The Georgetown Voice, April 8, 2010

VOICE the georgetown

0

PLAN A MEETS WITH ADMINISTRATORS PAGE 4

ANOTHER WALK OFF WIN FOR BASEBALL PAGE 6

MORSO: MEDITERRANEAN MEAT PAGE 11

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w April 8, 2010 w Volume 42, Issue 25 w georgetownvoice.com

What makes a Provost?

2 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

comments of the week

PHOTO CONTEST

“When I get wasted, the first thing I want to do is walk 6 blocks to get a french pastry. The neighbors understand me so well.”

Attention Georgetown Photo Enthusiasts: Submit your photos (black and white or color) for the 2010 Photo Contest!

Upon hearing the news, DC’s small but disproportionately annoying post-divorce mid-life crisisers are staining their too-tight $100 skull-and-wings bedazzled t-shirts with tears.

What will they pair their pin-striped sports coats, jeans and driving shoes with now?

—Asuka “A year after opening, Georgetown’s Ed Hardy closes down”

The winning entries will appear in the April 22 Issue of The Voice

—Tim,

“ANC Wrapup: Georgetown sees a worrying rise in crimes and crêpes”

“we should use the fund and put it towards that film minor the college is talking about so something like this video doesn’t happen again.”

—2010 “An update on the Georgetown Class of 2010 Fund” “Fritz Brogan is the Kim Kardashian of Georgetown, except it’s not just his ass that’s fat.”

—Tim “Politico hangs out in Fritz Brogan’s new apartment

for some reason”

Talk Back

blog.georgetownvoice.com || georgetownvoice.com

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

Voice Crossword “All in the Family” by Mary Cass and Jaclyn Wright

ACROSS 1. “__, the day!” (Shakespearian cry) 5. Standoffish 10. Amateur 14. Female version of a hustler 15. Monkey’s cousin

16. Lotion ingredient 17. Arabic leader 18. Raccoon’s cousin 19. Like a doily 20. Native Southern tribe 22. Computer sharing systems 24. Twinkie’s cousin 26. Baby fish

Submit to photo@georgetownvoice.com by April 20th!

27. Pressure measurement 30. The usual 32. Not generous 37. “__ alive!”

38. Arm joint 40. Chemistry unit 41. Heavy metals 43. Poisonous plant 44. Kitchen wear 45. Ardor 46. Layers 48. ACT’s cousin 49. Pack up the tent 52. Ornamental needle case 53. Flight schedule (abbr.)

54. In the style of 56. Animal’s skin 58. Trusted battery brand 63. Ambrosia’s cousin 67. Crude org.

68. Legal excuse 70. Brand 71. Corn dish 72. NY Knicks owner James 73. Fills a lago 74. Extremes 75. Lead singer of The Police 76. __ the line

answers at georgetownvoice.com DOWN 1. Lion’s home 2. Capital of Peru 3. Tel __ 4. Abraham’s wife 5. Booze 6. Summer zodiac 7. Asian nation 8. “The __ Limits” (60s sci-fi show) 9. Dorito’s cousin 10. Beyonce hit 11. Like wings 12. Rooster 13. Blues rockers The Black __ 21. Indiana __ 23. Freshly painted 25. Revolve around, as in planets 27. Heaped 28. Root’s center 29. Abraham’s son 31. Date activity

33. Little devil 34. Like Eric the Red 35. Boast 36. Gossip 39. Painter Andrew 42. Genetic code 44. Front of a record 47. Spoiling 50. PC’s rival 51. Begs 55. Dole out 57. Praise 58. Mad cool 59. “Once __ a time...”

60. Rip 61. Poker winners 62. 50s movie base for Broadway’s Carnival 64. African nation 65. Cold 66. Abbey __ 69. Forbid

Are you a logophile?

Share your love of words and help write crosswords.

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 42.25 April 8, 2010 Editor-in-Chief: Jeff Reger Managing Editor: Juliana Brint Publisher: Emily Voigtlander Editor-at-Large: Will Sommer Director of Technology: Alexander Pon Blog Editor: Molly Redden News Editor: Kara Brandeisky Sports Editor: Adam Rosenfeld Feature Editor: Tim Shine Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: Chris Heller Voices Editor: Emma Forster Photo Editor: Hilary Nakasone Design Editors: Richa Goyal, Ishita Kohli Literary Editor: James McGrory Crossword Editor: Cal Lee Contributing Editor: Daniel Cook, Dan Newman Assistant Blog Editors: Hunter Kaplan, Imani Tate Assistant News Editors: Cole Stangler, J. Galen Weber Assistant Sports Editors: Nick Berti, Rob Sapunor Assistant Cover Editor: Jin-ah Yang Assistant Leisure Editors: Brendan Baumgardner, Leigh Finnegan Assistant Photo Editors: Jackson Perry, Shira Saperstein Assistant Design Editors: Megan Berard, Robert Duffley

Associate Editors: Matthew Collins, Lexie Herman Staff Writers:

Jeff Bakkensen, Cyrus Bordbar, Tom Bosco, Aleta Greer, Victor Ho, Kate Imel0, Satinder Kaur, Liz Kuebler, Kate Mays, Scott Munro, Katie Norton, Sean Quigley, Justin Hunter Scott, Sam Sweeney, Keenan Timko, Tim Wagner

Staff Photographers:

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

Staff Designers:

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

Copy Chief: Geoffrey Bible

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

Editorial Board Chair: Eric Pilch Editorial Board:

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

Head of Business: George D’Angelo

Director of Marketing: Michael Byerly

The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday. If you would like to subscribe, make a check or money order payable to The Georgetown Voice and send it to the mailing address listed below. Subscription rates are as follows:

Domestic, year-long: $38 Domestic, semester-long: $27 International, year-long: $52 International, semester-long: $43 Mailing Address:

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

Office:

Leavey Center Room 413 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

Newsroom: (202) 687-6780 Fax: (202) 687-6763 E-Mail: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Web Site: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. The Georgetown Voice is produced in the Georgetown Voice office and composed on Macintosh computers using the Adobe InDesign publishing system and is printed by Silver Communications. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

On this week’s cover ... Jim O’Donnell Cover Illustration: Iris Kim

the georgetown voice 3 WHAT’S PLAN B?

Plan A should seek concrete concessions Last Tuesday, Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson met with representatives from Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice—the recently formed pro-contraception coalition—following a dramatic protest, in which students chained themselves to the statue of John Carroll in Healy Circle during a Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program weekend behind a sign that read “President DeGioia: Take the tape off our mouths and the chains off our bodies.”

While the group’s tactics have drawn criticism from some quarters, the demonstration opened a conversation between Plan A and Georgetown administrators that would have been unlikely under other circumstances.

Over the past two months, Plan A has sent two letters to President DeGioia outlining the group’s demands. Until Friday afternoon, the only response the organization had received was a letter from Olson. While not all of Plan A’s claims are credible, they have also made a number of strong points that Georgetown administrators would be wise to consider.

Plan A proposes that the University

allow tenants like Wisey’s, Vital Vittles, and other Corp locations to sell condoms and other modes of contraception if the school continues to refuse direct distribution. Despite traditional Catholic anti-contraceptive beliefs, the ban on third-party condom sales is unwarranted. The University doesn’t interfere with other stocking decisions these businesses make, though, and there’s no reason why condom sales need to be under the administration’s jurisdiction.

Another regulation needing reconsideration is the school’s policy on student health plans. Currently, Georgetown professors are able to obtain birth control coverage in their plans, but students do not have this luxury and are instead forced to pay out of pocket for this expensive, and occasionally vital, form of medical care.

While Plan A makes some very positive policy suggestions, some of their other complaints are misguided and misleading. Plan A’s claim that Georgetown’s sexual assault rate is higher than that of peer institutions is not backed up by statistics. Likewise, their demand that the Georgetown University Hospital

provide rape kits ignores the fact that all rape kits in D.C. must be administered at Washington Hospital Center. Plan A’s use of unsubstantiated claims and poorly researched demands is deceptive and undermines the more credible claims the group makes.

In addition to making some misleading claims, Plan A did not do a good job of articulating their grievances at their GAAP weekend protest. To someone passing the protest quickly, it was not easy to grasp Plan A’s grievances. Clearer signs or some other form of identification would have been welcome.

So far, meetings between Plan A and administrators have yielded few results, an unfortunate but not unpredictable course of events. Faced with silence from the administration and lacking effective alternatives, Plan A’s protest accomplished its goal of creating dialogue around the issue of contraceptives. One can only hope that they will break ground on legitimate issues such as the sale of condoms by third party tenants selling condoms and student health insurance covering birth control.

NEVER LET YOU GO

Democracy shines in GPB’s spring concert

While some students may pass on this year’s Spring Kick-off Concert to avoid a trip back to middle-school angst with headliner Third Eye Blind, the Georgetown Programming Board should be commended for their remarkable competency in organizing this year’s concert.

In contrast to the past, this year’s event features more than one artist. So even if the headlining band’s brand of 90s pop doesn’t suit your fancy, the acoustic folk rock of Joshua James and mash-ups of Super Mash Brothers round out a refreshingly diverse slate of performers. Hosting artists with different styles of music encourages more students to attend, and ultimately makes for a better experience for all.

GPB should also be applauded for releasing the results of its poll, which asked students to rank eight artists as potential headliners. Compared to similarly sized institutions, Georgetown’s spring concert is restricted by a low budget that immediately limits the University’s ability to attract top-tier acts. It is therefore essential that organizers bring in artists that students actually want to hear. Fortunately, GPB listened carefully to student feedback in organizing this year’s event. The organization’s effort toward transparency in its artist selection process, such as the release of the poll results, indicates that the organization has learned from the lackluster turnout of past concerts and realized that students

outside the organization must remain involved in the process.

One final decision made by GPB is worthy of commendation. After last year’s less-than-stellar performance by T-Pain, the horrendous acoustics of McDonough Gymnasium must be taken into consideration. Any true Deadhead will recall that the just-blossoming Grateful Dead appeared at the gymnasium in October 1970, resulting in a fantastic audience recording of the concert. In other words, music in McDonough can sound good, but needs to be left to professionals. Fortunately, GPB has hired a professional outside group to ensure that the sound quality is satisfactory. After all, it’s the music that counts in the end.

MORE CYCLING SNOBS

DDOT on track with separated bike lanes Although the thought of more balding professionals clad in excessively tight clothing may be cringe worthy, the District Department of Transportation has wisely released a new plan to expand cycle tracks downtown. The proposed changes, which will be implemented on Pennsylvania Avenue, 9th, 15th, I, and L Streets NW, have the potential to usher in a new era of safe cycling in our traffic-congested city center.

This is a welcome step by DDOT toward making a healthy and environmentally friendly form of transportation safer for D.C. residents.

Unlike conventional bike lanes, cycle tracks separate bikers from the rest of the street with barriers, preventing cyclists and

drivers from sharing the same road space.

The proposed DDOT dividers will not be permanently fixed into the ground, and therefore can be removed when needed, such as for special events.

At the March 18 meeting where plans were released to the public, DDOT presented statistics indicating that cycle tracks increased ridership by 18 to 20 percent in other cities where they have been implemented, compared to the 5 to 7 percent ridership increase associated with conventional bike lanes. Furthermore, in New York City, cycle tracks decreased injuries by 56 percent and crashes by 48 percent. These tangible safety benefits should ease concerns that cycle tracks are a waste of space.

Cycling advocates at the blog WashCycle expressed concern over the design of the cycle tracks, which shift at various points from placement in a center lane to lanes on the sides of streets and lanes flowing against traffic. However, the landscape of downtown D.C. changes—often dramatically— from block to block, and DDOT planners must work with the existing street when planning improvements.

