9 12 13

VOICE the georgetown

0

STUDENTS REACT TO SATELLITE RESIDENCE PROPOSAL PAGE 4

FOOTBALL DOMINATES UNDER THE LIGHTS PAGE 7

‘INSIDIOUS 2’ RISES FROM THE GRAVE PAGE 11

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w September 12, 2013 w Volume 49, Issue 5 w georgetownvoice.com

THE CREATIVE APPROACH Engaging the arts and rearranging the education equation at Georgetown

by Minali Aggarwal

2 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

georgetownvoice.com twitter.com/gtownvoice facebook.com/georgetownvoice

Voice Crossword “September Themeless” by Tyler Pierce 31. Little troublemaker 32. Big wine holder 34. Simplified CPU design strategy 37. “Beowulf,” e.g.

39. You can roll it into a joint 43. Knight’s saber 44. It may be due on a duplex 45. Con 46. “What’ve you been ___?”

47. Farming based 49. Buildup of liver tissue 53. Lens cover?

54. Flood 56. Like tears 57. Mosaic tiles 58. Star that stands out 59. “C’___ la vie!”

60. Scarf material 61. Earned a citation?

Down

Across 1. Reefer 5. It’s the same in Latin 9. Trendy 12. Soft tissue tumor 14. Circus Hall of Fame site 16. Neanderthal 17. Calls Billy Suzy 18. There’s one at Gilbatrar

19. Glues, zippers, lids, etc.

20. Wrestling move 23. ___-Israeli relations 24. Marine eagle 25. Christmas carol 27. Concord 28. They’re all over Henle 29. Ma, the cellist 30. Agreeable

1. Order of mosquitos 2. Effective 3. Hair salon stock 4. Internet messages 5. Belief system 6. Oration station 7. Gaelic language 8. Desert bread 9. Achilles, e.g.

10. Stress, in a way 11. Ignore 12. Whipper

13. Opposite 15. Pepperoni counterpart 21. Anderson, of news 22. Georgetown bridge 26. Caring 27. Aardvark’s morsel 31. Crystal meth, in slang 33. Mila Kunis, e.g.

34. Plunders 35. Give responsibility to 36. Looks down on 38. Podded plant 39. Cleft lip 40. Leather dyed with soluble dyes 41. Like some glass 42. Block 43. See-through sheet 48. Calls of disappointment 50. Keats creations 51. Delhi wrap 52. And others, for short 55. “A rat!”

Answers to last week’s sudoku

Answers to last week’s crossword

ARE YOU A LOGOPHILE? Share your love of words and help us write crosswords.

Email crossword@georgetownvoice.com

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 49.05 September 12, 2013 Editor-in-Chief: Gavin Bade Managing Editor: Connor Jones Blog Editor: Julia Tanaka News Editor: Lucia He Sports Editor: Chris Almeida Feature Editor: Patricia Cipollitti Cover Editor: Kathleen Soriano-Taylor Leisure Editor: Heather Regen Voices Editor: Ana Smith Photo Editor: Andres Rengifo Design Editors: Lauren Ashley Panawa, Teddy Schaffer Projects Editors: Alec Graham, John Sapunor, Cannon Warren Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Creative Directors: Madhuri Vairapandi, Amanda Dominguez Back Page Editor: Tiffany Lachhonna Assistant Blog Editors: Minali Aggarwal, Isabel Echarte, Ryan Greene, Laura Kurek Assistant News Editors: Jeffrey Lin, Claire Zeng Assistant Sports Editors: Chris Castano, Brendan Crowley, Joe Pollicino Assistant Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Assistant Leisure Editors: Rio Djiwandana, Dayana Morales Gomez Assistant Photo Editors: Kathryn Easop, Joshua Raftis Assistant Design Editor: John Delgado-McCollum

Staff Writers:

Tim Barnicle, Emilia Brahm, Will Collins, Emlyn Crenshaw, Claire McDaniel, Liana Mehring, Dzarif Wan, Sam Wolter, Abby Greene, Abby Sherburne, Steven Criss, John Guzzetta

Staff Photographers:

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

Staff Designers:

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

Copy Chief: Sonia Okolie Copy Editors:

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

Editorial Board Chair: Caitriona Pagni Editorial Board:

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

Head of Business: Michael Grasso

TALK TO ME BABY

Students excluded from dorm planning process This past Sunday, GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14) came forward with the news that the University is considering establishing an off-campus residence in order to fulfill the Campus Plan requirement of housing 385 additional students by 2015.

In a press conference the following morning, University administrators focused on the distinction between a satellite campus and an off-campus residence instead of leveling with students and offering specifics on alternative sites under consideration.

Later that day, Zach Singer (SFS ‘15) officially launched the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign with the goal of compelling the University to take the satellite campus option off the table. Its first priority was gathering enough signatures to secure a Sept. 26 referendum, which it easily achieved.

The campaign is not without its flaws.

The Voice encourages campus leaders to ensure that students who care about this issue are well informed. Although many of the relevant conversations took place behind closed doors, every student should have access to the same information that pushed student leaders to launch their campaign. Since this was not done at the outset of the campaign, many students, including this editorial board, were left more confused than motivated by the launch. As more information becomes available, the campaign organizers need to ensure that their purpose is clearly defined and that their message is focused. Put simply, if student leaders can come forward about plans for a satellite campus, they and the administration can be frank about conversations regarding the other options as well. The press release the campaign sent out this morning outlining alternatives to a satellite dorm does much to assuage these concerns, but earlier information could have prevented any confusion.

The Voice is opposed to a satellite dorm or campus, no matter how few students live there. Whatever the details,

The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

On this week’s cover: Artistic Pedagogy Cover Design: Shalina Chatlani (SFS ‘17)

the georgetown voice 3

an off-campus residence would separate students from a close-knit community.

The proposal does not consider the patterns of student life and dismisses key elements of student safety.

But again, the bigger issue is the lack of information presented to students to begin with—an issue that One Georgetown, One Campus is right to highlight. As the University’s approach to the Northeast Triangle project shows, there exists a constant and vast information gap between administrators, student leaders, and the greater student population in any conversation about campus planning. In addressing this problem, the campaign has already been successful. Students could have remained ignorant of the possibility of a satellite dorm until it was too late to affect the outcome. Instead, we are actively discussing it in our dorms and dining hall before it becomes a reality.

The possibility of an off-campus dorm is just one incident in the University’s pattern of failure to be honest with students about issues that will affect the future of the school. Administrators continue to hold up closed meetings with select student leaders and intentionally vague public forums as examples of their efforts to engage students. But students were hardly involved in the process of selecting the Northeast Triangle structure at all. By the time students were brought into the picture, it was too late for their contempt to change anything but the edifice of the building. The decision of where the dorm would be constructed was not up for discussion.

As undergraduates, we do lack expertise in this arena, but that is no reason to neglect the meaningful input we can offer. Presenting us with a decision after it’s made—even if there are limited choices involved—is not student engagement. It is this pattern of disregard for student engagement that compelled the One Georgetown, One Campus leaders to come forward in the first place, and students should continue that sort of vigilance as long as the administration continues to eschew engagement.

The One Georgetown, One Campus campaign is asking the University to consider a radical idea: that “student engagement” not be used as a token phrase to pacify students. It asks that the University respect students as a legitimate constituency—one that must always be treated as its primary concern. Georgetown’s first function is as an institution of higher education. The Campus Plan is not just about erecting buildings, but also about upholding the spirit of Georgetown—a physical manifestation of the University’s values and the community they represent.

The Voice challenges the University to make the difficult decision to involve student input at every juncture of planning processes, instead of using hand-picked student representatives as a rubber stamp for conversations that rarely reach outside the rooms in which they are held. Both the University and One Georgetown, One Campus must do right by students by making public all information available regarding the diverse options for residential expansion, on campus and off. If they do not, any decision on the matter will be sub-optimal.

The University should also seriously consider applying for an extension to the Fall 2015 deadline when the 385 new beds must be added. Decisions as monumental as these should not be rushed, and this deadline imposed by the Campus Plan is an impediment to meaningful student engagement and thorough debate on the subject.

If the Georgetown community is to settle on an option for residential expansion that everyone can live with, everyone will need a seat at the table. That has not been the case in the past, and all students must be supplied with the information they need to make informed judgments when the time is right. With those factors, the campus community can settle on an expansion option that pleases everyone. Without them, there simply is no good decision to be made.

LIVING ON A PRAYER

Living wage bill a necessity for the District

On July 10th the D.C. Council approved the monumental Large Retailer Accountability Act, which would require that retailers that generate corporate sales in excess of $10 billion and occupy a retail space over 75,000 sq. ft. pay their employees a minimum of $12.50 an hour.

If passed, the measure will be a landmark victory for low-wage workers. The act awaits approval by Mayor Vincent Gray.

WalMart, the United States’ largest private employer, will be among the major retailers most affected by this act.

In response to the Council’s decision last July, the retail giant dissolved plans for the construction of three of the six stores it was planning to build in the District and threated to scrap the three remaining projects if Gray approves it.

Mayor Gray must call WalMart on its bluff and set a precedent of prioritizing the needs of workers over the bottom line of corporate giants.

Companies such as WalMart that have heinous track records of employee welfare cannot be allowed to intimidate legislators. According to a 2007 report from the University of California, Irvine, WalMart destroys three local jobs for every two it creates. In a paper published by University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Professor Arindrajit Dube, wages at WalMart were 17.4 percent lower than those of similar corporations. Just last Thursday, employees from 15 cities protested against the behemoth corporation for its low wages and firing of WalMart protesters.

In the United States 3.6 million workers make $7.25 an hour or less. In other words, three percent of men and six percent of women in the United States live on minimum wage. Supporters of WalMart argue that two of the chain stores would bring an economic boom to the impoverished Anacostia area. Low-paying jobs will not bring growth to the District, but rather perpetuate

trends of low growth and poverty.

Similar bills in both New York and Chicago have been struck down due to WalMart’s lobbying. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York even went as far as to compare the act to a communist directive, which, besides being hyperbolic, demonstrates the disconnect between governments and their constituents.

Both WalMart and Mayor Gray need to consider the reality of surviving in D.C. on minimum wage. The purchasing power of the minimum wage has continuously declined for over a generation and, considering that WalMart is one of the most profitable companies in the world, it should be willing to increase its wages. By signing the LRAA, Mayor Gray will prove that the District will not be bullied by big business and his top priority is what it should be, the citizens of D.C.

news

4 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

Student leaders oppose satellite residence proposal

by Jeffrey Lin University administrators are considering establishing a satellite campus to meet the requirements of the 2010 Campus Plan. This disclosure has not only created concerns about the administration’s willingness to promote student engagement, but also exposed the difficulty the University has experienced fulfilling the requirements of the Campus Plan by 2015.

On July 16, 2012, the D.C. Zoning Commission voted to approve the 2010 Campus Plan. Although the plan took the administration and the neighborhood groups two years to negotiate, it was the first campus plan to be resolved outside of the courts. Even so, no students were present in the negotiations.

The 2010 Campus Plan requires that the administration add 385 new beds by 2015 and house 90 percent of its undergraduate students on campus by 2025. Any new residences must either be built on the main grounds of the University or outside of the 20007 zip code. To meet this requirement, the administration began to draft plans for the expansion of housing on campus.

