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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
THE GEORGETOWN VOICE Volume 48 • Issue 1
staff editor-in-chief Chris Almeida Managing editor daniel varghese Executive editors Noah buyon, christopher castano, lara fishbane
news editor ryan miller assitant editors Courtnie baek, lilah burke, Liz teitz Leisure editor Elizabeth baker assistant editors Jon block, dinah farrell, brian Mcmahon Sports Editor Joe pollicino assistant editor max roberts
Editorials The Voice Speaks: Hold The Pickles! Daniel Varghese The Club Application Process Aniket Naravene A Raw Deal Eytan Gittler Beyond Title IX Courtnie Baek
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design Cover editor megan howell editors eleanor sugrue, ellie yaeger spread editors pam shu, sophie super
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associate editors marisa hawley, kevin huggard, sabrina kayser, christina libre
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Laying the Foundations Joe Pollicino
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editor@georgetownvoice.com Leavey 424 Box 571066 Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057
Voices editor graham piro assistant editor charles evain
copy Chief suzanne trivette editors Lauren chung, bianca clark, jupiter El-asmar, Alex garvery, rachel greene, madison kaigh, julian sena
Unexpected Turns Graham Piro
Best of Summer Leisure Staff
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halftime Leisure editors Mike bergin, erika bullock Sports editors alex boyd, rob ponce assistant sports editor matt jasko
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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. 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.
Staff writers sourabh bhat, Emilia brahm, Emmy buck, Caitlyn cobb, brendan crowley, Patrick drown, emmanuel elone, joe laposata, maneesha panja, Brendan saunders, thomas stubna, manuela Tobias, colleen zorc staff photographers Ambika ahuja, saman asdjodi, jen costa, megan howell, gavin myers, freddy rosas, Taryn Shaw, andrew Sullivan staff designers Lizzy blumburg, river davis, katie hyland, Johnny jung webmaster kenneth lee photo editor joshua raftis
general manager tim annick
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
Letter from the Editor If you are a regular reader of the Voice, you’re likely noticing that the magazine looks entirely different this year. We’ve decided to overhaul the print and online editions of the Voice, both cosmetically and in terms of where our content can be found. In an increasingly digital world, we have found that the news cycle moves at too rapid a pace for print newspapers to keep up. As such, we have made a number of changes to our print edition. The Georgetown Voice, which was previously printed weekly, will now be printed every other week. In addition, as part of our mission to best serve and inform the Georgetown community as quickly as possible, we will be moving our News and Sports sections to our newly revamped webpage, georgetownvoice.com, which will updated regularly with breaking news and game coverage. This will enable the Voice to expand our in-print Features section, which will also allow our staff the time to delve deeper into the relevant issues that face Georgetown’s student population, and our Voices section, your forum for discussion. The print magazine will still regularly feature the editorials, op-ed pieces, and leisure section that we have always printed. In addition, the print edition will present a variety of longer stories that might not necessarily adhere to a certain section. And if you have something to say, Voices will continue to solicit pieces from any member of the Georgetown community from faculty and staff to students. Georgetown, providing space for more in-depth investigative features in more areas of student life, as well as increased and more immediate updates in news, sports, and leisure. Thank you for your continued support of The Georgetown Voice. We hope you love our new look as much as we do. Sincerely, IMDB
Chris Almeida Editor-in-Chief
IN FOCUS
Crossword Puzzle
By Kathleen Coughlin
Across: 1. Possesses 4. Subsequently 9. Flinch, say 14. ___ carte 15. Hard stuff 16. Glitch 17. Laidback 18. Sounds of contentment 20. Herr’s companion 22. With precision 24. What’s up? 25. In good shape 27. Georgetown’s co-ed service fraternity 29. Doubter 32. Billboard’s Best New Artist of 1999 35. Spy org. 36. Small songbird
38. RBI and ERA 40. Mail 42. More friendly 44. Concert souvenir 45. Apostle or Gaga song 47. Uses a keyboard 49. Keats poem type 50. Freudian concern 52. Climb (up) 54. Take to court 55. Recede, as a tide 56. Guinness Book 59. Shortsightedness 63. To ___ his own 67. Mitten part 69. Music category 71. Character from To Kill a Mockingbird and Monster’s Inc. 72. Reef material
73. Lariat 74. Weep 75. Georgetown apartments 76. Senator Kefauver 77. Place to be pampered Down: 1. Fifty percent 2. Winged 3. Rocks, partner of 66 DOWN 4. Spend spring break doing service with Georgetown 5. Jump into the Dahlgren ___ 6. Split 7. “Budapest” singer 9. Keys again 10. Before, in poetry 11. Half of the College 12. Bulletin board
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Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
material 13. Platter 21. Roswell sighting 23. Jump up in John Carroll’s _____ 26. Rascal 28. Livestock feed 29. Hinder 30. The Pope has not yet returned our clock _____ 31. Acrimony 32. The Exorcist ____, Georgetown landmark 33. Snitch 34. Lau’s purpose 35. Houses Georgetown’s service orgs.
