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Photo Contest 2013

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w April 25, 2013 w Volume 49, Issue 1 w georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

2 the georgetown voice

april 25, 2013

Voice Crossword “D.C. Chillin’” by Mary Cass

ACROSS 1. Like grass in the morning 5. Civil rights activist Guinier 9. American Eagle’s line of intimates 14. Hill’s counterpart 15. Door-to-door cosmetics company 16. The precursor to an effect

17. Anger 18. Home to Jumbo Slice and Madam’s Organ 20. And so on 21. Write separately, for example 22. Home to Ben’s Chili Bowl, jazz, and the Black Cat 24. Baltimore rapper often partnered with M.I.A.

28. Accidents in nylons 29. Hold on 31. Regina Spektor song, from 2009’s “Far” 32. Bowie’s “The Man Who ___ The World” 33. Dull surface 34. Homo sapiens 35. Suffix for “confer” 36. Parties hard 37. Nick’s wife in The Thin Man 38. Egyptian cat breed 39. Brawl 40. Sea bird 41. Back of the boat 42. Zealous 43. Enemies 44. Parisian war 46. Home of Sticky Rice and the Rock N Roll hotel 49. Ascribe 52. Stan of Marvel Comics 53. Home of the Kennedy Center, McFadden’s D.C., and the George Washing -ton University 56. Before, poetically 57. Colloquial expression 58. Type of earring 59. Q ____ queen 60. Designer Geoffrey 61. Payroll IDs 62. Employs

DOWN 1. French farewell 2. Bar game 3. Shock 4. Us 5. Gentlemen’s counterparts 6. Pirate’s cry 7. Edibles 8. Police dept. employee 9. Devoted follower 10. Country singer Steve 11. Carpet 12. ‘90s hit “Life ___ Highway” 13. Night, to a poet 18. Fix 19. Deserves 23. Lord over 25. Merciless 26. Long for 27. Sicilian hot spot 29. Initiated, as in war 30. Fits perfectly, or “to ___” 32. Common screwup 33. Timbuktu’s land 35. Online ‘zine 36. Studio effect 37. ___-do-well 39. Maeby Funke’s catchphrase 40. Tribal pole 43. Lens settings 45. Tease 46. Hang your ___ (trust) 47. Creepy

Answers to last week’s sudoku

Answers to last week’s crossword

48. Adolescents 50. Aah’s matches 51. Classic Pontiacs 53. Little lie 54. Keats’s specialty 55. Scots’ “give” 59. Tenleytown university

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 49.01 April 25, 2013 Editor-in-Chief: Gavin Bade Managing Editor: Connor Jones Blog Editor: Julia Tanaka News Editor: Lucia He Sports Editor: Chris Almeida Feature Editor: Patricia Cipollitti Cover Editor: Kathleen Soriano-Taylor Leisure Editor: Heather Regen Voices Editor: Ana Smith Photo Editor: Andres Rengifo Design Editors: Lauren Ashley Panawa, Teddy Schaffer Projects Editors: Alec Graham, John Sapunor Backpage Editor: Tiffany Lachhonna Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Creative Directors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Assistant Blog Editors: Minali Aggarwal, Isabel Echarte, Ryan Greene, Laura Kurek Assistant News Editor: Jeffrey Lin Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Castano, Brendan Crowley, Joe Pollicino Assistant Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Assistant Leisure Editors: Rio Djiwandana, Dayana Morales, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editor: Kathryn Easop, Joshua Raftis Assistant Design Editor: John Delgado-McCollum

Staff Writers:

Tim Barnicle, Emilia Brahm, Will Collins, Emlyn Crenshaw, Maria Lappas, Claire McDaniel, Liana Mehring, Dzarif Wan, Sam Wolter, Claire Zeng

Staff Photographers:

Elizabeth Coscia, John Delgado-McCollum, Robin Go, Alan Liu

Staff Designers:

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

Copy Chief: Sonia Okolie Copy Editors:

Grace Funsten, Rina Li, Natalie Muller, Dana Suekoff, Kim Tay, Suzanne Trivette

Editorial Board Chair: Caitriona Pagni Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Patricia Cipollitti, Lucia He, Quaila Hugh, Connor Jones, Julia Tanaka

Head of Business: Aarohi Vora The Georgetown Voice

WHERE DEM KEGS AT

University should fully embrace Gtown Day Last Thursday, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson agreed to student demands to repeal the one-keg restriction at campus parties, calling the measure a reasonable and promising approach to bringing student social life back onto campus. Though the keg ban was a misguided policy from the beginning, as it encouraged students to take their keggers off-campus while generating more trash and increasing the potential for opencontainer violations, we applaud Olson’s decision to recognize the on-campus social scene.

Thankfully, as the keg ban lift demonstrates, Georgetown’s administration seems to have finally embraced Georgetown Day as a celebration of, for, and by the campus community. The allowance will make students feel safer and more comfortable staying on the Hilltop to party, and as such, will send an important signal to students they will be left free to enjoy their annual day of revelry as they please.

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

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

Email: thevoice@georgetown.edu Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty, or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons, and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice.

The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed

by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover: “Musical Solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers” Cover Photo: Sarah Vazquez (COL ‘13)

However, the Georgetown University Student Association resolution, which called on Olson to lift the keg ban, also requested that the University monitor and regulate Georgetown Day daytime socializing in the same manner as weekend socializing, including noise allowances and monitoring

by Georgetown officials. So far, administrators have declined to implement this part of GUSA’s resolution.

As policy currently stands, Georgetown Day parties will presumably be regulated much in the same way as social events on any other Friday afternoon. Not only does this protocol fail to reflect the reality of Georgetown Day, it may even detract from the success of the keg ban lift. Indeed, this inadequate policy could counterproductively encourage students to be more furtive with their alcohol consumption and to choose to throw parties off- instead of on-campus, further straining already contentious town-gown relations.

Students still remember the uncertainty surrounding last year’s Georgetown Day, when administrators told students as early as March that there was a lack of interest in planning the event. In reality, the University deliberately failed to solicit applications to join the Planning Committee as it had done in years past. As a result, students still mistrust the University’s handling of Georgetown Day, which plays into their incentives to hold parties off- rather than on-campus. With the perceived strictness surrounding Georgetown Day, students may also feel more uneasy about calling for emergency help in the case of alcohol poisoning.

Olson can announce via a student-wide email that, for enforcement purposes, Georgetown Day will be treated like a Saturday night, allaying student fears about hosting parties on campus. To ensure a safe and enjoyable Georgetown Day, we urge him to fully embrace Hoya tradition by doing so immediately.

STAYING A-VOTE

Congressional spending cuts threaten Hoyas Although Georgetown’s comparatively small endowment limits its ability to award financial aid, the shortfall is made up in federal aid in the form of Pell Grants, workstudy, and student loans. Unfortunately, because of the deep discretionary spending cuts represented by the sequester, in the coming year Georgetown will suffer $117,417 in cuts to the federal work-study program.

These cuts could hinder the University from supplementing the incomes of hundreds of in-need students across campus.

Congress’s failure to come to an agreement on March 1 on the across-the-board spending cuts is a devastating symbol and reminder of the impotence of the legislative branch in the current political climate. It is merely another piece of data in what has become a debilitating trend of political paralysis.

If Congress could not come together on an issue of such grave importance, it is unreasonable to expect them to enact any piece of legislation, no matter how small, that actu-

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

This newspaper was made possible in part with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

the georgetown voice 3

ally benefits the American people. Even the Violence Against Women Act, an annual bill that has traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support, was put through the wringer under the flimsiest of pretenses.

Time after time, Congress has disappointed. Despite the strong public support behind expanded background checks for gun sales—up to 90 percent according to some polls—the Senate stubbornly drew party lines earlier this month and voted against an amendment that would serve as a compromise.

The job description was apparently unclear to members of Congress. Their purpose is not to further the polarizing priorities of each political party, but to craft laws that will serve to aid their fellow Americans.

While Democrats and Republicans have come together on immigration reform, it is only one issue in a culture that where petty jabs count more than even the most basic legislation. It is now standard procedure

in the Senate to filibuster, which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass the smallest of amendments. This is the same number of votes needed to pass a Constitutional Amendment. Each bill now requires the same number of votes as the Thirteenth Amendment—and that’s only in the Senate.

What Congress does not seem to understand is that it is as vulnerable to the electorate as we are to its childishness. When a legislator uses public safety as a political bargaining chip, she should lose her job. When a legislator makes financial aid for disadvantaged college students a hostage for brownie points within his party, he should lose his job.