DDOT has put forward a plan that will radically change the landscape for cyclists in downtown D.C. and enhance the safety of everyone in transit, pedestrians and drivers alike. DDOT should be applauded for this major step, and continue to expand bike lanes and cycle tracks in the District.

news

4 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

Plan A protests spark meetings with administrators

by Cole Stangler After a March 27 protest during the first Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program weekend, in which three members from Plan A Hoyas for Reproductive Justice chained themselves to the John Carroll statue in Healy Lawn, university administrators agreed to meet with representatives from the group.

Plan A leader and United Feminists board member Marion Cory (COL ‘10) said the administrators at the March 30 meeting included Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, but would not confirm whether President John DeGioia was also in attendance.

Cory said that as a result of the meeting, the University is now providing free and uninhibited access to Washington Medical Center for students who wish to obtain rape kits.

“That was an exciting victory for Plan A,” Cory said.

However, Olson had addressed that issue in a letter he sent to Plan A the day before the group’s March 27 protest.

“Students seeking medical care following a sexual assault should proceed to Washington Hospital Center by taxi,” Olson wrote.

“Costs of transportation will be fully covered by Health Education Services. If a student wishes to go to Washington Hospital Center by GERMS ambulance instead of by

taxi, GERMS is authorized to confidentially transport students free of charge in an ambulance (non-lights and siren mode).”

Cory also claimed another of Olson’s concrete points in the March 26 letter—that university administrators are meeting with staff from Georgetown University Hospital and D.C. Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program to help improve this process—was actually a victory achieved at the March 30 meeting.

Plan A’s campaign has earned the support from some Georgetown student groups, including the Movimiento Estudantil Chicano de Aztlán and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which were both present at the protest in Healy Circle.

Frances Davila (SFS ’10), co-chair of MEChA, said that her organization has historically stood up against all forms of discrimination. On the issue of reproductive justice, she said Plan A’s campaign is well in line with MEChA’s greater philosophy.

Jheanelle Brown (SFS ‘10), NAACP President, said that Plan A’s campaign is especially relevant in the District of Columbia, where HIV/AIDS rates are the highest in the nation.

College Democrats, the largest student group on campus, also offered its tentative support for the campaign’s demands, but objected to its tactics.

“While we recognize the diversity of opinions on this matter, we do support the goals of the Plan A campaign to bring issues of sexual health to the consciousness of the Georgetown community and to promote a free exchange of ideas on campus,” College Democrats President Bryan Woll (COL ’12) wrote in an e-mail.

Woll said, though, that it was unfortunate the administration and Plan A have been unable to dialogue in a productive and respectful manner, adding that the intense reactions on both sides of the issue have served to increase the ideological divide.

Conservative student groups, such as Georgetown’s Right to Life, remain skeptical of Plan A’s demands.

Georgetown Right to Life President Gabriella Hook said that she felt many of Plan A’s demands are unnecessary because some of those services are already provided on campus, citing adequate sex education at the Health Education Center for example.

“In a really big way, I feel that Plan A is self-destructive,” Hook said. “Just because listening to people talk on campus—it seems like people that are supportive of their message are disappointed by the way they’re implementing their campaign. I think, pretty significantly, the goals they’re asking for are false.”

Lexie Herman

Plan A’s protests have led to face-to-face meetings with adminstrators.

Hook said that Plan A’s call for access to condoms on campus is simply incompatible with Georgetown’s Catholic identity.

“As far as contraceptives on campus, we’re a Catholic university, so we can’t,” Hook said.

Administrators have indicated that the University takes its Catholic identity very seriously, and still considers many of the tenets of the Plan A campaign contrary to the University’s values.

“As a Catholic and Jesuit university, our core values of respect for all human life are not negotiable,” Georgetown Office of Communications Director of Media Relations Andy Pino wrote in an e-mail.

Nonetheless, Cory indicated that the university didn’t deem any issue off-limits.

“I certainly don’t think they communicated anything to us in terms of what concretely will not be able to happen, but rather I would

say it was very productive in terms of what can happen,” Cory said.

Olson could not be reached for comment.

Despite the protestors’ apparent breach of university free speech policy by holding their action in Healy Circle instead of Red Square, Cory said that potential disciplinary action was not an issue raised in the meeting.

In addition to the first meeting that occurred last Tuesday, another meeting between administrators and Plan A will be held sometime early next week, according to Cory.

“Student Affairs plans to continue engaging these and other students in an open and respectful conversation about their questions and concerns,” Pino wrote.

Cory said that she was unsure of the exact day of the next meeting, but that she expects it to be “similar to the last meeting, intense and full of difficult questions and challenges to the university.”

Robberies continue despite increased patrols

by Matt Kerwin

Max Blodgett

Writer and literacy activist Dave Eggers addressed members of the Georgetown community in Gaston Hall on Tuesday night and encouraged students to sign up for his non-profit writing center 826DC.

Despite DPS and MPD’s increased security initiatives, a series of robberies have recently taken place in public places around Georgetown. Around 1 a.m. on March 29, a man was robbed and assaulted while walking in the 3700 block of R Street NW. Yesterday, a Georgetown student was mugged on the same block at about the same time. MPD is investigating both incidents.

Following an earlier series of burglaries and muggings in Georgetown, the Department of Public Safety said it had joined with the Metropolitan Police Department to take measures to prevent further robberies.

Eric Threlkeld, DPS’s Crime Prevention Coordinator, said that DPS has implemented a twopronged plan to deter future burglaries. New bike teams of DPS officers have begun specifically

patrolling the area outside the front gates. The patrols focus on university townhouses, where four of six recent burglaries took place. The other two burglaries targeted oncampus apartments.

The second part of the plan focuses on the residences themselves.

“All of the [townhouse] burglaries have occurred through either unlocked or malfunctioning rear doors,” Threlkeld said.

DPS will begin making recommendations about how to upgrade houses to make them more secure.

Part of the plan addresses what Threlkeld calls “poor residential security practices.” Flyers will be distributed encouraging students to lock their doors at all times.

Some students are taking precautions of their own.

“We lock our doors whenever we leave,” Mallory Twist (COL ‘10), an O Street NW resident, said. “All my roommates lock the doors in their rooms before they go to bed.”

In the March 23 burglary on 36th Street NW, a student awoke to find four unknown males in her bedroom. They fled when the student screamed, taking with them $3,000 worth of property.

MPD has also stepped up patrols in the area, and students have noticed. Alicia Lee (COL ‘10), a 36th Street NW resident, said that she now sees MPD patrols that before would have been “definitely unusual.”

Twist said she has seen more cop cars around the area lately, which has made her feel more safe.

Threlkeld said that DPS “has put out timely information on situation awareness” to address the recent muggings. In a March 25 e-mail to all undergraduates, DPS reminded students to “pay attention to [their] surroundings” and “avoid carrying purses or bags when possible.”

MPD did not respond to requests for comment.

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 5

Neighbors create database of student disruptions like this for awhile, but he does not believe that releasing this information to the University will bring any significant results.

“The best way for neighbors to resolve these issues is to talk to the students themselves and use the University resources, such as SNAP, that are dedicated to improving the quality of life of the neighborhood,” Golds said.

Rubino first advises residents to call 911 in addition to calling Georgetown’s Student Neighborhood Assistance Program (SNAP). While SNAP will provide a report to the office of Off Campus Student Life the Monday following the incident, a police citation could lead to an actual arrest, or a 61-D citation, which is a fine that counts as an arrest on the violator’s criminal record.

Rubino, the BCA, and the Citizens Association of Georgetown did not respond to inquiries by the Voice.

Most residents, however, are unaware of BCA’s new database,

and said they are divided on whether calling 911 for noisy parties is a good idea.

Kevin Koski, a six-year Burleith resident, was surprised at Rubino’s advice to call 911. He said emergency services are not the right avenue to address noise violations.

“Being in my early thirties and being able to remember my twenties, I’m not casting a stone,” Koski said.

At the same time, he notes that creating a historical database may be a good idea if the complaints recorded were “tenant based and not property based, because the turnover is usually one or two years.”

Earlier in the year, neighbors called the police about a party at his residence.

“We haven’t had a party since,” Koski said. “[But] the neighbors called us before talking to the police.”

Across the street, a resident

GU takes up veterans’ issues

University Student Veterans of America as an official campus organization last month. The group is looking to make Georgetown more attractive to prospective veteran students and more supportive of Georgetown veterans or family of veterans.

Barbara Mujica, a professor of Spanish at Georgetown whose son served in Iraq, said that Elizabeth O’Herrin, the Associate Director of the American Council on Education, once told her that Georgetown University was behind the curve on veterans’ issues.

by Holly Tao Burleith Citizens Association President Lenore Rubino recently sent out an e-mail to the Burleith listserv with a two-pronged solution for noise violations and general student misconduct: submitting complaints about student residents to a new BCA-run database and calling 911 to report loud parties.

Rubino advised residents to send a message to a BCA e-mail account when they have issues with their student neighbors, reporting the basics of the complaint and the “address, time, [and] description of noise.” The notices will be compiled in a “historical database” kept by BCA. The BCA will also send a list of all complaints to the University on a monthly basis, according to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Aaron Golds (COL ’11).

Golds said that West Georgetown residents have used a system

This past Veterans Day, I participated in a panel discussion at Georgetown that examined the relationship between civilians and members of the military. Despite the fact that Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Thomas Ricks hosted the discussion, the event was under attended. Less than half the ICC Auditorium was filled, and most of the members of the audience had served in the military themselves or were closely connected to someone that had.

Missing from the discussion were those who would have benefited from it most: students with little understanding of the military and little contact with student veterans. Their absence points to the weakness of the dialogue between students who have served in the military and the majority of the student body that has not.

There are reasons to believe that interaction between the two groups is increasing and becoming less superficial, though. Two new groups dedicated to issues concerning the military, veterans, and their relationship to Georgetown have been formed within the past semester and one has gained official recognition

by the University. This is undoubtedly a good thing. Many Georgetown students expect to find work after graduation with the government, often in roles that will have them working side by side with members of the military, and they will benefit tremendously the more they understand about the military and its workings.

“There are a lot of students who want to work with the State Department or the [Department of Defense]; to be successful everyone should speak the same language,” Margaret Mullins (SFS ’10) one of the main organizers of the Veterans Day Panel, said. “It’s important for Georgetown students to talk with the future leaders of the military.”

Dialogue between students and student veterans is also important in helping veterans integrate into the campus and their new lifestyles as students. Peter Nesbitt (SFS ’12), who spent six years serving in the Army in South Korea, said the transition to college can sometimes be rougher than most veterans expect.

A notable step towards better dialogue between students and student veterans was the recognition of the Georgetown

Saxa Politica

by J. Galen Weber

A bi-weekly column on campus news and politics “When I first started working on veterans’ issues last semester, we didn’t even have a veterans’ web page,” Mujica wrote in an e-mail.

Mujica recently became a faculty advisor to GUSVA, and has been working to turn things around.

Another group that is focused on improving relations between civilians and members of the military is the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services. The group was originally founded at Tufts in 2006, but Mullins has been work-

SHira SaPerStein

Student noise continues to be an issue for neighbors in Burleith. who wished to remain anonymous described the students as having “self-focused” attitudes and said she thought the BCA database was a “good idea” “Calling the police is the best option in this case,” she said. “I ing on creating a chapter here at Georgetown. Mullins says the group, which is holding its first general interest meeting next week, is working to gain recognition from the University.

