kevin Durant will return home to D.C. and make our favorite group of misfits into the next NBA dynasty. But this is much more a fantasy than a reality. In all likelihood, Durant, just like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, and every other team-changing free agent that will become available in the next few years, will not be headed to Washington, leaving the team just where they are now: in limbo.

I’m not concerned with this franchise dropping to the bottom of the NBA as they have in recent years. They have the players to make playoff berths, like this one, a regular occurrence, especially in the ailing Eastern Conference. But, as the group exists now, I don’t see the 36-year title drought in Washington coming to an end.

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april 24, 2014

PHOTO CONTEST 2014

>>>MOMENTS SUSPENDED IN TIME<<<

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feature

the georgetown voice 9

Clockwise, from top right: “Vatnajökull Glacier”

by Eliza McCurdy (COL ‘17) “S for Surreal”

by Eugene Ang (SFS ‘16) “Potomac the Beautiful”

by Tuckerman Jones (COL ‘17) “Soloist”

by Tim Markatos (COL ‘15)

“Water in the Mosque”

by Mitchel Hochberg (SFS ‘15)

“The Pensive Child”

by Umar Khan (NHS ‘14)

>>>The 2014 photo contest brought forth the Georgetown student body’s very best in photographic skill. TheVoice received a wide variety of entries that showcased a range of styles and techniques.

Ultimately, the winners of this year’s contest were the photos that captured the intricacies of the student experience at Georgetown, as well as the extraordinary moments that occur beyond the front gates.<<< “19”

by Umar Khan (NHS ‘14)

Front Cover: “Playing Outside the Triple E” by Trishla Jain (SFS ‘15) Backpage: “Healy Hall” by Freddy Rosas (COL ‘15)

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10 the georgetown voice

april 24, 2014

GUTV Film Fest returns with stellar selection of student shorts

by Manuela Tobias Student filmmakers are receiving an opportunity to demonstrate their talent in a short film competition sponsored by Georgetown University Television later this evening.

12 student-produced films are to be judged on the quality of screenplay, production, and acting by alumnus and television series writer Jordon Nardino (COL ’00), Community writer Adam Countee, and CBS showrunner Michael Reisz. Though the judges will not be present at the film festival,

Nardino and Countee will share their advice and discuss their accomplishments in the film industry with student filmmakers through previously recorded videos.

The films display darker sides of the human experience, with a particular focus on the shadows that depression, delusion, and peer pressure can cast on college students.

Whether this focus on student life is from a deliberate desire to underline these issues among students or simply the opportune use of the cast and setting available at Georgetown, the films’ focus on students

BROOKS BIRDSALL

“Dude, is it Georgetown Day yet?” “Bro, chill, have you seen that fountain?!”

Boy, snow, bird walk into a bar...

There once was a girl. She had a childlike freshness that suggested an initial impression of juvenility, but she wasn’t. She didn’t fall into convention. She believed in monsters and magic, but her thirtieth birthday was around the corner.

She loved to write and to explore the qualities of people that interested her—the way that they feel at their innermost essence.

She took those feelings and made them tools for her art. Through writing she learned to explore her own thoughts and emotions, to seek the ideas that made her art innovative and transformative.

As a child, she didn’t care much for school, but who cares when you’re a literary prodigy? At 18 she wrote her first novel and published it while attending college to mixed critical acclaim.. Over the next 12 years she would write a total of five novels, each one gaining more and more acclaim. Her art was digging deeper into people’s innate feelings, growing along with the artist.

This striking individual is Helen Oyeyemi, past and present. Her life is dynamic, changing homes on a whim—Paris, Toronto, London, Budapest, maybe Prague? Her novels carry a similar wanderlust as she reflects on the boundaries of race, color, and existence through a fairytale-like telling.

Her latest novel, Boy, Snow, Bird, divulges an enchanting tale of complicated familial ties told through explorations of skin color and beauty. Throughout the novel, Oyeyemi conjures a sort of magic through her dynamic writing and enthralls the reader with her cheerful grisliness, an embodiment of her unique character.

Boy, Snow, Bird doesn’t read like a regular fairytale, and it isn’t trying to be one. It’s Oyeyemi’s own interpretation of Snow White as told in 1950s New England.

Boy Novak, a runaway from New York City, arrives by chance to what she thinks might be paradise

makes for relatable subject matter that, nevertheless, steers clear of cliché storylines.

John Cunha’s (COL ’16) Stories recounts an individual’s experience with depression by interweaving separate stories of struggles in a continuous narrative within the margins of a novel. “I hope it’s something people can relate to, even if they’ve never found themselves at such extremes,” Cunha wrote in an email to the Voice. Stories explores a profound subject and displays a compelling correlation between image and sound, borrowing from the soundtrack of Spike Jonze’s Her. One of the features that makes the film so original, however, also has the potential to overwhelm: as the characters find their voice in the words written in a book, the dialogue is eliminated and instead replaced by an overly extended voice-over.

