9 13 2012

VOICE the georgetown

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MEXICAN ACTIVISTS, STUDENTS PROTEST WAR ON DRUGS PAGE 5

CROSS COUNTRY FINISHES STRONG IN WEEKEND RACES PAGE 7

WOMEN ROCK AT THE NMWA PAGE 10

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969  September 13, 2012  Volume 47, Issue 5  georgetownvoice.com

2 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

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Voice Crossword “September Themeless Challenge” by Tyler Pierce

ACROSS 1. Massachusetts school with mascot Jumbo the Elephant 6. Horse hello 11. Mire 14. Husband of Bathsheba 15. Less understandable 17. In a gentlemanly manner

18. Giddy people are on it 19. Twelfth month of the Jewish civil year 20. Bias 21. Erelong 22. Unctuous 23. Done, for Donne 24. City founded by Pizarro 25. The Beehive State 26. Cloud, as a window, with “up”

27. Blazed 29. Machine used to continuously spin wool 31. A person who can’t use magic 32. Hawaiian garland 33. Lobster dinner necessity 34. Don 38. Reserved 43. Puts down 44. Mike Piazza, once 45. Yemen’s Gulf of ___ 46. K follower 47. It often follows you 48. Not hot 49. Pelvic bones 50. Some is usually left on a bowl 52. Lower corner of a sail 53. Dentist target 55. Port-au-Prince is its capital 56. Lets go 57. Gardening tools 58. Potpie morsel 59. Lacking 60. Honkers DOWN 1. Try not to listen to 2. Kidney stone 3. Related to the calf bones 4. Cry from a Brit, perhaps 5. Reserved 6. Cell centers 7. Swell

puzzle answers at georgetownvoice.com 8. Representation 9. Overabundance 10. “If only ___ listened ...”

11. Way of marinating 12. Greek beverage with honey and grape juice 13. Throwable bomb 16. Not digital 20. Gets more comfortable, emotionally 27. Obsessed with 28. Euphonium relative 30. Gin flavor 33. Smelling the most like Natty 34. Overact 35. Mother-of-pearl source 36. Medical name for smallpox 37. What you will 38. Breaker 39. Act of checking a horse with quick pull of the reins 40. Venerate and worship 41. Exes out 42. Turned on its side 50. Foolhardy

51. She loved Narcissus 54. Possesses 55. Sorceress

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

E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com.

editorial

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 47.5 September 13, 2012 Editor-in-Chief: Leigh Finnegan Managing Editor: Keaton Hoffman Blog Editor: Vanya Mehta News Editor: Gavin Bade Sports Editor: Kevin Joseph Feature Editor: Connor Jones Cover Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Leisure Editor: Mary Borowiec Voices Editor: Claire McDaniel Photo Editor: Lucia He Design Editors: Amanda Dominguez, Madhuri Vairapandi Projects Editors: Christie Geaney, Cannon Warren Puzzles Editor: Tyler Pierce Assistant Blog Editors: Morgan Manger, Jamie Niu Assistant News Editors: Julia Jester, Matt Weinmann Assistant Sports Editor: Steven Criss Assistant Leisure Editors: Will Collins, Julia Lloyd-George, Kirill Makarenko Assistant Photo Editors: Julian de la Paz, Matt Thees Assistant Design Editors: Lauren Ashley Panawa

Staff Writers:

Jane Conroy, Shom Mazumder, Paul Quincy, Heather Regen, Melissa Sullivan, Fatima Taskomur, Ambika Tripathi

Staff Photographers:

Max Blodgett, Kirill Makarenko, Tim Markatos

Copy Chief: Tori Jovanovski Copy Editors:

Patricia Cipollitti, Kim Tay

Editorial Board Chair: Rachel Calvert Editorial Board:

Aisha Babalakin, Gavin Bade, Patricia Cipollitti, Nico Dona Dalle Rose, Keaton Hoffman, Julia Jester, Linnea Pittman, Cole Stangler

Head of Business: Aarohi Vora Business Staff: Sara Ainsworth, Zoe Disselkoen, Meghan Fitzpatrick, Charmaine Ng

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: “Student Tech Start-Ups” Cover Design: Neha Ghanshamdas (SFS ‘14)

the georgetown voice 3

LANDLORD OF THE FLIES

Students should seek out tenant advocates Burleith has become infamous for its negligent landlords. Students regularly have to fight to get their security deposits back at the end of the summer or academic year, even if the only problems are routine maintenance issues, and maintenance issues frequently go unaddressed throughout the year.

Often, negligent landlords own multiple houses in Burleith, and their business practices go unchallenged year after year. Students should assert their tenant rights by taking advantage of resources provided by District agencies.

For example, the Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs provides free property inspections ensuring the residence’s compliance with District law. If students get their houses inspected before signing onto a lease, tenants could more easily hold landlords accountable for making repairs.

Unfortunately, students routinely encounter difficulties getting landlords to make even routine repairs, especially if they’re subletting for the summer.

This was the case with Emma Forster‘s (COL ‘13) summer sublet. She said that when the shower started leaking, the landlord refused to take responsibility.

At the end of the summer, after fighting to get her security deposit back, Forster found out this was one of the properties endorsed by the Office of Off-Campus Student Life.

While the Office of OCSL provides a list of resources on its website, as well as a list of reputable properties, students should look beyond Georgetown for support.

Unfortunately, many of these resources are unknown to students jumping into the housing market for the first time. OCSL should actively disseminate

information about District resources to all rising juniors, before they start to look for off-campus housing over the summer.

The Office of the Tenant Advocate provides advice to tenants looking to hold their landlords accountable to housing code and financial issues. The OCSL should invite a representative from this District group to speak at Off-Campus Student Orientation.

Students often feel that as temporary residents, they are not in the position to argue against established landlords.

After all, most are only renting for nine months at the most. However, students must establish a status quo of asserting their legal rights so that in the future, landlords feel less comfortable taking advantage of short-term residents. Changing the dialogue might take a few years, but future Hoyas will enjoy the improved accountability.

DON’T TREAD ON D.C.

Democrats not prioritizing D.C. voting rights Despite efforts by D.C. voting rights advocates, the Democratic Party failed to include D.C. statehood in the platform it unveiled last week in Charlotte, N.C. While the platform gives a nod to full representation for D.C. citizens, acknowledging the need for “full and equal congressional rights” and budget autonomy, this provision seems like little more than lip service to the representation of D.C. citizens.

As a federal district, D.C. does not have voting representation in Congress, but still lies under Congress’ jurisdiction. Congressional oversight has often left D.C. social programs, like needle exchanges and lowerincome abortion services, vulnerable to Republican attacks. Democrats should fight for D.C. budget autonomy and voting rights, if not to confer full citizenship rights on D.C. citizens, then to protect District social programs that are in line with the party’s priorities.

During the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, D.C. abortion services were used as a bargaining chip to avoid a federal government shutdown. President Obama ceded D.C. abortion funding, telling House Speaker John Boehner

(R-OH), “John, I’ll give you D.C. abortion.”

In a less-than-heartening qualification, he did add, “I’m not happy about it.”

What’s at stake here is not only theoretical voting rights, but tangible social programs. At the very least, then, protecting these programs should be a priority for the Democrats. However, even when the party has had almost full control over the federal agenda, D.C. budget autonomy has received little attention.

Immediately after President Obama’s election, Democrats controlled the House and had a super-majority in the Senate but D.C.’s voting rights status went unchanged.

The only bill that went anywhere would have also tampered with District gun regulations.

The Democrats’ attitude at the DNC suggests that, win or lose, D.C. statehood--and indeed, voting rights in general--will not be a priority for the party over the next several years. In a symbolic move, the D.C. delegation to the DNC went unacknowledged and, to some extent, snubbed. The DNC denied speaking time to D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a veteran DNC speaker. The D.C. delegates were

also assigned to sit in what some call the “nosebleed seats.”

Recently, voting rights advocates like Norton have changed tactics, now pushing for statehood rather than other representational schemes. Not only was Norton not allowed to speak at the convention for the first time in 20 years, but the party also did not agree to explicitly include their support for D.C. statehood in their 2012 platform.

In the radio show The Political Hour, guest Mark Plotkin, political analyst for Fox 5, expressed that “the White House obviously didn’t want the word ‘statehood’ in the primary,” as was clearly conveyed in the treatment of the D.C. delegation throughout the Convention.

Plotkin commented on the fact that D.C. statehood wasn’t included in the platform by alluding to a conversation he had with Cory Booker, Democratic mayor of Newark, N.J.: “He said it was a contentious issue…

As if same sex marriage isn’t contentious or abortion isn’t contentious.” In point of fact, D.C. voting rights just aren’t a priority for the Democrats.

DON’T-MA

DOMA lawsuit incomplete gay rights strategy Last week, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont all submitted amicus briefs to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals urging it to rule against the Defense of Marriage Act. Filed by states where gay marriage is legal, the briefs argue that only states have the right to regulate marriage and family relationships, echoing President Obama’s announcement earlier this year that gay marriage is “a states rights issue.”

While overturning DOMA would certainly be a victory for LGBT people, it will not mean comprehensive marriage equality; states could deny gay marriage rights if they so choose. Overturning DOMA will not assert positive marriage equality for LGBT people.

The amicus briefs were submitted to a case concerning Edie Windsor, a woman from New York who was made to pay $325,000 in federal estate taxes after her partner died.

Although New York legalized same-sex marriage in 2011, the union was not recognized on a federal level.

Overturning DOMA would mean recognition of same-sex marriages by the government for federal purposes including tax benefits, insurance claims, and other such allowances which heterosexual married couples already enjoy. It would also mean that under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, even states that do not themselves grant marriage licenses to gay couples would have to honor same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Last year, the Obama administration commendably announced that the Department of Justice would stop defending Section three of DOMA, which defines marriage as “between a man and a woman.” This particular section has been deemed unconstitutional by several federal courts, as it violates

the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, which demands equal protection under the law.

If DOMA were to be repealed on the grounds of being discriminatory, the federal government will no longer have the authority to refuse recognition of gay marriage. However, doing away with DOMA shouldn’t spell the end of the gay rights agenda.

Given that family and marriage law are generally accepted to be the purview of states, it is unlikely that courts would respect legislation that requires states to recognize gay marriage. Furthermore, if DOMA is overturned in the courts on states’ rights grounds, that precedent will make it difficult to guarantee marriage equality at the federal level. For comprehensive marriage equality, gay rights activists should work to overturn anti-gay marriage statutes on a state-by-state basis.

news

4 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

Epicurean faces multiple lawsuits from employees

by Lucia He Since 2010, several employees of Epicurean and Company have filed lawsuits alleging the owners of the campus eatery failed to pay overtime wages, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and D.C. Minimum Wage Act. Three plaintiffs who say they worked overtime on several occasions filed the most recent lawsuit on July 30.

According to their complaint, none of the three plaintiffs received the appropriate FLSA-approved pay rate after working more than 40 hours per week on several occasions.

“At least one, and possibly more of the employees, did not work any overtime hours” said Epicurean and Company’s attorney Kimberly Jandrain in an interview with the Voice in response to the allegations.

“The hours worked by the employees are set forth in their time records, which my clients have maintained and which will be available to plaintiffs in discovery,” Jandrain wrote in a subsequent email.

However, Sally Abrahamson, one of the four attorneys defending the employees, refutes this claim.

“Every single one of our plaintiffs worked overtime,” she said.

The complaint was filed as a collective action. After it was filed, other workers chose to join the lawsuit.

“This is not uncommon,” said Abrahamson, a former volunteer attorney at the D.C. Employment Justice Center. “Approximately 70 percent of restaurants are not complying with the [labor] laws, and low-wage workers are very vulnerable, especially in this economy. “ When asked about the case, Chang Wook Chon, Epicurean and Company’s manager, said the dispute is due to “miscommunication.”

Epicurean seems to have a history of tension with its employees.

In 2010, groups of workers sued Chon for the same reasons in two separate complaints. The cases were sealed and then reopened on July 12, 2012.

One of the 2010 complaints explains that after Chon threatened several of the workers with firing and reporting them to immigration authorities in 2010, the plaintiffs stepped out of the case.

The complaint states that Chon “engaged in a systematic campaign to coerce the workers not to pursue

the lawsuit” by posing “threats, misrepresentations, and false promises.”