Administrators considered several options, such as converting the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center into a dorm, but they ultimately decided to build an entirely new dorm on the grounds of the so-called Northeast Triangle.

Plans were unveiled in a student forum on July 17, 2013.

The Northeast Triangle structure would be located on the northeast side of campus across from the Reiss Science Building. The planned structure sparked a severe backlash from the students who criti-

385 FALL 2015

cized the proposed dorm for its appearance and location.

In response to the criticism, the administration and Sasaki Associates, the firm hired to design the new dorm, redesigned the Northeast Triangle building and presented the new design to students on Aug. 28, 2013. The redesigned structure addressed some student concerns, but the total number of beds the dorm could hold dropped from 250 to 225.

With the 2015 deadline looming, the administration has to find another way to meet the requirements of the Campus Plan.

During the spring of 2013, administrators floated a new idea to meet the requirements of the Campus Plan to small groups of student leaders—an off-campus dorm.

“The first time this came out was in the Facilities and Planning working group in the spring,” said Adam Ramadan (SFS ‘14), the Vice President of GUSA. “Robin Morey [Georgetown’s Vice President of Facilities and Planning] just asked the group about the possibility of an offcampus dorm.”

In several other meetings, student leaders such as Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14), president of GUSA, and Peter Prindiville (SFS ‘14), a member of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, would continue to hear suggestions about the creation of an off-campus dorm, or “satellite campus,” located in Rosslyn, Glover Park, or near the Capitol.

Student responses to the option of establishing this satellite residence have been mostly negative. Tisa voiced concerns over the administration’s lack of student input on the issue while Prindiville said he believed the creation of the satellite campus would “absolutely change

BY THE NUMBERS ESTIMATED COST $35-40 THE OF THE NORTHEAST

THE NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE BEDS GEORGETOWN MUST ADD ON CAMPUS, ACCORING TO THE 2010 CAMPUS PLAN

THE DEADLINE FOR GEORGETOWN TO ADD THE 385 BEDS

225

160

what it means to be a Georgetown undergraduate student.”

Responding to these concerns, the administration held a meeting with student reporters on Monday morning to stress that no concrete plans existed for the creation of a satellite campus.

“It’s really the early stages of thinking about a whole range of options,” said Lauralyn Lee, associate vice president for community engagement and strategic initiatives These administrators’ assurances, however, did not halt the announcement of the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign.

Led by Zach Singer (SFS ‘15), chief of staff for GUSA, the campaign began with a press conference to students on Sept. 9.

“It’s time to say no to the satellite campus,” Singer said. “Student voices deserve to be in play because this is going to affect students in the past, present, and future.”

In addition to announcing the start of the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign, Singer asked students to sign a petition to introduce a referendum on whether or not students want a satellite dorm.

By Sept. 10, the petition collected 412 signatures, more than enough to meet the 300 signatures needed to trigger a student referendum.

Even though several students support the campaign, others see merits in having a satellite dorm.

“These off-campus dwellings offer potential avenues to students who might not already live on campus,” said Craig Cassey (COL ‘15), member of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

“Why not give them Georgetown affiliated housing with better facilities or amenities as opposed to

THE NUMBER OF BEDS THE PROPOSED NORTHEAST TRIANGLE DORM IS SLATED TO ADD

THE NUMBER OF BEDS THE UNIVERSITY MUST ADD WITH A SATELLITE CAMPUS OR ANOTHER OPTION

MILLION TRIANGLE DORM

$15 MILLION

THE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT OF MONEY BUDGETED FOR THE SATELLITE CAMPUS OR ALTERNATE HOUSING OPTIONS

$55 MILLION

THE AMOUNT ALLOCATED

BY THE UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE HOUSING

90%

THE PROPORTIONOF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WHO MUST LIVE ON CAMPUS ACCORDING TO THE 2010 CAMPUS PLAN John delcado-mccollum

Muriel van de BILT

The University has considered Rosslyn as a potential location for the satelite residence.

just leaving them on their own to deal with finding landlords?”

Although the goals of the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign are clear, the substance of the discussions on a satellite dorm remain obscure. Tisa and Ramadan have said other options for meeting the requirements of the Campus Plan exist, and administrators have confirmed that they have considered alternatives.

“To date, the University has considered numerous on-campus options of which the preferred sites are Kober Cogan, Harbin Terrace and the Northeast Triangle,” Morey said. “Other options the University has considered are an infill to the Southwest Quad, a small addition to Henle Village, renovations of the East Leavey Tower, addition of a new tower to the Leavey, and new construction on the west end of the McDonough parking lot.”

“One Georgetown, One Campus” supporters, however, are worried about why the University has continued to consider a satellite dorm despite negative student feedback. Tisa and Ramadan suggested that renting a building to house students is financially and logistically easier than constructing new housing.

The administration has $55 million set aside for the expansion of housing. The Northeast Triangle structure is projected to cost between $35 and $40 million, leaving the administration with $15 to $20 million to pay for the additional 160 beds it will need to satisfy the requirements of the Campus Plan.

Finances, however, do not seem to be the main concern of administrators. “Financial considerations are always a factor in any process but are not driving this decision,” Lee said.

Monetary constraints may not be worrying the administration, but the timeline for the construction of the Northeast Triangle building remains in question.

“The Northeast Triangle is supposed to be done in time to alleviate a vast majority of this commitment [the requirements of the 2010 Campus Plan],” Tisa said. “Now partly because of the design problems, they [the administrators] are saying it might not be done in time.”

This time constraint opens the possibility for the University to miss the deadline for the 385 beds by 2015. Tisa and Ramadan, however, see a possible renegotiation with the neighborhood groups as a way to make more opportunities for student involvement.

“Another important part of why we need a student vote … is to put us in a better position to go to the neighbors and tell them why a satellite campus does not solve their problems,” Tisa said.

Extending the deadline, however, would require the approval of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, ANC, and Georgetown University. If the proposal receives approval by these bodies, it would still need to be submitted to the D.C. Zoning Commission, which has the final say.

Tisa and Ramadan still believe that the administration should focus on the long term effects of campus planning for the benefit of the students.

“If the university wants to do right by the student body, a couple million dollars should not be a deterrent for a long term solution like the Northeast Triangle that will hopefully be around for a long time,” Ramadan said. “I think if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.”

news

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 5

Environmental groups to gather for summit on the Hilltop

by Claire Zeng and Greta Etro

Having launched its new website in August, Georgetown Environmental Leaders, a partnership between multiple oncampus environmental groups, will host a summit on Sept. 22 with the aim of strengthening cooperation between on-campus environment clubs.

GEL is spearheaded by GUSA and the Center for the Environment, a partnership of students and university staff.

“It’s not really a discrete initiative, so to speak. [Rather], it is a broader effort to network people,” said Gabe Pincus (SFS ’14), GUSA Secretary of Sustainability.

The founding principle and continued purpose of GEL has been to foster collaboration through a structured network. Many students involved in environmental activities on campus observed that prior to last year, little cooperation occurred between clubs that sometimes shared similar projects.

“You had money that was getting spent on overlapping things, and events that could happen did not happen because certain groups didn’t have enough people, certain

groups didn’t have enough funds, and things like that,” said Alex Zajac (COL ’15), intern at the Center for the Environment.

Pincus added that student awareness was also a problem. “I think for a freshman who wants to get involved, it should be clear where the various groups are and what their relationship is to one another,” Pincus said.

GEL has received a positive reception from students involved in on-campus environmental initiatives and sustainability thus far.

“Sustainability is all about innovative and creative thinking, and GEL really allows you to crowdsource ideas, and get great input from other people who are really passionate about these issues,” said Greg Miller (SFS ’14), a sustainability research fellow under a universitysponsored grant.

Miller is involved with launching GU Bike Share, a project he hopes will be strengthened

by GEL. This bike sharing initiative would recycle and rent bicycles that have been reclaimed from DPS, contributing to lowering Georgetown’s total waste as well as providing thrifty transportation options to students.

Getting blunt with D.C.

In terms of D.C. Council politics, it’s still the dog days of summer. The 13 legislators don’t return to their duties until Sept. 17. But as it turns out, the off-time is perfect for the councilmembers to mull over the many serious and complex issues facing the city.

No, we’re not talking about tax liens and wrongful foreclosures.

We’re talking about pot.

For the first time in over 75 years, it is possible for District residents to buy marijuana legally— that is, if you’re really sick. The Council passed a medical marijuana law back in 2010, but it took until late July of this summer to finalize all of the bureaucratic rules so the first dispensary could open.

The medical law here is more restrictive than many of the 20 states with similar statutes on the books, and reports about the city’s sole dispensary—Capitol City Care— say their product is good, but overpriced. In any case, conventional knowledge is that a large number of medical card holders simply use the system as cover for what they buy on the street.

But with any luck, smokers won’t need any form of cover in the District soon. Three separate proposals to liberalize the city’s weed laws are coming to the forefront at once, and at the very least it appears that criminal penalties for pot possession will be off the books by the end of autumn.

Ten of the 13 D.C. councilmembers have already signed on to a decriminalization proposal drafted by mayoral hopeful Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), and former mayor-forlife Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). The legislation would eliminate criminal penalties for pot possession, which can currently land violators in jail for up to 6 months and saddle them with as much as a $1000 fine.

Instead, a caught stoner would be hit with a $100 civil penalty. While both Mayor Vincent Gray (D) and Council President Phil Mendelson (D) are skeptical of the proposal— probably for fear of federal backlash—it has enough expected votes to override a possible veto.

While that fact alone may be enough to make stoners from Tenleytown to Anacostia jump for joy, the decriminalization bill is actual-

NEWS HIT Significant progress has been made toward the completion of D.C.’s two forthcoming public transit lines, the Purple Line and the Silver Line.

The Purple Line is a proposed East-West rail line, extending 16 miles from New Carrollton to Bethesda, connecting to the Red, Orange, and Green Lines.

On Sept. 6, the Maryland Transit Administration published the Purple Line’s Final Environmental Impact Statement for a 30-day public comment period. According to this document, construction of the Purple Line would require the demolition of 116 homes and businesses. Public reception to this document will factor into the Federal Transit Administration’s decision on whether to advance the project. The Line is scheduled to be operational in 2020.

In the meantime, the first phase of the Mario roBerTo duran orTiZ Silver Line, which will connect passengers to Dulles International Airport, has been delayed until the end of the year. The Line will extend the Orange Line 23 miles West, from East Falls Church, Va. to Ashburn, Va.

—Joshua Ward

“There’s no parent organization that owns [GU Bike Share] right now,” said Miller. “From the standpoint of GEL, it’s very useful for us to get buy-in into this project and see if any of these organizations are interested in adopting it and making ly the most modest of the options the council will consider this fall.

Councilmember David Grosso (IAt Large) plans to take the cause a step further and introduce a bill to legalize, regulate, and tax the sale of recreational marijuana in the District. Problem is, the rest of the Council isn’t as eager to support legalization as it is decriminalization. Wells, for instance, says he opposes the measure.

city on a hill

by Gavin Bade

A bi-weekly column about the District “The motivation for decriminalization simply has been the issue of the War on Drugs and the disproportionate impact on AfricanAmerican youths getting criminal records,” he told the Washington Times. “The impetus behind legalization would be, ‘This substance is OK and should be regulated.’

That’s fundamentally a different initiative.”

Wells is right about one thing.