Brooks Birdsall’s (COL ‘14) Singular Germinate presents a fascinating storyline with impressive cinematography. What seems to explore traditional themes of the social pressures put on young people by themselves and their friends becomes a visually entrancing examination of internal duality that, according to Birdsall, parallels the pre-professional and philanthrop-

ic duality encountered by many students.

Other submissions include Matthew LaBau’s (COL ‘16) The Writer and Petals by Brett Tracey (MSB ‘16), both of which feature impressive plot twists and beautiful imagery.

Yet the films are not limited to the student experience. Nicholas Alfieri’s (MSB ’15) Gray Areas opens with an ominous scene depicting three masked men preparing to break into a house in Burleith.

Though the film features jarring artificial lighting, it displays remarkable acting talent on behalf of firsttime actor Michael Orso (MSB ’17) as well as a shockingly dark ending that demands moral questioning and investigation.

The festival features primarily narrative films over experimental films and documentaries due to the latter submissions’ prolonged length. The lack of female narrative submissions creates what Katherine Propper (COL ’15), one of the festival’s organizers, sees as a dangerous domination of the male voice in the festival, especially due to the usage of documentary and experimental films. Propper’s criticism seems to ring true in that male protagonists are front and center in most films, while the female protagonists, few in number, are written by male voic-

in a small town in Massachusetts, a trenchant shift from her misery in the city. She leaves behind a dark, abusive father and marries Arturo Whitman, a local widower, becoming stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow.

After settling down in Flax Hill, Novak begins carrying Whitman’s second child but soon discovers a secret about the Whitmans. Their newborn black

though they struggle to maintain their sisterly bond.

Boy, Snow, Bird progress through their lives as girls seeking an understanding of the importance of beauty and appearance before society. They each struggle with the power the superficial holds. “For reasons of my own I take note of the way people act when they’re around mirrors,” explains Bird. Mirrors in this novel become doors to the soul. Rather than passively looking at the mirror like they do a clock, Oyeyemi’s characters see a reflection to be interpreted, unpacked, and realized.

“There was a brass water pitcher set up in the center of the table, and a couple of times I found myself smiling at my reflection in the side of it, but stopped just before anyone caught me. The smile was a chinchilla kind of smile. Look what I got you, it seemed to say. And I can get you more,” thinks Boy. Reflections, or even the absence thereof, tyrannize the girls’ minds, indicating their preoccupation with the importance of appearance.

Under the Covers

by Micaela Beltran A bi-weekly literary column baby reveals that the Whitmans are black passing as white. Initially hurt, Boy eventually feels a deep bond with her darker child, and conversely, uneasiness overcomes her feelings toward her purely white-looking stepdaughter. Much to her chagrin, she gradually becomes an evil stepmother to her white daughter, causing Snow and Bird, Novak’s baby, to live separate lives,

es. According to Propper, “there’s always going to be that kind of skew in the way the stories are when it’s singularly white guys making the content.” Despite Propper’s trepidations, the festival will be screening a documentary on women’s rights and the effects of sexual abuse on college campuses.

In spite of its limited popularity in recent years, the film festival is promising in content and an impressive judging panel. Many students were not even aware of the festival in producing their work—some films were originally for class assignments or for the senior arts show.

Nonetheless, the films demonstrate student talent in both acting and cinematography with sharp images, compelling soundtracks, and evocative plots.

Propper is thrilled to see the recently established film and media studies program making a difference on campus, noting, “The program is a huge reason why there has been an influx in filmmaking and why there has been so much more access to filmmaking equipment and resources. It’s cool to see tangible results.”

GUTV Film Festival ICC Auditorium 8 p.m., April 24

Boy, Snow, Bird portrays Oyeyemi’s intrigue over the paradox of beauty--its penchant for intoxication for both the onlooker and the owner. Although she finds the modern perspective of fairytales amusingly grim, her subtle use of Snow White as a foundation derives from her ambivalent feelings toward the fairy tale. As she explained to NPR, “I found it so strange how she could be so mild and so sweet after everything she’s gone through… it started to scare me because I thought that beneath that front there must be so much suffering.”

Through Snow, Oyeyemi explores beauty’s paradox, unearthing the dark truth about the “eye of the beholder.” The odd universes in Oyeyemi’s novels provide a perfect avenue for her unprocessed, grandiose ideas, and her steady evolution leads to wonder of what she’ll conjure next.

Get lost in Micaela’s reflection at mfb61@georgetown.edu

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the georgetown voice 11

“Jusqu’ici tout va bien...” — La Haine

Senior Art Majors’ Exhibit As we approach the end of the year, check out the work of the twelve graduating senior art majors at the Spagnuolo Gallery’s Senior Art Majors’ Exhibition.

With media ranging from drawing to painting to photography and even video installation, the exhibition opens with a reception on Friday, April 25 at 6 p.m. and runs until Friday, May 16.