The creation of these two new groups is an important step forward, but more can still be done, Mujica said. Registrar John Pierce promised to include a question about veteran status on the personal information section of the Georgetown application. Georgetown should follow through with this promise. This would allow the University to know for sure how many student veterans are attending Georgetown. (Currently the University only keeps track of how many students receive veteran’s benefits.) The University should also follow through with a promise it gave to Alan Ardelean, president of Georgetown’s chapter of the University Military Association, to increase the amount of financial aid available to veterans.

It should also begin forming a Student Veteran Services Office. Such an office was created in 2009 at The George Washington University, and according to Brian Hawthorne, the president of the GWU Veterans Organization, the office has already done much to improve the student

have children and [the students] make a lot of noise after 10 p.m.”

She said she has called the police on two occasions, but she has never had contact with any of the students, or given them warnings before calling the police. veteran experience by facilitating discussion between student veterans and administrators and simplifying the process of obtaining student veteran benefits.

By demonstrating genuine support for veteran issues through the creation of a Student Veterans Services Office, the administration will make Georgetown a more attractive choice for veterans, help those that chose to come here more comfortable, and foster further dialogue between students experienced in the military and those who know little about it.

With the perspectives and experience they bring, every Georgetown student stands to benefit from a larger student veteran presence on campus.

For a school so widely respected for the quality of its political and foreign affairs education, Georgetown has, until very recently, failed to give much attention to the military dynamic of these fields. Following through on its tentative firsts steps would broaden students’ views and give Georgetown the chance to lead other Universities in veteran’s affairs, not lag behind the curve.

Do you also love your country?

E-mail Galen at gweber@george townvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

Through thick and thin, Hoyas keep coming back

by Tim Shine On Tuesday afternoon, the Georgetown baseball team found themselves trailing 3-0 in the eighth inning against a woeful UMBC squad that had won just four games this season. In past years, the Hoyas, never a Big East powerhouse, may not have had the resolve to fight back. But not this season.

In what seems to be a trend, the Hoyas recovered in a comeback win, with freshman pinch-hitter Corbin Blakey knocking in the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

“Overall, on the year, I don’t know how many times we’ve done it,” head coach Pete Wilk said of his team’s comeback. “It’s actually pretty damn amazing how we just keep coming back in the late innings. I think guys are thriving on it. They don’t feel the pressure as much as they’re used to.”

It was the third walk-off win of the season for the Hoyas.

Those late-inning heroics are a big reason why Georgetown is currently 16-12, the first time any player on the current roster has experienced being above .500 this late in the season. And while Georgetown may have had a little luck in close games, their record is well-deserved.

“Talent doesn’t hurt either.

We’re a more talented group than we’ve been here,” Wilk said. “It’s a combination between the talent, the attitude, and the leadership.”

That leadership begins with the Hoyas’ senior class, who endured a lot of losing in three seasons on the Hilltop. Now they are setting an example for their younger teammates in how to avoid the same fate.

Perhaps the most vocal leader is also the most accomplished player on the field. Senior centerfielder Tommy Lee is one of two Hoya regulars hitting above .400, and sets the tone for the Hoyas from the leadoff spot.

“If you look at his stats, as he goes we go,” Wilk said.

Earlier in the season the Hoyas were in danger, because Lee couldn’t go, missing a series of games with severely bruised ribs.

But now Lee is back patrolling the outfield, shoring up the defense, the one area Wilk thinks Georgetown needs to improve most to achieve its goal of making the Big East playoffs.

“He’s an outstanding defensive player,” Wilk said. “I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves.

He’s one of the finest centerfields I’ve ever had in 20-whatever years of coaching.”

Of course, it’s not just the veterans who are contributing to Georgetown’s success. Newcomers like Blakey are having just as big an impact.

“That’s his second walk-off RBI,” Wilk said of Blakey. “I think it says a lot about the kid. You know we’ve had some freshmen come in and do a good job. We kind of expect them to.”

Courtesy sports information

Pitching and defense have been integral parts of the Hoyas’ success.

Wilk is keeping his expectations realistic for the season. No one expects the Hoyas to suddenly jump to the top of the league, and a three game sweep by Rutgers earlier in the season bears that out.

But there’s no reason why Georgetown can’t make that leap into the playoffs. The team can

be dominant, as they were in a 13-1 drubbing of Norfolk State Wednesday night. And they can win important games, like last weekend, when the Hoyas scored their first ever series win over Notre Dame.

“That was a milestone that continues hopefully to point us in the right direction and we keep

climbing higher and higher,” Wilk said. “That was a big one, taking a series from those guys.”

Georgetown won the series 2-1, and of course, they needed a walk-off RBI to reach the milestone.

The Hoyas take the field again this Friday at 7 p.m. against USF in Tampa.

The Sports Sermon

“I want to be an honorable man ... my family is everything to me”— Tiki Barber, who just divorced his 8-month pregnant (with twins) wife of 11 years for a 23-year-old, in his 2007 memoir. brought to the city and shared in the player’s hurt that came from a career with everything but a As NFL Commissioner Paul championship. What is it about Tagliabue paused before anthe Eagles franchise or Philadelnouncing Philadelphia’s second phia fans that made it so hard overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft, for them to embrace McNabb for Eagles fans in attendance waited everything he brought to the city, in anxious anticipation, hoping rather than boo him on the field their team selected the highly whenever he came up just short? touted Heisman Trophy-winner Perhaps the answer lies in the inRicky Williams, a running back famous psyche of the Philly sports from the University of Texas. fan, an attitude that breeds a loveInstead, the Eagles’ front office hate relationship with athletes opted for Donovan McNabb. As depending on their most recent the quarterback from Syracuse performances. walked across the stage to be Along with the inherent quescongratulated by the commistionability of trading McNabb, sioner, he did not receive a warm the move is all the reception from the Pete Rose Central more dubious due Philly faithful, as Da bettin’ line to which team the their boos filled RaEagles dumped him dio City Music Hall.

Margin Dookies Hoyas onto. The Eagles This was the inaus(duh!) (underdogs) traded McNabb to picious beginning to (favorites) a rocky relationship Tiger’s score Tiger scoring The Master the Redskins, a divibetween franchise Future NCAAs 78 and counting sion rival who the Lady Huskies Eagles play twice a quarterback and Nova Unity Awkwardness Baby Momma year during the regcity—a relationship ular season. This signals that the seven times and reached the Conthat came to an end this past Eagles were so desperate to get rid ference Championship Game five week as McNabb was traded to of McNabb that they didn’t care times and the Super Bowl once. the Washington Redskins for two who took him and that they had Kolb will have to lead the Eagles future draft picks—a move the such little confidence in his ability to a top-four finish in the NFL Eagles will soon regret. to produce on the field that they nearly every other year in order to The trade of Donovan were not concerned about facing match McNabb’s record.

McNabb has been discussed him in the regular season.

However, Eagles fans have around the NFL for a few years For the Eagles sake, I hope long used the argument that now, and intense speculation they know something about Kolb McNabb can’t win the big game, coupled with three Eagles quarthat the rest of us do not. Maybe having never won a Super Bowl terbacks in their final contract year McNabb will be just an average for the city. Using that argument, made the move all but inevitable quarterback in D.C., and Kolb will Hall of Fame quarterbacks Jim this off-season. For whatever rearise to the ranks of the elite. The Kelly and Dan Marino are abject son, speculation about a McNabb Eagles had better wish for this failures and should have been trade always seemed to gain scenario. The only way they can shown the door by their respecsteam in Philadelphia, particularpossibly justify this move is to win tive franchises long before the acly since the fan base and front ofa championship in the near future tual end of their careers. Instead, fice itself never seemed to be comwith Kolb at the helm. Unfortuthese players were beloved by pletely confident or satisfied with nately, with McNabb gone, such a their cities and had extremely McNabb on the field, even though satisfying outcome for the Eagles supportive fan bases. These fans he was considered to be one of the is far from likely. reveled in any success the QBs best quarterbacks in the league.

by Adam Rosenfeld

In trading McNabb, the Eagles have placed all their eggs in the basket of Kevin Kolb, an unproven player drafted by the Eagles out of the University of Houston with a second round draft pick in 2007. Looking back, the pick signaled the beginning of the end for McNabb—Kolb has been the apple of head coach Andy Reid’s eye since he was drafted. The Eagles will soon realize what they are missing, though, when the combination of Kolb and Michael Vick comes up short compared to what McNabb has produced. In his 11 seasons in Philly, McNabb has taken the team to the playoffs

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Freshman step up in recent wins There aren’t many things more exciting in the world of sports than sudden death overtime. This past Friday, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team took part of overtime excitement in their game at Navy.

Fortunately, the Hoyas were able to secure a victory in the contest as junior midfielder Max Seligmann scored in the opening possession of the overtime period.

Although the win was definitely enjoyed, the Hoyas should have won the game in an easier fashion. With three minutes left in the game, Georgetown enjoyed a three-goal lead.

“We’ve been working on finishing strong in practice, working

mattHEW fUnK

Max Seligmann was able to deposit the overtime goal for the Hoyas at Navy.

Mo’ money, mo’ problems The NCAA recently released a new slogan for their organization: “Show me the money.”

Okay, they didn’t really do that, but they might as well have after having serious talks about expanding the NCAA tournament from 65 to 96 teams. No one from the association’s headquarters has come forward to reveal the reason for the possible expansion, but there can only be one motive: money. Simply put, more games would mean more television and ticket revenue.

But would more teams make the tournament better? The answer appears to be a resounding no.

There is no reason to fix something that isn’t broken, especially one of the few perfect things that

still exists in sports. The expansion would not only lessen the excitement of the tournament but also diminish the importance of the regular season.

To reach the 96 team cutoff, the NCAA would virtually combine the 32-team NIT with the current NCAA tournament field and give the top eight seeds from each four regions a firstround bye. This would create an extra round. Follow me? I don’t even want to get started on how ridiculous and huge the bracket would look, suffice to say those small, dorm room TVs would be too small to fit the complete playoff ladder. Essentially the opening round would be full of mediocre teams playing other

Mary’s. After a slow first quarter in which Georgetown dominated possession but struggled to find the net, the Hoyas finally pulled away from the Mount, winning the game comfortably by a score of 11-6.

“It was a matter of shooting the ball,” senior attacker Rickey Mirabito said. “We were getting decent shots, not great shots while dominating possession so we just needed to put those shots away.”

A trend through both of Georgetown’s victories has been strong contributions from the freshman class. Freshman attacker Travis Comeau led the Hoyas with four goals against Navy, a performance that earned him a spot on the Big East Weekly Honor Roll. He combined with four other freshman for a total of eight goals and four assists.

“It seems like every game a freshman is stepping up in some way,” Mirabito said. “Travis has God-knows-how-many-goals.

They’re not freshman anymore, they’re playing like sophomores.”

Georgetown now looks ahead to Notre Dame this weekend for a crucial Big East matchup. Head coach Dave Urick pointed out that the Hoyas will need to shoot better against the Irish than they did on Wednesday night. With the newcomers stepping up and the seniors playing extremely well, it’s a safe bet the Hoyas will be ready when the Irish visit Multi-Sport Field this Sunday at noon. mediocre teams for the right to face the top squads in the nation.

With 96 out of the 347 division I basketball schools making the tournament, the regular season would just be a warm up for March, with teams only needing to be in the top third to qualify.

Even now, the regular season isn’t that important. As long as

Backdoor Cuts

by Nick Berti

a rotating column on sports you qualify for the tournament, anything can happen when you get there, as we witnessed this year. A mediocre year can be made up for with a deep run (Michigan State), or a great season can vanish in the blink of an eye (you know who). Coaches will start treating it more like

Alex Sebia

What Rocks

by Adam Rosenfeld

in new plays to ice the games out,” senior attacker Craig Dowd said.