While President Obama recently proposed a Fiscal Year 2014 budget that would add $150 million to Federal Work-Study spending, it is still contingent on Congress passing it—and as it has become painfully clear, to expect members of Congress to serve the people who elected them and the students who depend on them is optimistic.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Media, politicians miss mark on Boston tragedy As the nation reeled from the shock of last Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing, and even now as it begins to heal, American media sources have not only failed in their mission to keep the public informed, but also in their duty to simultaneously uphold the standard of decency and sensitivity required by such a tragedy.

Perhaps as a result of increased pressure to be the first to break a story, augmented by the digital nature of contemporary journalism, many media sources were quick to publish irrelevant and ultimately untruthful speculations about the event.

For example, an unrelated fire in Boston’s JFK library was reported as a third bomb on the same day as the Marathon.

This was merely one of the many pieces of unverified and mistaken information to which the media subjected its followers.

Eager to announce the progress of the story two days after the bombing, CNN wrongly announced an arrest and then was forced to

retract their claim. The Associated Press and The Boston Globe made the same mistake. The New York Post exaggerated the event’s death toll. Most frighteningly, social media sites such as Reddit, 4Chan, and Twitter formed vigilante armies that hunted down innocents as suspects.

But beyond false facts, media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing was also abused in order to push specific political agendas.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC began to publicly speculate that radical members of the Tea Party movement, motivated by antiTax Day sentiments, were behind the bombings. On the other side of the American political spectrum, conservative show host Sean Hannity felt compelled to use the bombing as an example of why unrestricted access to guns does little to stem violence. To immediately turn to the ineffectiveness of gun control, one of the most contentious political issues of our time, is to insensitively and unnecessarily politicize the Boston tragedy.

House Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) also managed to manipulate the bombing to justify his views on immigration policy. When it became news that the bombing suspects were immigrants, King preached caution about immigration reform in light of the bombing—he even went so far as to advise the public to be wary of the U.S.’s visa-waiver program for students, since the government cannot ensure appropriate background checks for each candidate from “who knows where.”

Clearly, media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing has shown how the nation’s commercial media sources have lost sight of their supposed commitment to truthful information. Moreover, the event’s politicization has emphasized that certainly, it is not the place of journalists to immediately interpret facts in order to propagate a particular political strategy. At the very least, we ask journalists to take seriously their role in constructively and truthfully shaping our national discourse.

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april 25, 2013

DPS to ban laptop, tablet use while student guarding

by Ryan Greene A slew of residence hall burglaries over the past year has prompted the Department of Public Safety to evaluate some of its security policies. DPS reconsidered the way its student guards should conduct themselves and, starting this summer term, will prohibit student guards from using laptops and tablets while they are on duty.

DPS Chief Jay Gruber explained the reasoning for the change. “We’re seeing that the student guards are paying more attention to the laptops and tablets than they are to their surroundings,” Gruber said.

“They’re not being proactive.

They’re not doing what we, in a lot of cases, expect them to do.”

Ideally, student guards are trained to ask for GOCards from every visitor, compare the photo to the person presenting it, and make sure that it scans properly, according to Gruber. In the event that someone makes it into a building without presenting a GOCard or form of identification, it is the student guard’s duty to report it to DPS immediately.

“We want [the guards] to be able to observe their surroundings and see if anything is unusual, see people who look out of place,” Gruber said. “Then they can make a decision if they should contact public safety.”

However, Gruber has found that many student guards are not living up to these requirements, which he alleges caused an increase in on-campus burglaries this year. While Gruber remains convinced that the change will improve building security, the student guards themselves question DPS’s decision to prohibit laptops.

“They say that next year the guards are allowed to be on their smartphones, but I personally think that being on a smartphone is more distracting than being on a computer,” student guard Cynthia D’Andria (MSB ’13) said. “Yes, you’re looking at your computer, but at least you still have a view, whereas on your smartphone you’re actually looking down. I’ve found that I’m more distracted when I’m on my phone than when I’m on my computer.”

Other guards believe that, without laptops, the student

guard program will not be as attractive as it is to students now.

“When I look at the whole approach to increasing security in the dorms, I believe that taking away the laptops will only make students not want to work these jobs,” said student guard Justin Pinn (COL ’13).

“The whole purpose of student guard jobs is to provide an atmosphere where underprivileged students achieve and make money at the same time,” Pinn

said. “They’ve already instituted the policy of having card readers, where guards actually look at the cards, and I think that’s effective ... but I believe the policies they’re enacting are counterproductive to what they’re actually trying to achieve.”

Gruber said that if smartphones prove to be equally distracting, guards potentially will not be allowed to use them either.

Not only do student guards doubt the effectiveness of the

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Student guards will no longer be allowed to use laptops or tablets while on duty.

new policy, but they also say it asks too much of the student guards. “All my homework’s on my computer,” D’Andria said.

“I’ve spoken to other people who were really angry about the fact that they couldn’t use their computers.” D’Andria said that if she were not graduating this year, she would likely quit her position as student guard.

Nonetheless, Gruber doubts that DPS will have a lack of guards as a result of this policy change and pointed out that it is unusual for workers in general to have complete freedom to use computers when on the job.

“Just go around campus and look at student jobs,” Gruber said. “Very few of them involve sitting somewhere and enjoying the time watching a laptop or typing into it.”

Regardless of potential complaints from student guards, DPS stands by its decision. “The whole purpose of this change is to make our buildings safer and make our students safer,” Gruber said. “It was not an arbitrary decision. It was a well thought-out decision in favor of the safety of our students and our buildings.”

Federal budget cuts to harm research funding and financial aid

by Caitriona Pagni Sequestration measures passed earlier this year by Congress have led to a 5.1 percent funding cut from Federal Work Study programs, which will negatively affect financial aid and research spending and has worrying implications for student aid and academic research throughout the nation.

Many of the decreases in Federal education funding, such as the cuts to Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, will not affect Georgetown. In addition, grants designed for low-income students such as Pell grants will not go down during the first year of cuts.

However, programs such as Federal Work-Study at Georgetown are estimated to diminish from $ 2,426,596 to $2,302,120, the equivalent of 41 awards.

Scott Fleming (SFS’ 72), Associate Vice President of Federal relations at Georgetown, indicated that although funding would be reduced, it remains uncertain how the cuts will be

distributed. “The packaging of financial aid is a complex process, so that does not necessarily mean 41 or 42 [Georgetown] students won’t get work study who would otherwise,” Fleming said. The Office of Student Financial Services did not respond to requests for comment.

Fleming emphasized that University administration will try to preserve grants that assist low-income students. However, he worries for the future if larger issues surrounding the budget remain unaddressed, and that continuing incremental funding cuts would spell disaster for higher education.

Recipients of Title VI funding from the Department of Education, which allocates funds for coursework, fellowships, research, and outreach initiatives have especially felt the effects of the squeeze.

Dr. Osama Abi-Mershed, director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, said following the 47 percent cut in Title VI funding in 2011, his

department has learned to rely on fewer federal dollars. “For the last two years we have been preparing for the post-Title VI environment because we believe that it’s probably not going to go away completely, but it will never be what it used to be,” Abi-Mershed said.

Dr. Victor Cha, the Director of the Asian Studies Department, the only national resource center for East Asia in D.C., explained that in dealing with the budget cuts, the center placed priority on preserving student coursework.

Consequently, if faced with cuts, faculty research funds and outreach programs would be eliminated first.

“When we talk about the budget number that was cut under Title VI, it is so small compared to the big sequester … it’s literally pocket change in the broader scheme of things.”

Cha said. “I think there are some people who would argue why you would want to cut something like this because

this is really an investment in America’s ability to understand the world.”

Title VI funds are designed to create expertise in areas of the world with strategic implications for US foreign policy.

Considering this, both Cha and Abi-Mershed see the cuts as a severe oversight.

“The idea is to keep the program competitive by bringing the best students, by retaining the best faculty,” Abi-Mershed said. “The initial impulse of Title VI was to create expertise in America about areas that were deemed to be strategic let’s say in this case the Arab world … it seems counterintuitive that this is when we should be spending less money on expertise in the Arab world rather than more.”

Abi-Mershed went on to ascribe the cuts to a major shift in philosophies toward higher education. “The problem is that in Congress there’s a new generation of leaders with a different understanding of higher education,” he said. “They think that

this is too elitist, they are looking at education as something more horizontal so we can have ... minorities doing global studies versus something that’s very vertical in that it covers one area, but covers it completely.”

Moving forward, Fleming emphasized that in addition to the efforts of the University administration to lobby Congress and initiate efforts such as the Campaign for Georgetown, which aims to increase the endowment by 1.5 billion dollars, to offset reductions in federal funding, students have a vital role to play in the process of securing funding.

“It’s always helpful that students let their own members of Congress know how they feel about issues impacting them…

Nothing is more effective in getting a member of Congress’ attention than hearing from people from their district.”