Featuring the art of...

Brooks Birdsall Sophie Brenninkmeijer Jasmine Byrd Celeste Chen Rosemary Christian Madeline Leach Jen Leahey Mai Mack Avalyn Mathis Bobby Peavey Leona Pfeiffer Avalyn Mathis. Selection from “Interruptions” series, 2014. Acrylic on canvas.

Robert Peavey. “Death by Deadlines,” 2014. Pen and ink on paper.

Grilled Cheese DC not gouda-nough

by Heather Regen

I don’t often think about class warfare while eating grilled cheese.

But as I bit into an artisanal sandwich oozing Grilled Cheese D.C.’s custom Gruyere blend, bourgeois offenses were all that crossed my mind. Although toasted in a Turbo Chef SOTA convection oven— an exquisite piece of equipment that costs upwards of $7,800—this sandwich could have been baked in a dorm kitchen. The new grilled cheese joint is filled with promise, but unfortunately, fails to execute an otherwise excellent idea.

After pushing open the restaurant’s glass doors, I was greeted by a wall stacked high with rows of decorative Wonder Bread-esque loafs.

Bottles of red wine were scattered among the bread, lending a sophisticated feel to the simple sandwich staple. GCDC’s menu mirrors this aesthetic, filled with items like the savory Kim-Cheese-Steak sandwich and the sweet Torched Grilled Cheese.

The food itself, however, is less inspired than the menu. Highly recommended by several servers, the tater tots simply fell flat. GCDC does the classic potato side two ways: American, with cheddar sauce, bacon, jalapeños, and onions, or Canadian, with melted cheese curds, bacon, and a house mushroom gravy.

Baked like a casserole in a small, shal-

low plate, the tiny serving of greasy tots hardly justified its $10 price tag.

Part of the GCDC concept is letting adults enjoy kids’ food in a chic atmosphere, so a carefully curated beer and wine list adds character to the restaurant’s offerings. The house cocktails stand out for their creativity as well. The D.C. Honey Dew combines chili pepper infused vodka with fresh melon, mint, and lime juice. I tried the Four O’Clock Bourbon Tea, with cardamom bitters, Earl Grey simple syrup, and lemon juice.

While strong, the whimsical teatime drink tasted nothing like its ingredients. The lemon juice overpowered any trace of the bitters or syrup, leaving me with an expensive but basic whiskey sour.

Breaking through all the uninspired food and drink were the small garnishes that accompanied GCDC’s dishes. The golden sesame crisps and spicy pickles decorat-

ing the cheese plate packed strong flavors and satisfying textures. Yet, the care put into these details never reached the larger plates.

GCDC’s concept isn’t unique, making its failings even more disappointing. Also a fan of the trendy acronym, Dupont’s GBD, or Golden Brown Delicious, is an example of dressed-up food done right. Their gourmet doughnuts are covered with innovative glazes, and the restaurant’s homemade spiked punches pair well with kid-inspired plates like the Tendie Lunchbox. To succeed in this play on simple, classic foods, a restaurant can’t take itself too seriously. And with a resident cheesemonger, GCDC forgets the grilled cheese’s proletariat roots.

GCDC 1730 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Mon.-Fri. grilledcheesedc.com

Muriel Van De Bilt

Business as usual: Washington lobbyists debate which cheese to cut first.

Hirshhorn Washington Color School exhibition edgy, defies gravity

by Tim Annick D.C.’s place in popular memory is one of power grabs and political scandal. I often forget, as I imagine others do, that the District is a real city with its own distinct cultural and artistic history. Go-go and the Washington Color School are both artistic movements that called the Dis-

trict home. The Hirchhorn Museum’s new exhibit, “Gravity’s Edge,” is a celebration of the Color School.

The Washington Color School, unique from the New York-based Abstract Expressionism, focused on the artistic process and the use of new methods with materials such as acrylic and other synthetic paint. The

Hirshhorn gallery

This looks like the floor of my Village B after Georgetown Day...

Washington Color School was similar to, yet disparate from, the Color Field style.

Don’t come expecting the Phillips Collection’s Rothko room, though. The Hirshhorn’s exhibit delves much deeper into a stylistic and spatial juxtaposition between the effect of gravity on the work and its edge. Although there is a focus on a hodgepodge of synthetic materials, including acrylic, latex, and magna, another type of acrylic paint, the most captivating are largely the oil and watercolor works.

The exhibit, which is featured on the Hirshhorn’s Lower Level, appears to be located in a surreal and disorienting cavern. The expansive sterility of the Lower Level gallery certainly creates room for an increased accessibility to color expression. Shaped like an ‘L,’ you’re drawn in by the lure of what’s hidden behind the left hand corner. It doesn’t disappoint, as turning the corner reveals Lynda

Benglis’s 1969 “Corner Piece,” a multicolored latex paint spill. The museum guard says it’s the crowd favorite, especially for those patrons who are three feet tall and wear light-up sneakers.