Unfortunately, the Hoyas were unable to hold off Navy to secure the victory in regulation, as a pair of turnovers allowed Navy to score three unanswered goals in the final three minutes and tie the game at 12 apiece.

In overtime, junior Brian Tabb won the opening faceoff, giving Georgetown the possession that led to the game-winning goal.

“It’s good to win any overtime game,” Dowd said. “But in the end it’s another win. We’re trying to get on a run before the playoffs so that helps.”

The Hoyas continued their winning ways on Wednesday night at home against Mount St.

Courtesy sports information

After failing to qualify for the Big East Tournament last season, the Georgetown University Women’s Tennis team is hungry to prove to the rest of the conference that they are a talented bunch.

Leading that charge is team MVP and captain Alex Sebia, who has lead her team throughout this season, exhibiting poise and considerable talent as a senior on the court. With her leadership, the Hoyas are excited about their chances to reach the conference championship.

“The Big East Championship should be fun,” Sebia said.

“Everyone on this team is hungry to get back there after not making it last year. We hope to get to beautiful South Bend, Indiana. It used to be held in Tam-

the preseason if anything and the elite schools will make their schedules easier to keep their players fresh for the post-season.

Once the calendar turns to March, college basketball fans will already be tired from watching so many games that have minimal meaning. Of course there will still be arguments over rankings but they will revolve around whether a Seton Hall is a 17 or a 22 seed, and if Stony Brook University is a worthy bubble team. There’s simply not much fun in that.

The 2010 tournament had the weakest field of teams in a long time, including Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the Sam Houston State Bearkats—yes, Bearkats with a K. And now there are going to be 31 more teams in the Big Dance?

Since when are 8th graders in-

pa, but who wants to go there when you can go to Indiana?”

Sebia began her stellar career in high school, where she was a four-year letter winner and team captain, only losing one singles match in four seasons.

Her success has continued at the collegiate level as she led the Hoyas in singles victories in 2008 with an overall record of 11-6 in dual match play. That same season, she single-handedly clinched team matches over Duquesne, Albany, and Villanova.

Sebia and the rest of the Hoyas continue their post-season push on Friday at 2 p.m. against Villanova at home.

—Tim Wagner

vited to the prom? If the expansion were put in place before this year, some potential matchups would be 24 seed Quinnipiac against 9 seed Florida State or the intriguing encounter of 15th seed Morgan State vs. 18th seed Wichita State. Please hold back your excitement, you’re spilling your popcorn on the floor.

If the NCAA has its way, who knows when they will stop expanding the tournament. Why stop at 96 teams? Let’s be fair and include everyone. The tournament should include all 347 schools in Division I and start in December. Who needs the regular season, it’s kind of overrated anyway.

Help Nick send angry, yet very polite protest letters to the NCAA at nberti@georgetownvoice.com

feature

8 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

The notorious Jo’D

by Brendan baumgardner

When President John J. DeGioia is out of town, Provost James O’Donnell is responsible for greeting dignitaries that visit Georgetown. While an honor, it occasionally leads to a bit of confusion, like when a certain Governator spoke on campus. The provost greeted California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the parking garage, exchanging handshakes and introductions.

“Thank you very much, happy to be here,” Schwarzenegger said, according to O’Donnell.

“Now, what is provost?”

But really, what is “provost?”

Most Hoyas will never deal with O’Donnell directly, and few may even hear his name unless they’re paying attention. But last Feb-

ruary, when snow shut down campus and the hill by Village C became a sledding hotspot, the provost made a name for himself as the man who took away President’s Day. At least that’s the way the more vocal opponents of the decision put it. But the fact is, while deciding whether the campus is open or closed is O’Donnell’s job, it is only a minor detail in the job description of one of the most misunderstood administrators on campus.

Although “provost” may not mean much to anyone but Latin scholars, the job can be summed up rather simply. The provost is a high-ranking university official in charge of all things academic. The deans, the registrar, the Office of

Student Affairs, the Office of Financial Aid, the University budget all fall under his jurisdiction.

He is also active in initiatives that take place across schools within the University, particularly international programs. Describing his own job, O’Donnell uses the metaphor of a corporation: If DeGioia is the CEO, setting the strategy for the institution, then the provost is the COO, managing day-to-day activities and keeping Georgetown on course. Or, as O’Donnell described it in an October 29, 2009 Voice article, he “makes the train run on time.”

As for the fancy name?

“We had to use an old Latin word for it to make it sound impressive enough for academics,” O’Donnell told me, laughing.

Far more interesting than what the provost does, however, is who the provost is. O’Donnell came to Georgetown in 2002, already an established scholar and administrator. After graduating from Princeton in 1972 and earning a Ph.D. from Yale in 1975, O’Donnell began a career as a classics professor that would lead him to Bryn Mawr, Catholic, Cornell, and Penn. Over the years, he has published multiple books and dozens of articles on history and philosophy.

Although O’Donnell’s academic pursuits are very dear to him, he is not one to be pigeonholed. His passions are diverse and unique; they paint a much broader picture of the man who sends out e-mails when it snows.

Jim O’Donnell is no Luddite

HILARY NAKASONE

“What is provost?”: O’Donnell oversees all Georgetown’s affairs from his ICC office.

It would be easy to assume that a classics professor would shy away from modern computing innovations, content instead with reading aging texts by lamplight. Quite the contrary, O’Donnell found himself embracing technology early on in a way that many of his peers did not.

In 1990 O’Donnell helped start the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, an electronic journal of book reviews, along with his colleague

Richard Hamilton. At the time of its inception, the Classical Review was one of only two e-journals devoted to the humanities. Today there are hundreds.

It was this progressive approach to education that brought O’Donnell to the attention of then-Pennsylvania University Executive Vice President John Fry in 1995. When Fry established a task force to overhaul Penn’s computing systems, O’Donnell was asked to head it. And when O’Donnell excelled in that position, he was given the job of Vice Provost for Systems and Computing, a position that Fry had planned to fill from outside the university.

O’Donnell proved to be a sound leader.

“It was frankly one of the best personnel decisions I ever made,” Fry said, “because I felt like he was a guy who clearly had a big career academically and didn’t need to be in administration, but who clearly had a gift. And it worked out great.”

Jim O’Donnell can quote Winnie the Pooh Although it’s been eight years since the two worked together at Penn, Fry, who is now the president of Franklin & Marshall, still speaks fondly of O’Donnell. He remembers one time in particular, when O’Donnell likened a situation at work to a Winnie the Pooh story that Fry had been reading to his children. He was struck by both the accuracy of the comparison and the insight with which it was delivered.

“He would know a story that would relate to a situation,” Fry said. “And he would know that— in the case of Winnie the Pooh— that he knows I have little kids, and knows I’m spending a lot of my time with all those books.”

This sort of moment highlights O’Donnell’s strengths. His knowledge bank ranges from Winnie the Pooh to St. Augustine of Hippo to old Doonesbury comic strips and—not unlike a computer—he can draw on the

most applicable piece of information depending on the situation.

It may be surprising, a respected academic drawing wisdom from a children’s story, but O’Donnell doesn’t shy away from insight, whatever the source.

“This guy’s intellectual capacity is huge,” Fry said. “And, you know, people thought that was quirky. I thought that was really cool, that he could put things in certain terms and certain ways that would most precisely describe things. It’s way more than any of us could do.”

Jim O’Donnell does not think Hitler is funny In the wake of the announcement that classes would be held on President’s Day, Georgetown students expressed their opinions in different ways. Some quietly accepted the change, appreciating the opportunity to get back on track. Others raged on Facebook and blogs about the unjust theft of a federal holiday. While the provost stands by his decision to offer classes, one student’s reaction did get his attention—a YouTube video posted by Georgetown internetcelebrity KingGeorgetown titled, “The Downfall of Liberal Leave.”

The video uses footage of an enraged Adolf Hitler in his bunker during the final days of World War II, taken from the 2004 German film Downfall. While the Führer rants, invented subtitles explain that he is livid about the provost’s decision to declare liberal leave, as it will interrupt his plans to go sledding and play in the snow.

O’Donnell’s response to the video was diplomatic and measured, quite the opposite of the outburst depicted.

“I thought the Hitler video was interesting. I’m not sure I ever think Hitler is funny about anything,” he said. “And I guess the other thing I would say, though— and I guess this does make a little bit light of it—is that if Hitler is against me, I’m not real worried.

When there’s a video that shows

feature

georgetownvoice.com that Hitler is supporting me then maybe I’ll start worrying about what my policies are.”

Jim O’Donnell has the blessing of the Man with the Mace As provost at Georgetown, one of the many administrators that works closely with O’Donnell is the registrar, John Q. Pierce—perhaps better known to many as the man who carries that big mace during convocation. Pierce is as blue and gray as they come: He graduated from the College in 1972, became the registrar in 1983, and boasts three Hoya sons—two graduated, one current. He holds Georgetown traditions to be sacred, and highly respects the Jesuit tradition.

While O’Donnell has only been a faculty member for a fraction of the time he has, Pierce sees that O’Donnell knows exactly what it means to be a Hoya.

“I’ve been very impressed with the extent to which he has grown to know and appreciate Georgetown in the relatively short time he’s been associated with the university,” Pierce said. “He has come to appreciate the people who make up the university and the traditions of the university in an absolutely remarkable way.”

Pierce is particularly impressed with the sensitivity and tact that O’Donnell shows with the rest of the faculty. Should a faculty member pass away, the provost is always there, reaching out and offering support to the rest of the staff.

Pierce also respects O’Donnell’s sense of the University’s Jesuit mission—something O’Donnell attributes largely to his Jesuit high school education.

After a number of Jesuits volunteered to proctor exams for absent professors during last semester’s final exam snowstorm, O’Donnell sent an e-mail to the entire faculty praising the Jesuits.

the georgetown voice 9

“He wrote a mass e-mail to the faculty that weekend talking about the Jesuits who had come through for us all in terms of ‘magis,’ which is a Jesuit concept of always striving to do more for the common good,” Pierce said. “He couched the praise for the Jesuits in Jesuit terms.”

Jim O’Donnell is a roving chocolate correspondent Amidst the slew of academic papers, scholarly reviews, and dense historical texts that O’Donnell has published, there are a handful of delightful surprises. One such treat, linked proudly on his personal website, is a 2006 article published in Chocolatier, a magazine devoted to that delicious confection. The article, entitled “Endless Quest,” chronicles the ongoing adventures that O’Donnell shares with his wife, searching across continents for the world’s most decadent chocolate. The piece is about the balance between cultural and culinary exploration, all made sweeter by virtue of the fact that he shares these adventures with his wife.

Though it may seem trivial, the cultural awareness O’Donnell shows when talking about chocolate falls directly in line with how understanding cultural differences help him perform as provost.

When asked about his chocolate hunting, O’Donnell puts it in a broader perspective.

“The chocolate is chocolate, but is also connected,” he said. “I find it exhilarating and fascinating to travel widely … I think our institution is wrestling hard with figuring out what it is to be a great national and international and global university in a world that is far more egalitarian, far more diverse, and far more complicated than ever before. So when I get a chance to go to someplace like Nepal, or India, or South Africa, I jump on it because I think I’m

HILARY NAKASONE

Jim O’Donnell is layered, like an onion: The donkey watches over the provost when he composes school closing e-mails. going to do a better job back here if I’ve met some people in those countries, if I’ve tried to understand something about the education there.”

While this idea guides him as he travels, he also enjoys travel for much simpler reasons.