Legalization is different. Mostly because it’s better. There’s no reason other than cynical political triangulation to strip marijuana of

sure it’s sustainable and it grows.”

So far, administrators have welcomed the chance to cooperate with students on environmental issues.

“With the recent launch of the formal Office of Sustainability, I am looking forward to learning about its criminal distinction but keep a petty civil penalty. The legislators who oppose legalization don’t do so because they truly have a problem with the health effects— if they did they should focus on banning fast food and tobacco first. And they aren’t truly concerned with the job prospects of their smoking constituents or “pot cafes,” as some have mentioned.

It’s a political calculation.

Lawmakers want to be for decriminalization because they know the tide of public opinion has turned sharply against the War on Drugs, especially in the District’s black communities. But they can’t go all the way to legalizing it, lest they be construed by a challenger as the candidate of the hippie-stoner culture. So they take the middle ground, refusing to acknowledge for the sake of political expediency that there are far more dangerous substances available over the counter at any pharmacy.

The result will be thousands of useless civil cases against smokers, along with the headaches and court backlogs. All because of the silly cultural bias against weed.

Luckily, the District may get legalization even if Grosso’s bill

any ideas that might emerge from this upcoming discussion to help inform how the office can continue to serve as a campus resource on this topic,” wrote Audrey Stewart, director of the Office of Sustainability in an email to the Voice. is shot down. Marijuana activist Adam Eidinger, who owned a D.C. head shop raided by federal agents last year, is preparing a ballot referendum. If approved, it would do much the same as Grosso’s expected bill—restrict use to people over 21, allow adults to carry up to two ounces, and permit home cultivation. In a city like D.C. there’s real hope that if Grosso’s bill goes down, the people could step in and make his dream a reality.

But it shouldn’t have to wait until November. The D.C. Council should pass a full legalization bill as soon as it returns to session. Everyone knows the tragic consequences of marijuana prohibition in terms of race and economic opportunity, but to truly be forward-thinking on the issue the D.C. Council can’t send mixed messages to law enforcement or the public. And that means it shouldn’t go halfway on the pot issue. Legalization is the logical conclusion of any conversation about liberalizing marijuana laws, and the D.C. Council would be wrong to pass on this joint.

Light up with Gavin at gbade@ georgetownvoice.com

sports

6 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

Men’s soccer team splits weekend homestand

by Chris Wadibia After a mixed weekend in California, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (2-2-0, 0-0 Big East) was looking to improve on what was a disappointing performance. Two games against West Virginia and New Mexico provided the perfect opportunity for the Hoyas to test their mettle.

Despite their best efforts, the Hoyas again had to settle for a single win, defeating West Virginia and suffering a disappointing loss to New Mexico.

“When you play top level teams, you’re going to lose those games sometimes,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “The trick is to make sure you win some as well. When you play teams that are like you, you’re five hundred—It makes some sense. You have to make sure that the next game you’re out and you play a team like that, you’ve learned from it.”

The Hoyas’ home opener against the West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1-1, 0-0 MAC) provided the team with an array of encouraging moments.

The 3-0 win for the Hoyas included goals from junior forward Austin Martz and sophomore forward Brandon Allen. Freshman forward Bakie Goodman rounded out the score with his first career goal for Georgetown. The defense, which looked suspect during the pre-season, put in an excellent form against West Virginia and gave the Hoya backline hope for the coming season.

Freshman central defender Joshua Yaro spoke about the defense and the team’s tremendous depth, saying, “I think we always put out a really strong first eleven... everyone on our bench is just as good as the people starting.” This confidence was visible during Georgetown’s impressive win over the Mountaineers.

The Hoyas’ sudden death double overtime defeat to the No.

9 New Mexico Lobos (2-0-1, 0-0 Conference USA) Sunday afternoon offered a different lesson for the team.

“I thought New Mexico came in with a very good plan and executed it really well. …

We weren’t able to create the gaps we needed,” Wiese said.

While the Hoyas were not able to secure victory, sparks of brilliance during the game gave the impression that this Hoya squad is capable of great things. Josua Yaro’s passing range was on full display, wonder freshman Alex Muyl caused the opposing defense all sorts of problems, and sophomore forward Melvin Snoh toasted Lobo after Lobo. The game was close, and the possession was evenly distributed.

The Hoyas even had a beautiful goal disallowed for offsides. As they prepare for upcoming games, the Hoyas can definitely reflect on the positives of this game.

One aspect of their game that Georgetown needs to improve on before their next outing is cohesion. Fortunately, senior forward and Hoya captain Steve Neumann believes the team is growing.

“I think we’ve gotten better definitely since the preseason,” Neumann said. “The understanding of the freshman coming in and contributing has been great. I think we just need to put the final pieces together, where we’re getting that killer instinct, where we can finish off these games and get wins against tough teams like these.”

The Hoyas have much to be proud of, but also much work to attend to as they aspire tomatch the unprecedented achievements of last season.

“It’s a long season,” Wiese said. “For us, it’s a matter of making sure that we, we have a couple of things that we have to solve as a team to get better, to create more, and to do some things, but we’ve got to

ANDRES RENGIFO

Men’s soccer continues their homestand this week against Duquesne.

keep evolving as a team and we will.”

In the meantime, the Hoyas are preparing to host Duquesne University (4-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) this Thursday at 4 p.m. on Shaw Field. The Dukes enter this matchup after winning their first four contests of the year without surrendering a goal, capturing the Duqense Invitational tournament title in the process.

The Dukes are led by sophomomore goalkeeper Sam Frymier, who has been playing at a high level all season. This past week, Frymier was selected to the College Soccer News National Team of Week after recording four consecutive shutouts, including an impressive nine-save performance against Incarnate Word.

The Hoyas will be hard-pressed to find the back of the net versus

Frymier. The pressure will certainly be on Neumann and Allen to improve their understanding and put the Hoyas on the board.

This game will be the third of four consecutive home games for the Hoyas. It will most assuredly be a redemptive game for the Blue and Gray, as they plan to come back from the loss to the Lobos and play soccer the Georgetown way.

the Sports Sermon

“I really love Jay-Z, I do, I love Jay-Z. But I’m madly in love with Beyonce.” -Duke Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski from Barry Bonds, has cooled off and now isn’t even one of the best three players on his team. Manning, however, was just as much the All-Pro in 2012 as he was in 2003.

Last season, returning from spinal fusion, Peyton led his new team to an AFCleading 13-3 record. In addition, Manning threw for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns and ranked second in both yards per completion and passer rating. Across the board, Peyton had the most complete season of any NFL quarterback and finished second in MVP voting behind Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who somehow managed to have a

in a one contest was Joe Kapp of the Minnesota Vikings Remember the Peyton in 1969, in a time where the Manning story of two years game looked completely difago? The quarterback had ferent from what we now see two neck surgeries in 2011 each Sunday. which caused him to miss his I have many reasons to befirst game since he entered the lieve that greatness does not NFL and eventually the entire last forever, but I have more 2011-2012 season. Analysts reasons to believe that Peysaid that he would probably ton Manning will always denever be effective again in the liver. Sure, he hasn’t always NFL. Even the Indianapolis come up with the answers in Colts, his team for 13 years, the playoffs, but Manning’s didn’t believe any more and team’s postseason failures released him, allowing him have been often been on the to sign with his current team, shoulders of his teammates. the Denver Broncos. ManJust last season, the Broncos ning was marked with an end would have been on the Sudate. He was going to be a per Bowl track had their secshadow of his former self for ondary not allowed a freak a few years before Hail Mary, saving Pete Rose Central he faded into irrelthe Ravens’ seaevance. Boy, were son and changing Da bettin’ line they wrong. the course of Joe Dookies Margin Hoyas I started watchFlacco’s career. (underdogs) (duh!) ing the NFL as a (favorites) In Indianapolis, young child, but Manning often Eli really, the first the Archie’s Love shouldered Peyton game I remember UVA Actual Ability entire weight of Oregon watching was John expectation with Hank Gun Size Gomez Elway’s triumph shaky defenses over Brett Favre’s Packers in more impressive return from and running games year-tothe 1998 Super Bowl, the same an injury than Manning. year, but he has delivered 10year that Manning was draftI am well known and of- plus win seasons without fail ed. So, the Peyton Manning ten ridiculed for taking Pey- since 2002. era more or less spans the en- ton with my first pick each Manning’s Super Bowl tirety of my NFL fandom. One year in my fantasy league’s record may not be as prolific thing I’ve learned between draft. Unfortunately, due to as that of Joe Montana, Terry then and now? Never doubt an unintentional drafting Bradshaw, or even brother Peyton Manning. gaffe this year, I did not select Eli, but his performances I’ve certainly seen the Manning, but nobody would and numbers speak for themgreat comebacks to Earth be laughing if I had. selves. Many currently conover my years as a sports fan.

In the first week of this sider Manning’s body of Tiger Woods may still be the season, Peyton picked apart work good enough to put him world’s best golfer, but the the Baltimore defense in one in the conversation for the tifield isn’t playing for second of the most impressive pass- tle of “Greatest Quarterback place the way they did in the ing displays in the history of of All-Time” and let’s not forearly 2000’s. This year, I saw football. Manning threw for get, the Broncos are the oddRoger Federer fall in Wimble- 462 yards and a whopping 7 smakers’ favorite to win it all don’s second round after go- touchdowns, the most ever this year. ing a full 9 years without los- thrown by a player in one The queston remains for ing before the quarterfinals game. The last quarterback to Manning: how long can he of a Grand Slam. Albert Pu- throw for seven touchdowns keep this up for? Based on his jols, pegged to be an all-time in a single outing? Not Brady, performance in the season great, the man who would not Favre, not Elway. The last opener, I would probably say wrestle the home run crown man to throw for seven scores forever.

by Chris Almeida

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Football shines under the lights Men’s golf disappoints

by Joe Pollicino The Georgetown football team (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League) rolled over Davidson (0-1, 0-0 Pioneer) in their home opener this past Saturday at sold-out Multi-Sport Field. In an all-around team effort, six different Hoyas scored touchdowns en route to a blowout win of 42-6.

“I’m happy for them. This is a great group,” said Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly following the win. “They work extremely hard. That’s the reward, to win games especially at home in front of a nice crowd.”

Through the air, redshirt senior quarterback Isaiah Kempf completed 16 of 23 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. On the ground, Kempf rushed for 40 yards on 8 attempts with a touchdown. For his performance, Kempf earned Patriot League weekly honorable mention.

“I give a lot of credit to Davidson,” said Kempf. “Their schemes were good. We were just able to execute. ”

Special teams also played a huge role, blocking a field goal and an extra point attempt, breaking up a fake punt attempt, and pinning the Wildcats multiple times within their own 20.

“I was proud of the way that all of our special teams units played,” Kelly said. “[Senior punter] Matt MacZura had one of his best games in a Georgetown uniform, with three punts downed inside their 20 yard line and two inside the five. He was also six for six on extra points. [Kicker] Ben Priddy, a freshman, came in and did a nice job and our kick-off coverage unit held their average drive start to the 25 yard line.”

On the opening drive of the game, the Georgetown defense forced the Wildcats into a fourthdown and the special teams unit blocked senior kicker Chris Gorman’s 22-yard field goal attempt.

After trading interceptions, the Hoyas broke open the scoring when senior running back Nick Campanella punched it into the end-zone on a 2-yard run. The

ANDRES RENGIFO

The football team dominated Davidson on both sides of the ball in their home opener.