The exhibit is short and easy to digest. The exhibit opens with stunning kaleidoscopic and buoyant forms that draw attention not to the paintings’ edges but instead to the equivocal shapes within. These opening paintings are those with which you will spend the most time, and their enigmatic allure will almost steal you away from the gallery space of the exhibit.

But not quite. The exhibit’s largest presence is a series of acrylic Color Field works, which tend to evoke the classic, “I could do that, too,” response.

Visually, acrylic can be alienating. Acrylic paint’s hard and defined edges, as opposed to the blurred lines of oil or watercolor, don’t leave the viewer with much

interpretational wiggle room. The shift in color palette from vivid blues and greens to the 70s shag rug isn’t all that enticing.

Even so, the interplay between material and form are clearly elucidated. It’s that blatant absence of ambiguity in the exhibit’s closing works which provides the biggest barrier. “Gravity’s Edge” shifts from a study in captivating technical virtuosity, form, and color to an artistic disciplinarian. It’s so iconographic that there’s no room for enjoyment in those final paintings.

With that being said, the exhibit’s opening colorful works, especially those by Sam Francis and Paul Jenkins, are glorious and captivating. Even though style and form are emphasized, color wins out.

Gravity’s Edge Hirshhorn Gallery 700 Independence Ave S.W. Feb. 7, 2014 – June 15, 2014 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. daily

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april 24, 2014

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

Criminal Hygiene & Dagos, Raid b/w Dinosaurs Are Sad, Independent The East and West coasts have always had their musical differences. The two are united, however, in the new split release

by Los Angeles rockers Criminal Hygiene and Georgetown’s own Dagos. In putting together this release, Criminal Hygiene and Dagos provide a song each that captures some of the best qualities of punk and rock music from their respective cities.

Originating in Los Angeles, Criminal Hygiene inject their track “Raid” with the thundering power of previous California rockers like the Black Flag and Dead Kennedys. The group’s hollering, high vocals are nicely

juxtaposed with the dirty power chords that open the song.

The group connects with their sun-kissed beach roots by drawing in swinging surf rock riffs along with a shredding, classic rock-and-roll guitar solo. Henry Rollins would be proud of the vocal cord-tearing scream that closes out two-minutes of rock purity.

Shifting over to Dagos, the trio draws on many of the elements that make them a fixture in the D.C. band scene. Dagos build “Dinosaurs Are Sad” in the style of the Pixies, using the loud-soft dynamic to great effect. While the softer parts are key to the song’s message—a humorous yet poignant attack on capitalism—the loud parts contribute most to the music’s flow.

John Romano’s driving chords serve as the foundation for his brother Joe Romano’s ripping bass lines and Franco Nuschese’s crashing drums. Together, they build a wall of rocking sound. Dagos appears to have taken a page from Criminal Hygiene’s book, as their harmonies offer a surprisingly pleasant contrast against the roar of sound.

Impressively bridging the nationwide gap, the Criminal Hy-

History repeats itself, almost

With Hollywood running out of ideas, there has been a resurgence of historical films. In the past two years alone, we’ve seen blockbuster releases such as Argo, Dallas Buyers Club, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, 12 Years a Slave, and then some.

Film is an accessible medium.

Its quick and lasting impressions are appealing to everyone from children to the elderly. Far and wide, people prefer spending two enjoyable hours in a theater over 500 pages of a dense history textbook.

But as books go bunk, their truth appears to be losing its currency amongst consumers. Movies, even as they take on the role of “historical fact,” miss their mark.

Take Ben Affleck’s blockbuster hit Argo, which won the coveted Best Picture award at the Oscars. The film follows the escape of staffers from the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iranian revolution in 1979. In the most gut wrenching scene of the

movie, the staffers’ plane is taking off just as the revolutionaries discover their identities.

Critics and audiences were raving. It seemed like only Canada and Iran were out of the cheering section.

The problem: it never actually happened. Sure, the staffers did escape without a bruise but everything after their arrival to the airport was, in fact, smooth. There was neither suspense nor danger.

But the most shocking historical interpretation of the film wasn’t the overly dramatized escape but the omission of Canada’s role. President Jimmy Carter even told CNN “90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian.” And these kinds of gross inaccuracies aren’t limited to Argo.

Undoubtedly, the biggest historical drama released last year was Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.

The film was adapted from Solo-

giene and Dagos split record can be likened to an updated version of a Record Store Day exclusive.

The record is available as either a digital download or in seven-inch, 45 vinyl versions that come in black or creamy canary yellow.

Two punk songs that pack such walloping punches make for quite a deal—this is definitely a record to add to the collection.

Voice’s Choices: “Dinosaurs Are Sad,” “Raid” —Jackson Sinnenberg

Future, Honest, Epic Records As I listened to Future’s new album Honest, I came to love its brusk, old-school lyricism and tried-and-tested trap beats. The Georgia rapper broke into the tier mon Northup’s autobiography of the same name.