Fleming said. “It’s up to the student to decide whether they care enough about this to pick up the phone and make a call.”

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the georgetown voice 5

D.C. votes for budget autonomy and Anita Bonds

by Jeffrey Lin With the passing of the election of April 23, D.C. voters have not only chosen a new Council member but also decided, after nearly 213 years since the District’s creation, to grant the D.C. government the ability to allocate its own tax dollars independent of Congressional oversight.

This Tuesday, the people of the District of Columbia voted on a special election for an At-Large D.C. Council member and a referendum granting D.C. budget autonomy.

With 32.19 percent of the votes, interim Council Member Anita Bonds (D) won, beating fellow Democrats Elissa Silverman, Matthew Frumin, Michael Brown, and Paul Zuckerberg, Republican Patrick Mara, and Statehood Green Party member Perry Redd.

Despite the support of Council members such as Muriel Bowser and William P. Lightfoot and the unions of D.C., Bonds faced criticism for not giving up her job as an executive for Fort Myer Construction Company, which has been major contractor with the District.

“I have some concerns about Anita Bonds continuing to have outside employment outside D.C., especially with a contractor with D.C.,“ said former ANC 2E Commissioner Jake Sticka (COL ‘13). “I think that some of the contributions

she took for her campaign from construction companies could bias the sort of representation she can offer.”

Although Sticka, who voted for Elissa Silverman, a former journalist at Washington City Paper and the Washington Post, had issues with the method that the D.C. Democratic Party used to elect Bonds to her interim seat, he hopes she, who ran on a platform of expanding incentives for affordable housing, workforce housing, and home ownership, will fulfill the policy goals she outlined during her campaign.

“I was a bit concerned with the manner that the D.C. Democratic party elected her to fill the interim seat for the last four months. A majority of the folks who voted on that had their terms expire [so] they shouldn’t have been voting on that internal election,” Sticka said. “[But] on the issues she’s strong, if she can implement the agenda she’s spoken about, especially in regards to affordable housing and rent control, then I think the District will benefit.”

The special election could also have ramifications on predictions for the future of the Republican Party. Despite the fact that Patrick Mara, a State Board of Education member, won Georgetown precincts five and six with more than 50 percent, campaigning as a socially progressive, fiscal moderate member of the Republican Party,

Kegging it back to campus

Last week, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson lifted the years-old ban on having multiple kegs in University-owned housing. While Olson’s move is the most recent in the first few steps to finally making the Hilltop the central hub for campus life, the University still has several steps to take in order to restore trust between students and administrators.

Restrictions on the number of kegs students in University housing may purchase have been in place since May 2007, when Olson himself banned students from using kegs in all University-owned housing. That rule, along with other measures ratcheting up the strictness of the on-campus alcohol policy, only served to push partying off-campus, much to the ire of the neighbors.

Until recently, the University’s attitude toward campus life didn’t reflect the reality of college. In spite of what University administrators

might believe, campus social life is by far not limited to student group activities and programming. While students clearly enjoy going to events such as the spring concert and joining different on-campus organizations, they also enjoy other activities such as Georgetown Day, a day that most students find as an excuse to indulge in their drinking habits all day long. While it’s true that many students drink to excess, the drinking culture is inevitably ingrained in the college experience.

From about 2007 to 2011, the University’s response to neighbors’ concerns was to quash parties however it could, leading to measures which actually encouraged students to take their parties off campus instead. Before the University changed its attitude this year, students faced a policy that forced them to register their on-campus parties before Friday with Residence Life. Doing so was the only way that they could acquire some

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D.C. residents voted for new D.C. Council member and on budget referendum. he lost the race for D.C. Council member for the third time.

“This is Mara’s third time running, and I think that he has positioned himself as a progressive in the Republican party, [but] he still only came in third place, so I think that the future of the GOP in D.C. is very much in question as a result of this election,” Sticka said. “If someone goes that far to the left in the Republican Party and still can’t win, I think [the] question of if the national brand just won’t let the local GOP ever be competitive [arises].”

The budget referendum, unsurprisingly, was not as competitive as the special election: 83.09 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the measure. For the election, many stusemblance of legitimacy for their gatherings, although Department of Public Safety officers would sometimes break up registered campus parties anyway.

During this period, students faced far fewer obstacles for throwing off-campus parties.

In off-campus houses, students could hold keggers outside, in the bright sunlight, something that students in campus housing are still unable to do.

saxa Politica

by Connor Jones

A bi-weekly column about campus news and politics While lifting the keg limit and abolishing on-campus party registration are good initial steps, students have to first trust the administration in order for them to achieve making campus the center for social life. Students need to know their RAs and DPS won’t bust up parties unless they’re unsafe; they need to know they won’t

dent organizations even provided opportunities for students to participate in the advocacy of these issues.

“We definitely are trying to get people involved and we’re very big advocates of registering voters, particularly in D.C.,” said Trevor Tezel (SFS’ 14), president of the College Democrats. “There have been a lot of opportunities on the D.C. Fed Level, which is the organization that acts as a federation for all the college Democrats chapters in the district, to provide opportunities for phone banking and knocking on doors.”

The administration has also encouraged students to participate in politics. “We encourage students to participate in local politics in a variety of ways,” said Lauralyn Lee, face sanctions for hanging out with their friends in the universally-accepted undergraduate fashion.

In both party-hosting sessions and semi-regular floor meetings, RAs don’t deviate from the official University line when it comes to hosting parties. At “I know how to party” sessions, hall directors merely list off unrealistic expectations, such as asking students to card everyone who comes into their party and asking students to cap attendance at artificially low levels. Students would benefit if RAs showed more candor. They need to know what the de facto enforcement policy will be so they can feel safe hosting parties on campus.

Many other aspects of oncampus life are already fairly strong. The University has additionally shown a renewed commitment to improving oncampus programming, especially late at night. This effort is portrayed in the recent cooperation between GUSA and the University to extend the operat-

Special Projects Coordinator for the Office of Community Engagement.

“The University supports student voter registration and get-out-thevote efforts, regularly invites local politicians and civic leaders to campus, and facilitates opportunities for direct participation in community issues through student roles on the Georgetown Community Partnership.”

The fight for D.C. budget autonomy, however, still continues.

Even though voters have passed this referendum, the D.C. Council must approve it within a week, and if Congress wishes to pass a disapproval vote, it must do so within 35 legislative days. Pending any unexpected action, the referendum will stay in effect.

“We are not stopping with this referendum,” said James Jones, the Communications Director for D.C. Votes, an organization that has campaigned for the referendum. “We think that it’s unlikely that Congress will pass a disapproval resolution, because we’ve had strong support from the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Appropriations, Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.). Even Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has come out in support of budget autonomy. In the event that a member of Congress wants to stop the will of the people, then we have a plan for taking that person on.”

ing hours of Epicurean, which will now remain open 24/7 during study days and until 2am during the summer. While the food trucks were a good idea in the campus plan agreement, Epicurean will certainly be more effective in discouraging drunken students from roaming the neighborhood in search of late-night food.

So while administrators pay ample lip service to “making campus the hub for student life,” students need to commit to holding them to their promises, which they have done so far. GUSA President Nate Tisa’s (SFS ’14) next stated goal is to get the University to loosen restrictions on partying outdoors, which can only improve oncampus social life further.

Undergraduate social life will always involve drinking, and the University has finally begun to recognize that boozy reality.

Do a keg stand with Connor at cjones@georgetownvoice.com

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6 the georgetown voice

april 25, 2013

Pros and cons for varsity teams in new Big East

by Steven Criss When the seven Catholic schools that split from the former Big East, now the American Athletic Conference, and added Creighton, Butler, and Xavier to form the new Big East, all attention flooded to the conference’s new basketball matchups.

After the push toward football caused the exit of several members of the former Big East, college basketball fans rejoiced at the creation of a new league that would have a significant focus on men’s basketball. Although the new composition of the Big East brings in new competition for Georgetown’s men’s basketball team, it is not the only major athletic program here on the Hilltop that will be greatly affected.

The program that will arguably be the most affected by the changing landscape of the Big East is the College Cup RunnerUp men’s soccer team. Both Creighton and Xavier were contenders in the National Championship tournament, with Xavier losing to the champion Indiana in the second round and Creighton losing to them as well in the semifinal.

The changes to the Big East have set up a soccer conference that contains five teams that competed in the tournament, meaning half of the teams in the new Big East qualified, more than any other conference. The addition of Creighton is the most notable for men’s soccer, as this program has returned to the semi-final in three of the last five seasons.