Olympics return to basics

While the Olympics have always been a spectacle, the ancient tradition seems to have attained a new level of media coverage over the last few years. The past few weeks especially have been filled with coverage about Sochi, Usain Bolt, and Tokyo. It seems as if there is a new-found obsession with the Olympics as a floor for intercultural dialogue.

While this is the goal at the very heart of the Olympic mission, it wasn’t until recently that the Olympics have been utilized as a forum for important discussions regarding issues such as human rights. (Prior to the LGBT issues in Sochi, the last time the Olympic Committee made any sort of announcement was regarding apartheid in South Africa.) The reemergence of the Olympics as a platform for global dialogue marks a modern trek to the roots of the Olympics.

So what does this “return to roots” mean? Well, let’s start with wrestling. Last week the Interna-

tional Olympic Committee voted to reinstate the sport after it had been eliminated from the agenda in early 2013. Wrestling has been a part of the Olympics since its conception 3000 years ago. But it wouldn’t have been scrapped in the first place had there not been flaws with the state of the sport.

By temporarily eliminating wrestling from the Olympic games, the IOC forced the sport’s organization to reform, installing new classes for women and creating a more accessible platform for their own marketing. The Olympics, by their commitment to the original tenets of fair competition, pushed for the betterment of wrestling. In fact, with this return to basics, wrestling was forced to modernize itself, a move which garnered more traction for both the Olympics and the sport—I’d call that a win-win.

Moving on to Sochi. I’ll keep this brief. The IOC upheld its tenets of the spirit of the games with its strong response to Russia’s anti-

Wildcats responded quickly, though, and Carkhuff put together a 14-play 75-yard drive that culminated in a 5-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Reese Williams.

After a blocked PAT, Hoya senior runing back Dalen Claytor scored on a 12-yard end-around to extend Georgetown’s lead to 14-6.

After Georgetown thwarted a desperate fake punt by Davidson, Kempf completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Jake DeCicco to put the Hoyas up 21-6. On the ensuing play from scrimmage, Georgetown senior linebacker Dustin Wharton intercepted Carkhuff’s pass, returning it 24 yards untouched to give the Hoyas a commanding 28-6 lead heading into halftime.

The dominance continued in the second half. Kempf connected with senior tight end Daniel Sprotte on a 6-yard touchdown pass to advance their lead to 35-6. Later, the Hoyas embarked on a methodical 13-play, 77-yard drive, taking 7:29 off the clock, which culminated in a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Kempf to cap the game’s scoring.

“Tonight we settled down.

We just played a couple base defenses and a couple of zone pressures,” Kelly said. “We cut down on a lot of mental errors this week as opposed to last week.”

The Hoyas will look to continue their winning ways when they face Marist this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on Multi-Sport Field.

gay laws. Their communication with the Russian government and the inclusive nature of the statement was a reassuring measure that handled a difficult situation with grace and nuance. Any stronger statement would have isolated Russia, whereas anything less would have been considered unacceptable by the global community.

Yet again, the line between modern

Sporty Spice

by Abby Sherburne A bi-weekly column about sports

concerns and traditional behavior was toed delicately.

The decision of the Olympic Committee to host the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was also a contentious matter. Personally I was rooting for Istanbul (rowing in the Bosphorus and stadiums across continents, duh) and the majority of my house had their fingerscrossed for Madrid.

Upon further reflection of what seemed a tired choice, I came to the

by John Guzzetta Over the weekend, the Georgetown University men’s golf team competed in its first competition of the season. The competition is called the Navy Fall Classic at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis, Maryland. The Hoyas finished sixth out of the 10 teams that qualified. The other nine teams competing were U.S. Naval Academy White, U.S. Naval Academy Gold, U.S. Naval Academy, Brown University, University of Delaware, College of Charleston, Saint Joseph’s University, North Dakota State, and Towson University. The Hoyas shot a combined score of 593, which was 25 over par (+25).

Towson University was able to run away with the victory after they shot a combined 554, 25 strokes ahead of second place finisher College of Charleston. Towson senior Joe Gunerman was the top performing individual in the tournament and he shot a 67 on both days to finish with a score of 134.

On Saturday the 7th, the first day of the two day tournament, the Hoyas began the tournament in good form thanks to freshman from San Diego, Calif., Andrew Rudy, who shot a one under

conclusion that the Olympic committee made the correct decision.

While I would argue that Istanbul best balances modern and ancient tradition, Tokyo, an eastern city with strong roots in tradition offers a safe and stable location which will help to foster the upward swing of the Olympics. After Beijing and London’s impressive shows, a city like Tokyo is uniquely prepared to host an equally spectacular and successful spectacle.

Last summer, one of my coworkers and I would secretly stream Olympic events mid-day.

Now, we were both sports fans, but that’s not to say that we didn’t get caught up in the politics and culture of it. The Olympics have become pop-culture, but in the most positive way possible. Yes, Ryan Lochte has an inane E! network show, but we now have household names and childhood heroes like Missy Franklin and Gabby Douglass.

Whereas past involvement was limited to “Go USA,” the Olympics have rebranded themselves and have become more

70 round. After day one, the Georgetown team was placed second with a team score of 290, which trailed Towson by 10 strokes. Rudy’s day one score also had him placed sixth overall going into the final round. He finished the tournament with a score of 150 which was good enough to earn him 25th place in the tournament, tying sophomore teammate Raleigh Chapin.

Georgetown’s best performer of the weekend was senior captain Charlie vonArentschildt of Scottsdale, Ariz., who shot a +1 (or a score of 72) on Sunday to finish tied for 16th place individually for the tournament. Junior Greg Podufal from Erie, Pennsylvania, did not finish too far behind vonArentschildt. Podufal finished tied for 18th place with a combined 148. Junior Brian Tohir from New Canaan, Conneticut rounded out the Hoyas lineup and he finished tied for 38th place, shooting 153 over two rounds.

Coaches or players were not made available for interview to discuss the tournament. However, the Hoyas will return to action on Monday, Sept. 23 when they take part in The Fightin’ Irish Gridiron Classic at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

accessible. We can even communicate with our favorite athletes through Twitter and other social media platforms. These idols who used to be mere figures on the T.V. or the radio waves have become real, interactive heroes. Modern technology has brought the traditional stars of the games to phone screens across the nation—touching individuals with the Olympic and the American spirit.

At the end of the day, the Olympics have the unique ability of combining the spirit of competition with international dialogue.

Nations can come together while they become more unified themselves behind the jerseys and uniforms of their athletes. The IOC is allowing the renaissance of the Olympics by walking the fine line between modernity and tradition.

And lucky us, we get to watch along and cheer for the oh so modern sport of sliding stones across the ice, all in the name of the red, white, and blue.

Have a diplomatic chat with Abby at asherburne@georgetownvoice.com

8 the georgetown voice

feature

september 12, 2013

the georgetown voice 9

georgetownvoice.com

own creative abilities to talk earnestly about art.

Nevertheless, students in the course are excited for the opportunity to learn from a prestigious art institution. It’s no surprise that passionate CULP students are eager to apply their theoretical classroom knowledge of international relations and diplomacy to something more tangible, an opportunity most students of diplomacy aren’t offered.

ART + REASON = INNOVATION

“That we meet in a space off-campus where we have first-hand access to so many amazing resources is fantastic, and it fits well into my concentration within my CULP major, which is the study of national identities, nation-building, and national branding,” Esteban Garcia, (SFS ’15) said. “It’s all really fascinating for me both in an academic sense and just as someone who appreciates the complexities of diplomacy.”

Do bioethics and architectural design have anything in common? What about international politics and theatrical performance, or even the visual arts? Much more than you might guess, especially here at Georgetown.

Over the last few years, a diverse group of enterprising Georgetown professors have been looking for fresh ways to integrate the arts into classes that would normally be taught and received in a traditional classroom setting with traditional didactic methods. Dissatisfied with an educational philosophy that confines learning to textbooks, memorization, and tests, these professors see merit in courses that force students out of their comfort zones and encourage them to use their minds in inventive ways.

According to professors from a range of disciplines from Philosophy to Politics, perhaps it’s time to restructure how Georgetown teaches. It seems the way forward is fostering a more creative approach to education. Art, in the form of performance, painting and sculpture, or design, has the potential to push our minds to see even the most classic issues in a radically different light.

One of the most distinct marriages of art and reason at Georgetown can be found in the new Interdisciplinary Studies course: EthicsLab Design Studio. The project is a unique initiative spearheaded by Georgetown’s world-renowned Kennedy Institute of Ethics.

Its aim is to develop new approaches and solutions to highly complex real-world bioethical issues using methods adapted from innovation and design labs.

Co-taught by Associate Professor of Philosophy Maggie Little and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Design Ann Pendleton-Jullian, the class is an experimental pilot project in bioethical innovation. Although highly unsure of what exactly they’ll find, both professors and their students are eager to approach classic and complicated medical issues in such an unusual way.

She has high hopes for EthicsLab. “I hope to grow as a purely analytical bioethical thinker but also to significantly increase the number of cognitive tools available to deploy for analysis,” Cohen said.

The idea that tools traditionally associated with the right brain can inspire an entirely new angle or paradigm of analysis to a “left brain-heavy” discipline is spreading across diverse fields of study at Georgetown. This trend can also be found in the policy-minded School of Foreign Service.

Last semester, former Ambassador to the Netherlands and SFS adjunct professor Cynthia Schneider and Professor of Theater and Performance Studies (TPST) Derek Goldman co-taught a unique class integrating theater and performance into international politics.

THE INFUSION OF DESIGN RADICALLY TRANSFORMED MY THINKING

Hilary Cohen (COL ‘14), a Philosophy major enrolled in EthicsLab, is unsure of how design can be integrated with a seemingly unrelated field. But, having taken Pendleton-Jullian’s “The University as a Design Problem” course last spring and seeing how successful a design approach to projects can be, she is excited for this semester’s experiment.

The inspiration for the CULP course, entitled Diplomacy and Culture, came from what Professor Goldman deemed an “existing momentum” at Georgetown. According to Goldman, Georgetown students and the University at large are unique in that they express a deep passion for international affairs.

Coupled with that passion is a zeal for the arts, particularly as expressed in cultures across the globe.

“Before [last] semester, I had never done anything design- or architecture-related, but it’s difficult to express how happy I am to have stumbled upon the new way of thinking it has enabled,” Cohen said. “The infusion of design [into traditionally noncreative fields] radically transformed my thinking.”

Curiously, Professor Goldman and Professor Schneider had been working towards a similar goal of integrating performance and international politics before they crossed paths. While Professor Schneider had been teaching CULP courses in the SFS, Professor Goldman had been

teaching political theater courses in the College.

“Derek and I essentially found one another because he had been bringing fantastic, cutting-edge theater companies to perform at Georgetown, such as the Belarus Free Theatre, a leading dissident theater company, and I was teaching about the same kind of thing in my classes,” Schneider said. “We met and discovered our similar aspirations of addressing and examining some of the challenges the world is facing through culture, particularly through theater.”

At Georgetown, an institution renowned for its leading voice in the field of international relations, Professors Schneider and Goldman believe it is particularly important to showcase artists, performers, and other narrative voices in world affairs.