The opening scene, where Solomon is seen in the dead of night in a sexual encounter with a woman—in the plantation’s overpopulated chattel house, no less—is completely miserable, but undeniably human.

Yet this incident never happened, at least not according to Solomon.

Reel Talk

by Dayana Morales Gomez A bi-weekly column about film The story presented by McQueen is real. Solomon Northup was a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He was sold and traded among slave owners, ultimately regaining his freedom 12 years later. None of this was cut in the film. No one’s role in his escape was undermined. And this wasn’t simply a hurrah for the American government, quite the contrary.

By and large, Argo and 12 Years a Slave are two completely differ-

of relatively mainstream rap over the past three years with his debut album Pluto and a few collaborations with other famous artists, such as Rihanna, Gucci Mane, and Ludacris. On paper, Honest had potential, between the solid production team and some real star power in its guest features that include Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West. In reality, it was a smattering of home runs and strikeouts.

The album starts strong. Its lead track, “Look Ahead,” is wrapped in a gruff, Rick Ross-like tone that alternates between describing a rapper’s ideally glamorous life and genuinely despairing lines: “Was it cold nights that made me cold/Do the stress increase my hunger/ Tell a lie then make a promise….”.

The inconsistent rhyme scheme of these lyrics adds to an oft-present feeling of uncertainty in Future’s Honest. But with gritty, deep bass lines, Future not only establishes himself as an Atlanta trap great, but also delivers a more introspective, amorous take on Southern rap.

Yet this foray into emotion ends up being little more than commercial, a distinct departure from the sentimental poignancy of ent films. Both Oscar-winners, they look at two histories with very different approaches. McQueen distinguished himself from Argo by hiring historians to advise scriptwriters, avoiding Argo’s biggest fault of failing to incorporate rigorous historical standards into its dialogue, storyline, and even backstory.

A high school history teacher may not place too much importance on the details of the embassy employees’ escape, but when audiences are fed fiction played off as fact, miseducation becomes a serious concern.

It would be much like presenting Dallas Buyers Club as a historical account of the doctors or transwomen during the AIDS crisis.

Rayon, Jared Leto’s character of a transwoman who works with Ron Woodruf, wasn’t a real person. Neither was Dr. Eve Saks, Jennifer Garner’s character of a doctor working with AIDS patients. The two characters were conceived based on interviews conducted solely for the film. The only organic character

his recent single with Rihanna (fittingly named “Love Song”). Furthermore, within the context of the album, these emotional tracks fall even flatter when they are wedged in between materialistic braggadocio. Tracks like “Move that Dope” show that the somewhat deplorable genre of coke rap is alive and well, regardless of how many high profile features an artist acquires for a song.

Sadly, Pharrell’s considerable vocal talents and Pusha T’s legendary flow do not complement Future’s lines about guns, drugs, and money. This raises another point that the lyrics across the album fail to set themselves apart from their Southern rap forbears. Honest is 47 minutes long–slightly longer than the average rap album–yet not one lyric stood out.

Contrasted with Kanye’s Graduation or Eminem’s “Without Me,” Future lacks the memorable, creative wordplay of true emcees.

Let’s be Honest–actually, let’s not: it’s time for Seattle lyricism to make its way to Atlanta.

Voice’s Choices: “My Momma” “I Won” —Michael Mouch was Ron Woodruf, and even then, many believe scriptwriter Craig Borten took serious liberties in the character’s development.

Affleck knowingly changed the plot of Argo, adding text at the end of the film to make up for the discrepancies. But the postscript isn’t clear enough. “The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian embassy to free the six held in Tehran.”

Tossing this statement in at the closing credits of this two-hour film doesn’t seem to reverse anything previously portrayed.

I’m all for a good story, but it’s dangerous to conflate verisimilitude with veritable truth. Argo was a great movie, and so was Dallas Buyers Club, but these films don’t serve as biopic. Instead, they serve more as pop culture records for our own time. Then again, maybe it’s like Col. Jessep once famously declared: “You can’t handle the truth.”

Make history with Dayana at dlm23@georgetown.edu

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â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dylan Cutler

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14 the georgetown voice

april 24, 2014

H*ya Saxa: A senior’s reflection on ‘success’ past the Hilltop

by Rachel Calvert Something I’ve noticed during my four years at Georgetown: students here will check and recheck their decisions to make sure they’re doing the right thing at the right time.

I’d say that urge also explains our fascination with the kind of graduation reflection I was asked to write.

I’ll admit I’m hesitant to dole out advice to you wide-eyed underclassmen. Call it humility—or something.

In short, the must-hear advice ranges from, “If you don’t have a job lined up when you graduate, it’ll only go downhill from there,” to, “You should just enjoy yourself because you have the rest of your life to get everything sorted out.”