“You’re adding teams that thrive in men’s soccer. The teams that remain—St. John’s, Marquette, ourselves, Villanova— have very strong men’s soccer programs. The Big East as a whole last year was the best conference in the country,” said men’s soccer Head Coach Brian Wiese. “The emphasis on our sport in the new conference is very exciting for us.

The league and the schools that sponsor men’s soccer, which ev-

ery single school does, and the emphasis on success.”

Women’s soccer will not receive the same high quality replacements as the men’s program, and will lose noteworthy competitors such as Notre Dame. Not one of the new schools joining the Big East next season qualified for the National Champion tournament. Both Creighton and Xavier’s programs finished with conference winning percentages lower than .125. With a weaker conference schedule next season, women’s soccer will have to focus on building a more competitive out of conference lineup in order to prepare for postseason play.

“The overall strength of the conference is not as strong as the old Big East was ... What we have to do now is, we have to do a much better job with our non-conference scheduling,”said women’s soccer Head Coach Dave Nolan. “We have to load up with tougher games at the start of the season to give us a greater strength of schedule and a greater RPI. Times have changed and we’ve had to make the best of the circumstances.”

The three new schools joining on July 1 will contribute to more than just soccer, though, with women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, and baseball all receiving fresh challenges for the coming season.

Creighton’s women’s basketball team not only made the tournament this past season, but also was second in the nation in three pointers. Xavier’s men’s and women’s tennis teams are both undefeated in the Atlantic-10 so far this spring. Standing at third currently in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 22-9 record, Creighton’s baseball team will provide the middling Hoyas with another solid weekend series.

The positives of the new additions to the Big East will come with losses, though, as schools with thoroughly developed athletic programs are dropped from

MILES GAVIN MENG

Cole Seiler will help lead the Hoyas against a strengthened Big East conference.

the Hoyas’ schedules. Without major rival Syracuse and other schools that perennially compete for Big East titles in several sports, such as Louisville and UConn, the Big East is losing some of its luster both in and out of men’s basketball.

Non-conference matchups will become a much larger issue in wake of splitting off from many of Georgetown’s former

competitors. A more concerted effort to schedule top-rated teams will have to be made in order to keep Hoya programs ready for a challenging postseason.

When the first contests get underway in the late summer, the new Big East will usher in a fresh start for an undeniably talented group of schools. Although it will take time for new rivalries and traditions in each

sport to take form, the Big East is sure provide Hoyas with substantial competition and passion in the coming years.

Said Wiese,“We’ve got new rivalries we have to get in place.

We got to start kicking each other a little bit to get used to each other and that takes time. Who’s going to be the new Syracuse?

Somebody’s got to be that so we’ll see.”

the Sports Sermon “Get chicks or die trying” -J.R Smith’s take on life during his high school days clinching a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.

The Clippers, traditionally the little brother, became the main attraction in Los Angeles. Bryant tore his Achilles tendon shortly before the conclusion of the regular season, and now the Lakers look to be helpless after losing Game 1 of their first round playoff series to the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in a game that never really resembled a contest.

Headlines everywhere praise extraordinary performers, and rightly so. Miami’s sensational streak was covered each and every day, but “What’s wrong with the Lakers?” occupied the same amount of atten-

who sat at the bottom of Eastern Conference playoff picture, It seems that every year, near where the Lakers were in there is that story on ESPN the Western Conference, did not that is on every time you turn receive much media attention, on the television. After a while, showing that the brand of Laker you find yourself wondering, basketball is driving the news “Why am I still hearing about rather than the actual relevance this?” Eventually you think, of the team itself.

“This new analysis is not really It may bring more viewers worth my time.” Finally, it’s to talk about certain teams rebeen a few months, and you’ve gardless of what is being said, stopped watching SportsCenter but as one of many who sees because it’s clear that you’re gosports news regardless of its ing to see the same old song and ridiculousness, I would appredance for hours on end. ciate hearing less about why A few years ago, this story a big-name team is underperwas the Michael Vick scandal, forming and more about specthen it was “Is Brett Favre retacular plays, interesting hisally retiring?” For a while it was tory, and intense competition.

Tim Tebow, the most talkedAfter a certain length of time, about backup in the it is no longer a Pete Rose Central history of the NFL. story that a team This year, the story has failed to live up Da bettin’ line has unquestionably to expectations, it Dookies Margin Hoyas been about the Lakis simply that this (underdogs) (duh!) ers. team is not elite, and (favorites) It’s relatively thus, does not warAnythin normal to hear Bettin’ Line rant hours of superNot funny about a big-name fluous coverage.

Suarez Dracula FA franchise like the There is plenty Spurs Tweetastic Lakers Yankees or the Pato talk about in the triots during postseason runs tion for an even greater length NBA. LeBron, personal opinor after big offseason signings. of time. As the season went on, ions aside, is one of the greatHowever, the recurring line headlines became even more est players in the history of the during the current season has of a joke. Stories became more game and is dominating at the been “Shouldn’t the Lakers be dramatic and speculative than peak of his career. The show in winning?” sports-related news.

Oklahoma City is playing the The season began with the It’s common for hyped role of rival and seems poised signings of Steve Nash and teams to fail to meet expecta- to take on Miami in a Finals Dwight Howard, pieces that tions (just look at the Nation- rematch. The Clip Show is relwould complement a Lakers als) but the extent to which the evant for the first time in my core that already included Kobe media covers the failings of memory, and let’s not forget Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the artist teams like the Lakers and the about Derrick Rose and the formerly known as Ron Artest. Yankees, is too much. All year, controversy that his potential Many believed that this team, a disgusting amount of time return is stirring up. by filling its largest problem was given to stories like the With all these headlines spot with the league’s best cen- “feud” between Howard and available, it seems to be a waste ter and adding a veteran two- Bryant, how “Kobe is finally to spend so much time on a time MVP to run the offense, passing more!” or now, a head- team that struggled its way into would rival Miami and make line on the front page of ESPN: the playoffs and is now hopethe race for the West a foregone “Kobe’s Tweets.” lessly falling out of the postseaconclusion.

Maybe some fans like to son without its aging star. The However, the season started hear speculation about why face of the NBA is clearly not slowly and Head Coach Mike their team is falling toward the in Los Angeles. Now can we Brown was fired. The Lakers bottom of the standings, but actually hear about some bascontinued to struggle, only I certainly don’t. The Bucks, ketball?

by Chris Almeida

sports

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the georgetown voice 7

D.C. United struggles in early season play Men’s lax stymied by ‘Cuse

by Chris Castano D.C. United has never been a club to crack under the weight of expectation. After finishing second place in the MLS Eastern Conference and third in the overall league standings at the end 2012, fan and club belief for the 2013 season was high. Unfortunately, the results haven’t gone the Black and Red’s way.

United kicked off their MLS campaign with an away loss to the Houston Dynamo. Newly signed James Riley scored an own goal in the 80th minute, exemplifying the team’s tendency to beat themselves.

United’s fortunes improved on March 9th during their first home match against Real Salt Lake of Utah. Neither side put in a particularly coordinated effort. The only difference between the two was a goal in the 60th minute off a header of Lionard Pajoy, which gave United the 1-0 win.

The Black and Red found further reason to remain optimistic as they managed to hold off the dy-

namic New York Red Bulls on the road at Red Bull Arena on March 16th. New York dominated possession, struck the woodwork, and had an appeal for a goal waved away by the referee. Despite the Red Bulls outshooting United 24-5, D.C. walked away with a point thanks in part to the remarkable performance of their goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

Hamid has come up huge for United so far this season, keeping them in games they would otherwise lose by a wide margin. His stellar play has not gone unnoticed, as he was recently named MLS player of the week, as well as nominated for MLS Save of the Week. Thanks to Hamid’s heroics, initial fears of the United faithful have revolved around a weak offense that has struggled to convert.

Defensive frailties contributed greatly in losses to the Columbus Crew, Sporting Kansas City, the Red Bulls, and most recently with their I-95 rivals the Philadelphia Union. Frustration concerning these errors and poor results has permeated the

CHRIS CASTANO

Marcos Sanchez and D.C. United (1-5-1) are off to a slow start so far this season.

Hamilton lagging in lineup

When dropping down one slot in the batting order turns into a headline for ESPN, you know you’re a big deal.

At this point, the expectations can’t really get much higher for Los Angeles Angels’ right fielder Josh Hamilton, who has been feeling the heat recently for his .221 batting average and 23 strikeouts so far this season.

There is more than just the $25 million going into his pocket at the end of each season that should be pushing him to contribute offensively.

After leaving the Rangers to play for their division rival, Hamilton has been subjected to constant scrutiny and so far his play has not responded well.