In addition, the former employees claim that Chon “monitored communications regarding this case to ensure that they would not participate in this suit.”

Jandrain categorically denied these charges as well.

“We contend that these allegations are absolutely false,” she said, “and have been manufactured to excuse the plaintiff’s failure to pursue his overtime claims in a timely fashion.”

True or not, these allegations highlight concerns about the treatment of immigrant workers in the U.S. economy.

According to the Brookings Institute, 23.1 million immigrants were part of the civilian labor force in 2010, making up to 16.4 percent of the total labor market. Sadly, immigrants are the most vulnerable group to illegal labor practices.

Nick Wertsch, program coordinator for the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and Working Poor at Georgetown, laments the situation. “[Violation of labor rights] happens more to immigrant workers

than it happens to non-immigrant ones. And there are a couple of reasons for that,” he said. “I think that one of the biggest reasons is just language itself. A lot of times if you are not a native English speaker, then people will try to take advantage of you.”

All workers involved in the suit are Latin-American, and none are fluent in English.

Wertsch also expressed concern for the threat Chon supposedly posed to his employees.

“You can’t abuse your power like that. You are supposed to have the right to file a complaint without being worried about retaliation at the workplace,” he said.

But Elizabeth Reyes, who has been working for Chon at Epicurean for two years, says the power abuse comes from the other side. “[Workers] are the ones who abuse the owners’ trust,” she said.

“The managers are extremely flexible and understanding. I’ve been working here for two years and I’ve never been victim of any kind of abuse.”

Reyes said workers sometimes blame the restaurant for problems not caused in the workplace, such

as “when they get hurt outside of work, but claim the injuries occurred while at Epicurean.”

Reyes also questions the state in which many workers show up to work. She recalls Oscar Donaldo Martinez Veliz, one of the plaintiffs in the 2012 complaint, as irresponsible and abusive, saying she has “seen him come into work drunk on several occasions.“ Wertsch says these allegations are immaterial to the cases at hand.

“If the company is, in fact, withholding workers’ wages because those workers are violating other rules, then it would still be important for the company to be transparent in its dealings with workers,” Wertcsch said. “Georgetown’s Just Employment Policy is designed to prevent arbitrary firing or penalties and give workers a way to address grievances within the system in a way that does not endanger their job.”

Because the cases are still open, Abrahamson and Jandrain refused to provide further comment.

Judges are expected to reach a verdict on both of the 2010 cases on Sept. 13, and on this year’s lawsuit by the end of the month.

sometimes the really bad people have a monopoly on houses.”

After she had to fight to get her deposit back, Forster decided to do some research. She found a University website with property listings in the area and found the one she rented. “It was an option Georgetown promoted,” Forster said.

The Off-Campus Housing Resource Service website, which lists properties and other resources for students says, “we cannot guarantee housing or the quality of housing and the University is also not liable for any misrepresentation between the landlord and the student.”

Off-Campus Student Life is meant to be a resource for students looking to rent property in the Georgetown neighborhood.

“Students are strongly encouraged to take proactive steps in making sure their rental property is safe and well-maintained,” wrote Anne Koester, director of the Office of Off-Campus Student Life, in an email. “Students should feel free to contact Off-Campus Student Life staff, especially their Community Advisor, to discuss any questions or concerns they have about their rental property.”

“The safety and well-being of our students is always of paramount concern for us,” Koester wrote. “We want students to live in safe, wellmaintained properties, and to take proactive measures in ensuring their personal safety and the safety of their home.”

In 2008, the District government enacted reforms requiring any business in D.C. to acquire a Basic Business License through the District’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. This included anyone renting property and required that property be inspected before a BBL could be issued. For the BBL to be renewed, a new inspection is not required.

“DCRA needs you, the tenant, to report your suspected housing violations,” says its website, on the “Housing Code Inspections” page.

“Off-Campus Student Life staff regularly and strongly encourages students to contact DCRA and schedule inspections,” Koester wrote.

The DCRA website reports that if tenants feel their building doesn’t comply with the housing code, they should write out a list of violations, collect evidence such as photo-

graphs, contact a landlord, and document when all of the violations and communications take place.

One student hoping to bring a change to the situation is ANC candidate Peter Prindiville (SFS ‘14). “ANC commissioners have a unique relationship with the District government.” Prindiville said. “My goal is to use that lobbying power and that agenda setting power to call the community’s attention to this issue but also call the District government’s attention to this issue.”

“3318 Prospect Street is the quintessential example of the problem,” Prindiville said. Daniel

Rigby, then a senior in the MSB, died during a house fire in 2004 at that address. “Partially due to its infamous past, but also now the fact the very regulations that were spurred by that event aren’t enforced at that very location and that concerns me.“ The property’s BBL expired in 2011.

“I think the possibility for another event like the unfortunate loss of Rigby is quite possible. Without continued vigilance from the community, the University, students, and the District government, it is quite possible we will have another disaster like that.”

Students struggle with delinquent landlords

by Matthew Weinmann Georgetown may be attempting to move more students on campus, but a substantial number of Hoyas still reside beyond the front gates.

For many of them them, the biggest problem with their living situation isn’t SNAPs or neighbors, but the people who own their properties.

The Voice reached out to several students living in rented apartments, but all declined to be interviewed for fear of reprisals from their landlords.

Emma Forster (COL ‘13) subleased an apartment in the summer of 2011 [Full disclosure: Forster is a former Voice staffer]. “Thank God I was just subletting,” she said. “I was so glad to get out of there by the end of the summer... [the landlord] had us go around and make sure everything was okay, and it was a shitty place but it didn’t matter because it was just the summer.”

When a shower started leaking and damaged a ceiling, “she tried to blame it all on us,” Forster said.

Forster fears others had the same problem with her landlord. “In relaying my story to people, I found out that this lady had other houses in Burleith,” she said. “It seems like

Tess o’connor

Decrepit townhouses and apartments are common in the Georgetown area

news

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the georgetown voice 5

Caravan for Peace culminates with march and vigil in D.C.

by Natasha Khan The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a protest movement against the ongoing Mexican drug war, culminated a multi-state tour in a vigil and rally in Malcolm X Park on Sep.12.

The Caravan, brainchild of Mexican poet Javier Sicilia in response to the murder of his son in 2011, has brought together more than 45 victims of drug-related violence in Mexico in a mobile protest covering over 5,500 miles on both sides of the border. “The goal is to make this problem—this mess—visible, because we know if people see what is happening they will do something about it,” said Caravan member Jorge Gonzales de Leon, who was also the godfather of Sicilia’s son.

Bringing the Caravan to the U.S. was a conscious choice, preceded by two similar movements in Mexico.

“We realized that we can’t solve the problem by only staying in Mexico, because a lot of the causes of the violence are in the U.S.,” organizer Janice Gallagher said. “U.S. drug policies are hurting people on both sides of the border, and we need to work together to make change.”

According to Gallagher, the Caravan’s five main goals are ending the war on drugs, opening a conversa-

tion about alternatives to drug prohibition, halting the trafficking of arms from the U.S. to Mexico, demanding stricter money laundering policies, and promoting human dignity and human rights in immigration and U.S. foreign aid policies.

The activists say arms trafficking in particular exacerbates drug violence. “It’s really easy to say that in the United States, we don’t have anything to do with the drug war, but then ... you see that 95 percent of the arms used by drug cartels come from the U.S.,” said Stephania Sferra (SFS ‘15), who worked with the movement this summer.

About 200 people, including eight Georgetown students, met at St. Stephen’s Church on Wednesday evening and marched from there to Malcolm X Park, bearing photos of missing loved ones, holding signs reading “Stop the Drug War,” and chanting “Los Queremos Vivos” (We Want Them Alive).

Many victims of drug violence were there to share their stoies. “I was kidnapped, they kept me in a box for seven and a half months, and since then I have been knocking on the door of the government to do something about the case, and they don’t care,” marcher Eduardo Vasca said. “The only thing they [the government] told me was to stop talking

A Blueprint for success

This semester, the Center for Student Programs, the Center for Social Justice, and Campus Ministry collaborated to launch a daring initiative entitled The Blueprint.

This set of two training sessions, which concluded Saturday, was designed to educate the leaders of student organizations on the resources available under the University’s access to benefits policies and, of course, the consequences of abusing organizational privileges.

As can be expected of any Georgetown initiative, the scheme lends itself to immediate criticism.

The most obvious barrier to success is the herculean task of forcing college students to roll out of bed and into the ICC auditorium for a full 9-to-5 day of paying attention to something other than the stale taste of the complementary coffee housed in suspicious cardboard boxes.

In astute anticipation of this problem, the coordinators of The Blueprint devised what, in their sleep-deprived minds, appeared

to be an entertaining icebreaker.

The resulting game of “Would You Rather” was led by CSP Director Erika Cohen-Derr. Unfortunately, the questions asked were those that would seldom make an appearance at any usual Saturday activities, especially those that occur amid steadily-emptying cans of Natural Light. Cohen-Derr focused on questions that student organizations face: “Would you rather build a lasting organizational tradition, or create a lasting impact on the campus community?”

While the line of questioning certainly had noble goals, disillusioned students quickly lost interest, the will to stand for votes, and, for some, the will to live.

By far the most useful product of the sessions, however, was a guide to student organization life and leadership titled “The Blueprint Rendering,” complete with a poorly-rendered blueprint of Healy Hall’s façade on the cover.

The free binder housing the document, too, was universally

to the press. It’s very sad because it’s such a beautiful country, but they don’t have a justice system.”

Many activists believe the solution is ending current drug prohibition policies. “The beginning of the end is pretty simple and that is to adopt policies of regulation and control, or legalization,” said Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

LEAP is an organization of former law enforcement officials who at one time supported drug prohibition policies, but “realized that not only was this war futile … but it was actually counterproductive to public safety,” according to Franklin.

Volunteer LEAP speaker Jamie Hasse agreed. He worked as an U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent on the southwest border in Laredo, Texas, until he resigned in 2011. “We need to get marijuana off the table,” Hasse said. “When I was in Laredo, from what I saw, cartel profits were about 70 percent from cannabis, but the majority of American people want it legalized.”

An increasing number of U.S. non-governmental organizations came to support the Caravan, and many sent representatives to the Wednesday vigil. “The Caravan has built an unprecedented coalition among organizations that have nevconsidered to be a step in the right direction.

In the guidebook, students found links to policy information, a list of resources available in each hosting office, and suggestions for event planning. The bulk of the booklet, though, is devoted to useful information.

The first major chapter provides navigational charts for Office of Campus Activity Facilities.

saxa Politica

by Kirill Makarenko

A bi-weekly column about campus politics and policies Drowning in the bureaucracy of its own conception, OCAF has become a feared institution on the Georgetown campus. Sentient red tape grown in the back room can easily strangle an unsuspecting and otherwise well-planned student organization’s event.

To combat this danger, the CSP has laid the figurative soul of OCAF bare—everything from a full year’s calendar of operations to a list of equipment, spaces, and

er had any kind of overlap before,” Global Exchange Human Rights Director Ted Lewis said. “The dynamism of the caravan has allowed people to work together in this way.”

During the Caravan’s march through the United States, similarities emerged between the struggles faced by Mexican victims and their American counterparts. “They live in different places but it’s really the same thing,” Gallagher said. “We visited Latino communities suffering from availability of weapons and the fallout from the drug trade.”

Profiling is another of the marchers’ complaints. “I’m most concerned with the racist application of drug laws here in the U.S.,” Drug Policy Alliance Research Assistant Daniel Robelo said. “Blacks and La-

tinos are disproportionately affected by drug laws.”

Students were moved by the unified stand displayed by the protest. “This is a good way of saying that there is hope for Mexico,” Cristal Villaseñor (SFS ‘14) said.

The protest ended with some final remarks from Sicilia, in which he referred to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and shared his own dreams of a safe world for his daughter and grandson.

“The caravan created consciousness about the victims of a war who are human beings that deserve justice,” Sicilia said in an interview with the Voice. “That’s why we’re looking for a peace path, so that this that has happened to us does not happen to anyone else.”

Caravan activists march to Malcom X park to protest the war on drugs proper reservation procedures appears in the guide.

Finally, and most notably, The Blueprint Rendering contains every form an organization’s treasurer could ever need to use. Each document contains either an example or an explanation of perplexing wording as well as a general overview of the purpose of each form.