“I think that also keeps me sane and just gives me perspective,” he said. “I mean, you can spend too much time in the office.”

As for his status as the only Georgetown administrator with the coveted title of Roving Chocolate Correspondent, O’Donnell sees his work as far from done.

“It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it,” he said. “I’m actually in training to add ‘and cupcake’ to that.”

Jim O’Donnell respects donkeys In many ways, the provost’s office is not very different from that of any other senior admin-

istrator. It is large and tastefully decorated with dark woods and earthy colors. Some artwork hangs on the walls, and the bookshelves are stocked and ordered.

It is much like any other senior administrator’s office—that is, if you ignore the life-sized donkey statue that sits dead center, facing O’Donnell’s desk like a watchful taskmaster. In fact, O’Donnell joked that he has been much more productive ever since the donkey showed up and started supervising him.

The statue, however, which is painted brown and illustrated with books, is not there as a joke.

O’Donnell is fascinated by donkeys. When I asked him how this came to be, O’Donnell responded incredulously.

“Well, how not?” he said.

“They’re very intelligent, very hard working.

Civilization wouldn’t have happened as it has ... if it weren’t for the donkeys who worked and still work very hard all the way around the world.”

From his personal website, O’Donnell links to a website for an international organization that he supports called The Donkey Sanctuary. The Donkey Sanctuary rescues mistreated and abused donkeys from around the world and brings them to be rehabilitated and looked after. “[Donkeys] are very intelligent, very hard working, and don’t get as much respect as they deserve. So I guess I would say I’m in the respecting donkeys business.”

Jim O’Donnell is our provost

JIM O’DONNELL’S PERSONAL WEBSITE

Tight squeeze: Ask his colleagues (or his cuddly animal friends), Jim O’Donnell is the right fit as Georgetown’s provost.

In a somber moment, Pierce shared a moving encounter he had with O’Donnell. When Dan-

iel Rigby died tragically of a fire in October of 2004, the entire Georgetown community felt the loss. Rigby’s death was particularly hard for Pierce and his wife, he explained, because in addition to the incredible sadness they felt for the Rigby family, they had to face the fact that their own son Patrick had lived only three months earlier in the very same room where Rigby died.

Rigby and Patrick had known each other from the rugby team, and Patrick had given Rigby his room. Pierce didn’t expect anyone else to make that connection, he explained, and thought it was something for his family to deal with alone. But then, unexpectedly, they received a call from O’Donnell expressing understanding and compassion for how they felt.

“That’s just a little thing,” Pierce said, “but it shows that he cares about people.”

Despite all of his quirks and eccentricities, his passions and projects, O’Donnell mostly stays behind the scenes. He remains to many a name in an e-mail. But maybe that’s not a bad thing.

“Dr. O’Donnell works in an understated sort of way, and so if you don’t need to see him and explicitly experience his leadership, then you won’t,” Pierce said.

“But, he’s very much involved in everything. And in some ways you have to admire someone who is in a very prominent position whom nevertheless works behind the scenes and subtly.”

While the masses may never notice O’Donnell, his colleagues can hardly forget his greatness.

His former boss, Fry, made a simple prediction.

“I think one day he will be the president of a great university.

No doubt.”

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

Traverse-ing 18th Century lust and innuendo

by Sean Quigley The Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program’s latest production, the D.C. premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Grace of Mary Traverse, is not for the faint of heart.

Set in turbulent late 18th-century London, the play follows a young Mary Traverse as she seeks identity, power, and experience, while constantly struggling with the complexities of the world and her own place within it. Her inexorable quest for liberation and knowledge is the force for the play’s drama. As she moves beyond her origins as a privileged and sheltered daughter of a wealthy merchant to an idealistic rabble-rouser, the play morphs from a stilted comedy of manners to a Faustian human drama.

Much of the play’s humor comes in the first act, and almost all of it is based around double entendres or puns. Mary is exposed to the wonders and dangers of the outside world by a Ms. Temptwell, introduced to the realm of sexual pleasure by a Mr. Hardlong, bombarded by ill-conceived come-ons

from an old Mr. Exrake. And so on.

Though written in 1985, Wertenbaker’s laughs come from the same comedic vein as Much Ado About Nothing—slightly silly, partly sexual, and unmistakably British.

As Mary continues her descent from the highest crust of society to the streets’ lowest depths, the play takes a darker turn. The second act is a fascinating study of the title character—intensely ambitious and selfabsorbed, we watch her struggle to come to terms with the sometimes brutal realities she so relentlessly seeks out. When everything she planned turns out hopelessly, terribly wrong, she’s forced to wonder if she herself is evil, or if she is simply the product of the harsh and unforgiving world she discovers around her. “I don’t understand the world yet, but I will, I will,” she vows.

The minimalistic set relies heavily on lighting changes and the Gonda Theatre’s moveable stage pieces, but the actors do a great job retaining the feel of colonial-era Britain.

Nikki Massoud’s (COL ‘11) Mary is fantastic, showing all the earnest curiosity and selfish, brooding restlessness that makes her character

HILARY NAKASONE

Did you know that Silence of the Lambs was originally set in London during the American Revolution? compelling. Danny Rivera (COL ‘11) plays a hilariously conflicted lord whose bid for historical greatness falls hopelessly short, and Jimmy Dailey (COL ‘11) provides a pompously refined Mr. Manners, whose steely demeanor and wit lend a steadying hand to the play’s rollicking drama. The only thing out of place is the scene transition music, which ranges from eerie ambience to downbeat trip-hop, damaging the cohesiveness of the experience.

It’s hard to believe that this play has never been performed in the District—questioning populism, democracy, and the conservative order, its human drama is backlit by a serious political and historical inquiry. Wertenbaker, a visiting professor at Georgetown from 2005 to 2006, will be on hand for the play’s opening on April 8th to participate in a question-and-answer session, and will be visiting classes throughout April. Her close collaboration with

Director Maya Roth is evident in the way the play’s climax manages to mix its examination of a kind of messy, violent populist precursor to democracy with the twisted interactions of its characters. Though it will test audiences’ patience as it drags a bit, its resolution is satisfying. A period piece with modern day implications? The Ghost of Mary Traverse is much ado about something—something British, something humorous, and wholly worth seeing.

Mmm Mmm: Mediterranean meat on M Street

by Chris Heller Ed Witt is not an ordinary chef. He is a tattooed, bald force of nature that just so happens to wear a chef’s apron. Yet he does not inspire images of fire and brimstone—his soft, drawling voice and laid-back attitude exist at odds with his shaved head and body ink.

As an aspiring engineer in the mid-1990s, Witt’s culinary interests pulled him away from the

University of Maryland and towards the West Coast, where he opened Jardinière, a French finedining restaurant, in San Francisco. Later, he moved to New York City, where he bounced up and down Manhattan for more than a decade, cooking at criticallyacclaimed restaurants such as Daniel and il Buco, working as fashion entrepreneur Marc Ecko’s personal chef, and appearing on Chopped, a competitive cooking reality show.

“I was going to be on Top Chef too, but they turned me down and told me I was too experienced,” Witt said.

Early last year, Witt decided to return to D.C., where he once studied at the Occidental Grill, to open Georgetown’s newest restaurant, Morso, with owner Mustafa Poyraz. After a month-long research trip in Turkey, he arrived at the corner of M Street and Potomac Street NW, where Morso will officially open next month,

If there were a bar on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, we think it’d look a lot like Morso’s.

Courtesy morso

with a modern take on classic Turkish cuisine.

The exterior of the restaurant is muted, but a step inside reveals an extensive and ornate sit-down restaurant. A sweeping L-shaped bar towards the back of the room is flanked by a large brick-oven and kitchen without cramping the space, which will fit sixty to seventy people, according to Witt.

Morso will serve small plate meals—a Turkish tapas bar, so to speak. Witt’s menu expands upon the dishes at Morso Express, the restaurant’s fast-food step-sister, adding a variety of seasonal fish and meat dishes—including grilled lamb and brick-oven baked snapper—to the flatbreads, wraps, and mezes currently offered next door.

The flatbreads alone should make a splash in Georgetown, where Chipotle burritos and Kitchen No. 1 serve as typical foreign fare. The four-cheese flatbread—topped with mozzarella, feta, kashar, and goat cheese—has a strong bite to it, but tastes familiar enough that it won’t scare away picky eaters. Another flat-

bread, filled with ground lamb, tomatoes, grilled peppers, garlic, and topped with an egg, will satisfy the more adventurous eaters among us.

Witt hopes that a devotion to high-quality food from local, sustainable sources will separate Morso from the deluge of recent restaurant openings, including Crêpe Amour and the soon-toopen Georgetown Wing Company, which share a single block of M Street with Morso. The menu will change with the season to accommodate the freshest local ingredients.

“We’re focused on quality and affordable food,” Witt said. “It won’t be the cheapest, but it’ll certainly be the highest quality around.”

And there’s the catch. While prices haven’t been formally set, Witt expects the average small plate to cost under $20, but also suggests that a dinner for two may require four to six small plates. And those prices, for college students, are a bit hard to swallow, even with fresh pita bread and multiple cheeses.

georgetownvoice.com

“And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten.”—Best in Show

the georgetown voice 11

Hey girl, I like your Tattoo Reviews, Haiku’d

by Leigh Finnegan If you want to understand the title of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, don’t blink. Lisbeth Salander, the movie’s inked-up heroine, does have a massive, detailed tattoo of a dragon encompassing her entire back and a good chunk of her leg, but during the film’s two and a half hours, it gets no mention and only passing screen time.

Like much of Salander’s dark, troubled, and oddly appealing nature, the body art never receives enough attention or explanation to warrant its inclusion in the title. The girl who bears the tattoo, however, is well-deserving of her prime billing.

Salander, played by Nordic actress Noomi Rapace, is the gravitational center of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a Swedish-language mystery thriller based on the first novel of Steig Larsson’s bestselling Millenium trilogy. The film chronicles Lisbeth’s partnership with Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a disgraced journalist about to be imprisoned for libel. A wealthy, elderly businessman from a family with a history of violence and Nazi ties seeks out Blomkvist, asking him to investigate the 40-year-old unsolved murder of his teenaged niece, Harriet Vanger. Salander, an unconventional-looking hacker, hops on board

after discovering files on Blomkvist’s computer and making the case’s first major breakthrough in decades. As the two delve deeper into the mystery (and an unlikely romance) and closer to the culprit—whom Harriet’s uncle insists must be a member of the large, dysfunctional Vanger clan—they find their own lives in immediate danger.

ImDB

“Wanna see my other dragon tattoo?”

Despite its exorbitant length and the potentially snoozeworthy nature of a decades-old crime, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo grips its audience from the beginning and doesn’t loosen for an instant. The numerous graphic scenes of rape and torture make the film difficult to watch at times, but also make it viscerally engaging. As the murder unravels with unexpected, disturb-

April is the smelliest month While the warm weather arriving on the Hilltop might bring out the best in Georgetown’s landscaping, rising temperatures often bring out the worst in what Georgetown students wear. Undoubtedly, North Faces and Vineyard Vines pullovers will be swapped for Rainbow sandals and crustacean-patterned khaki shorts, but these old standbys and other summertime favorites can result in embarrassing apparel pitfalls.

But fret not vernally ready en vogue friends! A few simple tips will help you successfully transition from those high-pulled UGGS to low-numbered SPF and a spring wardrobe without breaking a sweat.

Setting your feet free for

the spring by slipping on some sandals or flip-flops is as comfortable as it is convenient.

Kicking up your feet with some Havaianas on them, ritualistically speaking, is as important as kicking the clocks up an hour to know summer’s on its way.