“With Derek representing the creative aspect and me representing the policy side, we could create an interdisciplinary initiative that would bring students together in order to offer them, as well as the larger Georgetown and Washington communities, a new critical perspective on contemporary challenges,” Schneider said.

When Professors Schneider and Goldman offered the course for the first time last spring, 50 students enrolled, approximately half of whom were theater students and half of whom were students studying international affairs.

Though the non-theater participants might have initially been uncomfortable in throwing themselves into an unfamiliar setting, they were surprisingly receptive to the idea of learning through performance. Theater students, accustomed to the vulnerability that comes with exposure to a live audience, found themselves amused as they watched their peers squirm during acting exercises in class.

“Watching SFS students being told to pass on and mold energy with their bodies, from one person to the next, I realized how rare it is that we are asked to express ourselves physically, especially in the classroom. Or, for that matter, how rare it is that a professor asks us to rise out of our chairs and interact with each other and our environment,” said TPST and Government double major Chase Meacham (COL ‘14), reminiscing on one of his most memorable experiences from the semester.

EthicsLab students immerse themselves in artistic pedagogy To those invested in this course, the value of personal expression is too frequently overlooked in the academic world of international politics. Schneider and Goldman wish to transmit to their students that there is a value and purpose to these exercises and, more broadly, to art in general that cannot be communicated through other media. Schneider believes that “it is through our emotions we make decisions”— as such, the power emotions hold needs to be utilized to see new perspectives and effect change.

“When you are immediately wrapped up in a story and it makes you think about yourself and your world in a different way, you’re in a vulnerable state,” Schneider said. “When I was Ambassador, I found that taking advantage of the exact moment immediately following a performance in order to generate an in-depth discussion can allow an incredible kind of conversation where people are more open and willing to reevaluate the way they saw things before and learn from each other.”

Schneider and Goldman aren’t the only professors at Georgetown to see the importance of reevaluating preconceived notions. Indeed, the idea that art can take us places reason and science can’t is quickly growing at Georgetown.

This semester, Assistant Professor and Field Director of CULP Shiloh Krupar is teaching a class entitled “Globalization, Diplomacy, and the Politics of Exhibitions,” in which students will get the opportunity to examine the role art museums play in regional or national values, culture, and socio-political structures.

Like the other artistic learning initiatives at Georgetown, the material of the course doesn’t always draw from textbook readings or even analysis of art in the classroom. Rather, the course uses the resources of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and is being co-taught by the Director of the Center for the Study of Modern Art and Curator-at-Large, Dr. Klaus Ottmann.

The partnership between the Phillips Collection and Georgetown was established last

Minali Aggarwal

year, when Dr. Ottmann approached SFS dean Carol Lancaster about the possibility of finding some way to work with SFS undergraduates.

Dr. Ottmann’s inspiration for a joint class that could give students a hands-on approach to the modern world through the visual arts came from his realization that art fairs and exhibitions have gained greater importance over the last 15 years, in a way “becoming the main forum for cultural politics.” Moreover, Dr. Ottmann shares Goldman and Schneider’s belief that the power of art is too often underestimated.

“Artists need to be put to work,” Dr. Ottmann said.

“Let’s say you have a conflict like the one in Syria. All kinds of people are working together and discussing solutions for this conflict. Why not get some other voices involved in this dialogue? Why not get some voices of people who are thinking in a different way?

Artists, philosophers, writers—that’s what’s missing.”

Dr. Ottmann and Professor Krupar hope that their joint course will be a step towards a creative re-imagination of international affairs.

“Maybe for the new generation we’re teaching now, art will become a little more than a hobby,” Dr. Ottmann said. “It’s not utopian to see a younger generation slowly bring art and creative thinking into a broader dialogue.”

With this long-term goal in mind, Dr. Ottmann and Professor Krupar are devoted to providing a unique, meaningful experience for their students.

Georgetown’s partnership with the Phillips Collection consists of much more than a few visits to the galleries—the Collection is granting students complete access to the galleries, the gallery’s Study Center resources, and exclusive opportunities to converse with staff and guest speakers. On-campus classes, which are lecture-based with some discussion, alternate with classes held at The Phillips Collection every other week.

Krupar’s and Ottmann’s hope is that the classes at the Phillips Collection will open up students who are too frequently insecure in their

Indeed, one of the main objectives of Krupar and Ottmann’s course is to engage these “complexities of diplomacy” in a manner novel to most students. Issues that appear as simple matters of the security dilemma or hard power dynamics are revisited with a new perspective. The inclusion of the arts adds a level of cultural understanding and sensitivity Krupar and Ottmann feel is woefully lacking in traditional American classrooms.

According to both professors and students, these kinds of courses enable participants to approach the discipline in a radically different way in order to form new connections that could re-shape their views of the world.

Of course, one way to learn about the complexities of other countries is to thoroughly analyze what their intellectuals—their writers and thinkers—are saying. It’s easy to assess the narratives of a government, which in theory should represent a country’s national identity, because they are the ones you read about through transnational media sources. In a rapidly evolving world with hundreds of competing narratives, however, it’s almost dangerous to overlook products of popular expression, like art, which represent the everyday realities of people affected.

“Take the Arab revolutions, for example. The government’s narrative was of one thing: stability under Mubarak. On the other side, the narrative of the artists and the youth through blogs and social media was completely different: of a society frustrated at every single level and poisoned by endemic government corruption,” Professor Schneider said. “You have to pay attention to both narratives, and that’s what we hope to show the students and the larger community through events and artistic media.”

Whether it be through theatrical performance, visual art, or design, these courses are setting out to challenge preconceived notions not just about Georgetown education, but the world at large. They may be only three individual pilot courses now, but if the energy and commitment of the students and faculty involved is any indication, future Hoyas should expect to show their creative sides a lot more on the Hilltop, even in the most unexpected places.

leisure

10 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

I’ll meet you anytime you want in our Italian restaurant

by Annamarie White After spending a week in Rome three years ago, it’s largely undisputed that I’m essentially an Italian food connoisseur. Still, it doesn’t take an expert to know that Ghibellina serves great food.

Ralph Lee and Ari Gedjenson took a piece of Italy with them when they brought the restaurant Acqua al 2 across the Atlantic and gave it a new home on Capitol Hill.

Now the best friends are at it again with Ghibellina, a fu-

sion of tradition and trendiness that is almost as delicious as their pizza.

Outside, passersbys are enveloped in the aroma of woodroasted dough and the harmonious chatter that stream loosely from the open-air bar overlooking 14th Street. Inside, the elongated and slightly awkward room has been transformed into a modern Italian ristorante peppered with wrought iron accents and bathed in the hazy glow of tea lights.

Admittedly—even for a professional like myself—Ghi-

bellina’s menu is intimidating at first glance. Brimming with Italian dishes like Spezzatino (braised veal, white wine, rosemary, and garlic), the menu was helpfully decoded by our server, who made each dish sound more mouthwatering than the last one.

Awaiting some Zuchinne al Forno, I took in the sleek, dark leather couch lining the wall and the wine bottles perched on a shelf overhead. An alcove boasting ceramic pots and overflowing ivy decorated the otherwise bare brick walls.

gavIn Myers

Tuscany’s blacked out and woke up on 14th Steet. Too bad it didn’t make it back home to Georgetown.

I’ll be back... again

Every year, studios save a little bit of the money being poured into sequels for something even worse—remakes.

Recent remake releases such as The Evil Dead not only fail at living up to their originals’ merits; they taint the original features’ legacies and do a great injustice to their filmmakers’ visions. A simple question demonstrates the superfluous existence of these pernicious remakes: what remake has ever surpassed its original inspiration in either quality or enjoyment?

A few exceptions come to mind, such as True Grit, The Fly, 3:10 to Yuma, and Ocean’s 11. There’s also The Thing, John Carpenter’s ingenious 1982 remake of the 1951 original—but all Carpenter’s improvements were cruelly cancelled out by a lousy 2011 Thing remake-of-aremake. More often than not, a remake is nothing but an infuriating imitation of a film that should otherwise be left to rest in peace. Take The Pink Panther.

Peter Sellers, with the direction of Blake Edwards, created a comic icon in Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

That someone thought this unique blend of comedy could be recreated by Steve Martin is not just inane— it’s downright insulting. And like any poor comedic imitator, Martin spectacularly failed at producing laughs (although, for some pathetic reason, he was able to produce a sequel).

In an ideal world, film “remakes” would not exist. They would be replaced by films that pay tribute to their predecessors while embracing their own singular visions. By inviting comparisons to their predecessors’ achievements, remakes set up audiences for disappointment. Nostalgia clouds any true fans’ judgment, and nine times out of ten, a remake will get a “meh” response at best, and a cry for the director’s head at worst. But thanks to the capitalist nature of Hollywood, remakes continue to be

released, and fans continually flock to these remakes, all too aware that what they are about to see will go about as well as a trip to the dentist.

One director close to this writer’s heart has become the victim of a string of recent remakes. Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch filmmaker who has blessed this world with the

reel Talk

by John Sapunor a bi-weekly column about film likes of Starship Troopers, Basic Instict, Total Recall, and Robocop, has seen his work targeted as material worth revisiting.

Verhoeven presents an interesting case because his movies are not entirely loved by critics (one word: Showgirls), so to call his films sacred or untouchable seems a bit curious. However, Verhoeven has a unique eye for action and sci-fi, presenting bleak dystopias and neo-fascist bug exterminators in a satirical light. In Verhoeven’s worlds,

Truly, Lee and Gredjenson have twisted the traditional pizzeria into something of refined sophistication. This polish, and the high prices of the food, are offset by the casual jeans and tshirts donned by the exuberant servers.

The Zuchinne al Forno, wood-roasted zucchini topped with castelvetrano olives, capers, and red onion, jolted my taste buds awake with its balsamic tang. Topped with vivid green olives and deep red onion, the vegetables were delectably crisp.

Soon after the appetizer, the Gnocchetti con Pesto Di Cavolo arrived and I officially fell in love with a food. The pasta was refreshingly “fluffy,” as manager Sam Pan aptly described it, and the honeyed walnuts were equally as enjoyable.

Over too soon, I found myself seriously considering embracing cliché and licking the plate clean just as our server returned with the dessert menu.

Bypassing the gelato and panna cotta, we chose Crostatina al Mirtilli e Fichi. Though unable to pronounce Crostatina al Mirtilli e Fichi, I can pro-

violence and sex are facts of life, but the brutality of his characters’ lives is contrasted with comical amounts of gore that only add to the satire. His often perverse visions come to life with the use of costumes and model-driven special effects. CGI takes a backseat in this filmmaker’s mind.

Then someone had the idea to remake Total Recall, a stylistically and tonally inimitable film. In the original, audiences were fed three-titted mutants and meme-worthy scenes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s eyes inflating like balloons. In the remake, Verhoeven’s tangible, kitsch-like violence was replaced by CGI eye candy and a straightforward script lacking the original’s trademark satire.

Verhoeven publicly disclosed his displeasure with the remake, but as he did not own the rights to the original, he had no power to stop its production.

Despite this vocal displeasure with one remake, Verhoeven’s Robocop has also been revisited by studios. The trailer,

nounce incredible, remarkable, and mind-blowing, all of which would aptly describe the blueberry, fig, and ricotta tart with a side of whipped cream.