In addition to the Rosetta Stone of University paperwork, the detailed PowerPoint demonstrating each document’s use replaced the mandatory meeting formerly known as Treasurer Training, much to the joy of participating students.

Unfortunately, the joy was not instantly appreciated, since at that point in The Blueprint, most students’ eyes were fixed on the clock.

Praising Georgetown institutions is often an arduous task. The inefficiency and disconnected nature of on-campus offices prevents much communication and cooperation. Fortunately, the CSP seems to have finally grasped the full extent of this problem, and has even managed to cooperate with other campus groups to support the cause.

LUcIA He

As self-proclaimed “advocates for student empowerment,” CSP staff members are at last taking drastic and appropriate measures to provide student-run organizations with accessible means to navigate the sea of red tape. The system is by no means perfect; The Blueprint sessions can be shorter, more focused and efficient, and somewhat later in the day to allow for maximum information intake on the part of attendees.

Still, The Blueprint is not a failure. When asked whether any audience members gained knowledge as a result, just over half of the auditorium responded favorably.

While it may be somewhat disappointing to the event planners, this result demonstrates that over half of the CSP, CSJ, and Campus Ministry members are better off for having attended the sessions. And by this campus’ standards that’s enough for at least two halfhearted, still slightly hungover cheers.

Teach Kirill how to run your organization at kmakarenko@georgetownvoice.com.

sports

6 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

Hoyas begin Ivy League stretch with Bulldogs

by Joe Pollicino The Georgetown football team (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League) continued its strong start to the season in its home opener on Saturday, when the Hoyas rallied late to defeat the Wagner Seahawks (0-2, 0-0 NEC) 13-10.

Junior kicker/punter Matt MacZura’s 35-yard field goal with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter proved the decider in a closely contested matchup.

With senior starting quarterback Isaiah Kempf sidelined due to a concussion, junior quarterback Aaron Aiken made his first career start for the Hoyas and played well. Aiken completed 18 of 38 passes for 146 yards with one interception, and rushed for the Hoyas’ lone touchdown of the game, a 12-yarder with 2:26 left in the third quarter.

“I couldn’t have asked for a more exhilarating win,” Aiken said after the game. “For me, it was a great experience. It’s everything I’ve worked for.”

Head Coach Kevin Kelly was pleased with Aiken, as well as with the team’s overall performance. “I told Aaron that [he didn’t] have to win the game.

We’ve got a lot of good players.

This was a team win. I said the best team was going to win on Saturday, and that’s what happened. It was a full team effort.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Hoyas were able to hold a strong Wagner offense to just seven points, allowing the Seahawks’ star running back Dominique Williams just 66 yards on 22 carries. Senior linebacker Robert McCabe, who had 13 tackles, one sack, and one tackle for a loss, led the effort. After the game, McCabe

was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

“We knew this game was going to be won on defense,” McCabe said after the win.

“We had a good game plan. We knew what they liked to do. We wanted to stop the run.”

The Hoyas look to continue this strong momentum into this Saturday’s home game against Yale (0-0) at 1 p.m. at MultiSport Field, the first of a threegame stretch in which Georgetown takes on Ivy League opponents. After Yale, the Hoyas visit Princeton next Friday to play their first ever nationally-televised game, which will be broadcast on ESPNU. They conclude the test the following week on the 29th, when they host Brown over Homecoming Weekend.

But before thinking about the other teams, Georgetown looks to seek revenge against the Bulldogs, to whom they have lost in each of the last three seasons by scores of 10-31, 35-40, and 27-37, respectively.

In last year ’s defeat, the Hoyas moved the ball effectively on offense but struggled to stop Yale’s passing attack.

This year, though, the focus for the Hoya defense will be Yale’s three-headed running attack, comprised of senior Mordecai Cargill, sophomore Kahlil Keys, and freshman Tyler Varga. This trifecta may need to make up for freshman quarterback Eric Williams, who will be making his first career start for the Bulldogs. With an inexperienced quarterback under center, the Hoya defense will need to stop the run consistently if the team wants a chance at a win.

Yale’s defense, meanwhile,

MATTHEW THEES

Matt MacZura is embracing his new role as kicker and punter.

was ranked fifth in the Ivy League last season. It is led by senior linebacker Will McHale, a second-team All-Ivy League selection last year.

A major question mark for the Hoyas heading into the game will be who starts at quarterback, as it is unknown if Kempf will return from his concussion injury.

“Isaiah is day-to-day,” Coach Kelly said after the game

against Wagner. “We are not sure yet. Everyday he’s getting better. We are going to do the right things to make sure he’s healthy long-term. The first priority is Isaiah’s health.”

This is the first time the Hoyas have gotten off to a 2-0 record in three consecutive seasons since 1978-1980. Against Yale this Saturday, Georgetown will look to win its first three games for the first time since

1999. A win would further the positive transformation and change of culture that the program has undergone over the past few years.

“We got the confidence that we are going to win now. In the past that wasn’t the case,” Kelly said following the game.

“Now, when we get into these games, we know that we have the confidence. We know we can win.”

the Sports Sermon “i have a talk whit spider and i learn few think about the game lol lol.” - Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen in his return to Twitter Georgetown, Villanova, and St. John’s were always going to stick around—without moneymaking football programs, they don’t have any alternative. Having Notre Dame at their side, even without the football component, would have worked wonders for television deals.

Instead, the Fighting Irish relented in some sense, agreeing to play five football games against ACC opponents and joining the conference for all other sports.

The move leaves us Hoya fans in a bind, quite possibly a bigger one than when Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced their departure plans.

sports. Track and lacrosse (despite a couple of mediocre seaThe message has always been sons) remain national contend“Their loss.” When Syracuse and ers, because they were able to Pittsburgh departed for the ACC, compete with the best teams in that was the uneasy but reassurthe Big East. ing message to which the rest of Now, we’re led to believe that the Big East member institutions there are a number of teams clamclung for dear life. When West oring to leave the Big East at the Virginia made a similar move to first possible opportunity, Georgethe Big 12, but with a little more town included. If the ACC came of a hissy fit attached to it, the knocking on Louisville or UConn’s Mountaineers made a point to door, for instance, the team would get out of the conference right leave in a heartbeat, regardless of away and were willing to pay any public commitment the instiany price to do it. tution may make now to the fragIn the wake of these demented conference. partures, the Big East seemed In a similar manner, if to make a scapegoat of former Georgetown gets a call from the commissioner John ACC, it too should Pete Rose Central Marinatto. Perhaps leave without Da bettin’ line the criticism was thinking twice. The warranted; Mariswitch makes sense Dookies Margin Hoyas natto failed to secure for both parties--the (underdogs) (duh!) a new, lucrative tele- (favorites) ACC now has 14 vision deal for the football members, Rodgers D-FENCE Cutler conference at a time with Notre Dame Hoyas when other major skewing the numStability Irish commissioners were ber with a 15th, Luck Swag RG III doing just that. non-football memThe conference then scramWhere does this restructur- ber. Georgetown, sentimentality bled to replace established ing leave our Hoyas? It’s cer- aside, needs to find a new stable teams like Syracuse, venturing tainly not a promising position; home or run the risk of turning far away from the East Coast the vast majority thought the into a mid-major with a storied to secure teams like Boise State, super-conferences and pillaging past (See Holy Cross as a prime Houston, and San Diego State, would end with the West Virgin- example). until the notion of a “Big East” ia announcement. But the Notre Georgetown’s addition to became comical. But then the Dame announcement proved the conference would even these higher-ups kicked Marinatto to that this kind of change could numbers out—the new superthe curb, and brought on for- happen at any time. The Big East conference would have 16 basmer CBS Sports executive Mike is no longer in flux. Teams aren’t ketball institutions, dually alleviAresco to take the reigns on a departing and being replaced by ating pressure from Notre Dame new television deal in hopes of schools of equal caliber, but the to join the conference completely. revitalizing the conference. instant one of our conference’s Unfortunately for GeorgeAnd with all that optimism great programs departs, the Big town fans, we are in the unenviin place, the wheels came off East replaces it with a lesser able position of waiting around once more when Notre Dame product. for the ACC or Big East’s next announced yesterday that it A muddied cluster of teams move. It’s ironic that, after a full too would be departing for the is a recipe for disaster. It screams year tearing Syracuse apart for ACC. The Fighting Irish were mid-major and will, over time, leaving, the Hoya fanbase may supposed to be a crucial element certainly reduce Georgetown to not have any promising option holding the conference together, a lesser institution. As it stands other than to follow suit. Somebut instead the squad left for now, the Hoyas compete with times, the grass really is greener the ACC as well. Schools like the best of them in a number of on the other side.

by Kevin Joseph

sports

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Soccer prepares for battle in NJ Cross country begins strong

by Steven Criss The Georgetown men’s soccer team (5-0-1) was looking sharp on all fronts coming into its game against Wisconsin. It had gone ahead on teams, it had come from behind, it had outlasted opponents in overtime, and shut teams out completely. Once the Hoyas stepped out onto the field at the University of Wisconsin (1-2-2), though, they realized the Badgers were not going to make it easy, striking first with a goal in the 27th minute.

The Hoyas had been down before, so this was nothing new to the squad as they battled hard to even the score. Senior midfielders Andy Riemer and Ian Christianson both had shots on goal, but the former bounced one off the post and the latter could not drive it past the opposing keeper.

It was not until the 68th minute that the Hoyas got their best opportunity to score, with a foul inside the box. Christianson lined up for the penalty kick and launched a rocket right at the keeper. On the rebound, however, Christianson tapped the ball into the net to tie the game at

one all. Despite attempts by Riemer and freshman forward Brandon Allen, regulation time ran out and the teams entered overtime for the third time this season.

Neither team was able to best the other in the first half of overtime and after another ten-minute period resulted in another draw, Georgetown earned its first tie of the season. Staying positive, the Hoyas took consolation in remaining undefeated for the year.

“Once you get used to winning its very much a habit...but the nature of the game, the nature of the overtime, we had a lot of chances. We had plenty of chances to win,” said Head Coach Brian Wiese of the draw.

In order to continue their winning ways, the Hoyas need to tighten up their play earlier in the game, fighting to take a lead on opponents instead of dropping down 1-0 early on. A major factor in achieving this goal will be the continued caliber of play for sophomore goalkeeper Tomas Gomez. Although Wisconsin was able to slip one by him last Sunday, his consistently tough play has given the offense the opportunity to come back and win games.

Steve Neumann means a lot to the Hoyas, even if he isn’t scoring.

TIM MARKATOS

More bats, less stats

Back home at Georgetown, I frequently feel like my interest in sports is gauged by my ability to rattle off statistics rapid fire and intelligently discuss so and so’s trade to the Braves. The sports culture at Georgetown seems to be determined by these standards of facts and figures that fluctuate daily. If you aren’t up on your knowledge to the day, to the minute, then you don’t know sports.

Whenever I profess to liking sports or writing for the sports section of the Voice, I’m met with one of two responses. “Oh, that’s cool,” or “Really? What do you think about Teixiera?” Here I tell them the honest truth: I couldn’t care less about baseball.

But does that mean I’m any less of a sports fan? In Jordan, the answer is no. While I’ve only been here for a week, the difference in

the sports culture between here and America was immediately apparent. Instead of interrogations from quick-to-judge boys in sweats, I’m met with “Ah, soccer, basketball? We will play.” Whatever complex from being picked on in the elementary school playground that seems to be a fixture of many American sports fans is notably absent here. It isn’t the why/what/who here, it’s the when and the let’s.

On my first day with my family in Jordan, I met my brother.

He was off to play kurat al-qadem with his friends and in our awkward introduction I asked where he usually played. This, of course, turned into a five minute “lost in translation” description of a striker, but we eventually converged and got the lingo down. This simple expression of

His four saves last game give him at total of 20 on the season. Coach Wiese claims though that there is additional motivation behind Tomas’s high level of play in back up keeper Keon Parsa.

“It’s hard for me to talk about Tomas without talking about Keon, who’s really the other goalkeeper pushing there,” Wiese said. “Both of those guys are doing terrifically well and I think a lot of Tomas’s success is because he has Keon pushing him every day.”