51. Informal greeting 53. Nautical dir. 56. Make a lasting impression? 57. Monopoly piece 58. Change course 60. Rubberneck 61. Pod veggies 62. Meet Me ____ Lou64. Basics 65. Largest stuin the world 66. What?, partner of 3 DOWN 68. Bad to a Parisian 70. Egg-shaped lip balm
39. Small Business 41. Boxes of calendars? 43. Run through a scene 46. Discworld drink 48. Bro or sis
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EDITORIALS
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
Freshmen getting their bearings on campus may well get lost in the ongoing construction, for none of it is marked on the maps they’ll receive during NSO. Others might get lost in the Georgetown lexicon: such as the JesRes, which refers to the newly refurbished Former Jesuit Residence. This dormitory and other construction projects are the result of a contentious agreement Georgetown made with neighmen need to understand how and why this raw deal came about, and what can be done to prevent another one being negotiated in the years ahead. The deal, called the 2010 Campus Plan, was a negotiation between Georgetown University and two adjacent neighborhood organizations, the Citizen’s Association of Georgetown (CAG) and Burleith Citizens Association (BCA). One of the main objectives is to increase the number of students living on campus, as both CAG and BCA wanted a reduced student presence in their backyards. The plan requires Georgetown to add 385
beds to the Hilltop by this fall, and house 90 percent of the student body on campus by 2025. Students had very little input in the decision-making process. The results have been detrimental to the university and students alike. To reach the 385-bed requirement, the university will spend a projected $68.4 million on two new dorms – the JesRes and the Northeast Triangle. Freshmen will no doubt notice that the Northeast Triangle dorm isn’t yet habitable. In the meantime, students will be housed in the Leavey Center hotel, or in the Southwest Quad, in doubles converted into cramped triples. Meanwhile, sorely-needed renovations on Yates Field House, Lauinger Library, and Village A will be long postponed. Starting with the junior class, students are now required to live for on campus for three years. Not only is university housing more expensive than off-campus options, it affords students less independence and accessibility to D.C., especially upperclassmen seeking internships or off-campus jobs to help pay tuition. Students are
Once again, Georgetown is grappling with the graphic reality of sexual assault on the Hilltop. A slate of survivors have come forward to tell their stories over the summer months—many of which indict a system that’s failed to do right by them. To this newsmagazine, the writing on the wall is very clear: sexual assault happens here, with surprising frequency, and it’s a trend that will likely continue. The stories the Voice heard this summer are nothing short of tragic. They do not, however, constitute the vanguard of some university-wide reckoning with sexual assault. The Voice has reported on the trials undergone by survivors dozens of times in the past decade. Those features hardly scratched the surface of the sordid history of sexual assault on campus. And, in all those years, the problem has persisted. Therein lies another tragedy. The Voice lauds survivors and activists for their courage in speaking up both now and then. In sharing their stories, they do far more than offering up their own experiences—they challenge us to do better.