Before leaving, I approached the open kitchen, classically Italian, and spoke with Jonathan Copeland, Ghibellina’s executive chef. Copeland was trained in the art of pizza making—in Florence nonetheless.

His dedication is apparent in the pies, large enough to share and decorated in toppings of your choice.

With my stomach full of pasta and my heart full of Italian gusto, I asked Copeland for his personal recommendation.

Expecting him to choose one of the elaborate dishes like Pappardelle al Funghi Misti (porcini, chanterelle, shiitake mushrooms, house-cured guanciale, and pecorino), he surprised me by settling calmly on classic pizza and gelato. Though Ghibellina excels at complexity, it never abandons these simple classics.

Ghibellina 1610 14th Street, NW D.C. ghibellina.com

released in the past few weeks, was Total Recall déjà vu. The overdone CGI and rebooted script will undoubtedly drown out the clever dystopian universe Verhoeven created with the original. His Robocop did not just succeed because of its action—it succeeded because the world Robocop inhabits is unimaginably grotesque and undeniably fun. The new Robocop ignores this tone, vying for the one-dimensional nonsense that Verhoeven’s films rejected.

Maybe nothing is sacred in Hollywood, and that’s alright.

But to corrupt a director’s vision with heartless cash cows is going a step too far. In this formula, both audiences and artists become victims of the business-end of the industry. That said, if the Coen Brothers ever see a chance to remake Showgirls, this remake game might require a little reassessment.

Head back to the future with John at jsapunor@georgetownvoice.com.

georgetownvoice.com

“Broke into the wrong goddamn rec room, didn’t ya you bastard!” — Tremors

the georgetown voice 11

Insidious 2 brings back old haunts iTunes killed the radio

by Ana Smith The Lambert family is back, this time with daddyissues. The Insidious sequel starts right where the first film left off, after Dalton’s father Josh (Patrick Wilson) reclaimed his astral projection abilities and plunged into The Further to save his son (Ty Simpkins). This time, in an effort to move the plot further and cash in on a sequel, it’s Josh that’s possessed.

Though Josh’s wife Renai (Rose Byrne) is given substantive evidence that a spirit has taken over her husband’s body—even the paranormal investigator has been murdered— Josh easily convinces her of his innocence in a ridiculous turn of plot. Insidious 2 wastes no time jumping into all the original film’s former glory, subtly hiding a ghost in a white gown on

the edge of the screen, unknown to the characters until she unexpectedly sucker punches Renai.

The sequel suffers from random plot holes that leave the viewer confused as to how characters always escape near-death experiences and why one person can have two spirits in The Further. Still, the creators seemed to have earnestly listened to the first film’s critiques and addressed them in the second. There are less awkward, stilted scenes in between the action, and the comedic relief provided by Elise’s two derpy sidekicks is more fluidly woven into the plot.

Insidious 2 nearly avoided laughable clichés with Elise’s death at the end of the first movie.

However, when the Lambert family and its team of investigators realizes that Josh is possessed by a spirit not his own, the original paranormal detective is contacted

Remember, what happens in The Further stays in The Further.

IMDB

by a medium to give them guidance from the beyond.

Perhaps the film’s most redeeming qualities flow from its ability to stand on its own. Foster (Andrew Astor), the younger brother, constructs a can and string phone in order to goof off with Dalton after bedtime. Constantly bothering troubled Dalton with the communication device proves comedic until the half-asleep Dalton realizes that the other receiver is in the closet, not with Foster. This iconic scene shows that the writers still have new tricks to throw at the audience. In fact, though the film over-utilizes stale tactics like creaking doors to scare viewers, the fear invoked through the plot remains original, unlike the typical modern horror film.

Though Insidious continues to be plagued by bad acting, its climax helps redeem it. Forced to physically fight the possessed Josh, Renai is nearly choked to death until the film’s best actor, Ty Simpkins, saves her by being the bad-ass kid he’s grown to be since the first film.

Beginning like The Exorcist and ending like The Shining, Insidious 2 invokes the atmosphere of a classic horror film. It may not go down as the best horror flick of all time, but fans of the first film won’t be let down by the second.

And they needn’t worry about the Insidious series stopping either—Elise makes so many come backs, she might as well hop on the Mystery Machine.

by Jackson Sinnenberg If Pandora is a trainable dog, iTunes Radio is Apple’s jeansand-hoodie clad salesman. This new music streaming service comes included as part of the iOS 7 updates to Apple mobile devices, available on Sept. 18.

For those Pandora users out there, the layout is strikingly familiar. The recognizably Apple interface allows you to see the album artwork and song duration, while being able to pause/play, skip, and star songs. The star button holds the station building options “play more like this” and “never play this again.”

A third option, unique to iTunes Radio, offers users the ability to “Add to my iTunes wish list.” This and the little buy button in the top right hand corner of the screen are this service’s attempt to win back the consumers that iTunes has lost to other Internet radio services.

As with its competitors, iTunes users create a streaming station by selecting a song, artist, or genre, and then building their station using the star button. There are still ads every few songs, and skipping is limited to roughly five or six times per hour.

One exciting feature that sets iTunes Radio apart is a station

built with songs from #Music, Twitter’s music app. In essence, it will be built around songs and artists that are trending in the #Music Twittersphere. iTunes Radio incorporates a main menu option to look over your complete listening history across all stations, an attribute unique to this streaming service. Apple then gives you the ability to buy every song that appears in this history.

Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of Apple’s project is that it is built on your music library. Much like the Genius feature, iTunes Radio draws from your library and previous music purchases to make its selections. But this feature comes with an ulterior motive—getting you to buy more songs.

As you purchase more tracks from the iTunes store, iTunes Radio adjusts its programming and song selection based on your recent music information, tailoring its selections to match what you have paid for in the past.

Although this service is riddled with shameless retail ploys, it offers a multitude of useful features, many of which are unique to our favorite Cupertino tech company. Delivered in the expected pretty package, this free service is worth checking out.

Another fussy French diplomat lands in Washington

by Caitlin Ouano Le Diplomate proves as pricey as its fancy name suggests.

Tucked into the corner of 14th and Q, the restaurant mimics its French counterparts with high, open windows, rustic white and oak-paneled walls, and tiled floors. All this establishes the feeling of old Paris as you walk through a set of wooden doors.

At 6:30 on a Monday night (that’s right, Monday), the restaurant was already filled, and I was cheerfully given a table on the sidewalk—nothing to complain about on such a beautiful day. That quiet, idyllic corner spot where expats scribble masterpieces is nowhere to be found at Le Dip. Instead, the patio bubbles with noise—the restaurant is quickly becoming a lively neighborhood spot.

Bozhena, our server with a buoyant attitude and French accent, promptly took our order and brought out bread swiftly. White baguettes, ryewheat slices, and cranberrywalnut boule loaves were heaped in a basket with a small cup of butter. Though not quite warm, it was better than any typical restaurant’s offering, especially the soft and sweet walnut bread. Still, I regretted not ordering some fresh Brie, as I enviously watched a couple at the table behind me eagerly slicing into a petite wheel of fromage.

The ricotta ravioli, cooked simply with tomato and basil and stuffed full of soft ricotta, is nothing special. Instead, the sides are better than the main dishes they support. Small servings of corn and zucchini are

cooked to be sweet and creamy without being too oily. Le Diplomate’s pomme frites are a bonus to the main orders, not too salty and never overdone.

Though pricey, most of the restaurant’s food lives up to the sophisticated atmosphere, though the only genuine French aspects of Le Dip are its presentation and its cheese.

Most selections like the burger Americain are gourmet American entrees translated on the menu into French. Still, the restaurant offers a few classic dishes like beef bourguignon and steak frites.

For dessert, the milk chocolate pot de crème doesn’t disappoint. A tall glass bowl filled with chocolate and topped with thick, homemade whipped cream was the highlight of our meal. Scratch that—the high-

light of our day. Its smooth, pudding consistency remains cold and refreshing. Light and feathery, the pot de crème melts on the tongue despite its deceptively heavy appearance. If you visit Le Diplomate for nothing else, order a pot de crème.

Dining at a French café is no longer the exclusive luxury

of those lucky study abroad kids. While the menu at Le Diplomate exceeds the typical college student’s budget, it’s certainly cheaper than a plane ride to Paris.

Le Diplomate 1601 14th Street, NW D.C. lediplomatedc.com

gavin myers

Miley Cyrus is largely credited for the reappropriation of Franco-American cuisine.

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

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

Holy Ghost!, Dynamics, DFA Records Holy Ghost!’s sophomore effort, Dynamics, is like walking through a multistoried discotheque. Most rooms blast 80s movie soundtracks, but you’ll stop sporadically to find floors of bubbly, synthpop dance.

While the Brooklyn-based duo’s love for disco leads to the occasional dance anthem, the LP is oversaturated in nostalgia and too caught up in the past to offer anything new to its listeners.

Playing with dynamics and the balance between simple and full-bodied sound is one thing that Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser consistently do well throughout this album. The LP’s first track, “Okay,” starts with a bumpy bass line and builds quickly as a funky

keyboard riff and floating vocals are tacked on. The song oscillates between light and heavy sound for the rest of the track, fitting nicely with the lyrical story of a struggling romance.

Following “Okay,” the playful, synthpop instrumentals are replaced by an aerobics class mix in “Dumb Disco Ideas.” Offering nothing unique or exciting, this song is simply an eightminute long background tune fit for a B-list 80s flick.

A couple unremarkable disco elevator songs later, the group ventures into another distinctive 80s genre, pop R&B. “It Must Be the Weather” shows how obsessed with the decade this duo really is. This song is hauntingly reminiscent of Lionel Richie’s “You Are,” with its slow chord progression and vocal responses. While Holy Ghost! does an excellent job emulating this genre, this track is just another example of the band’s obsession holding them back from musical ingenuity.

Towards the end of the album, “Bridge and Tunnel,” the duo’s song about their hometown, mixes in space disco and low-key new wave as the night at the discotheque winds down. “I’m going

Bring on the cheese, Georgia

Georgian cuisine is not for the faint of heart. Or stomach. Or digestive system. Georgia’s national dish is khachapuri, which literally translates to “cheesebread.” It’s not as simple as a chunk of cheddar on some whole wheat: Each of Georgia’s regions (even the breakaways and autonomous ones) have their own interpretation of the recipe. After a two-week tour of Georgia, during which I ate almost nothing but khachapuri and watermelon, I’ve got the lowdown on my three favorite renditions of this cheesy wonder.

First up, we’ve got megruli khachapuri. Hailing from the Samargelo province in western Georgia, megruli’s circular shape makes it look similar to an order of Papa John’s breadsticks. Khachapuri uses a special cheese, suluguni, that gives it a taste entirely different from anything you’ll eat in the States. Suluguni undergoes an intense pickling

process, which results in a dimpled texture and salty flavor. It’s like saltier, drier feta cheese melted on top of fluffy dough.

If you’ve managed to finish a serving of megruli, you’re probably ready to level up to imeruli khachapuri. Imeruli maintains the circular shape of megruli but an extra layer of dough seals the crumbly bits of cheese inside the khachapuri. I often saw it sold at corner stores among a selection of other cheeses and pastries.

My first experience with imeruli was at a one-room restaurant adorned with dried meat hanging from the ceiling. I had a few hours to kill as I waited for my minibus to fill—buses at this station leave when full, not according to a pre-set schedule.