One of the surprises of this year’s season is the visibility of junior forward Steve Neumann’s play. With only one goal and one assist on the season, his involvement in the team’s scoring has seemed to slow down since his impressive season last year.

While not breaking through onto the stat sheet with goals in each game, Neumann has placed the ball where it needs to be to set up many of the Hoya victories.

“He’s just so important for what we do. If you take a look at the things he does for us, he’s very much a playmaker,” Wiese said of Neumann.

The team is very much looking forward to its game against Princeton this Friday. Princeton has faced Big East opponents in each of its first three matches, preparing the Tigers for the higher level of competition in the Big East as opposed to the Ivy League. Coach Wiese expects the game to be a challenge for the undefeated Hoyas.

“It’s a group that can play.,” Wiese said of Princeton. “They can handle the ball; they got some dangerous players that can punish you if you make some mistakes, but I think from our point of view we have to see if we can still do what we can do well even though we’re on the road.” interest on my part led to an invite to “learn” and a challenge on the basketball court. We didn’t delve into favorite teams, players, formations, or the Jordanian medal count (possibly a sore subject), but instead cut straight to the chase. Let’s play.

This Jordanian philosophy behind sports has a bunch of posi-

Sporty Spice

by Abby Sherburne a rotating column on sports tives. My host brother recently moved from the club level to the school level so he could play in a larger capacity. While he remains competitive, he (and his peers) still have the ability to choose how intense they want their sports involvement to be. At Jordanian schools, students play in age groups; there are teams for each

by Brendan Crowley Though only one race into the 2012 season, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams appear to have found their strides.

Each squad submitted impressive performances this past weekend, with the men taking second place at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational in State College, PA, and the women taking first in dominant fashion at the Dartmouth Cross Country Invitational in Hanover, NH. Leading the way for the 14th-ranked Hoya men was senior Ben Furcht, whose time of 26:25 earned him sixth place.

Furcht, however, didn’t have to wait long for his teammates to join him across the finish line; all six arrived within the next 23 seconds, maintaining the tight group for which they had planned prior to the race.

“Our plan was basically for the first four miles of the race to try to just stick together as a pack,” Furcht said. “Just having all your teammates around you, you really benefit from that, working together and filling each other’s energy… The last 1.2 miles we just wanted to get going and pass as many people as we could.”

And pass people they did.

The Hoyas put three runners in the top 10 and six in the top 25, outdueled only by meet winners Princeton.

But, as Furcht pointed out, this race wasn’t about a result.

“The purpose of the race this weekend was just to get a race under our legs, we weren’t very worried with the outcome,”

year, resulting in a larger population of athletes. While these teams are still selective, the culture created by this system allows for students to develop a sense of comfort in the sport, and limit the stress of “star athletes” and unrealistic statistics.

Because this concept of “sports for all” is reinforced throughout formative years, it creates lifelong athletes. This has health benefits as well as lifestyle benefits. While the U.S. has a population that is 33.9 percent obese, only 19.5 percent of Jordanians are obese according to the World Health Organization.

Not all hope is lost in America though. To implement our standards of healthy living and to create a more deeply bonded society, we need to change the sports culture in America. This starts at the K-12 level, where Varsity and Junior Varsity can’t

he said. “We just want to keep competing the best we can in the upcoming races.”

On the women’s side, senior Rachel Schneider’s third-place finish was tops among an impressive pack of seven Hoyas, all of whom finished in the top 10, easily winning the meet with the low score of 33 points.

The victory for the women is all the more impressive considering the distraction they faced the past couple weeks with the departure of Head Coach Chris Miltenberg, who was replaced by former Hoya track standout Michael Smith. Miltenberg led the women to a national championship last season.

“It’s been a tricky few weeks,” Schneider said. “Losing Coach Milt was really sad and really hard on the program, but its been amazing. Georgetown is always a program that overcomes adversity.”

“I mean it’s amazing if you look online, people are already doubting us, saying we can’t do it,” she said of the public outlook after the coaching switch. “We can definitely do it and I think we showed that this weekend.”

When asked about a possible repeat of last year’s NCAA title, Schneider said that it’s a dream in the back of every runner’s mind but right now, but there are other, more immediate goals to attend to first.

“We’ll take it race by race and focus on what we can do every day,” she said.

Both teams will be back in action on Sept. 28 in Bethlehem, Pa., for the Paul Short Invitational.

be the only options. It’s these patterns that foster the culture of memorizing lines of stats, rather than playing the game.

Moreover, we need to stress the fun of playing and lose the “all-or-nothing” demeanor of our testosterone- (and maybe women’s gymnastics-) fueled culture.

While that attitude is sometimes inevitable in professional and university-level sports, the general sports culture does not have to mirror that. We, the average Joe’s who like football or hockey or even dodgeball, can find the value in losing. And we should. Maybe that comes from Yates making intramural sports more accessible, or from Outdoor Ed getting some more attention. Or maybe it comes from a change in the national pastime from baseball to just “play.”

Send some Jordanian love to Abby at asherburne@georgetownvoice.com.

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Start me up

september 13, 2012

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the struggles of Georgetown’s tech entrepreneurs

By Connor Jones “Our community is not that creative,” Georgetown’s computer science pro- t e c h n o l o g y Carlos Cheung (MSB ‘13) said of George- gram, like most of the school’s science of- startup. town’s student body. “if you think about ferings, is relatively small compared to deWhile tryit, how many art majors do you meet here? partments like government and business; ing to build Let’s be real. We’re kind of like a mill. We according to its website, the Computer up their combuild a lot of good people who go into Science Department graduates 13-15 stu- pany, James middle-management positions at law dents in the average year. While students Li (MSB ‘13) firms and banks and consulting. That’s the at schools like MIT and Stanford can found and Hauser three major things that a lot of kids end up their own startups through cross-depart- have found doing, right?” mental programs, such collaboration is rare it nearly imCheung became an anomaly among at Georgetown. possible to this group, when he left the business track “We have a multitude of resources to find students to work for three D.C.-based tech startup help connect entrepreneurs at all levels … available to companies. connecting students in every phase of a work technolAlthough deviating from the prescribed startup. The biggest program is the Stanford ogy for their path comes with its own risks, entrepreneur- Technology Ventures Program,” wrote Lisa venture.

“It’s been ship has the potential to elevate students to a Lapin, Stanford’s Assistant Vice President of plane beyond the traditional rat race.

University Communications, in an email to really terrible, to be honest.

“At least for me, since I’ve pursued this the Voice. larissa ong route, I was stressing out originally about Georgetown has no such program, ei- We reached Duncan Gillespie codes for his internship at StudyHall.

“A lot of people have a lot of cool tech jobs and stuff like that, but since I’ve pur- ther specifically for fostering tech startups out to a lot of different parties, whether they sued entrepreneurship and this tech com- or for connecting student-managers to be in the McDonough School of Business or ideas, but just don’t have the skills necessary munity, I’ve got more job offers because I’ve student-developers. “I think tech-specifi- even just reaching out to the Computer Sci- to get started,” Li said. “A lot of them try to been outside of Georgetown than I have cally, in entrepreneurship, I don’t see any ence Department, and what we’ve found that pursue it, but they hit that wall … At that competing inside Georgetown,” he said. “I program in the University that’s catered either there are not enough students who are point, you either have to find a student, or try to tell people that. If you take the non- toward that. There’s also no dialogue be- qualified to do what we’re trying to do with you have to have money to do it.”

Aquicore, the venture for which Ormstraditional route, you’ll get more job offers, tween the computer science department our tech startup or the ones that are already but nobody really listens to me. ‘Cause they and entrepreneurship initiative or the have their own projects, and they just don’t eth works, outsources the back-end heavy don’t actually go and do it.” business school, at all,” said Holly Orms- have any time to help us out,” Li said. “The coding to developers in Chicago. Li and biggest problem Hauser used some of their own money to Georgetown University has we’ve faced is that hire freelancers in Argentina. fostered a small, but growing, tech we don’t have a …

Even though the small size of the Comstartup community among its stutechnological person puter Science Department is responsible for dents. Student entrepreneurship is on our team.” much of the difficulty in fostering student difficult in itself. The challenge of Ormseth re- technology companies, Ormseth blames the applying what is taught in class, ports having seen focus of the major for Georgetown’s weak the effort in finding the people with the same problem tech scene. the right expertise, the struggle to in her experience in “At Georgetown, the Computer Scibe taken seriously by professionals, the startup world, ence Department is extremely small and and the sheer uncertainty in investas Georgetown’s is extremely focused on old-school C++ ing precious time in a company that reputation attracts programming, back-end database developvery well may fail discourages many few tech-inclined ment,” Ormseth said. “And it’s focused on Georgetown students from starting students. security and network security. There’s, like, their own businesses.

“It’s also that one front-end Ruby class, but there’s pretty “A lot of students don’t have you chose this much no support for any front-end developwhat it takes,” said Michael Hauser school,” she said. “I ment, which is building web 2.0 websites …

(MSB ‘13), co-founder of Encore, a went into George- There’s a few classes, but really not a suptech startup developing software to town knowing it portive major-track for it.” make email marketing and social wasn’t strong in Li and Hauser see a similar problem. media easier for non-profits. “The computer science. “I know a lot of students who have taken initiative, the drive. You got to run I don’t think any- computer science classes, like Intro to Cominto the wall five or six times to make a startup work. Eventually it’s easier Carlos Cheung working at his first tech startup, Zaarly. courtesy carlos cheung one’s particularly puter Applications, and so they learn the angry with them for coding language C, which won’t help you to say…finance, it makes more sense.”

A small minority of students who have eth (MSB ’13), a computer science minor it, but it definitely means that if you go into make a website and won’t help you build successfully built or broken into startup tech who has done design work for several school and realize that you want to be in any apps,” Li said. “Our website builds on a companies does exist, but those students D.C.-based technology companies [Full dis- the startup world, tech is extremely impor- framework called Ruby on Rails, which I’m in that group insist that they have received closure: Ormseth is a former Voice staffer]. tant. There aren’t many resources to turn to pretty sure nobody at Georgetown knows.” [in order] to develop that interest.”

According to Li, the few students who minimal to no help from the University. Al- “There’s a terrible disconnect.”

Hauser, Li, and Ormseth all consider do learn applicable coding skills “learn codthough Georgetown in recent years has inUniversity communications did not spetroduced programs to encourage students cifically comment on whether there is any the size of the computer science pro- ing on their own.”

Ormseth attests to the difficulty for stuto pursue entrepreneurship, those students program designed to connect coders and gram to be a detriment to the University startup community. While coding can dents to learn programming skills while beinterested in starting tech companies find entrepreneurs across the University. themselves handicapped by working (neiEven if there were a mechanism to con- easily be outsourced to professionals, ing full-time students. “It’s that at school, ther at a school nor in a city known for its nect entrepreneurs and coders, few students doing so requires capital­­­­­­—something you have to study full-time for the class you’re doing,” Ormseth said. “That is your technology scene.) would be available to work in any sort of that student-run tech companies lack.

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feature

georgetownvoice.com number one priority. You can’t put on top of that learning to develop, but if development was your class schedule, you would totally have people capable of doing it.”

Sources closer to the Computer Science Department, however, insist that the major teaches a broad range of applicable skills.

“It would be helpful to some people if there was more web programming and app-stuff, but I don’t think that our computer science program is lacking, somehow, because of it,” said Duncan Gillespie (COL ’13), a computer science major who works at D.C. tech startup StudyHall.

“Other schools that are bigger have it, but, also, if you look at the resources that we have, I don’t necessarily think there’s a huge shortage.”

He went on to explain that his classes have taught both front-end coding tools, like Ruby on Rails, and back-end database structuring. It’s just that only advanced classes in the major teach it. “Most of the

school. “I would say that technical skills are in short supply nationwide,” he said.

“The thing is that not everyone wants to do CompSci, but a lot of people want to do application development,” Cheung said. Cheung plans to bring professionals in from Microsoft this semester to teach interested students applicable coding skills. “That’s just one initiative to get kids looking into [computer science]. And I think that’s what needs to happen. There needs to be more professional training, because the CompSci Department teaches more conceptualbased, instead of actual, applicable coding skills.”

While finding expertise is a key problem for would-be entrepreneurs at Georgetown, finding the right institutional support is also a challenge. Only in the past few years has the University sponsored programs designed to encourage students to start their own busi-

The winners of Hoya Challenge receive prize money for their business proposals. bases are covered,” he said.