the Georgetown community, like to think that Hoyas are made of the sturdiest moral stuff—that we’re all good kids. But bad things happen, and that necessitates shining the uncomfortable light of introspection on ourselves. We acknowledge, condemn, and grieve the wrong of sexual assault, but all our reporting cannot undo what has been happening in apartments and dorms across campus for so long. We sympathize deeply with survivors, but, we are in no position to judge what’s happened, absent any investigation, any concrete information. With this in mind, the Voice proposes several concrete policy changes looking forward. All students must be made aware of current consent laws. Too often, survivors heap blame on themselves because they don’t know what legally constitutes sexual assault. Clear, checklist-style procedures must be laid out for survivors and those accused of sexual assault. Institutional resources must be not only
also no longer allowed to park in the surrounding neighborhoods. Construction has made campus an obstacle course. The Leavey Center is no longer accessible by Leavey Bridge. Only one of four entrances to the Reiss Science Building is usable. Henle Village has somehow become more labyrinthian. As a result, campus has become especially inhospitable for students with disabilities. The repercussions of the 2010 plan are permanent, but the next campus plan is already being negotiated for 2018. Both university administrators and students must strive to reach a better deal. CAG and BCA want 100 percent of the student body face of both spatial feasibility and student interest. We must reject this requirement and push for projects that improve student green space, and sustainable buildings. Avenues for student input have already increased. Now three, instead of one, students sit on the Georgetown Community Partnership (GCP) Steer-
provided but also aggressively publicized, so that all parties are equipped with a realistic set of expectations when it comes to the university’s response. The university has made some progress. Just last year, NSO added a mandatory sexual assault education workshop. But supporting survivors, mandated not just by Title IX but also by common decency, involves more than reporting and prosecuting sexual assault. In some cases, therapeutic counseling must be offered, leaves of absences must be arranged, and academic clemency must be granted. At present, survivors must navigate such arrangements. The least the university could do is show them the way. Lastly, survivors, to the extent they are willing and able, must fully utilize the dual-track system: approaching both university administrators and police to report and prosecute sexual assaults. There are compelling reasons to avoid the police: an investigation leads to a trial, usually where survivors’ private lives are painfully dissected by defense attorneys. While we abso-
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ing Committee, the body responsible for negotiating the 2018 Campus Plan. GUSA also has representatives in GCP working groups dedicated to specific issues, such as Safety and Student Life. This is not enough. The university must create an institutional framework for student input beyond GUSA. This might include monthly town hall meetings with administrators, more frequent updates on the negotiations’ progress, online surveys to poll student opinion, and binding referendums. Freshmen and returning students alike must inform themselves on the situation. To this end, the Editorial Board urges all to visit ourgeorgetown.com. The major negotiations will take place this year, and we must demand a larger presence at the table. We urge all of Georgetown to fully be invested in a better campus plan than the last. The construction we navigate around each day is a reminder of what happens when certain voices are excluded from the conversation.
lutely respect a survivor’s decision to avoid the pitfalls of the legal system, we feel that, unless a consistent pattern of justice is established in the courts of law, the rate of sexual assault on college campuses won’t slope downward. We understand that the experience of every sexual assault survivor is different. There are legitimate and well-documented reasons why survivors do not report The choice to do so ultimately rests with each individual survivor, but the calculus for making such a choice should not be informed by a belief that the authorities cannot be trusted. Among survivors, adversity, unfortunately, is expected. The burden is on the administration to change that. We don’t need a Memorandum of Understanding with GUSA or a sterile commitment to Title IX. Rather, we need some evidence that the values Georgetown advertises so readily to prospective students are the same ones informing policy decisions on how to confront the epidemic of sexual assault.
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
Hold the Pickles!
The voice speaks: a column by voice staffers In a great TED talk from 2005, Dr. Barry Schwartz, a psychologist who teaches at Swarthmore College, refers to this quandary as the “paradox of choice.” He begins his lecture by describing the many choices that exist for salads in our modern supermarkets and for stereos in our electronics stores. Schwartz observes that the development of technology has brought choice to areas where it previously did not exist. For example, smartphones, which had just begun to crop up in 2005, made it possible for everyone to work at all
GRAPHIC BY PAM SHU
M
y favorite food has always been and will
always be the sandwich. The sandwich, despite being named after a town in England, represents the cornerstone of the American dream. This is because it follows a general, instantly-recognizable formula, while still allowing for a diverse composition. At its most basic, the sandwich is two pieces of bread (hopefully a little bit toasted) with something in the middle. However, it can also be a complex gastronomical exotic cheeses. It doesn’t even have to involve bread, as is evidenced by the doughnut burgers served up during late summer state fairs. Over the past few years, I’ve tried many of these creations. Many of them are exquisite culinary delights, containing fresh ingredients and balanced textures. Some are not. Yet none have ever struck me as the perfect sandwich. I’ve eaten the Buenos Aires at Sundevich, which is stuffed with tender steak, bathed in chimichurri sauce and served on a fresh baguette. Delightful. I’ve had the Wisconsin Grilled Cheeseburger at Farmers Fishers Bakers, which boasts whole grilled cheese sandwiches in lieu of buns.