But wearing your favorite pair of thongs out and about isn’t always rainbows and butterflies for everyone else, and bromhidrosis is usually to blame. Foot sweat leads to bacterial growth in open-toed shoes worn without socks, which in turn leads to ungodly foot smells worse than those emanating from the C&O canal on a scorcher.

For the bros around campus who love to wear their Rainbows, the almost too appropriately

ing twists, Salander’s own dark past rears its head, intertwined with the murder of Harriet Vanger. Although complex and thought-provoking, both mysteries are easy to follow and leave the viewer craving the puzzle’s next piece rather than trying to figure out the last one.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo owes much of its success to Rapace’s flawless performance in the titular role. The motorcycleriding, chain-smoking, sometimes violent Salander is a complicated and nuanced character, and Rapace enlivens her in a way that draws the audience, like the much-older Blomkvist, inescapably towards her. As her past (and present) experiences prompt Salander to avoid human attachment, Rapace commands a love from the viewer despite her character’s intimidating appearance.

After the suspenseful path toward the killer converges into a thrilling climax and then settles into a less heart-attackinducing resolution, the audience feels neither bored nor cheated out of an exciting ending. Rather, they are still wholeheartedly involved with the characters, begging to follow Salander ’s cloud of cigarette smoke into the next chapter of her life. Smart move by the studio—we’ll all be buying tickets to the rest of the trilogy.

named condition of bromhidrosis can be a serious distraction to your front lawn blanket buddies as well as classroom cohorts.

To avoid “Dude … you gotta change your shoes” moments on the lawn and the silent disgust of classmates, employ the olfactory discretion of someone you trust

Suffer for Fashion

by Keenan Timko

a bi-weekly column about fashion to see if a new pair is in order. A pair of new Rainbows can be expensive, so shop around for some cheap organic hemp sandals online if you want to make a purchase that’s both environmentally and economically sustainable.

Ladies can also benefit from the buddy system, but in regards to a different sartorial issue. So-

Now Playing Clash of the Titans When the Titans clash Their tunics don’t hide a lot Releasing “Krakens.”

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? T. Perry is back, But can you tell the difference Between his movies?

Opening April 9th Date Night Comedy giants Have a night out on the town, Yet, no one’s laughing.

Letters to God We won’t make a joke.

This movie’s about sick kids.

Stop laughing, asshole.

Opening April 16th Death at a Funeral Oh Danny Glover, I guess you needed the cash.

Too old for this shit.

Kick-Ass A comic-book flick, Nic Cage shooting little girls, This ain’t Ghost Rider.

—Leigh Finnegan, Brendan Baumgardner, and Chris Heller

called Daisy Dukes, jean cut offs, can showcase lawn-ready legs, but far too often they also show off a little more in the back than bargained for. While I’m sure the aforementioned Rainbowwearing bros might wish to catch a little bit of crack during class, the rest of us aren’t too interested.

First, buns distract eyes from the board. As much as we’d all like to be in class for “Map of the Modern Tush,” we’re not, and a scandalous flash of the fanny might get studied more closely than its owner would like. Additionally, those who put the “whale” in whale-tailing should be told that the only muffin tops visible in class should be in the form of a quick breakfast snack from Leo’s.

High-rise skirts and fluorescentcolored hot pants are a breezy and trendy solution to covering up what should not be seen.

My final piece of advice is yet again smell and looks related, but this time applies to guys and gals alike. Regrettably, hot weather means more tanktops and cutoffs. Maybe it’s just me, but aside from sporting Ed Hardy-related apparel, there is no greater way to lower your IQ in the eyes of others than to don a t-shirt with its sleeves cut off.

This fact aside, be conscious that if you do exercise your right to bare arms, your underarms are in full view with nothing in the way to obstruct a good whiff or view from those near by. So slap on some deodorant and leave your sleeves where they’re supposed to be, or risk your spring wardrobe going to the pits.

Keenan naturally sweats Febreeze, honest! Smell for yourself at ktimko@georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

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

Das Racist, Shut Up, Dude, Selfreleased When “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” blew up on the music blogosphere last summer, it provoked a firestorm of controversy—depending on who you asked, it was either insipid, repetitive drivel or witty, inventive joke rap. On Shut Up, Dude, the group’s debut mixtape, Himanshu Suri and Victor Vasquez retain that same goofy, culturally literate sense of humor while proving themselves capable lyricists. With limber, lazy flows over a range of dancy, bassheavy electro beats that sound like a cross between vintange Timbaland and something that didn’t make the final cut of Kala, the duo mixes social commentary with erudite witticisms, poking fun at everything from racial stereotypes to cultural memes.

The breadth of the cultural references here is truly astounding—Suri and Vasquez name-

drop everyone from John Phillip Sousa to W.E.B. DuBois, call themselves “the black Tintin/ the Jewish Mel Gibson,” and compare themselves to the Zac Brown Band. Take one stretch of “Don Dada,” for example: “I shoplifted Tao Lin’s Shoplifting from American Apparel/but I didn’t get caught, like Perry Farrel/Hot Strawberry Darryl/Hanna-Barbera/Burberry cologne on/looking for a skull to get my bone on.” Not many rappers would even try to string together references to hipster-lit royalty, the frontman for Jane’s Addiction, a former all-star outfielder, and the creators of the Flintstones before euphemizing oral sex, but Shut Up, Dude, is littered with such effortlessly absurd non-sequiturs. Thanks to alliteration and multi-syllable rhyming, though, the incongruous lines flow together easily.

Suri and Vasquez are slyly astute students of hip-hop, jacking rhyme schemes from Jay-Z over a Ghostface beat, or biting a line from the Clipse and turning it into a Lil Wayne reference.

But there’s too much self-deprecating or ironic humor on Shut Up, Dude for anyone to mistake their precociousness for the pretentious, righteous swagger that dominates the rap underground these days.

Drug references and name drops aside, Shut Up, Dude

Yeah, I like playing outside too This past weekend, emboldened by some incredible weather, I did something that I hadn’t done in a very long time: I brought an acoustic guitar outdoors. To be honest, I brought it to the dog park near Whitehaven Parkway in Burleith—which is a far cry from playing on Healy Lawn or White-Gravenor (at least from the perspective of sheer gall) and I fared pretty well given that there weren’t many people around.

It’s hard to say when I first became aware of how much college students hate encountering acoustic guitars outdoors.

It probably became clear to me

sometime between seeing the guitar-smashing scene in Animal House and hearing Mike Birbiglia’s “Guitar Guy at the Party,” but who really knows. At this point, public performance is basically about a step above streaking in terms of the entertainment-versus-embarrassment balance, especially if you’re not careful about it.

On one hand, I get it: “Wonderwall” is a pretty sappy song, and watching some bro pour his heart out can be bit much. But on the other hand, the collective dislike of acoustic guitars outdoors is completely irrational. Consider, for example, all

skates from semi-serious social commentary to tongue-in-cheek cultural criticism without missing a beat. It’s aesthetically cohesive, ultra-literate, and never afraid to laugh at its own absurdity. Somewhere in there, there’s something about corporatism, racism, the American dream, and what it means to be the son of Indian immigrants in Queens in 2010. It’s just tough to find it between all the toilet jokes and raps about weed-impaired White Castle runs.

Voice’s Choices: “Rainbow in the Dark,” “Shorty Said,” “Hugo Chavez” —Sean Quigley

Jónsi, Go, XL Recordings Sigur Ros’s Jónsi Þór Birgisson, a fairy-like, grandeur-loving vocalist with a keen sense of drama, teamed up with his boyfriend Alex last year to release an ambient album called Riceboy

of the sports that occur on Copley or Healy Lawn: Frisbee, football, “catch,” volleyball, and most ridiculous of all, that bean-bag-toss game (don’t call it anything else—it’s tossing bean bags through a hole). In my mind, those activities can be

Yr Blues

by Daniel Cook a bi-weekly column about music just as ostentatious, if not more so, as playing a few songs on the guitar because they take up far more space, they’re just as loud, and they usually involve the removal of a few shirts. The “Wonderwall” bro may be awful for his own reasons, but he

Sleeps. It was a genre experiment that favored washed-out noise, and though it had its moments, it turned off a lot of Sigur Ros fans who preferred the band’s penchant for build-ups toward moments of immediate, stunning beauty. Thankfully, Jónsi’s solo record, Go, has those moments in droves, and with his expanded use of the English language, it makes for ultimately one of the most life-affirming records I’ve ever heard.

Lead single “Boy Lillikoi” captures the album’s sonic aesthetic. Jónsi’s layered vocals have a lulling effect, perfectly suited to the calmly-plucked acoustic guitar and faint horn section behind him. About 90 seconds in, a hyperactive rhythm section takes over as he implores us to, “Use your eyes, the world goes aflutter by.” It’s some of the most wide-eyed romanticism we’ve ever heard from Jónsi, who typically sings in a gibberish romantic language called Hopelandic.

Throughout the album’s vibrant first half, the surprisingly kinetic rhythm section plays just as much a role as the guitars, flutes, and other flourishes that constitute Go’s fantasy land.

Opener “Go Do” is a stunning example of that mix, an unbelievably happy tune that sounds a lot like Sigur Ros’s riveting “Gobbledigook.” With Jónsi sound-

still knows that it’s not kosher to pop it off outside, regardless of how hot it gets.

Beyond the obvious fact that sports are a more normalized outdoor activity (you can’t exactly throw the bean bags inside, right?), music simply garners too much instant criticism these days. Almost anyone can play “catch” on the lawn, but not everyone can play guitar, so that guy or girl is suddenly under the microscope. The stakes are entirely unfair though. If the girl playing “Like a Rolling Stone” isn’t at least decent, then she’s a joke—yet no one expects the guys playing catch to throw like Jeter.

I don’t ask for much, dear reader, only that you hold every-

ing relaxed and convinced of his own optimism as he sings, “We should always know that we can do everything,” it’s easy to be convinced, too.

“Animal Arithmetic” follows, continuing with unbridled optimism. “Everyday, everywhere, people are so alive,” Jónsi sings. “Tornado” slows things down a bit, its strings more sweeping than the quick bursts in the other tracks. “I wonder if I’m allowed just ever to be,” he asks as the song draws to a close. On “Around Us,” he extends his themes to the circle of life, with Jónsi singing, “We all want to grow with the seeds we will sow/We all want to go with the breeze we will blow/ We all want to know when we’re all meant to go.”

Even on the album’s lesser tracks—“Sinking Friendships” and “Hengilas”—the focus remains on life’s big questions and Jónsi’s big musical arrangements. That may disappoint fans of Sigur Ros, who are used to a bit more build and nuance from Jónsi. For the vast majority of listeners, though, Go will be a real treat, a reminder of the beauty we can only find by living and embracing the present.

Voice’s Choices: “Go Do,” “Boy Lillikoi” —Justin Hunter Scott

one to the same standard. So, the next time someone drops an easy catch on the lawn, turn to your friends and laugh. Note how stupid it was for them to flaunt their talent in public, and then shame them until they think twice about playing sports on the lawn in the future. If you’re not enough of an a-hole to say anything, be sure to shoot dirty looks and look around as if you can’t pinpoint what’s bothering you, but damn, is it annoying.

The more you can do to put that person in their place, the better.

Oh, I’m not bitter about it or anything. I just believe in equality.

Tell Dan what you like to strum on at dcook@georgetownvoice.com

georgetownvoice.com Does anyone in here get hit with inside fever? So bad sometimes it’s hard to move around. The couch fibers keep you inside, and you whine you shouldn’t waste your mornings. You take a walk.