The Computer Science Department reiterated this emphasis on fundamentals rather than practicality. “At the Computer Science Department we strive to equip our students with a general understanding of the field of computer science so that our students are prepared for a computerbased profession or to go on to graduate school,” wrote Ophir Frieder, chair of the Department of Computer Science, in an email to the Voice. “The computer science field changes daily, so it’s crucial to us to provide our students with the basic fundamentals of computer science in addition to the specifics of a given application.”

Jeff Reid, Director of the Georgetown Entrepreneur Initiative, an office created in recent years to aid and advise potential student entrepreneur, noted that Georgetown’s lack of coders is not specific to the

nesses. The Entrepreneurship Initiative is a key component of that push. The program regularly hosts expert talks and networking events for Georgetown students to connect with local startup capitalists.

Ormseth believes these networking events to be important for getting students involved in the D.C. technology scene. “The way I came to work in this startup, which I think is typical for most people who come to work in startups, was just by meeting someone, somewhere, who eventually connected me to someone,” Ormseth said. “There was nothing formal about the process.”

Cheung found his startup opportunities through happenstance as well. “If you go outside Georgetown, I’m usually the only kid that’s there, so they know.

They listen to my ideas, they listen to

the georgetown voice 9

my thought process and they’re like, ‘Oh this seems like a smart kid. Seems like we would hire him.’”

At the same time, entrepreneurship programs at Georgetown are all relatively new. “When I came, we didn’t have any entrepreneurship programs at Georgetown whatsoever. I was the first class of Compass Fellows. I’m also the first class of Entrepreneurship fellows. That just started out last year,” Li said.

Asked if the entrepreneurship programs are helpful for tech startups, Li recognized that the priority exists, but that institutional help can only be so helpful. “I would say that the University is doing everything it can, honestly. Obviously, it’d be awesome if we got more support financially … at the same time, it’s not like they’re able to get students to come out of thin air and code these things,” Li said. “Everyone’s in a really difficult situation.”

Courtesy mcdonough school of business

Cheung emphasizes the impact of his informal mentors over anyone he has met at Georgetown: “I feel like there’s more support out in D.C. If you go outside of Georgetown into D.C., there’s actually a lot of support networks.”

“Most of our advisors are all either charities, venture capitalists, or other entrepreneurs from the D.C. area,” Li said.

“What we’ve seen is a growing tech entrepreneurship scene, in the last year and a half, actually.”

Despite the risk, the payoff from starting a new tech company can prove substantial. “The big advantage we see in tech businesses is the ability to scale. We can code something, we can build something, then we can go out and sell it, and all we need to provide afterward is customer service,” said James Li (MSB ’13), Encore’s other co-founder. “That makes

that a much more scalable revenue process for us. The difference [in cost] between $100 and $1000 is not that big.”

Even with Georgetown pushing hard for students to enter entrepreneurship, Georgetown has to fight back against the narrow culture of competitive suit-andtie interviews and the ethos of taking the well-trodden path.

Ted Leonsis (COL ‘77), famous for his entrepreneurial drive, his high-ranking service at AOL, and as the owner of the Washington Wizards, recently returned to Georgetown to speak. As Li remembers it, “literally, sixteen kids showed up.”

According to Ormseth, many students don’t realize their interest in startups until they reach college. “When I came here, I really don’t think I had any interest in entrepreneurship. I had some interest in tech,” she said. “I think, in the business school, I rejected the finance track, and then what was next most appealing was entrepreneurship.”

Even while Georgetown’s traditional business programs gain national prominence, its offerings in entrepreneurship remain largely unrecognized. “When I told [my interviewer] that I was interested in the entrepreneurship track, she was like, ‘Uh, I didn’t know that existed.

Are you sure there’s one?’” said Tammy Cho (MSB ’16), Li and Hauser’s partner at Encore.

“It hurts to hear that, cause you’re like, ‘Oh, what are we trying to do here?’

We’re just trying to boost Georgetown’s name,” Li said.

Although Georgetown entrepreneurs are yet to receive national fame, current undergraduates are not alone in their tech startup endeavors; Georgetown alumni have experienced success in the field as well. Catherine Cook (MSB ’11) sold myYearbook, a social network designed for people to make new friends, she cofounded with her brother, for $100 million within a year of graduation. While she began that venture before coming to Georgetown, she is just one of the students and alumni who have experienced success in the field.

“Something amazing—when I was at the Democratic National Convention last week, it was really cool, cause I got talking to the guy next to me, and it turns out he was Georgetown 2010. And there was someone else who was also Georgetown 2010, and they were both there cause they had started their own companies and were involved in entrepreneurship,” she said. “I hadn’t realized how many entrepreneurs were at Georgetown.”

Still, no startup is risk-free. Li went two summers without taking a traditional internship, and reports that this lack of such common experience has hurt his job hunt. “I still don’t know what I’m going to be doing after I graduate,” he said. “I have no job offers.”

College is a time well-suited to breaking precedent and testing ventures with only limited consequences. “Being in college gives you a safety net. Even if you fail your business, you still have Leo’s to go to. It’s not like you’ll be hungry and homeless,” Li said. “I would encourage more students to not necessarily immediately go into finance or consulting … but really think about what they’re passionate about.”

Additional reporting by Lucia He

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10 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

Pulitzer-nominated wrestling play is a major knockout

by Julia Lloyd-George We’ve known it all along, though we still revel in every outrageous, distorted reflection of true life that is thrown at us—in television, “reality” is a term that should be taken with a sizeable grain of salt. The world of televised wrestling, powered by the sheer volume of entertainment that raw human conflict can provide, is surprisingly no different from the carefully engineered documentations of beauty pageants or Kardashian daily living pervading programs which ought to be inviting skepticism.

In The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama which is now playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, every fight is exposed as a performance with all the theatricality and preparation of a full-fledged Broadway musical. A scathing satire with dialogue as sharp and hard-hitting as its characters’ toughest punches, this fresh piece of comic theater thrusts the gaudy world of TV wrestling under the spotlight while tackling seri-

ous American hypocrisies about race and social mobility in the process.

The story begins with a brief glimmer of optimism, a vignette espousing the American Dream as central character Mace’s grandfather encourages his younger self to act on a love of wrestling. In this fleeting moment, the sport represents classic American values of sportsmanship and hard work that will surely lead to a promising future for Guerra. A Bronx native of Puerto Rican origins, “Mace,” played with undeniable candor by José Joaquín Pérez, exemplifies the underdog of society who dreams only of rising to glory in the sport he purely loves.

Fast forward to the present day.

Mace is working as a professional “fall guy” in a place with fewer principles than Walt White on steroids—THE Wrestling, a television network which represents the closest he can get to being a star wrestler. Addressing the audience with razor-sharp commentary, Perez skilfully illustrates the hypocrisies of the wrestling world and simultaneously builds an atmosphere of

complicity with frequent asides, almost all of which begin with, “I can’t tell my boss this, but…” The boss in question, a grease monkey caricature of every sleazy employer there ever was, embodies capitalism at its worst; willing to do anything and everything to bolster his business, “EKO” has achieved success by making a star of a hollow, showy wrestler named Chad Deity. In a wacky wonderland where image is everything, this cartoonish showman represents the ultimate triumph of charisma over talent and virtue.

The laughable dynamics between this trio—the greedy boss, the spoiled star, and the humble narrator who is there only to make the other two look good—become all the more exaggerated when Mace recruits Vigneshwar Paduar, a smooth-talking Brooklynite of Indian descent, to the business. Marketed to viewers as the Muslim “fundamentalist,” he becomes a target of anti-Islamic hatred and a parody of American racial tolerance. The stark contrast between the metaphorical backstage, where

“Suffragettes to Juke-Joint Mamas: The Foremothers/Roots of Rock.” Continuing chronologically, the exhibition archives different periods of rock with an astonishing collection of more than 250 artifacts from 70 artists, spanning from Blues

and a piece of Aretha Franklin’s personal stationary with the handwritten lyrics of “Heard it through the Grapevine,” Women Who Rock’s astounding number of artifacts makes the feminist history lesson both tangible and memorable.

wrestlers like Paduar and Mace are supplied with these false identities designed to stir an audience, and the stage of the wrestling ring, anchors the story and renders its satire all the more biting. In every match, the blinding lights and screen projections of an impressive set magnify the effect of television. Rather than being kept in the dark, though, the audience is in on the joke that this entertainment world is not as dazzling as it seems.

Playwright Kristoffer Diaz, who won the 2011 New York Times

Outstanding Playwright Award for Chad Deity, has artfully devised a work pulsating with energy driven by scathing irony.

Speaking in the blunt language of the New York streets, his characters are drawn with all the grandiosity of an expert cartoonist and the actors make sure every line drops with all the impact of a roundhouse kick. Everything about this play is blown out of proportion, but the nature of its caricatures effectively parodies real-life fakery.

woman around town

When the iPhone 5 is at stake, social decorum becomes a secondary priority.

From Billie Holiday to Lady Gaga, Women Rock the NWMA

by Mary Borowiec Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion and Power was born out of an oft-asked question in American cultural history: “Where are the women?” While this query may seem largely irrelevant to a generation that grew up with Madonna and Beyoncé, Women Who Rock, the newest exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, reminds audiences of the long struggle female artists have endured while seeking to break the barriers of the boys’ club that is rock and roll.

First conceived at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, this exhibition opened at the NMWA on Sept. 7 and will run until Jan. 6.

Showcasing nearly a century’s worth of female artists, Women Who Rock aims not only to recognize the struggles of female artists, but also to celebrate the “flashpoints, the firsts, the best…and sometimes the lesser known women,” who have transformed pop music and American culture as a whole.

The exhibit’s journey through women’s music history begins in the 1920s, with the

NWMA.org

Such displays are in a way the perfect metaphors for celebrity lives. heroines like Bessie Smith to modern pop icons like Britney Spears.

With relics including Madonna’s infamous cone corset, Billy Holiday’s sheet music,

Between the sequined costumes and the glittering guitars it’s easy to get lost in the glamour of the pieces on display.

But to ignore these artists’ personal stories and overlook their

unique triumphs is to miss the larger aim of Women Who Rock.

For these visionary artists, their stories, struggles, and statements in the face of adversity are truly what matter.

It’s much more than Lady Gaga’s choice to wear meat, but her choice to say that women should not be seen as literal pieces of meat. It is Lesley Gore’s declaration that, “You don’t own me,” and the makeup case on display where she carried around her musical scores. It is “women as innovators in rock and roll,” as the NMWA explains in its description of the exhibition.

Using the power of storytelling as the vehicle to reproduce women’s rock history, this exhibition skillfully contextualizes women’s musical feats within both United States history and the larger cultural context of each period. These connections are creatively captured by a timeline spanning the walls of the exhibit, breaking down the different periods from the Girl Groups of the early ‘60s to “I will Survive: Rockers to Disco Divas” of the ‘70s.

In this way, each woman featured is a window into

women’s history and the struggles which females, particularly those in the music world, have faced.

The collection of artifacts is further complemented by a continuous film reel playing songs from ABBA to Tina Turner to Gwen Stefani, which sets the tone for the musical journey that museum-goers visually experience in the progression of the exhibit.

Likewise, a video featuring Melissa Etheridge, the 2012 recipient of the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts, provides further insight into the challenges behind each triumph embodied in the collection.

While an entire exhibit on female musicians may have seemed impossible just decades ago, Yoko Ono best sums it up in her quote featured at the entrance of the Women Who Rock exhibition: “In the beginning there was music…

In the new millennium, we see that women rockers have come a long way. We are now seeing the world dancing to our songs and our music. One day, we will come together and the world will be as one, and a better place for all. Till then, sisters, let’s keep rocking!”

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“good Morning! Welcome to another day of higher education!” — Pretty in Pink

the georgetown voice 11

Losers win at Washington Post HQ Welcome, Union Market

by Amy Reavis In the current election cycle, we are seeing a myriad of campaign signs, with loud colors and clever catch phrases trying to convince us of a candidate’s merit. Come November, these signs will be taken down, thrown away, and only the winners remembered. Artist Nina Katchadourian is out to change that. In her current street art display Monument to the Unelected, she gives proper—albeit comical—acknowledgement to all 56 presidential runners-up.