Giorgi, the restaurant’s proprietor, nodded at my order for a slice of imeruli khachapuri.

Clearly, I was a bit confused when Giorgi instead plopped

back to New York City,” Frankel tells us over a simple drumline and galactic synthesizer dance loop.

Holy Ghost!’s sound is refined and deliberate. Unfortunately, it is 30 years out of date and lacking the personal signature necessary to give it relevance today. Save a handful of fun disco dance tunes, this album blends into one long homage to a bygone decade.

Voice’s Choices: “Okay,” “Bridge and Tunnel,” “Don’t Look Down” —Josh Ward

Kitten, Like a Stranger, Elektra Records Elektra Records’ up-andcomer Kitten has found its voice again. The band’s self-released debut EP, Sunday School, showdown a cheese pie at least a foot in diameter. I shamelessly ate all but one slice, which I shared with the driver of the bus.

Somehow, my arteries were still functioning by the time I arrived in Batumi, a small, glittery town near the Turkish border. After frolicking in the Black Sea and wandering for hours through narrow alleys, my new Georgian friends

Plate of the Union

by Colleen Wood and Rebecca Barr

a bi-weekly column about film a bi-weekly column about food Teo and Nanka told me, “You’ve got to try khachapuri.” Confused, I tried to explain that I already ate khachapuri (many times) and that I was not prepared to eat any more.

“No, no,” they said. “Adjaruli is unlike the others.”

Before ordering, I had a vague image of what exactly I was about to eat—an openfaced bread bowl filled with cheese and egg. I foolishly

cased a mix of entry-level punk rock and dance rhythms. But, after getting signed, Kitten experimented with a trendy and ethereal alternative sound, à la indie music darling Sky Ferreira.

This second EP, Cut It Out, felt like Kitten had suddenly become timid in its synthy 80s sound.

Luckily, Kitten sheds this insecurity in their second major label EP release, Like a Stranger. Gone, however, are the excellent guitar backings from Sunday School and Cut It Out’s track “Japanese Eyes.” Instead, Kitten has put the synthesizer at the forefront of their new sound, while still leaving room for guitar solos later in the EP. Like a Stranger begins with bang.

As the synth builds to Chloe Chaidez’s first words on the title track, it toes the line between pop and Kitten’s typical dance-rock style. “Like a Stranger” is pleasant and easy while still retaining enough mystery to warrant repeat listens on a favorite playlist.

Eventually the anthemic instrumentation fades into “Yesterday,” the EP’s weak point.

The verses are unnervingly dissonant, and the disturbing vocals are too quiet to follow. A much-anticipated coda brings the track to a relieving close. sipped on tarragon soda as I waited for the adjaruli to arrive, unknowingly filling up precious space in my stomach.

In comparison to what was set in front of me, my mental image of the dish was a sad, black-and-white plate of something they might have served in Pleasantville. In reality, adjaruli was a head-sized, boat-shaped hunk of dough, hollowed out and loaded with cheesy goodness. The woman working in the back of the restaurant had lovingly cracked an egg over several inches of suluguni. Not wanting the egg to be lonely, the chefs also laid a hunk of butter on top of the yolk.

I tried my hardest to eat the whole boat of adjaruli, but I only made it through the bow. Clutching a third-trimester food baby, I stumbled out of the restaurant with Teo and Nanka, who were ready to follow lunch with dessert.

I somehow managed to consume half a serving of ice cream

The dominant bass line and ethereal vocals of “I’ll Be Your Girl” immediately bring to mind The Cure. This love song’s sound has an interesting finality—almost as though it should be played at the end of a John Hughes movie.

“Doubt” marks a shift in the EP as it moves away from a mysterious and yearning sound. Kitten, it seems, has discovered its sex appeal. The track is a backand-forth between Chaidez and her male counterpart, evocative both lyrically and rhythmically.

The EP wraps up with “King of Kings,” a Joy Division-influenced track that is abrasive but stirring.

Like a Stranger is distinctly danceable but with a wistful edge to it. To a listener not schooled in Kitten’s characteristic—and fantastic—sound, Like a Stranger sounds as though it was produced right alongside its influences. Chaidez, throughout the EP, presents a vocal approach that is simultaneously enveloping and luxurious, not unlike that of Dave Gahan. She moves like him, too.

Voice’s Choices: “Like Stranger,” “I’ll Be Your Girl”

a

—Tim Annick before collapsing on a couch for several hours, incapacitated.

Two weeks of eating this stuff wreaked havoc on my digestive system. It took a month to get over my fear of eating cheese again.

Even so, during every subsequent trip to the former Soviet sphere, I make a b-line for the closest Georgian restaurant. I take pleasure in sipping juice from khinkali dumplings and biting into bean-filled lobani, but there’s a special place in my heart for an order of khachapuri.

Each bite of cheesy goodness recalls memories from bus stations and cafes perched on the Black Sea, of awkward attempts to decipher Georgian menus, and of all the people who helped me find my place during my time in Georgia.

I have no idea when I’ll return to Georgia, but I already know what I’ll do first when I get there—find some khachapuri.

Eat out with Collen and Rebecca at cwood@georgetownvoice.com and rbarr@georgetownvoice.com.

georgetownvoice.com

page thirteen

the georgetown voice 13

- Shalina Chatlani

voices

14 the georgetown voice

september 12, 2013

Chile provides a path for Latin American liberalism

by Juan Gonçalves Massive mobilizations have taken over Chile in light of the 40th Anniversary commemorating the coup d’état that ousted Chilean socialist President Salvador Allende at the hands of his appointed Army Chief Augusto Pinochet. These gatherings have been mostly orchestrated by student movements that denounce the impunity shown to those responsible for violators of human rights. The ensuing governments have still not made information available related to the fates of various people who were taken by Pinochet’s thugs and never seen again. Hundreds of Chilean families still don’t know what happened to their loved ones, and some argue that their chance to get closure was forever lost when El General passed away in 2009 without ever being put to trial.

The memories of this catastrophe are still present in the minds of the Andean citizens.

Even today, the population is polarized when it comes to talking about the subject. A recent

survey conducted by a Chilean pollster determined that 10 percent of Chileans still think of the period as “good or very good” and 21 percent classify it as “regular.”

Perhaps the reason for the surprising approval of Pinochet is a result of his role in Chile’s subsequent economic prosperity. Under the guidance of University of Chicago academics, he implemented free-market, neoliberal policies for the country.

Despite having inherited an inflation rate of over 300 percent in 1973, during the Pinochet years the country saw an economic boom and a drastic reduction in poverty from 40 percent to 14 percent.

While Chilean left-wing sympathizers argue that the country has enjoyed unprecedented economic prosperity ever since they got rid of the dictatorship, it seems that the aforementioned might only be true because the conditions for prosperity were built on the backbone of Pinochet’s economic dictums. As former finance minister Alejandro Foxley said in a 1991 interview,

“We may not like the government that came before us. But they did many things right. We have inherited an economy that is an asset.”

It’s impossible to deny the revival of leftist government throughout Latin America. Under the self-proclaimed Socialist Revolution of the 21st Century, Hugo Chavez made Venezuela the beacon for the region’s leftist movement, promising to end the socio-economic disparities, problems of poverty, and class struggle that resulted from “imperialist, neo-liberalist intervention and influence.” However, while socialism might be similar in doctrine, we can see a clear distinction in its implementation between Chile and other countries such as Venezuela, Argentina, and Ecuador in terms of inclusion and tolerance.

For example, in Venezuela, Chavez, and later Maduro, shut down all opposition-associated free public TV stations, prevented those citizens who requested a referendum to call Chavez from power to be employed in the government sector, and even

publicly threatened industrialists for being “bourgeois.”

Ecuador has seen how president Correa sued for “defamation” and won in court against critical newspapers, whose editors and executives were later handed crippling sanctions that shut down their publications.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has bullied Argentine newspapers into self-censorship by refusing to allow companies to publish advertisements in their printed pages.

Chile, on the other hand, boasts a relatively clean record of respect toward free speech and even displays a low level of corruption compared to its regional peers.

As of now, Chileans have the opportunity to vote for nine candidates in the presidential election this upcoming November.

According to recent surveys, however, it seems that self-labeled socialist and former president Michelle Bachelet is destined for victory and can return Chile to where it was years ago.

Based on Chile’s past in comparison with other Latin American

countries, citizens should not fear the return of a socialist rule that could be an inspiration for these countries.

Latin America is predominantly socialist, but the governments that predicate it are different. The class struggle woes which remained as the legacy of economic liberalism are still very much present, but the best way to address this issue is not by dividing the people even further through ruling-party iron fists. Rather, the solution is to integrate the country under a common objective and equal access to representation and different sources of information.

Through Chile, hope for truly inclusive and respectful socialism in Latin America is returning. So keep your eyes open for future President Bachelet, for even the Scandinavians might learn a thing or two.

Juan Gonçalves is a junior in the SFS. He’s also waiting for mullets and double denim to make a comeback.

Entertainment industry should support TV moving online

by Patrick Lim It’s midnight and you’re bored. You don’t own a TV, so you go to your common room, past loud, drunk floormates to watch the poorly placed TV set, just to have a particularly obnoxious student cry through the lame horror film playing. By now, these cramped dorm rooms, loud common areas, and different interests have pointed out one of the biggest luxuries taken for granted at home: watching TV. Without superb access to TV, most of us at college resort to watching TV online, subscribing to online websites such as Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, or frantically trying to

find a good streaming website to keep up with our favorite shows. With these new online avenues, the business has also gained the ability to create critically acclaimed original shows, such as House of Cards.

Think about how popular Hulu and Netflix are.

These two websites account for just over a third of Internet streaming traffic in North America, with iTunes and YouTube accounting for less than 20 percent. Their popularity, however, is not something completely surprising. The Internet connects 2.5 billion people around the world. By 2016, there will be 31 billion devices connected to the Internet.

It’s everywhere, revolution-

LEILA LEBRETON

Moms everywhere rejoice their sons are only using laptops for TV.

izing the way we date, share videos, shop, and watch TV. Now, with content available on the train, bus, and airplane, all that is needed is an Internetconnected device. With the integration of technology and the Internet, the reliance on the internet for TV is growing and the positive effects are promising. It is now available through over-the-top providers such as Netflix. But such providers are not only channels that offer a personalized online watching experiences. They create their own original content, but also revive and relaunch shows that have been cancelled. Fifteen new episodes of Arrested Development were premiered on Netflix in May of this year.

Although the popularity of the show had waned since its hiatus, it enjoyed even more success than it had when it was on network TV. Now there are plans to move forward with a movie and fifth season.

Even though the Internet is able to deliver content wherever and whenever we want it, the entertainment industry is scared. The Internet makes TV more interactive. According to research published earlier this year, shows with higher ratings had an impact on what people were tweeting 48 percent of the time and Twitter activity

improved live ratings for TV shows by 29 percent. The industry is obviously taking notice of this trend, and shows such as You Be the Judge on NBC have realized the importance of viewer interactions and lets them play a part in expressing their opinions and in judging contestants.

It seems that the future of TV is nothing without our beloved Internet. With all these developments, concerns have arisen inside the entertainment industry regarding piracy and the fear of a decline in their revenue. Two years ago, the Stop Online Piracy Act was introduced with backing from the entertainment industry. It was written to combat copyright infringement by tackling unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The legislation was met with an international outcry.