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Amazing. I’ve even tried my own hand at the craft of sandwich-making. Edible enough. But each taste, each bite, and each attempt has fallen short of some ideal that I cannot seem to shake from my palate. To this day, the perfect sandwich has eluded me. I’ve always found it ironic how despite the vast array of ingrecareer as a sandwich chef, I’ve become paralyzed by the unending abundance of choice. Outside of the world of sandwiches, this problem seemingly doesn’t exist. If a person has more choices available to suits them. This makes sense to us because we view choice as a representation of freedom; therefore, more choice must equal more freedom. And since we generally correlate increased freedom with increased happiness, more choice means more happiness. This is a line of logic based on all of our assumptions about how economics and society work. This is a line of logic that underscores the idea of progress in Western civilization. This is a line of logic that is, simply put, wrong.
This meant that people had to make the choice whether to work or to enjoy their time at home. Researchers found that the introduction of this option led to lower overall happiness – regardless of the choice the subject made. For another example of this problem, look to one of the first major events at Georgetown: the CAB Fair. During this event, students take over the entire front lawn, tabling for the many clubs that operate on campus. Students can apply to do whatever they want with their fellow Hoyas. On top of this, students can even apply for funding to start a club themselves. You have a scenario here where students are afforded abundant choice and can pursue exactly what they want. During the CAB Fair, students often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of available choices. And with so many options to choose from, it’s extremely hard for some to choose at all. This could result in students choosing too many and over-extending themselves, which might have lasting repercussions. But even if they avoid this pitfall and take on only as much as they can handle, some students might still experience lower overall satisfaction. Even though they may choose the path that was probably best, they’ve eliminated the possibility of all other paths. Because they had to do something, they lost the opportunity to do so much more. If, in all things, the choice we made does not turn out to be perfect, we immediately begin cataloging what went stant reminders that other choices exist delivered right to our phones through social media. When we see the people around us enjoying their new colleges, new clubs, and new expectations for ourselves get even higher, and it’s our fault between a rock and a hard place. The abundance of choice The average discussion about choice is fairly monolithic: more choice is always good. And it is true that lack of choice is still a problem for many, especially when looking at the totality of our world community. Yet what is often ignored, and equally true, is that too much choice has a negative, paralyzing counter-effect. Here at Georgetown, many of us are stuck wondering about the sandwiches that weren’t.
BY
Daniel Varghese
He is a junior in the SFS.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
VOICES
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Apply Now! The Benefits of the Club Application Process “
“I was attracted to the idea that the student body didn’t see Georgetown as a stepping stone but rather as a community they felt compelled to enrich.”
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n et ID, anD we’ll send you more information about the application in the next few days.” As I sheepishly made my way across Healy Lawn during CAB Fair, that was the phrase I heard over and over again. I was suffocating from the sheer heat, the amount of enthusiasm exuding from fellow Hoyas, and the ambition of students surrounding me. I felt overwhelmed as I tried to navigate through the different clubs, hearing Latin American beats in my left ear and the Saxatones in my right. At the end of the day, though, it all came down to the same thing: the application. From GUASFCU to The Hoya, each club had some sort of ‘app’ requesting the same level of basic information coupled with tried and tested essay prompts. Even the Alternative Breaks Program—where Hoyas volunteer to spend time engaging with issues plaguing underserved communities— required an application. Not only that, but each application usually came with an interview, asking the conventional questions, such as, “Why do you want to join this club?” along with more atypical ones, like, “If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why?” I was frustrated by this seemingly bizarre process. Didn’t every Hoya just go through an arduous application process to attend Georgetown in the first place? Why do I need to go through such a competitive process to serve fellow Hoyas coffee? Most importantly, why is this system of revealing your ambitions, idiosyncrasies, embarrassing stories, and rejections the status quo at Georgetown? It seems ridiculous, and yet the applications overload might just be a good thing. Over the summer, I compared stories with my friends back home who attended various colleges across the U.S. (private and public, large and small) and realized that Georgetown’s culture was very unique. Even before I applied to Georgetown, it seemed to me that every Hoya ust enter your