I took the latter to heart, for the obvious reason that we’re always more receptive to advice that vibes with our general worldview. Cliched as it may be, it’s worth reiterating in such a highly competitive environment: resist the urge to have your life planned out until death.

We’ll all be all right.

We are known to be a highly driven bunch—“ruthlessly competent,”

as one alumnus phrased it. We channel that energy into so many pursuits: wealth, power, notoriety or, sometimes, very admirable ideals.

This piece is addressed to those Georgetown students who are really out there to do good—to combat injustice in some big or small way.

A story for you: a professor asked his freshman seminar students what they wanted to be when they grew up. Out of fifteen, he was sitting among ten ambassadors, three secretaries of state, and one president. The person telling me this story was the anomaly, the guy who had trained his sights on a civil servant position in his home country. His response was based partially on practical constraints, but when he tells the story now, he makes a point about the fact that our peers like to see themselves running the show.

Very often, Georgetown students reach for such lofty goals because we see authority as a crucial tool for crafting our ideal world. It’s optimistic of us, to be sure. While I wholeheartedly endorse such sincere convictions, I’ve noticed that Georgetown’s competitive, ca-

reerist atmosphere impedes otherwise admirable aspirations.

As students, we need to recognize that there is a rigid ideology informing our University’s cultural definition of success. It’s the ideology that shapes legitimacy in the corporate private sector, in government work or in the non-profit sector. Our conception of success is not forged in a vacuum, but rather in the wake of the offices we aspire to. Institutional and social pressures encourage us to plug ourselves into companies, government agencies, or NGOs that preserve broadly oppressive systems.

This is not to say that these groups can’t do any good—quite to the contrary. But very often, they are barred from undermining, or even acknowledging, pervasive social flaws. In fact, this complicity in service of modest reform lends them legitimacy.

We need to recognize that the avenues toward a successful career or financial portfolio are shaped by particular ideologies—perhaps more insidious iterations of the injustices we want to correct from the top of the career ladder. To achieve a “respectable” position, we resign ourselves to think-

ing within these constraints. We do a disservice to our idealism by failing to assess every possible theory about why our world is broken—and we ignore a wide array of possible solutions.

As an example, look at the way Occupy Sandy, a grassroots offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, filled in the gaps left by FEMA and the Red Cross’ Hurricane Sandy relief. Engaging with folks on the ground, they provided much needed practical assistance, not only lacking institutional support but also, dare I say, inspite of open derision from other institutions.

Importantly, the group also engaged a radical social philosophy extending far beyond disaster relief.

I predict that the next Occupy Sandy will not get kudos from the same crowd applauding FEMA’s efforts. And Georgetown as a whole will not endorse the group as a legitimate career goal.

I’m hesitant to apply more precise political terms to my critique of the well-intentioned liberal careerism at Georgetown. It might be fairly obvious where I’m coming from, but my real point here has more to do with the way that Georgetown students’

obsession with respectability and correctness limits the breadth of our intellectual inquiry. Ultimately, these politics inhibit our pursuit of comprehensive solutions to interconnected, systemic problems.

As I mentioned, I have the utmost respect for the fine intentions of many Georgetown students.

Setting aside my qualms with the way certain administrators and figureheads conduct themselves, this is a place filled with decent human beings doing much-needed work. Students should take advantage of our opportunity to engage with them in discussing as many possible problems from as many possible perspectives.

It might be appropriate here to relay something Kurt Vonnegut wrote to his daughter: “What makes this advice especially hollow and pious is that I am not dead yet. If it were any good, I could easily take it myself.”

H*ya Saxa.

Rachel Calvert is a senior in the College. She could be president one day, but she thinks that may be a bit too mainstream.

Childish Gambino’s promotional scheme misses the mark

by Daniel Varghese The versatile performer, who got his start as a writer on 30 Rock, has pretty much been everywhere and doing everything. But lately, we’ve seen a lot less of him as an actor, especially since he announced his departure from the cast of Community last year. This move, which baffled critics and fans alike, was motivated by Glover’s desire to focus more on his music and the development of Childish Gambino, his rapper alter-ego.

Gambino’s first album Camp, released in 2011, isn’t all that impressive. While Gambino’s flow

is prodigic and the production is good, Camp’s hooks and themes feel generic and ultimately fall flat.

That being said, it generally feels incredibly sincere and personal, and I was excited to see the products of a more focused and less extended Glover.

On the day of the release of his latest album, Because the Internet, Gambino also released a screenplay. This screenplay, which is devoid of meaningful dialogue and full of emojis and common internet slang, is meant to be listened to simultaneously with the album, and details the story of ‘The Boy,’ whose entire life is defined by his involvement with the internet.

LEILA LEBRETON

Donald Glover may be focusing on his music, but he is still hoping for six seasons and a movie.