That needs to change though, if the Angels want to be a contender for the playoffs this season, because he will be the factor that helps the team to surpass the A’s and Rangers. With Mike Trout and Albert Pujols looking to continue their solid starts, it will be

Hamilton’s plate appearances that, if improved, will make the Angel’s lineup the most feared in the AL West.

The Angels have an opportunity this season that is relatively new to them. They both have experienced and young talent in their lineup, despite being plagued with signing aging and underperforming has-beens during past seasons in an attempt to bring some star-power to Anaheim. But this year, with the blooming of Trout last season and the continued efforts from Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos, the Angels possess a lineup that could do some real damage for years to come. This year the team has promising youth and real power on the offensive half, but now must worry about their men on the mound.

The team’s ace Jered Weaver is currently on the DL and the rest of the pitching staff is struggling to keep their ERAs under 4.00. In ten of their eleven losses so far

stands, the press box, and the locker room.

Captain Dwayne De Rosario expressed his disappointment with the result against the Union. “We started lumping the ball and we have guys that can play. I mean, there’s no need for that,” he said.

“We started playing into our weaknesses instead of into our strengths and that’s a huge problem for us right now.”

Thankfully, the general atmosphere of RFK stadium isn’t totally determined by wins and losses. Fan sections, such as the Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles, cheer for the Black and Red right up until the final whistle of any game. With affordable ticket prices and a metro stop two minutes away from the stadium, United boasts one of the most festive and affordable sporting experiences in the city.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the United locker room either.

Dwayne De Rosario and his fellow players refuse to let this loss, or any loss for that matter, dictate how they play the rest of the season.

“We still have a lot to play for.

We still have a long season. I’m not going to give up. I’m still going to play and fight,” De Rosario said. “We have the fans support, we have the support of the group, and we’re going to fight right to the last game.”

United are back in action, away from home, on May 27 when they take on the Columbus Crew.

Their next home game is against the Houston Dynamo on May 8 at RFK Stadium. this season, the team’s pitching has allowed five or more runs.

Although the blame for these losses can easily be placed on the pitchers, the responsibility falls upon the batters. Knowing that it will take a near miracle to keep their opposition under four runs in most of their outings, the hitters must bear the burden of racking up runs.

All The Way

by Steven Criss A bi-weekly column about sports

This is where Josh Hamilton comes in. The pitching won’t make any sweeping improvements over the next few weeks (although that would be preferable), so Hamilton needs to feel the pressure not just from his critics, but from what he sees up there on the mound.

It’s not that his lack of offensive production has caused the Angels to have a losing record after the first month of play, because

by John Guzzetta This past Saturday, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-8, 2-3 Big East) fell to No. 3 Syracuse (10-3, 4-1 Big East) 9-8 at Multi-Sport Field, spoiling Senior Day for eight players.

First-year Head Coach Kevin Warne decided to start the game with six men on the field, instead of 10, which resulted in a penalty on the Hoyas, and the Orange starting the game with the ball.

Warne wanted to send a message to his team due to team policy violations committed by multiple players. Despite the decision, the Hoyas responded with a stop on defense.

At halftime, the Hoyas led 5-4 thanks to two early goals from senior attack Travis Comeau. Comeau’s fourteenth and fifteenth goals were a game high for the Hoyas. Syracuse opened the second half with Derek Maltz scoring his 24th goal of the season 4 minutes and 26 seconds in. The Hoyas responded quickly with junior long pole face–off specialist Tyler Knarr winning the faceoff, who raced down the field and scored his first goal of the season.

Georgetown led 6-5 after the goal.

In the second half, the Hoyas hot play simmered due to poor offensive possessions and Syracuse’s imposing team defense. The Orange took advantage by scoring four unanswered goals and led by a score of 9-6 with 12:56 remaining.

there are a lot more things going wrong than just his bat, but almost half of the teams losses have been by only one or two runs.

The clean-up hitter needs to be a game-changer, getting hits in key situations with runners in scoring position, and Hamilton has been absent from that role so far.

Manager Mike Scioscia was right in dropping Hamilton down to the fifth slot for that brief period of time with the hope of sparking some kind of determination in him to get going. The Rangers and A’s have proven that they are not pushovers anymore and if something doesn’t shape up for the Angels, they will very well see themselves entering the summer stuck behind two tough ball clubs.

The most obvious answer to the problem is driving in runs from the four spot and if Hamilton can fill that role, the Angels will be very difficult to beat. The bats that surround Hamilton when he hits clean-up are as good as any in the whole league and that just

However, senior midfielder Dan McKinney’s unassisted goal with 2 minutes left broke the Hoyas’ scoreless streak, which lasted for 23 minutes and 29 seconds, and made it 9-7 Syracuse.

Soon after, sophomore midfielder Charles McCormick scored a goal making it a 9-8 game. Following a wild scramble for the ball after the face-off, Georgetown gained possession and called a time-out.

After the timeout, with 40 seconds to go, fans were on their feet to see a potential game-tying goal.

Georgetown’s sophomore attack Reilly O’Connor went one-on-one with Syracuse senior midfielder Steve Ianzito, when Ianzito’s stick broke. As a result, Ianzito dropped his stick and sprinted to the sideline. Due to the chaos that ensued, the Hoyas panicked and turned the ball over off a bad pass, which allowed Syracuse to hold on for the victory.

“We got a little frazzled only because Ianzito broke his stick, and all of a sudden there was a scramble situation,” said Coach Warne. “We overthought the situation rather than playing, but these things happen.”

The Hoyas will have a chance for some postseason magic as they enter their final regular season game against Rutgers (2-12, 0-5 Big East) with the opportunity to clinch a berth for the Big East conference tournament with a win in New Brunswick, NJ this Saturday.

leaves him to carry his weight.

A Hamilton who drives in runs creates a one through five in the lineup that will win ball games on its own, despite the woes of the pitching staff.

The former MVP has the opportunity to make his club a playoff and possible World Series contender, but without him the odds are highly stacked against them. Scioscia can move Hamilton up and down all he wants but regardless of where he ends up, he’s going to need to hit.

The beginning of summer play is a vital point in the season where teams can no longer use the excuse that they’re still figuring things out. Hamilton needs to turn things in the right direction in the coming weeks if the Angels want to seriously contend for the AL West title. If not, it’s going to be a long, hot summer of sneering Texans and the all too familiar August panic for the Angels.

Panic with Steven at scriss@ georgetownvoice.com

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leisure

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GU Hispanic Theater students take the quixotic route

by Larissa Ong Mischief and trickery may be the staples of any Cervantes play, but the amusing antics involved are always grounded by heavier social commentary.

Organized by director and novelist Professor Barbara Mujica’s Hispanic Theater class, two of the Spanish playwright’s lesser known one-act plays, El retablo de las maravillas and La cueva de Salamanca, explore this dichotomy between comedy and something a little darker.

The rip-roaring, fast-paced production, loaded with extravagant movements and ladles of charm, had me enraptured throughout. This came as a surprise—I had not expected 17th century Spanish humor to gel with my own, but I found myself responding heartily to the plays’ unexpectedly relatable wisecracks.

Cervantes, a pet favorite of Professor Mujica, is an apt and intelligent choice for this particular endeavor, given his plays’ relative brevity. In fact, the entreméses were originally meant as interludes between longer plays. Their brevity allowed for a spartan set design, which was effective in keeping the overall mood intimate and

the drama unfettered by ornamentation. The audience could concentrate fully on the characters themselves, and the only sensory enhancements were the skillful use of light and sound.

I was admittedly relieved at the availability of English subtitles on the background screen.

The incongruence of any improvisation made with the subtitles present would have caused some awkwardness, but not once did the neophytes slip up on their lines—a nod to their robust efforts. The screen simultaneously provided a visual backdrop, demonstrating their thoughtful use of multimedia.

The director also did well to modify a 17th century script— with certain elements and archaic terms bound to be lost on us—to suit a contemporary cast and audience. There was a clear attempt to connect to a younger crowd, with modern garb, motorcycles, and even an amusing iPod mention, but the effect was never confusing oranachronistic. Cervantes’s humor and social satire remained dominant throughout.

I could imagine several audience members identifying with his ever-relevant themes of adultery, prejudice and patriarchy. While we should certain-

aNDREs RENGifo

“Check me out, ladies. I also know how to cook and use a vacuum.”

ly thank Cervantes for his tremendous insight into our core human condition, this feat was achieved in no small part due to the clever dramatic choices to infuse modernity.

Due to the confines of working with limited professional cachet, one may expect noticeable compromises to be made, but the brilliant casting and adept use of resources made these “compromises”

seem purposeful. The ostensibly American accents of the non-native speakers somehow worked marvelously with the comic elements—it was hysterical watching the comedy in accordance. The lead, Yoel Castillo (GRAD ‘16), in both plays deserves special mention for his uncanny comic timing and roguish, cheeky swagger. Even the small venue seemed to me a purposeful decision, for the

A chat with Josip Novakovich

Josip Novakovich is a writer of short stories, essays, and novels, with many published to popular acclaim.