was involved and eager to contribute to the campus in some unique way. I was attracted to the idea that the student body didn’t see Georgetown as a stepping stone but rather as a community they felt compelled to enrich. That whole idea resonates strongly with me, and after I got over my initial disdain for the process, I began to feel proud of it. For me, while other college students got involved, they were never really invested in the club of which they were a part. In some ways, this highly competitive process forces students to reflect on the clubs they actually want to be involved in. Yes, it drives me crazy that I spent days working on applications, asking peers for advice, and constantly editing and preparing for interviews with no certainty about the outcome. Yes, that precious time could have been spent catching up on sleep, studying for a class, or even just having a nice night out with friends. But ultimately, this process fills each club with individuals who are heavily invested in that particular club’s ideals. Living in a world where you are forced to compete with not only other Hoyas, but also other students from other top-tier universities, requires grit. This constant competition forces you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes, stay focused, and move on to the next problem. The club application process on the Hilltop serves as excellent preparation. It comes as no surprise that I too have had my fair share of rejections. I’ve pulled myself out of bed at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, all suited up, to get interviewed by a couple random Hoyas for a position in their club. I’ve spent countless hours questioning single words on my application as if changing them would have made a difference. I’ve even reached out to upperclassmen in the hopes of nailing that case interview. But even after all that is said and done, there can be no certainty of acceptance during the application process. Regardless of the outcome, every
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application and interview we go through gives us experience. Yes it’s absolutely disheartening to get those rejection emails, but the process is also what makes those acceptance phone calls from the ‘hiring’ board all the more worthwhile. Moreover, it teaches us how to avoid saying, “I don’t know, it seems good” the next time we are asked, “why do you want to be a part of this club?” The process of juggling academics and social lives while committing hours of time to the perfect application cultivates time management skills needed to keep our sanity. On top of all this, the process of being so particular as to which student is accepted into which club is ultimately what makes our clubs unique, impactful, and attractive to current and prospective Hoyas alike. Essentially, this system contributes highly to the culture here at Georgetown. So this year, when the CAB Fair rolls through Healy Lawn, try to be smart about the clubs to which you apply. There are times when it’s worth it to apply to something on a whim; after all, you never know what club you’ll engage with the most. But in most instances, think about applying to the clubs that you sincerely want to join and those that will work symbiotically with you. There is no lesson to be learned from getting rejected from a club you never cared about. Lastly, remember that although a majority of clubs do have an application process, there are those that omit it completely. It really all comes down to which club(s) fit you best and how much you put into it. So Hoyas: roll up your sleeves, and head to the front lawn. Let the clubbing begin.
BY
Aniket Naravene
He is a sophomore in the MSB.
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
D
iplomacy
should
always
be the preferred alternative to war. But the truth is that there are times when diplomatic efforts fail and war is therefore both just and necessary. While I do not believe that war with Iran is imperative or even desirable at this time, I do believe that the proposed P5+1 agreement with Iran is a terrible deal that will inevitably lead to war. Any agreement that fails to take into account Iran’s history of deceit, as the current deal does, is worthless and naïve. Since 2003, when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran concealed its development of techniques used for making nuclear weapons, Iran has demonstrated a repeated unwillingness to adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that it signed in 1970. The UN Security Council was forced to pass ten resolutions condemning Iran and its illicit nuclear activities because of their refusal to comply. Not only has the Iranian regime shown that it cannot be trusted, it has also demonstrated a willingness to export its aggression and brutality. It has been implicated in terrorist operations all over the world, including in such places as Argentina in 1994 and Bulgaria in 2012, directly causing the deaths of thousands of innocent people. It also seeks to destabilize the Middle East by supporting such organizations as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Assad regime in Syria. The Syrian Civil War alone has caused the death of more than 200,000 people—so far. Any deal with Iran needs to be made with the understanding that the country’s leadership will do everything in its power to cheat on any restriction put in place. Thus, a good deal will include an effective way to monitor their behavior, and an immediate deterrent should any provisions of the agreement be broken. To that end, the American people were told by Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser, that