Compared to Camp, Because the Internet is a considerable improvement. Just as before, however, the hooks are underwhelming and generic and Gambino’s flow is not good enough to make up for the sometimes cringe-worthy references to internet speak.

It has become pretty common process for artists to use crazy, high-concept projects to generate hype for their new releases. Kanye West promoted Yeezus through cryptic tweets and by projecting a video with the song “New Slaves” in it on buildings across the world.

Around the same time, Jay-Z promoted Magna Carta Holy Grail by teaming up with Samsung to produce a series of behind-the-scenes videos that premiered during the NBA Finals. It seems that even the biggest artists of all time feel the need to create a lot of buzz for their albums, to captivate an already over-stimulated consumer.

These efforts are practically moot, nonetheless, if the music they produce just isn’t good. For instance, Magna Carta Holy Grail is largely considered one of Jay-Z’s worst albums, featuring some of his most lackadaisical delivery of some of his most unimportant lyrics. Maybe if he had focused on actually creating some great music, he wouldn’t need to turn to Samsung to sell his records.

This emphasis on hype is my complaint with Childish Gambino. He recently tweeted about his frustration with his record label over their apparent mis-handling of his music video for “Sweatpants,” a track from the album. Gambino clearly has talent, which is evident in many songs on the album as well as some of his live performances.

But he became so enamored with creating a concept to surround this new record that the music often feels like an afterthought.

Many things in modern society are too often evaluated by superficial numbers. How many “likes” did you get? How many pageviews did it receive? How many weeks has it been number one on the Billboard 100?

Art cannot truly be quantified in this way. Any one piece of art can elicit and evoke different emotions in different people and is therefore subjected to different critiques and opinions. Problems arise when artists and their record labels try to raise the volume of these critiques and opinions without truly trying to hone their craft.

Granted, it is increasingly necessary for artists to advertise and promote themselves and, sometimes, a way for a musician to do this is by turning their music into

an experience. But in order for this to work, not only does said music actually have to be exceptional, but the construction of the experience must be engaging at every turn.

This worked for Kanye, whose projections moved thousands of people to random buildings all over the world.

But unfortunately for Gambino, his screenplay, the framework of the experience, is a self-indulgent mess. The story is random and absurd. The whole narrative feels like a failed attempt to create high concept art and adds no helpful context to the album. It simply fails to be interesting.

The results of these shallow attempts to create high art that will be consumed on a massive scale is nothing more than some mediocre music, a confusing screenplay, and a lot of disappointment. It just goes to show that when your goal is to increase views, downloads, or listens, you simply fall flat.

Daniel Varghese is a freshman in the SFS. If you asked him “¿dónde está la biblioteca?” unfortunately, he would immediately know exactly where to send you.

voices

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the georgetown voice 15

Got 99 problems and one percent feminism is all of them

by Erin Riordan On April 12, Georgetown University’s Women in Leadership hosted their inaugural Own It Summit. Tickets for the event sold out within 24 hours, hundreds of students and community members attended and a host of impressive speakers participated in panels and workshops. Despite these remarkable achievements, I would not call the Own It Summit a complete success. While this event certainly did empower female leaders, it also left out a significant number of voices in promoting a narrow view of what

kind of woman we talk about when we discuss female leadership and success.

It needs to be acknowledged that this event had several barriers to entry that prevented the summit from being accessible to everyone.

The $20 entry fee was an economic barrier for many lower-income students and women, and while there were scholarships offered, it is still likely that this fee was a deterrent for some. The entry fee also sent the message, whether intentional or otherwise, that this was an event for women with the means to pay an entrance fee.

The racial makeup of both the

LEILA LEBRETON

Roses are red, violets are blue, and this conference didn’t address diversity.

Don’t stop believin’

Religion is everywhere. It’s a highly relevant topic in world history and in our lives, irrespective of our relationship with it. I learned this truth at a young age: Easter egg hunts in second grade, Christmas carols in middle school, and now at Georgetown—my first time at a religiously affiliated school. The irony that seeps into and engulfs my thoughts on the subject is difficult to ignore. I was raised in a non-religious home, yet I constantly think about religion and my place in its world. This past Easter accurately represented my relationship to it. I was confronted with its undeniable relevance, despite my lack of personal connection to it.

I visited the Bible belt this past weekend to spend Easter with my roommate and her family in Nashville, Tennessee. The first night we visited a family friend’s house to celebrate Shabbat—a Jewish day of rest and the seventh day of the week. After attending many Shabbat dinners at friends’ houses in high school, the meals have become my favorite religious ceremony for two reasons.

The pre-dinner assortment of cheese spreads is an absolute winner, but it also helps mitigate the Jewish guilt that has accumulated over twenty years of my rock-and-roll secular lifestyle. The latter occasionally infiltrates my thought, but fades somewhere between the fennel salad and orange-glazed chicken breast.

Let the Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences, and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves the right to edit submissions for accuracy, length, and clarity. To submit, email voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office in Leavey 424.