Some high-traffic website like Wikipedia even blacked out to protest SOPA’s violation of the First Amendment and potential crippling of the Internet.

Clamping down on piracy online would limit the availability of content to countries where over-the-top providers are available. Netflix, for example, is only available to the Americas, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and a

select few other countries. It’s unlikely that TV will be able to survive without a company that has done so much to revolutionize content and to make the demand for highquality shows even greater.

The benefits of transitioning online far outweigh the dangers of content theft. The industry should stop fearing the change from entertainment on a TV set to online entertainment.

Though piracy is a real issue, there are many more benefits that could come from embracing the transition to and perfecting of the immediate, personalized, on-the-go means of accessing entertainment. Engineers could build a system that provides constant entertainment and, therefore, constant revenue. The industry should adjust to the new means of providing content, join up with these over-thetop providers, and finish constructing one of the biggest changes entertainment has ever seen, instead of pushing for measures to fight and punish the petty piracy crimes.

Patrick Lim is a sophomore in the SFS. He’s really, really upset that his dad wouldn’t buy him a TV for his dorm room.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Syria to be just another plaything for US imperialism

by Rohan Advani Chemical weapons. Kids dying. We’ve heard it all before. But let me take the time to dissect some of these claims. From Senator Kerry, to Secretary of State Rice, to President Obama, they all seem to be completely sure that Assad has used these chemical weapons on his civilian population.

But why should we listen to the U.S. when it comes to chemical weapons or warfare? We seem to have forgotten Agent Orange and when the U.S. knew about Saddam gassing the Kurds in 1988 but continued its support. I can even extend this blame to Obama.

Where was Obama and his “red line” during Israel’s repeated firing of white phosphorus shells on densely populated areas in Gaza? I guess it’s okay for the U.S. to draw a red line for some, but not for others. You should never trust imperial presidents who are at the helm of the largest military machine in human history.

Even if we forget our hypocritical past, there is no evidence of their claims. We’ve seen the tragic videos and the countless number of civilians that were massacred on the 21st of August, yet who was actually behind all of this? Carla Del Ponte said that there were “strong, concrete suspi-

CHRISTINA LIBRE

Uncle Sam reprises his role as the guy who doesn’t realize the party’s over.

Off-campus, off the mark

“Since 1789, the Georgetown University experience has always included Georgetown.”

This is not a comment from a student, nor an on-campus publication. This is a comment from NBC News Washington’s recent video highlighting what neighbors and university administrators have seemingly failed to grasp—the success of Georgetown as a university is inextricably linked to its location and atmosphere.

The University is considering the possible negative implications of continuing to anger our beloved neighbors in deciding on expansion measures.

But there are far greater social, safety, and socioeconomic implications of a potential satellite campus.

Let’s actually think this one through, shall we? What makes Georgetown such a

strong community is its compact campus filled with history, vibrancy, and advocacy.

Before I made it from my room in Copley to the ICC for class, I would encounter at least six of my friends, students playing Frisbee, and club members petitioning for various causes, all within five minutes each other.

To rob future students of that little pleasure would be denying them a big part of Georgetown life.

Freshmen not only bond with their floors, but with students in other nearby dorms.

I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t been able to seek refuge with my VCW friends whenever my roommate sexiled me from New South. Sophomore year is when students start to really narrow down and pursue their passions. Please enlighten me how

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

Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily reflect the views of the General Board of the Voice.

cions but not yet incontrovertible proof” that the rebels were behind the use of Sarin. Even today, excaptives “reveal militants’ involvement in Aug. 21 Syria chemical raid.” Maybe we should take these claims with a grain of salt, but why should they be any less credible than those emanating from the White House? Even if Assad’s forces did chemical weapons, they were likely used by a mid-level commander out of desperation rather than ordered by the central command itself, as that would be complete political suicide. Assad is a brute, but he’s not irrational.

All this talk about chemical weapons and kids dying, grave tragedies and reprehensible acts, is clearly just a façade for the United States to rebalance its imperial forces in the Middle East, further increase its hegemonic rule over the region, and prove that “might is right.” They couldn’t care less about Syrian lives, or they would look more closely at the facts.

Everyone seems to be operating under the assumption that the United States and Israel vehemently oppose the Syrian regime. This assertion isn’t true, because the regime benefits the United States.

Iraq under Saddam Hussein did not open up to neoliberalism and

students could possibly leave production night at the Voice office in Leavey or tech rehearsal for a show in Gonda at 2 a.m. and safely return to their dorm on a satellite campus.

Which brings me to my next point: safety. College students will be college students.

Even though they may live on a satellite campus, they’re still going to have friends on the main campus, and those friends will go out with them.

A satellite campus will not solve nightlife problems: it will create new ones. Students

Carrying On

by Julia Jester

A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

grow familiar with the Georgetown area with the help of orientation and upperclassmen.

Adding an unfamiliar area to the mix will force students to either become hermits or pay for cabs every weekend, an unfair economic disadvantage to those who weren’t lucky enough to win a golden ticket to an on-campus apartment.

Bottom line: our school has been based in Georgetown for over two centuries. I doubt any

private exploitation of its natural resources until 2003 when it was forced to under U.S. occupation.

Syria, however, opened up to neoliberalism in 2000 and the gains made from “Arab socialism” were revoked soon after Bashar came to power after his father, Hafez, died.

With a weak and divided working class, coupled with a coercive regime that focused on “capital accumulation while equality and distribution were neglected,” Syria could be kept in check while foreign corporations and banks reeled in profits. Syria no longer posed a real threat to Israeli security or American hegemony.

What’s more, if Obama did really care about Syrian lives he would press further with a diplomatic solution—pressuring the Gulf countries to stop the flow of arms and pushing for a comprehensive deal with the Russians and Chinese.

But, surprise, that’s not happening.

Once in a while, we have the pleasure of someone in the ruling elite actually telling the truth.

Here’s a nice example of that regarding Syria and its rebels: “This is a playoff situation in which you need both teams to lose, but at least you don’t want one to win—we’ll settle for a tie,” said Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli

neighborhood residents could say the same.

Furthermore, NBC News Washington specifically noted that the University was considering sites near metro stations in Virginia, Capitol Hill, and Wisconsin Avenue. This plan would be good planning if Georgetown had a metro stop in the first place. Students could drive to class, but, seeing how we were kindly reminded last month that cars aren’t an allowed thing here, that’s not an option. Therefore students would have to take a metro or shuttle just to get to classes and to Leo’s, thanks to the mandatory meal plans.

Unless the University wants to provide all of these students with a Jesuit golf cart to even the playing field with those who can roll out of their Harbin beds and into the ICC, they should reconsider this plan.

Even studying abroad away from campus, I’ve felt the effects of how easy it is to miss something or feel out-of-theloop when I’m not physically present on campus. Granted, I’m across an ocean rather than a river, but the sentiment is still the same. Without the camaraderie fostered by our main

Consul General in New York. “Let them both bleed, hemorrhage to death: that’s the strategic thinking here. As long as this lingers, there’s no real threat from Syria.”

The best-case scenario is that more innocent civilians die and the conflict carries on, taking more and more lives. The worst-case scenario is mission-creep and the U.S. is compelled to further involve itself in the region, militarizing the conflict, and many more deaths.

If anyone cares about the Syrian people, the sanctity of life, and wants peace, a U.S. strike is probably the worst thing one could do. The U.S. would be acting as the rebels’ air support, which includes Al-Qaeda-associated groups. As per usual, innocent civilians will be those that face the short end of the stick, or a bomb.

With international and domestic support for a strike at such a low, the administration is clearly looking to defend its actions, but by now may have to settle for a diplomatic solution. Let’s hope so.

Rohan Advani is a sophomore in the SFS. He fundamentally believes that every scenario is a worstcase scneario. campus, the Georgetown community would not be as strong.

Most alarming is Todd Olson’s most eloquent comment: “Even if most students don’t like the option, to be crass about it, most students don’t need to live there.” To be crass about it, Georgetown students embrace the idea of cura personalis, and we care about the students within our community—past, present, and future.

We want the best for our fellow Hoyas, even if it won’t directly impact our college careers.

I don’t know why the University is still surprised by student reactions to these plans.

When topics are on the table that directly affect us, we will have adverse reactions just like any other adult would. We were accepted into this University because we are intelligent and care about the community around us. So why shouldn’t we be consulted on matters that affect us, especially when we can provide fresh insight and potential solutions? The University needs to stop protecting Georgetown University as a brand or business and start protecting it as a community where its students should be able to both learn and live.

Artist Spotlight So what arts are you involved in Vivian?

I’m in BMDT — Black Movements Dance Theatre. It’s a great creative space for me because I’ve had opportunities to combine my poetry with my dance. I’m also part of Georgetown’s Corpus Collective and try to do spoken-word poetry from time to time.

Tell me a little more about your poetry. How would you describe what you write?

Well I’m from Namibia, but I went to school in Swaziland and my dad is from Nigeria. Being exposed to such a blend of African cultures has made me passionate in my attempts to relate the African experience, if there is such a thing. It is one of my main goals in my poetry. But I’m starting to diversify; I’ve also recently been selected as a Lannan Fellow, so I’m very excited about that.

Wow, how great!

Yes, I think being here at Georgetown in the SFS, I was starting to yearn for more poetry in my life. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the structure of poetry and really just writing. It’s one of the most powerful things we have.

How so?

I remember the first poem that I really connected with, “DULCE ET DECORUM EST” by Wilfred Owen. It was talking about the irony and illusion of it being “sweet and honorable” to die for your country. He wrote it in such a way that I felt like I was there, like I was accompanying him on this journey. I thought, “Wow, what a powerful thing to be able to do,” to bridge distance in that way.

How has that shaped you?

Well it made me reframe what I was trying to accomplish in my poetry. I want to create that connection with someone, kind of like having coffee with them, bringing him or her to the table and hoping they connect with something I say. Yes, my poetry is my own personal catharsis but it is also about that connection and allowing others to see something for themselves in my poetry. That is the biggest celebration.

What a refreshing approach.

You know, Aristotle said that “The highest form of truth is not history, it’s poetry.” I think he means that history can be easily manipulated by those with power, but poetry is so pure and so personal. It is truth within itself. That’s where I am right now, and I am definitely still growing.

Know a Georgetown Artist?

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

–African proverb

Vi via n

It’s a lot of dabbling. I was published in a poetry anthology when I was eleven years old. It was a terrible poem, but it was fascinating to see my work in print like that; it inspired me to keep writing. A lot of my poetry is inspired by my relationship with God and also my connection with Africa as a whole.

…Africa as a whole?

“Until the lion learns to write, stories of hunting will always glorify the hunter”

Republic of Namibia SFS, Regional and Comparative Studies Arts: Dancer and Poet Currently listening: Jailer by Asa

Oj

Excerpt from

o

For those who cannot sleep

“

Expressions of the effects of inner injustice grow on me like graffiti on freshly painted walls in ghettos The poor do not sleep so long as we do. The knock of the wind under the door is a notification from the debtors of the day reminding weary souls that even peaceful sleep is a luxury sold at a steep price in the midst of moral recession. …Medicate and numb yourself as much as your frail body can endure, shattered heart can suppress and aloof mind can rationalize but know this: Until the sleeper finds a warm spot on the concrete to shut his eyes you will remain awake with your eyes closed.

Asleep with eyes wide open.

”