Hanging in the Washington Post’s office windows are humorous placards toting slogans like “Adams, Bush ’28” and “Henry Clay, Theodore Frelinghuysen: The Team.” Among them are more modern, sobering signs

like, “Bush/Quayle,” “Gore/Lieberman,” and, of course, “McCain/Palin.” Each is designed with an eye towards modern campaign visuals, making passersby stop, recheck their Google Calendars, and make sure they are still in the right year.

In a public talk this past Monday hosted at the Washington Post headquarters, the artist discussed not only Monument to the Unelected, but also presented a variety of her other past “public art” projects. And boy, does it get a lot funkier than runner-up campaign signs.

While in the Trinidadian rainforest in the early 2000s, Nina Katchadourian mistook a bird call for a car alarm. When she returned to New York, she was commissioned by a sculpture center to rig up various cars

AMY rEAVIS

These exhibits are acceptable as art, but your car should not look like this.

Love’s labours and Leo’s

Dear Emlyn, I am under 21 and don’t have a fake ID. I tend to like the older ladies here at Georgetown, and sometimes I snag a gorgeous junior or senior and take her out to coffee. Here’s the issue– when it’s time to step it up from a coffee date and take her for a nice dinner, I sort of hit a wall. I can’t buy her wine at a restaurant, can’t take her out to a bar or a club, etc. It sucks. Help please!

—Young Luv Dear Young, So distressing, to be caught in the middle of childhood and adulthood. Listen to Britney Spears’ “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,”—you are not alone!

Cheer yourself up by thinking about everything an older girl might like about dating a guy under 21.

Not being able to buy alcohol is really one of the only downsides to your youth—otherwise, you’re probably more flexible and spritely, you’re probably less stressed about life after college, and you’re probably not going to go senile any time soon. Darn it, you’re just a bundle of fun. Just like Britney.

I’d say you should just be upfront about your dilemma, and any reasonable girl will understand. Still take her out to a nice dinner, of course (you don’t want to get stuck at the coffee date level), but maybe you can pregame in your room or have a drink afterwards.

Now that I think of it, isn’t a nice glass of wine in your Village B more private and romantic than trying to order

with bird calls for car alarms and display them outdoors. They were a huge hit, and people began to continually harass the cars to hear the various alarms.

Katchadourian said she gets her inspiration “from confusing experiences, from appreciating the moments when you have no idea what’s going on, and then turning that into a piece.”

In a simpler project, Katchadourian once sculpted and attached a false branch to a tree in a public park. The leaves on it were perpetual fall colors, and were displayed throughout the year, humorously contrasting their surroundings in summer and winter. Her current project is to develop a “welcome” sign for a small town in northern Maine on the Canadian border. Her drafts include a statue that includes every single state-affiliated symbol (the state bird, cat, flower, soda, etc.).

Katchadourian loves ambiguity and humor, which is exactly what you get in Monument to the Unelected, on display until Nov. 9. Just in time for the elections, this collection allows for a reflection on all of history’s what-ifs.And while she claims the piece does not take sides, but leaves it up to individual interpretation, one cannot help but see how well a Romney/Ryan sign would add to the montage.

some fancy-sounding crap at a mediocre Italian restaurant? I think so. As for clubs and bars, I guess you’ll just be confined to parties until your blessed 21st—which really isn’t all that bad. If your girl is still snotty and won’t accept that you can’t be all adult-y, she’s probably not a keeper anyway.

You’ve got Issues

by Emlyn Crenshaw a bi-weekly advice column

Dear Emlyn, I’m tired of Leo’s already (big surprise), which does not bode well for the rest of my semester.

I can’t keep buying food off campus, though. I’m going broke already! How can I handle eating at Leo’s for the rest of the semester—nay, the rest of the year—

by James Gadea This past Saturday, Union Market, an artisanal bazaar housed in an industrial warehouse, opened up its doors for the first time since 1989. Located on 1309 5th Street near Gallaudet University, Union Market has a long history of serving as a farmer’s market that has catered to its customers by providing the finest local ingredients served by exceptional local artisans.

The market traces its history back to 1871 when Centre Market opened up, eventually becoming the premiere market for the city of Washington. Later on, Centre Market was torn down to make room for the National Archives building, and subsequently moved several times over the course of the next two centuries before being established where it is today.

With offerings ranging from from Amish products to Ethiopian cuisine, Union Market presents its customers with a truly diverse mix, helping to revitalize the market scene in Washington in the process of providing what the Union Market website dubs “one stop marketing.” With 40 local artisans featured, Union Market is truly a “culinary epicenter,” fulfilling its vision as stated on the website of becoming “a true gathering place that

when the thought of it already makes me depressed?

—Forlorn Foodie Dear Foodie, Join the club of pretty much everyone who has a meal plan.

The thing about Leo’s is that, obviously, creativity and effort make all the difference. I could piece together a gorgeous panini masterpiece or craft a salad that looks like it should be in Gourmet, but I’m lazy. So lazy.

Life is hard. Allow me, then, to suggest some quick tips that won’t require you to put forth too much effort and yet provide you, at least sometimes, with an acceptable meal.

First, it’s all about the additions. Don’t just get pizza, add Parmesan on top to give it some actual flavor. Don’t just make a waffle, add Oreo bits from the ice cream toppings bar, or sprinkle in some

serves as an inviting melting pot of old world heritage and new world opportunities.”

Vendors are as eager as customers. In an interview with the Voice, Anthony Marchetti of Rappahannock River Oyster Co. said he is “excited to offer fresh local products. We all are artisans and farmers and it’s great to be around people that are passionate about their craft.”

Providing its services to a large group of local vendors, Union Market presents the opportunity for many to sell their products in a much more inviting and amicable atmosphere than has previously existed in the D.C. cuisine scene.

Anna and Shawn Leis, D.C. Empanadas founders, expressed this sentiment when describing their delight at the opportunity to sell their flavorful empanadas at Union Market. “All the people there are people that I’d love to shop from,” Theis said. “The quality of items sold there is phenomenal.”

Deepa Patke, of Aromatic Spice Blends, echoed this outlook, “Union Market is a wonderful place” with “loads of potential,” she attested.

Union Market is open Fridays 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

brown sugar and cinnamon. Don’t just get plain pasta, add feta from the salad bar and maybe some peas, or whatever else floats your boat. Seriously, you can maybe save your meal if you throw some stuff on top or mix some stuff in.

All we can do is try.

Also, I have a theory that the chefs care the most about the vegan station because they won that award about being super vegan or whatever.

I used to overlook it, but I’m starting to pay it serious attention—sometimes there is beyond-decent food! Imagine that! Soups are generally okay as well, but people tend to forget about them!

When in doubt, have whatever Stacy is making. She is a goddess.

Send your most personal questions to ecrenshaw@georgetownvoice.com

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

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

Little Big Town, Tornado, Capitol Records Nashville Nashville-based country quartet Little Big Town has seldom aimed for fame and a mainstream sound; instead, the band, which consists of two male/female couples, has released four albums centered on harmonies and a rotation of lead vocalists. But with their fifth studio album, Tornado, the band members have begun to rely heavily on electric instrumentation—the obvious result of a recent partnership with producer Jay Joyce. The result: a southern-rock-meets-bluegrass summer record perfect for a backwoods Mississippi barbeque.

“Pavement Ends” kicks off the LP in this style with rockabilly influences—pounding kick

drums lead into an electric banjo interlude that melts into a crunchy guitar riff accompanying Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet as they sing, “Later we’ll call some friends / Tell ‘em, ‘Meet us where the pavement ends.’”

The later hectic party track “On Fire Tonight” echoes this theme as the chorus fades into similarly amplified Telecaster and harmonica duets.

Despite the reckless abandon both in terms of theme and amp volume, Little Big Town does not stray far from its preferred style. Even summer anthem “Pontoon,” with its near-hip-hop production and electric mandolin-driven rhythm, retains the four-part vocal harmony that supports Karen Fairchild’s pleasantly reverb-heavy lead.

The bluesy “Front Porch Thing,” too, earns a spot as one of the album’s best tracks. The a cappella four-part intro and chorus interrupted by rhythmic slide-guitar notes and vocals alternating between the four band members allow Little Big Town to venture into familiar and refined stylistic territory.

On “Self Made,” the only track that allows the overdriven guitar to cross into the role of lead instrument,

Guess who’s coming to dinner

I probably should have followed my mother’s advice: never take food from strangers. But that’s exactly what I did last week, as I rang the doorbell of a Dupont apartment and made my way up a flight of tiled stairs. A woman I had never met before welcomed me into her dining room and offered me a glass of water as the smell of grilled halloumi cheese wafted in from the kitchen.

I wasn’t alone in this strange chef’s house—nine other Feasters, as we’re called, stood around the room making small talk and waiting for the meal to start. The dinner was organized by Feastly, a new start-up that bills itself as an online marketplace aimed at connecting cooks with eaters. A kind of foodie Foursquare mashed up with Facebook, Feastly’s beta site still crashes often, flashing a cutesy apology: “Whoops, looks like there are too many cooks in the Feastly kitchen!”

While the website’s interactive features clearly need work,

the point of Feastly isn’t to connect cooks and eaters online, but in real life. Danny Harris and Noah Karesh, self-proclaimed foodies who go by the job title of “Serial Entrepreneurs” on Feastly’s website, launched the company in 2011 during D.C.’s Startup Weekend.

The founders aim to turn Feastly into a movement, hoping that home-cooked meals served in chefs’ own living rooms will offer a radical new alternative to restaurant dining. Though their goal of transforming the way we eat out is grand, the marketplace has started out small. For now, only invited members receive Feastly’s emails, granting them access to a world of underground D.C. cooking.

A friend got me onto to Feastly’s listserv this summer, and for months I drooled at the emails flooding my inbox. Chefs offering meals through Feastly boasted everything from four-course Chilean dinners featuring marinated olives, fried cheese empanadas, and spice-rubbed roasted pork to

the band falls flat. The theme of “we built that” along with the vocals, which struggle to surpass the reverberating chords, blend into a tornado of sound that verges on unbearable.

In spite of the instrumental ambition, Little Big Town manages to shine through the boldness of Tornado. The band’s four voices rise above new producers and record labels for a sound that’s truly self-made.

Voice’s Choices: “Sober,” “Front Porch Thing” —Kirill Makarenko

David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant, 4AD Records While David Byrne and St. Vincent might seem an unconventional match, Love This Giant, their quirky sushi buffets with names like “Memoirs of a Gyoza.” With each succeeding email and missed meal, I felt more and more left out of some secret foodie club. Nowhere to be seen—yet all around D.C.—people were meeting up in strangers’ homes to eat doughy burek, sip rhubarb cooler, and nibble on cocoa mochi.

Just as school began and the reality of impending exams and

Plate of the union

by Heather Reagen

a bi-weekly column about food papers started to dawn on me, I seized the opportunity to attend the aptly named “Summer’s Last Hurrah.” Once I replied to the email invite and booked my seat through PayPal for $27.50, Feastly sent me the host’s address along with details for the meal.

A group of middle-aged foodies and a few yuppies showed up in hipster semi-formal wear, even though the meal’s description listed the event as “casual.” As we all

first collaborative release, makes for a noteworthy album that builds on the songwriters’ distinct backgrounds.

Best known as the former front man for Talking Heads, David Byrne has been a notable fixture in the music world for some time. Meanwhile, up-and-comer St. Vincent (the stage name for Annie Clark), has only recently gained momentum by working with acts like Death Cab for Cutie and Bon Iver. While the two differ in both experience and style, they craft a sound on Love This Giant that is refreshingly unique.

Drawing on an eclectic variety of instrumentation for this project anchored by a whomping baritone sax, the songwriters combine a brass presence with a prominent synth sound to create a funky yet unique musical quality best described as an energized jam session between The Postal Service and Beirut.

Album opener “Who” sets this tone. On this track, an unexpected bass line accompanies Byrne’s simple yet existential lyrics. St. Vincent’s melodic voice harmonizes with Byrne’s rendering the song accessible while hinting at the depth of the themes explored later. exchanged names and careers, my friend and I realized we were the youngest ones there—Feastly attracts a crowd that’s already paid off its student loans, not one that’s busy accruing them.