He was recently shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize for “literary excellence… in a writer ’s entire body of work.” Born in Yugoslavia in 1956, Novakovich grew up in Daruvar, in what is now central Croatia.

His geography hasn’t gotten less complicated since then. In his most recent collection of essays, Shopping for a Better Country, Novakovich chronicles his vagabond lifestyle, which led him from his home country to Serbia for medical school; then to Vassar and Yale to study psychology, theology; and creative writing; to St. Petersburg; Berlin; Pennsylvania; and finally Montreal, Canada, where he currently teaches writing at Concordia University. He answered some questions for the Voice while in Israel, where he is a guest lecturer.

What kind of traveler are you? Which parts of travel do you enjoy? Which bore you, frustrate you, tire you?

Airport, airport security— that is all horrible. I like culture clash, seeing that things can be done differently, and random encounters, although I have fewer of those now than I used to. Well, I never really met a lot of people traveling, but some, and sometimes it was cool to talk to strangers until you cease to be strangers.

How does it feel to write in your second language? Does English still feel like your second language?

No, I don’t count languages in numerical order. If

I go chronologically English is my second language. If I go memoiristically, from now backwards, it is my first and Croatian is my second. I live in English. So which will be seconded depends on the direction of the time arrow we shoot. How does it feel to write in English? How does it feel to drink tap water? How does it feel to breathe city air? By now, it’s primal even though it’s not.

under the Covers

by Emilia Brahm a bi-weekly literary column Do you have any sources of inspiration aside from your own life? If you have writer’s block, where do you turn?

Yes, other writings and musings about history and strange events around me. I don’t fight writer ’s block; I always write something, at least letters.

Do you think that writing loses any of its integrity when translated?

A lot is untranslatable but recreatable. Much depends on the creative energy and acumen of the translator to recreate the text in the target language as a living organism.

What is home? Do you enjoy “shopping for another country”?

I thought I’d enjoy finding another country more than I did. But maybe Canadians are just too nervous and too well regulated to let me relax.

Why do you write?

To understand things. I don’t think unless I write, or at least, I think so vaguely and chaotically that I need to write to clarify.

lack of voice projection was less of an issue.

With signature Cervantes style, these plays are works of levity that are filled with fallibly human moments that are the mark of great comedy. The cast and crew manage to bring the playwright’s wit and social commentary to the stage in an inspired, sensitive and modern fashion—no Apple products included.

Who are your favorite authors?

How do you choose what you read?

Well, it varies. My favorites change with my age, thinking, and so on. I certainly enjoy Maupassant and Heinrich von Kleist and much of Kafka... and I used to relish Beckett’s prose... Vonnegut. I did read a lot of Tolstoy, Balzac, Maupassant, Dostoyevski... and now I read mostly my students because that’s how I make a living mostly. Well, Nabokov. I admire much of his work, and perhaps there are some similarities, but I was raised in a different era, that of minimalism. He is a maximalist of sorts and a linguistic acrobat and exhibitionist, a verbal narcissist.

As a butterfly collector, he collected words and caressed them... though of course, you can’t caress a butterfly.

What is your writing process like? Do you have any superstitions associated with writing?

What does a typical day look like?

One superstition I have about writing is not to talk too much about what I am writing so I don’t exhaust the energy and the ideas that should remain fresh until I hit the page.

Do you have plans for another novel?

I have finished revising a novel, and I want to go back to an unfinished one... I like to vary things I write about.

I wrote too much about wars.

But that’s our cultural imagination and practice. I am in Jerusalem now, and half of the Bible is war stories of one kind or another, and the Iliad and the Odyssey are even more bellicose.

Ask Emilia your own intimate questions at ebrahm@ georgetownvoice.com

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“Roses are red, violets are blue, fuck you, whore!” — 500 Days of Summer

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C ri t i c a l Vo i c es

Snoop Lion, Reincarnated, RCA Records Artists at times choose to reinvent themselves—a procedure that pleases some fans and alienates others. Occasionally, however, the journey off the beaten path leads straight into a brick wall. Reincarnated after a cross-species evolution from Snoop Dogg, Snoop Lion makes a clearly marked wrong turn into reggae. “Love is the cure and courage is the weapon / You can use to overcome,” Snoop Lion moans on “Rebel Way,” the opening track. The same advice can be applied to attempting to successfully listen to the entire album in one sitting.

Saturated with references to the king of the jungle, Reincarnated may be perfect for an audience too stoned out of its mind to remember that Snoop changed his name, but the casual listener will find the album rather tedious.

Even tracks like “Here Comes the King,” which allow Snoop Lion to stay in his comfort zone of rapping, before reaching out for a reggae vibe only towards the end, fall flat on their abrasive and distracting drums.

Guest artists, too, do little to improve the LP’s quality. On “No Guns Allowed,” Snoop Lion’s daughter Cori B and Drake turn an attempt at a soaring chorus into an off-key wail. The track’s one positive feature is Drake’s veteran expertise on an almost emotional 30-second indictment of guns.

Though a limited array of featured artists may raise a song from the ashes, they eclipse Snoop Lion’s attempts at reggae in the process. The far more experienced Movado and Popcaan, for instance, are the clear winners on “Lighters Up,” in spite of sharing only brief verses.

Major Lazer’s production of the album is, in the end, the glue that holds Reincarnated together. “Get Away,” a particular gem on the album, explicitly features the producer’s name, synths, and a pulsing bass drum that shifts enough attention from Snoop Lion to create a solid track.

“Tired of Running,” too, features pleasantly powerful electronic elements, though Akon dominates the song.

Reincarnated—though rather unfortunate as a full album—contains a mixture of noteworthy artists and occasionally first-rate production, Snoop Lion’s poor showing notwithstanding. Still, traveling to Jamaica and converting to Rastafarianism, no matter how sincere the transformation may be, does not imbue a rapper with reggae prowess.

seven seniors have decidedly struck out on their own.

Laura Thistle (COL ’13) is a Philadelphia native who served as captain of the field hockey team this year. Her contribution to the exhibition comes through the medium of oil paints, specifically “somber landscapes that convey not only a sense of loss of physical things, but also the fleeting quality of moments themselves,” she wrote in an email to the Voice.

After arriving at Georgetown, Thistle surveyed the landscape of potential majors and settled on Studio Art, in a department that, she notes, “is barely known around campus.”

However, her perception is not necessarily a reality, according to fellow Studio Art major Swedian Lie (COL ’13). “I think it is too easy and simplistic to just prescribe to that belief,” he

said. “As an active member in the theater community as well as a Studio Arts major, I find myself surrounded by individuals from the MSB, from the SFS, from the NHS, and so forth who are all exercising their artistic minds in various capacities on campus.”

A certain charm exists within this kind of small group working together. Greta Rasmus (COL ’13), who has a series of charcoal drawings on display, talked about her appetite for this niche.

“There is something entirely unique about spending time in a studio for five hours a week with your professors and classmates that allows you to really delve into the art you’re doing, but also to simply get to know the people who are working around you,” she said.

The title of the exhibition, Pit Stop, provides a double

Voice’s Choices: “Get Away,” “The Good Good” —Kirill Makarenko

Phoenix, Bankrupt!, Glassnote Records In its first album since emerging into the forefront of the music scene with hit-filled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix in 2009, Phoenix takes a slight gamble with Bankrupt! as the band attempts to achieve the delicate balance between pushing artistic bound-

aries and embracing its relatively recent surge into mainstream music. Despite the stark similarities in sound and structure, Bankrupt! diverges from its predecessor in that it exhibits less cohesion and more confusion, particularly in its lyrics. However, the musical veterans do not disappoint in this amalgamation of recognizable vocals and excedingly synthesized sounds.

Phoenix kicks off the album with “Entertainment,” an upbeat track reminiscent of the lighthearted dynamism heard in 2009 single “1901.” The thick keyboard on the chorus grounds this otherwise airy tune, complete with Asian influences and a catchy melody.

“The Real Thing,” slows down the pace, as a drum machine emanates ‘80s vibes to create a steady, bassheavy backbeat. “S.O.S. in Bel Air” stands out as a remarkable layering of guitar, drums, synthesizers, and even maracas, all of which coalesce into a hypnotic hook complemented by hype instrumentals.

To characterize the title track as anticlimactic would be an understatement, since “Bankrupt!” includes a nearly five-minute buildup to two minutes of melancholic vocals that simply fade out and allow the listener to break out of the confused trance induced by this overly forced endeavor of a song.