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there would be inspections anytime, anywhere – but that is not in the proposed deal. There will in fact be at least a 24-day gap between the time Iran is informed about inspections and when the inspections actually take place. This gives Iran plenty of time to hide any illegal activity. Additionally, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that under the terms of the agreement, Iran can deny access to any military site. Recently, it was revealed that the IAEA and Iran have a private side agreement governing how they will conduct the inspections. Our government has not seen that agreement. How can Congress (or even the President) agree to a deal when some of the details are still unknown. It took years to impose meaningful sanctions against Iran. If the U.S. should ever need to set up sanctions again, it will take just as long. As of right now, experts say that Iran’s breakout time for a bomb is two-to-three months, and they hope that the deal will increase that time to a year. It’s a race against the clock, and I doubt that an effective economic response in time will be possible. Additionally, Iran agreed to make a deal because of the sanctions against them. If they have been proven efficacious, why does this deal lift sanctions as soon as the agreement commences? Sanctions should decrease gradually as Iran shows its willingness to adhere to the deal? This proposed deal also has a sunset clause. This means that key restrictions, such as the number of centrifuges Iran can use and the percentage it can enrich fissile material to, will be lifted in as few as eight years. All Iran needs to do is sit back, collect the hundreds of billions of dollars the lifted sanctions allows them to, and then heavily invest in their nuclear program. After that, they just need a year to build a bomb as the West scrambles to sanction them. Thus, in about a decade, Iran will have no sanctions, no restrictions, and a legitimized – though ostensibly peaceful – nuclear program. Furthermore, this agreement does not even address the fact that the
VOICES
A Raw Deal Iranians are developing advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The only purpose of ICBMs is to deliver warheads to targets thousands of miles away. In other words, they are not needed to defend Iran from regional enemies, only to attack countries on other continents. Taken with the fact that their Supreme Leader recently attended a rally where he encouraged the crowd to chant “Death to America,” what does that tell us about Iran’s objectives for its nuclear program? Unfortunately, this deal will also spell the end to nonproliferation in one of the most unstable regions in the world. Other powers in the region have already threatened to acquire nuclear weapons to offset Iran. Saudi Arabia, especially, is quite capable of doing so thanks to their vast wealth and connections with Pakistan. This response almost seems reasonable considering that none of our Middle Eastern allies were involved in making this agreement, despite the fact that this deal will affect them more than it will affect the U.S. or Europe. As the Saudis, Egyptians, and Turks see Iranian influence grow, they will surely pursue their own nuclear ambitions as well – and by what logic could we dissuade them? After this country left a stable Iraq and let it slide into anarchy, helped create an opportunity for the Muslim Brotherhood take power in Egypt, and declined to enforce its red line in Syria regarding the use of chemical weapons, why would they trust the U.S.? This deal does not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons; in fact, it paves the way for them. This deal must be rejected with the aim of reaching a better one.
BY
Eytan Gittler
He is a sophomore in the NHS.
“Any agreement that fails to take into account Iran’s history of deceit, as the current deal does, is worthless and naïve.”
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
Beyond Title IX Georgetown’s changing conversation around sexual assault By: Courtnie Baek “The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students’ right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime.” April 2011 According to Georgetown’s Annual Crime Report, 41 reports of sexual misconduct in 2013-2014 and 46 in 2014-2015 came to the Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Undergraduate Students. Since September 2012, only 17 cases of sexual misconduct were fully adjudicated within the university. While two dismissals and seven suspensions were handed down, eight students were found not responsible. Title IX and its subsequent “Dear Colleague” letters make it clear that all students, regardless of sex, have the right to receive the same opportunity and access to an education at all uni-
personal experience as a survivor of sexual assault and shed light on a lack of institutional support and resources on cam-
distributed by a member of Congress to other congressional
in an email to the Voice that GUSA and top-level administrators have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). [Full disclosure: Rohan is a former Voice staff writer.] Both parties agreed upon a number of initiatives to address the promotions of the existing resources for survivors, the administrative bureaucracy in securing resources, bystander intervention, and the
National stories and statistics on campus sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct have called for more awareness. One in four college women report surviving an assault or attempted assault at some point in their lifetime, according to One in sixty percent of rapes on campuses, the survivor knows the alleged perpetrator. In November 2014, Rolling Stone’s “A Rape on Campus” reported an instance of a violent gang rape on University of Virginia’s campus. Only, the report was retracted complicating the narrative around sexual assault.