An appetizer of grilled halloumi and cherry tomatoes got an herbal kick from the basil and mint they had basked in, and the dish quickly disappeared as our chef Caetie Ofiesh busied herself in the kitchen with the main course.

While I expected the caramelized onion and kale tart to blow me away, the small pickled fennel and green bean salad that accompanied it proved far more exciting.

Still, the food generally satisfied.

What the expensive ticket didn’t buy was wine, and my friend and I wished we had brought our own bottle once the conversation turned from names and work to conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. Like an awkward NSO group, we grasped at conversation topics. We didn’t have much in common to talk about except food, and by the time the tart was finished, the Feastly

With a composition of lyrics written exclusively by the duo, Love This Giant is full of imaginative dialogue for the listener to revel in; “I Am an Ape” and “I Should Watch TV” contain some of the more engaging concepts.

On the other hand, tracks like “The One Who Broke Your Heart” and “Lazarus” are catchy and fast paced with a bouncing drum beat and a hectic big band sound. St. Vincent’s youthful energy adds to the mix, creating tracks that will be the envy of any collaborative album.

But the album’s true genius appears when each artist plays up his/ her partner’s strengths. They utilize only one singer’s voice while the other’s style seeps through the instrumental lines. In this way, St. Vincent mellows the experimental inclinations of Byrne, as the latter provides a solid vocal structure for St. Vincent’s airy sound.

Love This Giant brings two musical giants together for an album in which both St. Vincent and David Byrne are truly better together than the sum of their parts.

Voice’s Choice: “Who” —David McManus meal had gone meta. As I stared down at my cinnamon-orange gelato, I realized I was caught in a black hole of foodie energy.

Feastly sees D.C. as flooded with “too many impersonal and sterile restaurants,” and invokes Julia Child as its mascot, quoting her in its mission statement: “Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.”

Unfortunately, Feastly meals aren’t shared with family or friends, but with a group of strangers. While the whole experience of eating at a cook’s own house is novel, relaxation does not lend itself as easily as it would at a restaurant. And while it could be fun to network with other food lovers in D.C., it’s hard to enjoy sparkling horchata when the conversation goes flat. The menus aim to please, but the diners don’t.

Looking for new dinner compnay, email Heather at hregen@georgetownvoice.com

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voices

14 the georgetown voice

september 13, 2012

Watch out bras, there’s a new feminism in town

by Julia Lloyd-George There’s more than one “f” word in modern society. And, if you can believe it, the one I have in mind is considerably more incendiary than the one you’re probably thinking of. In any context, “feminism” has a remarkable power to invite both disparaging commentary and withering eye rolls; associated as it is with angry, radical protesters and man-hating anomalies of the female persuasion, most people are quick to distance themselves from a term with such extreme connotations.

First and foremost, everyone needs a basic vocabulary lesson.

“Feminism,” that poor, misunderstood word of the linguistic high school cafeteria scene, simply refers to the advocacy of equal rights for women in all areas of life. If that’s all right in your book, then congratulations, you’re a feminist. Now go put a bumper sticker on the back of your Prius and burn all your bras.

Acknowledging the persistence of blatant sexism, especially in the current political climate, should be enough to prove that the goals of feminism are far from accomplished. All the brouhaha

over the Republicans’ “War on Women”—the debate over health insurance coverage of contraception, abortion rights, and the definition of rape—demonstrates that women have not yet achieved legitimate political equality with men in the 21st century. As for equality in the workplace, the continuing wage gap and the appalling absence of women in upper-level jobs make a similar statement. Even Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton academic and former Director of Policy Planning for the State Department, thinks women still can’t have it all. And this is in the West.

Extending the scope elsewhere opens up an entirely different can of worms.

So, what happened to all the kick-ass feminists? For the most part, their message has been consigned to the dusty world of academia and gender studies classes with a particular fondness for the word “construction.” In terms of political equality, there are brave spokeswomen like Georgetown’s own Sandra Fluke (LAW ‘12) and others fighting the good fight, but such heroines are few and far between.

Feminist activism has also found solid footing in niche po-

litical issues, particularly sexual assault prosecution. In response to a Canadian police officer’s helpful suggestion that women shouldn’t dress like sluts if they don’t want to be raped, the national advent of SlutWalks has made an effective statement against a shockingly common habit of blaming the victim. Having had a similar experience with a police officer, I know personally how especially infuriating this can be in the midst of other obvious traumas.

These are applications of contemporary feminism in the forms we know best: explicit protest and political advocacy. As desperately necessary as they are, however, they constitute only a few parts of the puzzle. There’s a pretty big chunk still missing, yet people often forget it’s even meant to be there.

Insidiously pervasive in every aspect of our lives—our movies, music, TV shows, and magazines—the behemoth that is pop culture could be called the last frontier of feminism. Though political and economic equality between genders should always be at the forefront of the feminist movement, the portrayal of girls and women in the media is a re-

flection on how society believes they should act. If an on-screen female character never finds happiness until, as Lily Allen is currently singing into my iPod, “the man of her dreams comes along, picks her up, and puts her over his shoulder,” then this will be the prevailing attitude and expectation in the real world. If every powerful, independent woman is portrayed as using her sexuality to achieve her position, then surprisingly few people will think anything otherwise is a possibility. Therefore, the importance of having flawed, multidimensional women in pop culture as true reflections of living, breathing females cannot be overstated. Thankfully, a few people are starting to do something about it.

Anyone who’s ever been in an awkward social situation knows that a good joke can immediately put people at ease.

Not surprisingly, the same goes for incorporating a feminist perspective into pop culture. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Lena Dunham have blazed the trail for their realistic onscreen representations of being a woman. A frazzled comedy writer, an ambitious local politi-

buy condoms off campus. They will purchase the morning-after pill on their parents’ insurance.

And another class of students will be unaffected by Georgetown’s quaint inability to move into the modern age. Georgetown, with your cobblestone streets, your beautiful buildings, and your rejection of the Common App, usually your idiosyncrasies are cute. But if my history requirement served me well, sometimes Catholic institutions need to be nudged onto the correct course. I am a Hoya, and I am asking you to stop embarrassing us.

When I entered the Student Health Center last fall, I did not ask for a birth control prescription. I already had a birth control prescription. I needed a check up, but after inquiring about my medical history, the nurse practitioner volunteered to give me one.

“You get cramps, right?” she inquired.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I really don’t,” I responded again, confused.

She sighed, “I have to write something down.”

Something about a medical professional forging my medical history to circumnavigate the rules of a religion not my own didn’t feel quite right. This little story also proves Georgetown’s decision not to cover birth control in its insurance policy is about as effective as a pro-life protester screaming in my face— visible, but very easy to walk around.

I’m not interested in abstinence. I’m not interested in marriage. I am a 20-year-old college student interested in the process of development and the Chinese language. I attend classes in the School of Foreign Service, learning about the sorry state of women’s rights all over the world,

while my own school sends the message that we should be using the “Keep Your Legs Shut, Slut!” method of birth control—which doesn’t have a high success rate (see: 16 and Pregnant).

On a campus of affluent, resourceful students, it’s unclear whom this policy actually affects. Not the students covered on their parents’ insurance. Not the students who can afford to pay full price for contraceptives.

As such, Georgetown is forcing its beliefs on the only people it can: less affluent young women. The Catholic Church is not known for championing women’s rights, but for an American university to pass bigotry off as religion in the 21st century is a far worse offense.

Georgetown pays professors to teach subject matter beyond the official doctrines of the Catholic Church. Georgetown provides support to non-Catholic religious clubs. Why, then, can’t Georgetown give equal University support to a prochoice club?

There are religious freedoms, and then there are our freedoms.

Georgetown’s puritanical refusal to provide us with proper access to contraceptive methods is a violation of our right to adequate health care. I think it’s

cian, a bridesmaid experiencing a life crisis, and a confused twenty-something form a synthesis of roles that portray women in all their flawed, often hilarious humanity. Though they can be annoying and self-centered at times, they’re just as imperfect and complex as the rest of us.

Modern feminism then, is clearly not the serious creature of generations past. Outrageous and utterly shameless, feminism in pop culture gets attention through laughs rather than posters. Caitlin Moran, whose book I recently devoured before marching around and obnoxiously declaring my strident feminism, probably best expresses this credo: “The idea that we’re all just a bunch of well-meaning schlumps, trying to get along, is the basic alpha and omega of my world view. I’m neither ‘prowomen’ nor ‘anti-men.’ I’m just ‘thumbs up for the six billion.’”

Radical that I am, I couldn’t have said it better.

Julia Lloyd-George is a sophomore in the college. The only thing more fun than burning a bra, is burning a can of hairspray.

Give me birth control or give me death: A Hoya woman’s plight

by Kara Panzer Did you know that we are living among fornicators? With no regard for the Lord’s wrath, Georgetown students are doing the dirty on the daily. Even some of those harmless-looking, belanyarded freshmen are lusting after each other in the bowels of Darnall. They might be thinking to themselves, “Wouldn’t it be nice if Georgetown supplied us with prophylactics?” Or, “I wonder what my birth control options are.”

Most likely, those sinners just want to get laid. They will

Just thinking about the Pill will send Catholic grandmothers into a tizzy. FLICKR

time Georgetown came to terms with reality, and I bet many of my fellow Hoyas do, too.

If consuming illegal substances is part of your religion, you don’t get a get-out-of-jailfree card when police find it in your pockets. Religious institutions don’t get to rewrite the law.

Abortions and birth control are legal, and Georgetown has no right to tell us they aren’t.

If Georgetown wants to ask me for donations after I graduate, it will need to start providing coverage for the procedures that serve basic reproductive rights. It needs to relieve young women of the financial burden of paying out-of-pocket for birth control (after all, it’s cheaper than prenatal care). Let H*yas for Choice drop the asterisk, and give them the funding accorded other legitimate student organizations. Let the Corp sell condoms. After that, I would be honored to give back to the school that taught me to stand up for my beliefs in the first place.

Kara Panzer is a junior in the SFS. She also thinks the University should pay for dinner, a movie, and jugs of Safeway wine.

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the georgetown voice

15

Through food, remember nature in this concrete jungle

by Emma Burgess As a nursing major, I’m taught to see dirt as a source of infectious disease--something to be sterilized out of wounds, washed out of bedding, or scrubbed out of hands. That said, I’m also a firm believer in ending any day that I can with grass stains on my jeans, calluses on my hands, and a little bit of the earth under my fingernails.

As a student, I’m also aware that silence can seem unproductive or boring. I love music and good conversation, and I ap-

preciate that many of our social interactions at this point in our lives involve quite a bit of noise and excitement, often a suitable expression of the vigor and vehemence with which we as young adults interact with our world.

However, I feel that in our bustling lives we often miss out on precious lessons that silence and introspection can teach us.

I come from Walla Walla, near the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, and every time I find myself back at Georgetown, I experience an abruptly disorienting culture

Not pictured: time spent getting grass stains out of hand wash only.

KAREN BU

RNC: Rude, noisy crap

Like lots of Georgetown students, I like to stay fairly informed about domestic politics. Maybe I couldn’t write a column in Politico, but I’m knowledgeable enough to crack a joke at the expense of a variety of elected officials from both parties. As such, I made sure to watch most of the major speeches from the conventions that took place over the past few weeks—though I’ll admit I watched more of the convention in Charlotte than the one in Tampa. As any pundit will tell you, it’s only people who already support a party who pay attention to its political convention. So I cheered as President Clinton delivered punch after mathematical punch, relished every shout-out to the rebuilding of my hometown’s indispensable auto industry, and, let’s

be honest, I teared up a little at the First Lady’s moving tribute to working-class Americans.

But when the three days were over and the Democrats’ cries of “Yes We Still Can, I’m Pretty Sure” had subsided, I found that the DNC had left me feeling more discouraged than anything else. For all the politicians’ grandiose speeches, their words of hope and inspiration, I couldn’t keep certain gnawing realities of our political system from my mind.

In essence, it seems like the choice facing voters this November comes down to one between a party that attempts to help average Americans and a party that works shamelessly to maintain the dominance of our nation’s wealthiest citizens. If President Obama doesn’t win this fall, I’ll have

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shock. In the wake of a couple of minor crises after my first year in D.C., it took a while to get used to living in a city and appreciating all that urbanity has to offer. Nowhere else do so many parts of the world come together and interact with one another with synergy and cooperation quite like in big cities.