The second half of the album continues with consistent reverberations of classic Phoenix quirkiness and exuberance, most notably in “Drakkar Noir” and “Oblique City.”

The band even exerts a kind of pretentiousness characteristic of Georgetown students in the title of the song “Bourgeois,” in which the tension and ambitious arrangement seen throughout the rest of the album simmer down just enough to allow Mars’s aural magic to resonate freely through the track.

What the album lacks in lyrical excellence it makes up for in harmonic intricacy, and although similar in sound to many of its previous albums, Phoenix yet again reminded us why it has been around and thriving for the past sixteen years. Arguably the leaders of indie synth-pop, the French quartet demonstrated their ability to adjust to the idea of being more mainstream artists without abandoning their distinct voice. Defined by the kind of kinetic energy that pervades summer nights and open roads, it begs to be heard.

Voice’s Choices: “Subway,” “Always” —Julia Jester

Art majors make a promising Pit Stop in Spagnuolo Gallery

by Tim Barnicle In a department whose graduating seniors are few enough to count on two hands, there’s bound to be a level of camaraderie and collaboration that’s difficult to find in more popular disciplines.

Featuring artistic media ranging from painting and photography to drawing and printmaking, the senior art major showcase is the result of this unique dynamic. Beginning yesterday, April 24, seven graduating Studio Art majors are showcasing their thesis projects in an exhibition entitled Pit Stop, now on display at the Spagnuolo Gallery in Walsh through May 17.

While many students at Georgetown seem most keen on policy jargon and their next internship opportunity, these

meaning for both the artist and the viewer. These are seven young artists, unsure of the future of their craft and their lives, eager to make their first step into the real world a positive one. This show is only a

brief respite along the way, and it could prove to be an enlightening break for the viewer as well—as a welcome interlude from the chaos of the twentysomething’s journey, a haven from the unknown.

Joshua Raftis

This might appear to be social commentary, but it’s actually just your mind on LSD.

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- Christy Geaney

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Medical discrimination: Handicapped left for dead

by Lydia Brown Imagine your doctor suggesting that instead of receiving treatment for a potentially fatal but otherwise treatable condition, you should consider an alternative—death.

For most people reading this piece, such a situation would be unthinkable. Yet for those of us who are disabled—mentally or physically— going to the hospital can actually be a dangerous decision.

In March of this year, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network published a report on widespread discrimination against disabled people who need organ transplants. In the same month, the United Kingdom sponsored a three-year study entitled Confidential Inquiry into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities that found over 1,200 cases in which mentally disabled people suffered avoidable deaths. The report noted that doctors were far more likely to issue rapid and premature life and death decisions or “do not resuscitate” orders solely based on a person’s disability.

This Easter Sunday, it was particularly frightening for many of us in the disabled community to learn that Amanda Baggs, a well-

known, widely respected disability rights theorist, activist, and writer, was admitted to a local hospital for gastreoparesis. Amanda is Autistic and multiply-disabled, and does not speak. She types and uses personalized picture boards to communicate. That morning, a doctor entered her room and suggested that instead of receiving a feeding tube, which is a routine procedure, she should consider the alternative.

For Amanda, the alternative would have been death.

After torrents of phone calls from members of the disabled community to the hospital, the medical staff determined that Amanda would undergo the procedure, which is typically performed with local anesthetic. Due to a separate medical condition, local anesthetic is ineffective on Amanda. Medical staff assured her that she would forget the process because of an amnesic in the anesthetic. She did not forget what had happened, nor did she experience the intended effects of the anesthetic. Amanda functionally underwent surgery without anesthesia. In her words, she was punished for choosing to live.

For the rest of us in the disabled community, it is a waking reminder that in 2013, even one of

the most prominent pioneers and leaders of the Autistic community could be subjected to such appalling treatment and attempts at coercement into choosing death because she is disabled. If this could happen to Amanda Baggs, it could certainly happen to the rest of us.

Amanda herself made the astute and chilling observation that, unlike her, most developmentally disabled people do not have the social connections to bombard an uncooperative hospital with phone calls on their behalf. Most developmentally disabled people unfamiliar with the history and continued practice of medical discrimination might even be unaware that “the alternative” is death.

Georgetown University’s own hospital has been guilty of discrimination and casual ableism toward disabled patients. I’ve learned from friends of mine with a variety of different disabilities, both physical and mental, about the types of microaggressions they faced while seeking medical treatment on our own campus—and this is at a university that prides itself on its respect for diversity and care for the whole person.

As a disabled person, I should not be afraid to seek medical servic-

es if I am in need of treatment, but the reality is that most medical professionals are ill-equipped to work with disabled patients, let alone recognize our experiences and expertise on our own selves. These astonishing disparities in access to and quality of healthcare for the disabled are well-documented but rarely addressed in public policy.

Further compounding the adverse effects of such healthcare disparities on disabled people, these systemic disadvantages are not limited merely to general healthcare services, but are also deeply entrenched in mental health services.

Where stigma, shame, and baseless fear dominate conversations about psychiatric disabilities, those who might otherwise want or benefit from mental health services are presented with fewer incentives to seek them. Climates in which groups of already marginalized people are scapegoated for institutional problems of violence are not conducive to encouraging people to seek even essential services. This hindrance is especially true with the absence of empirical evidence linking psychiatric disabilities to violence in consideration.

The presumption that it is necessarily unfortunate or bad to be

disabled contributes to the conflation of health with morality and value. The dehumanization of disabled people begins with the presupposition that a disabled life is one less worth living and that disabled people would be better off dead than living disabled. This attitude, which is so pervasive in our society—and particularly common in a Western society that moralizes autonomy—has deadly consequences.

In 2012, Paul Corby was denied a medically necessary heart transplant solely because he was autistic. This Easter, my friend almost suffered a similar injustice.

For those who are able-bodied and neurotypical, these names and numbers may mean little.

For those of us whose bodies and minds are limited by institutionalized ableism, they are reminders of the cruel reality that there are no safe places for us—not even in hospitals, where doctors are supposed to save lives.

Lydia Brown is a sophomore in the College. In the history books she will be idolized for the justice she served from her BlackBerry.

GenderFunk a crass caricature of a complex trans identity

by Christian Lambert Last weekend, students and community members gathered in New South’s Riverside Lounge for GU Pride’s annual GenderFunk. It’s a night of fun, dancing, friendship, and yes, drag. This year’s line-up was particularly impressive, headlined by a star from RuPaul’s Drag Race (and a local celebrity for those of us from Western New York). Even so, I still couldn’t bring myself to go.

It’s difficult for me to shake the feeling that GenderFunk is pushing the gay community further away from transgender inclusivity, excepting those in attendance. The annual event

occurs in its own safe bubble, challenging gender norms only within the confines of Riverside Lounge. I’m sure that if I had attended in drag I would have had to take a stern look in the mirror to get up the courage to walk to the event, and I would venture to say that many of the attendees would have had similar feelings.

That’s nothing compared to the true bravery that belongs to our transgendered brothers and sisters. To dress each day, not in drag, but in clothes that mark one’s true gender, regardless of one’s ability to pass transitional status, is both courageous and dangerous. The Washington, D.C. transgender community— its female members in particu-

Costumed in drag, students strutted their swag.

TEDDY SCHAFFER

lar—has endured an onslaught of murders in recent years. The worst waves of killings happened recently, from 2011 to 2012, and in 2002, when two teenagers numbered among the victims.

By comparison, the casual, one-off transvestism of GenderFunk leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I recognize that the event is a remarkable demonstration of good faith from our hardworking leaders in the queer community at Georgetown.

Still, if I wasn’t cisgendered, I would have felt singularly mocked by the event. The gathering of mostly cisgendered individuals for an enormous party in the name of gender-bending rings hollow, for it reduces the courageous lives of transgendered people to spectacle.

Regardless of the good intentions of the organizers or the personal lives of those who attended or performed at GenderFunk, the event could easily be interpreted as reducing gender to a game. There even was a contest for attendants dressed in drag. It was practically a show for the entertainment of cisgendered individuals.

I’m gay, and I remember straight high school classmates who pretended to be queer. They had plenty of excuses, but it was still the worst

kind of mockery. My fear is that we in the queer Hoya community are doing something similar with this contest.

Moreover, GenderFunk runs the risk of creating complacency in the queer student population, as it builds a false sense of accomplishment. It is rarely easy for any cisgendered individual to dress in drag—when truly none of us cisgendered people could possibly know even the slightest taste of the challenges of being transgendered in a non-welcoming space.

GenderFunk is insulting to transgendered individuals, who already face a general environment here that is crassly ignorant and often outright transphobic.