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event organizers and panelists was also strongly biased towards the perspectives of white women.

While women of color did participate, eight of the ten student organizers were white, and 17 out of the 24 panelists were white. It is possible that the event planners made a conscious effort to include a diverse array of voices, but when a space is so dominated by the perspectives of white women, it reinforces the larger structural dynamic that white voices matter more than voices of color.

These dynamics of race and class impacted the perception of the event, as well as those who felt comfortable attending and participating. I spoke with many friends who decided not to attend the summit because they felt their voices and perspectives would not be adequately represented. One friend, who did attend, left after the first hour, saying, “I didn’t feel that a lot of the topics I engage with when I talk about feminism, like class struggles that affect women, labor rights, and race in particular, were being addressed at all.”

She went on to say, ”I sensed that the conference would be talking about your more typical ‘Lean In’ and one-percent feminism, which

in my opinion is inherently oppressive and exclusive of the large percentage of women who really do need to be talked about when we talk about gender discrimination.” “One-percent feminism” is generally defined as feminism that focuses mainly on the needs of white, socioeconomically privileged women pursuing more traditional kinds of success.

Any event on campus that aims to further women’s leadership and empowerment needs to better represent the voices of all women.

While I am a white woman, racism and racial politics in the workplace matter to me because dismantling racism and supporting my fellow women matters to me. An optional session during the summit on “Women of Color” is not sufficient because everyone should hear the voices of women of color, not just the few who choose to listen.

Similarly, focusing on traditional ideas of high-powered success is not sufficient, as it does not include or acknowledge the realities and struggles of working class and poor women. In the fight for gender justice we cannot just be concerned with the struggles of women who occupy space within mainstream,

Religion, at least in practice, has been absent from the majority of my life. My parents rejected it long before my birth. And though their current thoughts on the subject are undoubtedly shaped by their experiences under the Soviet regime that condemned it, they are not spiritual people. We intermittently celebrated Christmas in my formative years but mainly to pacify confused

introduced me by my conspicuously Jewish last name, unfounded expectations formed, and excitement over shared ancestry turned into mild disappointment and confusion over my nonexistent knowledge of Judaism.

The remainder of dinner then included short teachings of Jewish traditions in some small attempt to provide me with the religious education of which I was deprived. The pity in the room was palpable and took form in cautious looks and gentle, rising intonations. It was sharp and heavy, and I hated it.

I felt a familiar feeling two days later sitting alongside my friends and their families during Easter Mass. They told me how to dress and act in church. I knew their instruction was innocuous, but I sensed in them some irrational fear that my unfamiliarity with religion would prompt me to wear a costume with “I reject the Lord, Jesus Christ” stitched along the sleeves.

My friends whispered the significations behind rituals into my ear for the remainder of the religious service. They wanted to share an important part of their upbringing

Carrying On

by Nicole Steinberg A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

neighbors. We celebrated Christmas to be American, to “fit in.”

Growing up, my friends were among the confused. They saw Christmas lights in the window and instantly prompted: “But aren’t you Jewish?” I couldn’t give a precise response that didn’t involve a breakdown of Marxist ideology, so I resorted to a noncommittal shrug of the shoulders.

This most recent Shabbat dinner was not unlike the others. My friend

socioeconomically privileged feminism. Fighting for a national living wage and fair conditions in the workplace is as important to me as fighting for my own fair pay, and that should be reflected in all feminist spaces.

Transwomen also need to be engaged in these conversations, as they face unique struggles in the workplace that should be of concern to every person who claims to support the empowerment of women. Any event that supports women’s leadership needs to include the varied perspectives of women of color, poor and working class women, transwomen, and all the other women whose voices were not heard or adequately represented by the Own It Summit.

Without these voices, our movement will only support women who are already privileged in many other areas of their lives. To achieve true justice and support all women, we need to engage and listen to voices that the GUWIL Own It Summit did not represent.

Erin Riordan is a junior in the College.

She’s wondering when Georgetown is going to hold an event for men in leadership.

with me and I was grateful for that.

They tried to lessen the feeling of exclusivity that was perpetuated— perhaps unintentionally—by the Mass, especially parts such as the inescapable discussion of Christ’s crucifixion and those who were responsible for it.

It was clear to me that I was not a part of the communities to which my friends belonged. I was not baptized just as I was not bat mitzvahed. And though I do feel some vague connection to my Jewish ancestry, especially with a pamphlet titled “For Non-Christians” in hand, I feel an overall strong detachment from religion. And I feel good.

Religion is everywhere, but I’m comfortable with its absence in my life. That small, lurking feeling of exclusion does find its way to me, but its nothing more than a moment among others.

So, friends, please continue to invite me to your dinners to tell me a story about your life, or to share BBQ chicken wings with me, but don’t invite me because you think I need religion. Let me climb the mountain myself, with God’s help or without it.