After being in the city for over two years, I’m extremely appreciative of the opportunities that Georgetown and the D.C. community provide me. But now that I have opened my mind to let the city teach me, I’m ready to teach D.C. a thing or two myself.

The feats of civilization and modern technology continue to astound me, but far too often we let buildings, computers, and concrete confine and define us. Our sustenance continues come from the earth, but we have effectively distanced ourselves from its life-giving origins. We live cleaned, preened, and comfortable in our temperature-controlled city, and yet we continue (whether we realize it or not) to derive our subsistence from the very thing we are so efficiently cutting out.

Yet with the convenience and coziness that our city pro-

vides, our food is harvested from the supermarket, in all of its individually packaged glory.

In this sterilized smorgasbord we forget that everything sitting on those clean shelves was once plant or animal. Every neatly placed item, no matter how many chemicals and preservatives have since been added to it, was once picked or watered or fed by a human hand.

I am not suggesting that we tear down Regents and replace it with a pasture full of cows, pigs, and vegetables to feed ourselves. I am neither ignorant nor idealistic enough to assume that would ever happen. But rather, despite our best efforts to distance ourselves from its source, the inconveniently dirty and unpredictable earth is still our source of life and energy.

Sit outside on a sunny day and don’t worry about getting your butt dirty. Go for a run in Dumbarton Oaks Park and lie in the grass and listen to the bugs and the birds. Work or play outside and sweat—which is the way we used to cool our bodies before God gave us air conditioning. Every once in a while, remove some of the barriers we have set up and live just a little

no choice but to take it as an indication that self-interested Americans outnumber Americans who actually care about each other.

This might seem like an oversimplification from some presumptuous, liberal college kid, but to me, it seems like this kind of oversimplification that’s wholly necessary. Because, really, what does it say about our country that some Americans actually believe President Clinton’s line that

about a camel and the eye of a needle…

As a college senior trying to make decisions about the future, I’m even more upset about all this than I might have been a few years ago. I see the constant pull of high-status, high-salary professions like investment banking and consulting on members of the Class of 2013; plenty of my classmates, having spent a summer or more interning at firms in New York, have already been offered positions for after graduation. And the appeal is clear: an exciting environment, challenging work, and—to be sure—plenty of financial security. With such clear incentives, it seems like it would have to be something pretty extraordinary to persuade a bright young Hoya, full of promise and potential, to accept a likely thankless future of economic uncertainty in the public or nonprofit sectors.

I want to be happy for friends and classmates heading off to wear well-made suits and go on expensive company retreats. They’ve worked hard and beaten out a lot of other highly qualified candidates for these well-regarded jobs.

But I can’t help having reser-

Carrying On

by Tori Jovanovski A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

‘We’re all in it together’ is inferior to the Republicans’ ‘You’re on your own’?

I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure the world’s major religions will back me up on this one, too, as a good chunk of them teach that we should love and respect each other.

Call me crazy, but I feel like loving and respecting each other includes not standing by while our neighbors fall into poverty or homelessness.

I also seem to recall something

more connected to the earth that continues to nourish us.

I admire the efforts of many Georgetown students at sustainability and environmental awareness; recycling, purchasing organic or fair-trade food, and conserving energy are all amazing ways that I see so many students giving back to the world and teaching one another to take care of the origin of our resources.

The reconnection with nature that I am suggesting must accompany all of these practical efforts. Even in the city, we must seek out and appreciate nature. We must take a moment to live in it and respect it.

Start a garden when you graduate, and find a local farmer so you can buy your meat from chickens and cows you’ve seen grazing in an open field. But for now, get dirty every once in a while and listen to the beautiful sounds of silence.

Emma Burgess is a junior in the NHS. If you think Walla Walla, Wa. is a little funny, just be glad you aren’t from Intercourse, Pa. vations about these incredibly talented people equating, as our society has taught us to do, success with personal wealth. Why do we value huge bank accounts above all else? Why can a desire to be useful to more than just ourselves, to change that status quo, so often be dismissed as “youthful idealism”? For that matter, why do we live in a world where only young people, who don’t know any better yet, can possibly delude themselves into thinking they can make a difference?

As President Clinton said last week, repeating the words of our Founding Fathers, aren’t we trying to form a more perfect union?

Faced with a world where Grover Norquists and Sheldon Adelsons call the shots, I’m feeling hopeless and defeated, doubtful that anyone can stand up to the forces of unfettered individualism. Please, fellow Hoyas—you creative, motivated, intelligent people—prove me wrong.

Tori Jovanovski is a senior in the College. Now that her 21st is over, she feels entitled to bemoan the youth of our times.

50 shades of blue and gray Here at the Voice, we’re all about following trends, so in this moment of crowdsourced news and steamy literature we’ve decided to combine the two. Behold the first installment of 50 Shades of Blue and Grey, the new romance novel set right here on the Hilltop. This one’s courtesy of a fictional member of the Voice staff, but where it goes from here is all up to you. Send your 500- to 1500-word continuation, and we’ll pick one and put it on the next week’s back page. So pour yourself a glass of wine and release your inner E.L. James (or maybe Junot D í az), and send your submissions — under your real name or your fake one — to editor@georgetownvoice.com.

The Voice reserves the right to edit any and all submissions.

You know the situation. It’s almost the same no matter who you’re after. But for me it was a girl. That girl you see everywhere around campus but you don’t know her name. She always catches you looking as you pass (or do you catch her?) and gives you that shy little smile out from under her bangs and freakishly long eyelashes. It’s not the smile like when she’s hanging with her girls on the lawn smoking cigarettes and laughing and looking like the queen of campus without even trying. And it’s not the bleary-eyed grin you saw her give the sucio preppy boys crowding her on Prospect last Friday. No, it’s the same smile you feel yourself giving her in that second and a half, like a string’s pulling one corner of your mouth up into that suggestive little hello before your eyes break and you look down at your shoes, half embarrassed she caught you and half disappointed you didn’t stop and ask her out to coffee right then and there on your way back from Walsh.

It’s that smile that keeps her in the back of your mind.

So of course I tell my boys about this. I burst through the door one day while Mike’s cooking dinner.

“This girl’s driving me insane,” I say. He’s used to this.

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know! I see her everywhere though and she’s always giving me this face. This smile. I think she’s Mary’s friend though.” Mike and Mary were getting it for a while, but she wasn’t into a relationship and he’s been pining since. She’s this fine New York Italian though, saccharine ever-sweet with a banging body and a penchant for parties and basketball players, so no one ‘cept him was surprised when she wasn’t in the kitchen on Saturday mornings anymore.

to explain to the roommate why his belts are still lashed to your bedpost and your wrists and ankles are blue with bruises. This girl’s clearly a lunatic, but she doesn’t ask any more of you than the time it takes to roll a joint and finish her off, so why not keep her on call?

The only problem with Alex is she’s a total flake. It’s not her fault. You do the same to her and there aren’t hard feelings. But you aren’t getting it on anything resembling a regular basis, and all your game with the Hoya chicks seems to have dried up. They get all pissed you don’t have enough time for them -- always another meeting, a different party, 20 more pages of reading to go. Obviously if it were Corinne, none of this would be an issue, but if you’re going to start pushing aside other commitments, it ain’t gonna be for just anyone.

It didn’t take long for me to get sick of the chill lifestyle. I was still only hangin’ out with my boys, coming home early for lack of intrigue, and dodging DPS to smoke the weed I should have been selling until I couldn’t see straight. But this one Friday I hear my old roommate’s having a shindig at his place out on S Street and I tell him I’ll stop by. I know it’s not my scene. Ryan lives with some football players and they’re always trying to emulate the atmosphere of a State U. frat bash. But with a little something to put that swagger in my step it might just be amusing.

“She’s toeing the line between hippie and hipster. You know, the small girl with the brownish-red hair and bangs?

Sometimes has the geek-chic glasses? Always wears those flowy dresses?”

So I get toasted with the boys over poker and head up to Burleith. The place is live, but the people are goons. The guys are the egotistic, womanizing athletes I love to hate and the chicks are all sloppy drunk, hanging off their muscled arms or riding up their skirts on the front of a pair of salmon pants. So I’m just chillin in the kitchen with Ryan. I look over to the keg to see if the neanderthals have abandoned it and almost fall flat on the floor. There’s only one person there, and it’s Corinne, toying with her phone. She looks as out of place as I do, and twice as bored. But she’s clearly there to be out, her toned, freckled legs on full display between her hip little canvas sneakers and the unbearingly high hem of her floral skirt.

“Corinne,” he says, squishing his burger patty into the pan.

“Every man’s on that. Get in line.”

“That’s your girl,” Ryan says. It’s obvious by how I’m staring. “Get it.”

“Corinne!” I yell, not caring. What a name. One I’ve always loved. One that seems to fit her freckles perfectly. “You know this chick?”

“So, obviously what we need to do,” I say, “is set up a ‘chance’ encounter.”

So, I summon the ample liquid courage in my gut, grab an empty cup and saunter over to the Natty. I grab the hose like that’s why I’m there and look her dead in the eye as she glances up. She gives me that same little shy smile.

I’m in.

“I dunno man,” says Mike, “I ain’t really seeing Mary that much anymore.”

“You know,” I say, “I feel like I see you everywhere.”

And so it dies, and for a few weeks you don’t really think about it that much. Classes are getting busy, and you’re all up in the radio station so you don’t get beyond your main social circles much. Plus, there are some other girls in your orbit. Like Alex, this bomb-ass half-Cuban chick from American U. whose number you got on a bus in Dupont this summer. She is, without doubt, the preppiest, most airheaded girl you’ve ever nailed, and it’s almost too ironic that you’ve found one of them from the hip school in D.C. while there are so many strutting their stuff around the Hilltop.

“Yeah,” she responds slowly, “and yet I don’t know you.”

“What’s she look like?” he says.

“Met her like twice,” he says, and then bitterly, “yeah, she’s Mary’s friend.”

There’s really no emotion. It’s an honest transaction. She’ll come down to M Street to shop or something and then stop by the Village B for a good shagging before she heads home. You would’ve dropped it long ago if it weren’t so good, but she’s actually pretty fly and up for whatever. It’s a whole evening affair when she comes over -- in bed, on the couch, the bathroom, the desk, the balcony, her thick curly hair dripping with sweat, your back crisscrossed with scars from her ferocious nails. You don’t really comprehend how crazy it’s getting until the one morning you have

“Tony,” I say, offering my hand.

She shakes it tentatively.

“Corinne.”

“Well Corinne, can I interest you in a smoke?”

“You could.”

We stagger outside past a he-man shoving match and into the yard. I go for the pack in my breast pocket, but she stops me.

“No. Smoke one of these,” she says, producing a green pack from her purse. “Nat. Shermans. There’s sugar in the filter. They make your lips sweet.”

Indeed they do. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but she says she’s there with Mary and motions to the deck where we see Mike’s heartthrob pinned up against the side of the house, lips locked with one of the ‘roid monsters.

We’re just chatting, about to go back inside when those damn yellow lights flash through the alley.

“SNAPs,” she says. “You wanna leave?”

“Good call, but what about Mary?”

“Umm, not worried,” she says, already heading for the street.

So we start walking. She takes my arm and everything’s just so natural. The autumn night’s fresh and dark and we’re in that young lover flow, kicking through the leaf piles, huddling close for warmth even though we’re both too drunk to feel any chill. She wants another smoke so we duck into an alley and I pull her close and kiss her and it’s long and cool and I can feel her thin body collapse into mine.

“Let’s go,” she says, pulling my hand towards campus.

Now, if you’re a guy you know this is the tricky part. You get to that point where Corinne can either turn and go with you to Village B or keep on back to her Copley, and you’ve gotta drop the invitation without seeming crass or insulting. This has never been my strong suit. But we’ve been talking music, so I go with this: “Wanna come back and listen to some records?”

You don’t expect her to say yes. And at first she doesn’t.

She just stands there for literally 10 seconds looking up at you, close enough for you to smell her sweet perfume and the tobacco on her breath, eyes darting from yours to the ground and back up again. Then all at once she splits, moves past you and heads for your apartment.

“What’s the number?” she calls back...

By Tony Martino