For instance, some weeks ago, during a course discussion on tranvestism, a classmate shared his experience of sitting on the Amtrak next to a transman whose very existence enthralled and terrified him, leaving him unable to do anything but stare. I’m still kicking myself for not saying anything—I made the unfortunate assumption that the professor would step in. I remember well how it felt to receive similar reactions from others as an openly gay male before I came to Georgetown.

I’m ashamed to think that the Georgetown community, my-

self included, has continued to treat transgendered individuals with the same ignorance. GenderFunk offers the message that gender is a game or party. It’s not. It may have performance aspects, sure, but it’s a deadly serious matter for the men and women who are transgendered.

As much as we Hoyas love our traditions, I’d like to see the casual transvestism of GenderFunk replaced with something better. Wonderful programming focused on trans-related issues has long been present on campus, thanks to GU Pride, the LGBTQ Center, and others. But, recent violence against the D.C. transgender community should have precipitated a more robust response from us on the Hilltop.

There’s plenty of work to be done—work that will bring us closer to a vision of transinclusivity. One day this university will graduate its first openly transgender student, and we need to start working more proactively to make sure they feel as welcome as any cisgendered student already does.

Christian Lambert is a senior in the SFS. Come May, he will be the first openly glossophobic student to graduate from Georgetown.

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Even gun lovers can support sensible, moderate regulation

by Kirill Makarenko I like guns. There’s something satisfying—like the fizz of an opened can of Cherry Coke on a hot summer day—about squeezing the 6lb trigger of an AR-15 and hitting the zombie cardboard cutout 50 yards down the range. There’s something distinctly American about firing both shells of a 12-gauge over-under and watching two fast-moving discs explode in a shower of orange clay over an open field glowing in the light of the setting sun. It’s an embodiment of the frontiersman spirit.

In the home, too, guns have earned their place. In a notable 1982 attempt to reduce crime, the city of Kennesaw, Ga. passed an ordinance requiring heads of households “to main-

tain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore.” The crime rate decreased by over 50 percent since the law went into effect, ultimately becoming the lowest in Cobb County.

The right to own a gun in the United States is second only to the right to free expression—and rightly so. The American Revolution proved that “a well regulated militia” is “necessary to the security of a free state,” a phrase that inexorably linked gun ownership to American culture and romanticized ideals of manhood.

The American gun culture operates and prevails on a simple assumption, one that has surfaced again and again in recent debates: Guns don’t kill people. This statement is true. Left to its own devices on a front porch, a shotgun will not strike down a police of-

Ways to prevent more gun violence? Armed doves.

LAUREN ASHLEY PANAWA

Adversity’s afterglow

Last week’s tragedies in Boston and West Texas caused many to reflect on what they have to be grateful for in their lives. It was a time to ponder the dangers of the crazy world we live in, and how we never know when something terrible is about to happen.

In those frightening hours after the attack, I, along with others who had friends and family in Boston, turned to Facebook, frantic text messages, and phone calls to make sure the people I knew in the area were okay. I scrolled up and down my newsfeed, checking off names in my head. Joe is okay, Maria is fine, Jonny is safe. Finally I saw something

about my best friend from high school, now at Tufts University.

He was 100 feet from the first explosion.

Fortunately, he was fine, just shook up and worried about his friends who are still in the hospital. But I was horrified and sickened by the idea that only a few feet separated one my best friends from serious injury or death. I hadn’t seen him since spring break, and that had only been for about an hour or two. A few dozen feet and that would have been our last time together.

I know the Boston attack was a rare event and served as just another reminder of how unpredictable our world

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ficer in Cambridge, Mass. or a 17-year-old kid in Sanford, Fla. And yet, the death toll from firearms continues to climb. The more recent mass shootings offer a glimpse at only the tip of the iceberg: Littleton, Colo.: 15 dead, 24 injured. Tucson, Ariz.: six dead, 13 injured. Oak Creek, Wis.: seven dead, three injured. Newtown, Conn.: 28 dead, two injured. Clearly, the National Rifle Association’s attempt at a logical argument based on the aforementioned claim is shooting blanks.

A gun’s inability to decide who to kill is no reason to avoid regulation. People do, indeed, kill people, but those with guns can cause more casualties. The simple conclusion, then, is to favor expanded background checks, increased waiting periods, and mandatory firearm registration, at the very least.

Pro-gun activism and common-sense solutions to the scourge of rampant gun violence are not irreconcilable notions.

Since anti-gun control advocates do not accept the rising death toll as a sufficient argument, they should turn to other readily available evidence to acknowledge the need for change.

Above all, the Second Amendment explicitly demands regulation. A rather eclectic group of individuals under the NRA umbrella in no way constitutes “a well-regulated militia.”

is. But, thinking about my peers, I realized that many of us are choosing a dangerous life. Sure, some of us will go on to the halls of Congress, one of the most secure buildings in the world, or go into the mythical land of consulting, but many of us dream of going on to be foreign service officers, journalists, aid workers, and service members. We

Carrying On

by Matthew Weinmann A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

are not going to save the world by living within a secure compound, but by instead living out among the people we want to help, near danger.

No one has ever heard an SFS-er say “I want to be a foreign service officer working in Foggy Bottom.” No one has ever heard an international health major talk about living in Paris. We want to be where the action is—Libya, Egypt, the South China Sea, Iran, the bor-

Extending the blame to a society that focuses on violence in video games and movies, too, proves to be a weak attempt at defending guns. A perpetually evolving culture—one of the most difficult aspects of a country to change—cannot simply be outlawed. In fact, removing violence from entertainment can be perceived as a violation of the First Amendment. Thus, gun control, which is in line with the Second Amendment, is a simpler and fairer course of action.

Certain realities of the mass shootings in the U.S. offer few logical arguments in favor of lax gun control. According to a Mother Jones study, 49 of 62 mass shootings since 1982 involved firearms acquired legally. The need for a barrier between responsible individuals and weapons should not be difficult to understand, even for pro-gun communities. Though claims that the expansion of background checks penalizes law-abiding citizens for the actions of the few is certainly understandable, the same complaint can be applied to nearly any crime including theft, driver’s license renewal, and bag checks at the baseball park.

In spite of numerous, logical points for increased gun control, Congress still follows only the logic of politics. Vocal minorities in pro-gun constituencies encouraged the Senate last

der of Israel and Palestine—but we often forget the danger that exists in these places.

After all, who doesn’t want a career like that of Ambassador Chris Stevens? His resume reads like a map of the Middle East. He helped shape the United States’ relationship with the Libyan rebels. For his hard work and dedication, the Libyan people loved him, and there are accounts of Libyans rushing into the burning consulate in Benghazi to try and save him.

Anyone who wants to go into the Foreign Service wants a tenure like Stevens’s, just without the risk of premature death.

These risks do not mean that students shouldn’t want to go forth to help solve these conflicts, to alleviate human suffering, to tell peoples’ stories—what it means is that we should always seek to make deep friendships, take the time to really get to know our friends, and spend some quality time with them doing something other than schoolwork or drinking the night away.

Wednesday to block one of the most bipartisan solutions to date, apparently asserting the right of the legislative branch to put its own citizens in harm’s way.

Though the Newtown, Conn. tragedy launched a reinvigorated campaign for a bipartisan bill, its passage proved just out of reach.

However, the chance for a renewed effort is found in the wake of a recent week of tragedy. The gun battle and manhunt that put an entire city on lockdown following the Boston Marathon bombing must become the final straw.

Facilitating the murder of U.S. citizens does not fall under the jurisdiction of members of Congress.

Yes, I like guns. They have their place in the U.S. and, according to the Supreme Court, are protected by the Constitution. Even so, the proposed gun control measures have remarkably little to do with the question of rights, freedom, and personal preference—the already rather loose interpretation of the Second Amendment will remain intact. In the end, gun lobby arguments are little more than partisan whining. Extending the waiting period for a gun won’t kill anyone.

Kirill Makarenko is a junior in the MSB. He is also a sworn atheist, but he never forgets to pray before he partakes in Sunday dinner.

Even if you are not someone who wants to go and live and work abroad in this dangerous world, chances are that you know someone who does, that one of your friends is studying abroad next year, or that through the wonders of this global economic village you will find yourself travelling to Beijing, signing deals in Dubai, or cutting ribbons in South Africa.

Now that exams are upon us, many students will covetously stake out their spot in Lau and forget what the sun looks like, but really this is the time to take that late night study break with your friend who will be going to the unruly streets of Cairo. Get some lunch with your friend in ROTC doing some training with the Taiwanese army this summer. Watch a movie with that cute girl going to Moldova to research human trafficking. Not because you think they won’t come back, but because the sad truth is, you just can’t be sure.

Passenger by Irene Cavros (SFS ‘14)

See more photos on Vox.

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