Our bedroom, cluttered with our books, magazines, drafts, crumpled sketches— strewn on the floor, the night table, the dresser. Dead bugs and cords and plugs sleep by the molding. It’s all enough to keep me busy in the morning and afternoon, but the sun sets fast without telling anyone.

Where do the days go? Just before, we were a couple smiling, cooking things together. Lazy dinners, and blue T.V. glow remind you of all the things you are not doing.

I slipped out from under the blankets, and used the light from my cell phone to find my clothes, so I wouldn’t wake her. All you could hear were the tires of taxicabs splashing the standing puddles. Dressed now, I touched her cheek with the backs of my fingers and tucked her hair behind her ear. I kissed her forehead and wondered if I could be happy doing that for the next 50 years. Hope I can.

I turned the doorknob as I closed the door behind me, muffling its creaking as best I could.

The pavement was grey and yellow with the glimmer of street lamps. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and turned the collar of my coat up, and started walking. I dreamed all the clocks around the city had died.

I’m taking a walk. The crosswalk signal blinks and I hurry across the intersection, my shoes splashing as I go, the toes of my socks dampening. A rabid dog, drooling madness, howls inside my head. But everywhere else is silent. No low murmurings of midnight birds, they’re sleeping. Rat families are cuddling together, done rummaging through street corner trash. No more noise. 41st, 40th, 39th … just drizzle.

It’s silent drizzle, beautiful, dark and cloudy. The droplets are cool on the hairs of your arms and neck. Everything’s coated with water, but not drowning, just rippling and vibrating. That’s odd, that street lamp is melting—and so are my hands.

I cross the street and walk inside this allnight food deli, and everything’s solid again.

I walk up to the man behind the counter.

His face is tanned leather, his smile gold plated. This was someone who shouldn’t be working at a Bodega. I decided he was the last alchemist, with an apartment full of gold and that he would come and leave this city on the back of a dromedary, something befitting his nobility. He asks me, “How can I help you, may I help you?” “Yeah, just a pack of cigarettes.”

But the colors of a fruit basket by the counter reach out to grab my eye out of its socket. There’s a cluster of red, and orange.

And one brillant yellow, gleaming brighter than the street lamps. The yellow hurt so bad that I couldn’t look at it anymore. Okay, okay I don’t want to lose my eye. “I’ll take the lemon too.” “Yes, very good, it has good vitamins, everyone needs the vitamins,” he says. I nod my head, “Thank you, sir.”

Stepping out of the store feels like walking off the edge of a cliff, eyes closed and hoping you can fly. When your stomach flips over on itself—I love that feeling.

He caught me by the collar of my coat.

“Hey kid, watch your step there.” His clothes are tattered. He was wearing two holey sweaters, gloves with no fingers, grease garbage residue visible on the curly hair that rested on his shoulders. Military jacket. Sgt.?

Or is it Lt.? I couldn’t read the small letters of

fiction his name stitched on his chest.

I looked up at him, “Thanks, I almost ate shit there.” He smiled back with black teeth.

He was tall, lank and lean, meager and stiff.

It looked like his bones are going to wound him from the inside out. I was scared of him, but fascinated. I wanted to hide, but only to observe him at a distance. He seemed happy with desolation, the solitude that comes with sleeping on church steps and laughing at the

circle of eggy blood pus oozing and staining the top of his foot.

“Sucks,” he grunted. “It’s the only way I can reach. Hurts like a bitch you know.” He sighed with pleasure when he finally got the itch. “But you get by.”

“Hey man, can I get you a cab to a hospital or something.” I pointed to his stained foot, “That doesn’t look so good.” Just then a camel carrying a large figure in tan robes on its back,

Street Flash

By Joseph Romano police officer who beats you for loitering.

Until blood gushes from your nose and mouth, until your body is breaking and your mind splitting.

“That’s all right.” I saw his eyes move to the pack of still-wrapped cigarettes I held in my hand. He pointed, “Can I bum a smoke?”

“Yeah, sure.” I unwrapped the plastic, threw it on the pavement, handed him a cigarette and lit it for him. It was the least I could do.

He exhaled and gave a big sigh as he looked at the black dream sky. “Doesn’t it look like it’s falling?”

I was put off by the truth of what he said. Also by the fact that his body seemed to flicker in broken frames, like when a television has lost its signal. Then he sat down on the sidewalk bringing one leg as close as possible to his chest, pulling his pant leg to scratch an itch under his cast. It was a huge cast that ran from the top of his knee to his toes, and was covered in street-sweeper grime—save for a

galloped out of the Bodega, hooves clacking and muzzle slavering, as the rider and beast disappeared around the street corner.

Sergeant didn’t seem to make anything of it, and said nothing—so I said nothing.

I grabbed his hand and helped him get to his feet. He limped towards the store and took the cane that was leaning against the store window. I hadn’t seen it.

“No way I’m gonna be caught dead in a hospital,” he murmured to himself. He started to walk away. “Not gonna be a pig in a cage on antibiotics. Nope. No I’m not, nope.”

He was shaking his head stiffly, so that his greasy hair seesawed back and forth.

“Listen; that’s all right, I’ll take you back to my place,” I blurted out without thinking.

“You, all you ridiculous people, you think you can help, don’t you?” He limped as fast as he could towards me. His face was close enough that I could see black capillaries filling the whites of his eyes. I was frozen to the spot, but then unfrozen by his hot breath

JIN-AH YANG

the georgetown voice 13

yelling, “Do you!?”

I smiled fire right back at him, “Hey, I’m just offering you a bed for the night, I don’t want anything from you. Just trying to help.”

I kept smiling and staring at him until I saw the muscles in his face begin to relax.

“You know,” he said, “You’re full of shit,” putting his arm around me as we started walking back to my apartment. I took a couple deep breaths.

He seemed more relaxed now, and I thought he might like talking. I asked him who he was, where he came from, and what his service was like. At this, his smile faded and now vacant eyes stared straight ahead.

It was as if memories were flooding the halfalive brain of a reanimated corpse. I was stupid to have asked.

We walked six blocks without saying a word before he turned to me.

“Listen up, kid. There are barn doors and there are revolving doors, doors on rudders of big ships, we are revolving doors. There are doors that open by themselves, there are sliding doors that are secret doors. There are doors that lock and doors that don’t. There are doors that let in and out, but never open—they are trapdoors—doors you don’t come back from.

“Careful that you don’t fall in. Good thing I grabbed ya, right?”

I said nothing and he said nothing, as I opened the door to the apartment building.

I pressed 8 on the elevator, and the door slid open. I walked in, he limped in, we both turned to face the closing door. I felt like the silence was going to eat me. There wasn’t even elevator music playing.

The doors slid open again and I walked out and he limped out, thudding his cane on the wood floor with each step.

“The couch is too small, it’ll be bad for your leg. You can sleep in my bed,” I muttered, fumbling my keys trying to find the right one.

Before I could find it, he came up from behind me, pushed the door open with his cane, and walked in. I stood in the doorway wondering why it was unlocked. I never leave it unlocked. Eventually, I went in.

I locked the door and turned around. We met eyes and neither of us moved. My skin prickled. Finally, I broke from his gaze and I started down the hallway to the bedroom, not looking back to see if he was following.

She was still sleeping. “Hey, Anna,” I whispered gently shaking her shoulder. “Hey, Anna wake up.”

“What, what is it?” she was still in that half-state between waking and sleeping.

“An old friend of mine is here, and he needs a place to stay. But I don’t want to make him sleep on the couch because his leg is hurt.

And I’ll just make do— ” She just got up grabbed her pillow and her blanket without saying a word. I couldn’t believe it took that little convincing.

He appeared at my left.

“Here you go, there’s plenty of pillows to prop up your leg. If you want water or food you can help yourself, don’t worry about waking Anna or me.

“Who’s Anna?” he asked.

“My girlfriend, she was just in here, you didn’t see her?”

He sat on the bed, grabbed his casted leg, and swung it on top of the comforter.

“Anyway, yeah, she’s my girlfriend. I’m gonna ask her to marry me.” I had finally said it out loud.

But he was ready to drift off, so I stopped talking. I covered him with an extra blanket, and turned the knob so the door wouldn’t make any noise closing.

voices

14 the georgetown voice

april 8, 2010

Internships: Opportunities or virtual slavery?

by Cyrus Bordbar Yesterday, I spent about half an hour interviewing over the phone. If I’m lucky and the interview turns out to be a success, I will have the opportunity to spend the summer away from my family and friends, in “accommodations” provided by my employer, working 40-hour weeks, and earning exactly zero dollars. This might sound terrifying to some people. Modernday indentured servitude, others might call it. And yet I’m kind of hoping I get the job.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been sending e-mails, checking websites, databases, and the always reliable Craigslist. Since learning exactly what a cover letter is, I’ve written more than my fair share of them, and constantly, neurotically tweaked my resume to give myself a leg up on the thousands of faceless college students I am competing with.

Like many of my peers, both at Georgetown and at colleges around the country, I’ve been

hunting for a summer internship. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 83 percent of graduating college students in 2008 had held an internship at some point in their college career. And, like many of my peers, there’s a good chance I won’t get paid for it.

With the decline of the economy and internship experience becoming more and more critical for future job prospects, it’s become easier for companies to get away with offering students internships without any compensation. Case in point: a 2000 Newsweek article’s subhead read, “Flush with offers of $20 an hour, benefits and even stock options, interns these days are in the driver’s seat.” A decade later, a Newsweek article from this week is titled, “Can you afford to be a summer intern?”

Unpaid internships have become so widespread, that, according to an April 2 New York Times article, the Department of Labor and state officials are launching investigations and fining compa-

nies, worried that employers are illegally enjoying free labor under the guise of providing young people with internships. Under federal law, if interns are to be unpaid, their work must not provide “immediate advantage” to the employer. Of course, defining the advantage, or lack thereof, provided by an intern is difficult, and many interns are unwilling to come forward to complain, fearing that doing so could endanger their future job prospects.

With the Great Recession wreaking havoc on family finances, though, many students can no longer afford to spend their summer working without pay. The few thousand bucks one could make working even a menial, minimum wage job could take a big bite out of next year’s student loans or textbook purchases. As someone who will be spending the fall semester studying abroad, I could definitely use the extra money to spend on living expenses (as well as souvenirs and travel).

Why do we do this? Why aren’t we applying for traditional summer jobs at supermarkets or restaurants or amusement parks, like the characters in all those coming-of-age comedies, jobs where we’d be guaranteed to come out of the break having earned a few thousand dollars?

The first issue is, as humbling as this may be, I don’t necessarily think we could get many of these paying non-internship jobs.

Sure, being on the first honor roll last semester looks fancy on a resume, but the manager of Safeway is probably more interested in whether or not you know how to work a cash register.

Compounding the problem is the fact that we’re ambitious— maybe overly-ambitious—people. While spending the summer lounging at the beach or earning plenty of spending money would be fun, I’d come back to the Hilltop feeling like those three months had been wasted.

I could have been working with some exciting company, and even if much of my time had

been spent getting people coffee without even being reimbursed for gas money, I still would have come out of it with some insight into how a real business or organization runs, and a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate.

Ultimately, I don’t think I’d be satisfied not taking the leap to something bigger and better, even if that something bigger and better is an unpaid internship that I maybe can’t afford.

By sacrificing a little bit now— going without spending money or taking out a few thousand more dollars in student loans—I get an early peek into the next stage of my life, and maybe get the experience and connections necessary to succeed in that stage after I graduate.

Cyrus Bordbar is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service and a staff writer for the Voice. He used to work at Costco.

Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice resort to Plan B

by Molly Redden Based on reader comments on the Voice’s and The Hoya’s websites, students reacted almost uniformly to students chaining themselves to the statue of John Carroll as part of a Plan A: Hoyas they agreed with the protest’s cause, but not with the way in which it was executed.

And with protesters demanding the on-campus sale of condoms as if it was a matter of life or death and shouting fabrications at families visiting for Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program weekend—like the complete falsehood they spread at their March 26 protest that Georgetown has one of the highest rates of sexual assault of any college in the country—it was hard to disagree. Plan A’s manner of protest was a little over the top. At the same time, the University has proved over and over again that the best approach for students seeking radical change is to get, well, radical. I can hardly blame them.

Given their inflammatory tactics, it’s easy to forget that Plan A set out to change University policy through conversational, “normal” means. It was only after the group sent a letter to President John DeGioia in early February, without telling

campus or the student press— in other words, without trying to garner campus-wide attention—and received a formulaic response that they took their campaign public. At a rally in Red Square, Plan A’s petition to make contraceptives, sex education, and other sexual health materials available on campus collected dozens of signatures.

At this point, it should have been clear to the University that this group would not back down without a serious answer.

Two weeks later, on Saint Patrick’s Day, a student dressed as condom-hoarding leprechaun “Jack O’Gioia” appeared in Red Square to shower passersby with prophylactics. The first GAAP weekend protest took place the following week.

The student protesters had, and still have, the responsibility to effect change through truthful means—the falsehood-shouting has to stop. However, I’m hard pressed to think of another way a group of students could have gotten a meeting with administrators without being the squeaky wheel. That’s exactly how other groups with long-ignored agendas did it.

A quick look at the Voice archives serves as a reminder that it wasn’t the three grisly hate crimes in the fall of 2007 that finally led to the establishment

of the LGBTQ Center, but rather students’ loud reactions to the incidents. Following an assembly in Red Square, fruitless meetings with administrators and a town hall that was aborted when DeGioia would not participate, students marched into DeGioia’s office and staged a sit-in, finally effecting muchneeded policy change. Not coincidentally, Georgetown netted some negative outside media coverage in the interim.

Starting in the fall of 2008, the Student Commission for Unity was armed to the teeth with cold, hard data showing that an alarming number of students felt their school and peers had created an unwelcoming and exclusionary campus atmosphere. What did it take to spur the school to commit to acting on SCU’s suggestions?

Not just the astoundingly offensive April Fools’ Issue that The Hoya published last April, but students’ reaction to that issue—sit-ins and a four-hundred-person forum that demonstrated what SCU had already proved empirically.

For now, it’s still difficult to judge the extent to which Plan A’s noisy, disruptive approach “worked” for them. While Plan A’s March 26 protest resulted in another letter from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd

LEXIE HERMAN

John Carroll is into bondage ... and apparently so is John DeGioia.

Olson—essentially a reiteration of his February 24 boilerplate letter—their Saturday, March 27 protest at the very least won them a meeting and a planned future follow-up meeting with school administrators.

Depending on your perspective, you might consider the scheduling of this meeting as a victory. Of course, with Plan A providing only scant details on their blog and declining to comment on how their Tuesday, March 30 meeting with Olson and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jeanne Lord went, no one can say for sure how or even if the discussion differed from the rote letters they have al-

ready recieved. But even if the University refuses Plan A’s demands for the time being, Plan A has at least gotten the University to respond to the issue, the way that it should respond to an issue with substantial student support: not with a dismissive pair of letters, but with real discussion. And they only had to chain themselves to a statue and end up on NBC local news.

Molly Redden is a junior in the College and blog editor for the Voice. She wants condoms on campus but will settle for true love.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Georgetown achieves non-Christian dharma

by Nikhil Lakhanpal As I toured Georgetown one final time before making my college decision, the question “Would I fit in at a Catholic university?” lingered in my mind. I was raised Hindu, but my religion never played a large role in my life. During my childhood, I was introduced to my religion’s core values and beliefs, but never explored anything beyond the basics. However, that’s not to say that I don’t appreciate religion’s role in society. Religion can unite communities and restore people’s faith.

For these reasons I have always respected Georgetown’s Catholic faith. I found its Jesuit ideals appealing and fitting when I researched the school. However, as an 18-year-old just finishing his final month of high school, I was still coming to terms with the concept of religion and deciding what role it should play my life. I wondered how I would feel attending a university where religion was a part of daily life. Other questions regarding my college experience began

to surface. How religious were students at Georgetown? Was church required? Would a Catholic identity be forced upon me? Some of these questions may seem juvenile now, but as a high school student who did not attend a religious high school, I couldn’t help but wonder.

Thankfully, after spending freshman year exploring the questions I faced about whether or not I would fit in at a Catholic university, I feel that I have matured culturally and intellectually through exposure to the Jesuit presence on campus.

Since I have only been on the Hilltop for a mere seven months, I’m not completely certain as to why I feel Georgetown possesses the perfect amount of religious influence on campus balanced with accomodation for students of diverse religious backgrounds.

However, a couple of experiences encapsulate how Georgetown achieves this important balance.

I first met Father Pat Rogers during Leadership and Beyond, a pre-orientation program held in late August. As my group sat

at lunch with him, we discussed Campus Ministry and its role on campus. I had the pleasure of spending more time with Father

“

was set. When the Bill ClintonMonica Lewinsky scandal broke, I thought the oral sex referenced in New York Times articles had something to do with Clinton literally talking to this woman about sex, apparently in an inappropriate way because it was such a big story. Once again, I asked my mother to clarify, and she told me that oral sex was something that a woman does for a man when she really loves him.

I heard of blow jobs in seventh grade, when a girl on my soccer team was planning on “giving a BJ” to her friend’s older brother after practice, but I had no idea what a “BJ” was. I didn’t learn what BJ stood for or what it entailed until high school.

One would think that boarding school would be a hot bed for sexual educatio—the good kind, with lots of licentious details and helpful tips. And when I left my home for a New Hampshire boarding school my freshman year, it was a revelation, relatively speaking. That doesn’t mean much, though, for a white, recently-lapsed Catholic girl from a Connecticut suburb.

Let The Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves the right to edit submissions for accuracy, length and clarity. To submit, e-mail voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office Leavey 413.

peer institutions do not have. But because I respect the Jesuit ideals and am open to the beliefs of other people, I rarely think twice about

My identity as a Georgetown student is not singularly defined by my belief in Vishnu—and that’s how things should be.

Pat during ESCAPE, an overnight retreat for first-year students. During all my interactions with Father Pat, I never once felt religiously out of place. In fact, most of our conversation focused on Father Pat’s fortunate avoidance of the media at the Syracuse game (you’ll have to ask him yourself). In fact, the only time we even discussed religion was when we talked about the Interreligious Encounter and Dialogue course and the outstanding work Rabbi Harold White and Imam Yahya Hendi have done for the University.

My second experience with religion at Georgetown came in

A Savage approach to sex-ed Everything I learned about sex I learned from Dan Savage. I wish that was a gross exaggeration, but it’s not. I’ve spent most of my life ignorant of, misinformed about, or terrified of sex. For the uninitiated, Dan Savage is an internationally-syndicated sex and relationship advice columnist.

Think a male, gay, “Dear Abby” who instructs readers on how to pull off things like threesomes and polyamory instead of successful dinner parties.

I learned about the “birds and the bees” aspect of sex from ... actually I don’t know where.

Health class at school? Movies?

Books? It’s hard to say. I definitely did not learn about the specifics from my mother. When I was five or six I asked her how babies were made, and she told me it happened when grown-up men and women “cuddle.” A few days later when my friend and I were playing “pretend house,” which mostly entailed aping our parents’ behavior, I told him we had to stop because I did not want to get pregnant.

From this experience, the precedent for my sexual ignorance

my humanities and writing class, taught by Father Alvaro Ribeiro.

I didn’t know what to expect going into the class-–would Father

Many of my friends had their first kisses and first sexual experiences in high school. They would tell me in hushed whispers about an awkward hand job in the back pews during evening meditation, or about how an older guy had an impossibly pointy tongue that darted in and out of your mouth while he slobbered all over your lips. That was how I learned the mechanics of “making out,” although the specifications of a

Carrying On

by Kate Mays A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

hand job and, scarier still, a blowjob, still eluded me.

It’s not that my friends and I didn’t talk about sex, but we talked about sex couched in terms of relationships. Which is how my mother taught me to talk about sex: never discuss the specifics, only refer to a vague act that happens in the context of a loving relationship. I am going to assume that this is why my mother didn’t think she needed to explain how to do things, because she assumed that once I was in a loving relationship with a man who loves me, he will be more than happy to explain everything.

So I sort of learned what “a 69” was from my friend Hillary, but I

Ribeiro force us to write about religious texts and ideas? It turned out that Father Ribeiro was just like any other English teacher. The only values he tried to convey were those involving the English language.

Georgetown has reinforced my ability to remain open to new ideas without confining myself to a standardized set of beliefs. I have not changed as a Hindu, and I find it perfectly acceptable that I attend a Catholic university. Sure, I walk by a church every day on my way back to Village C East, see crosses in every classroom, and deal with philosophy and theology requirements that many of Georgetown’s didn’t feel comfortable asking her exactly why she experienced lockjaw because “it” took too long. I heard horror stories about girls who bled their first times, and was told unequivocally that it “would hurt like a motherfucker.”

I was simultaneously envious and disdainful of my friends’ experiences. My mother’s “lessons” about sex instilled in me a very serious regard for everything sexual, including kissing. I was so paralyzed with fear over my first kiss, because of the importance of it all, that it wasn’t until freshman year in college that I managed to get it over and done with, thanks to a good friend and some liquid courage.

My first kiss marked a significant attitude shift about sex. Casually kissing could be fun, even with a guy on our high school hockey team who I’d always considered an idiot; did I really need to be in a serious relationship to have sex? Serendipitously, this was also around the time when I was introduced to Dan Savage’s column, Savage Love.

His readers sent in questions about such seemingly depraved acts that my concerns about casual sex seemed trivial. If it didn’t involve bondage, water-sports, or insert-kink-here, random sex was absolutely vanilla. Savage’s openness and non-judgment about everything from threesomes to open relationships was shocking and enlightening. He had principles I’d never heard of, like the idea that everyone should be GGG— ”Good, Giving, and Game—for

”

this. My identity as a Georgetown student is not singularly defined by my belief in Vishnu—and that is how things should be. I feel that students with diverse religious backgrounds have a responsibility to remain open to new ideas, cultures, and beliefs in order gain the most from their Georgetown experience.

Nikhil Lakhanpal is a freshman in the Business School. He likes Georgetown’s religious tolerance, but wishes Leo’s served more curry. their partner. He made sex sound like an endlessly fun part of life that, if approached with a sense of humor and an open mind, isn’t actually all that scary.

I wish I’d come across Dan Savage’s column and podcast earlier in my life. Learning about how babies are made is important; equally important is learning how to navigate adult sexual relationships. Because of Dan Savage I stopped being so scared of and embarrassed by sex and started being assertive instead.

Who knew women masturbated?

I didn’t until sophomore year of college. Porn no longer freaks me out, and I’ve discarded the notion of appropriate feminine sensibilities when it comes to sex. I’ve become more comfortable with myself overall. There is nothing more vulnerable than being naked with someone else; getting through that without dying of mortification first was a big deal for me, and a pleasant surprise.

I don’t totally disagree with my mother—sex is something you do with someone you love.

But can also be something you do with someone you like, or someone who seemed like a good idea at the time. As long as you’re safe and smart, that’s okay.

Kate Mays is a senior in the College and former editor in chief of the Voice. She is not only GGG but also DTF.