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paign on Know Your IX, a national campaign organized by survivors to end campus sexual violence. “We want to make sure that students do know all their options and that they are being implemented on campus, which they are clearly not currently,” said Dobkin, a Sexual Assault Peer Educator and board member of Take Back the Night.
new Title IX Coordinator, the development of new bystander intervention training, the redesign of GOCards to include contact information for various resources on campus, the development of a campus climate survey, and the establishment of a focus group to examine our medical leave of absence policy,” wrote Rohan.
number of reports to Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Undergraduate Students from 2013 to 2015
SUPPLYING SERVICES The ways through which students can seek help range from dents and administrators to a step-by-step procedure. Health Education Services (under which Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Services operates), Counseling and Psychiatric
Georgetown students can often be left without a clear picture of what to do if they experience or witness sexual misconduct. Recent pushes from GUSA and the administration seek to clear up the processes and procedures on campus that relate to sexual assault.
SAPE all provide services for survivors of sexual assault and allies or friends of survivors. According to Vice President for Student Affairs and sity resources are legally required to inform Dr. Jeanne Lord, Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Undergraduate Students, if a student reports an assault. This creates a “safety net” of administrators exists that can spring into action when an assault is reported. Licensed health professionals in Health Education Services
SPARKING CONVERSATION On August 10 and 24, university administrators, Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) members, and Sexual Assault Peer Educators (SAPE) met to discuss changes to the university’s implementation of sexual assault policy and
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Title IX. The meetings, sparked by the July 21 Hoya article, “I Stand With Willa, I Stand With Survivors,” sought to address student demands on how to better serve survivors of sexual assault and harassment on campus. In The Hoya’s op-ed, co-authors Willa Murphy (formerly
Title IX coordinators (or anyone else) about students who come to see associates. “We don’t call anybody, and we don’t do anything that the survivor doesn’t want us to do” said Carol Day, Director of Health Education Services. While Health Education Services provides immediate and crisis management, CAPS assists students on a longterm basis, such as providing therapy. “All of the CAPS staff are trained to work with sexual assault issues and understand that sexual assault is a traumatic and sensitive issue that requires individualized attention and care,” wrote Dr. Phil Meilman, Director of CAPS, in an email to the Voice. “Trauma specialist Dr. Erica Shirley is a point person on staff who sees students herself and who can consult with the rest of our staff on these issues as needed.”
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fully adjudicated cases of sexual assault since 2012 dismissals
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17
suspensions
students found not responsible
CAPS clinicians provide evaluation sessions, then make further recommendations on which resources the students can seek if necessary, according to Meilman. In the last year, CAPS saw 1772 students (approximately 10 percent of the total student body), for a total of 11,365 visits. For survivors of sexual assault, CAPS provides triage, evaluation services, and counseling in the form of group and individual psychotherapy. While CAPS tries to provide the necessary accommodathe aid they need. “Ongoing individual treatment after a period of evaluation, whether at CAPS or in the community, typically incurs a charge. Access to care is a priority for us, so if there student obtain the services they need (whether at CAPS or elsewhere),” Meilman wrote in an email to the Voice. CHANGING CONTEXT Title IX was implemented nationally as a part of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 to ensure that students are free from sex-based discrimination. According to Title IX
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
Coordinator Rosemary Kilkenny, the regulations initially focused on ending discrimination in athletic programs and allowing equal access to funding, facilities, and coaching. The implementation of the law, though, has changed greatly. “The legal context is evolving pretty rapidly here” said Olson. “So some of our work that was right in line with best practices nationally and legally a couple years ago is now changing.” According to University Counsel Adam Adler, a university’s responsibilities include responding to reported incidents of sexual misconduct, preventing their recurrence, and addressing their effects under Title IX. Nonetheless, the extent of resources past compliance varies across universities. For example, according to a July 9 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 10 percent of 400 surveyed Title IX coordinators have no other major responsibilities at their respective institutions. Given the MOU that GUSA and administrators reached this month, Georgetown could join a small percentage of schools that have a full-time Title IX coordinator. While not requiring a full-time coordinator, the U.S. Delegal requirements further under Title IX in its 2011 “Dear Colleague” Letter on Sexual Violence, including better explaining the role of Title IX coordinators and a university’s grievance procedures. Furthermore, the federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act that went into effect this summer provides new guidelines for colleges on how to train students on sexual abuse. Now, training must include bystander intervention procedures state depending on the location of the college. For example, sent to sexual advances as requiring an explicit “yes,” rather than “no means no.” for Civil Rights “Dear Colleague” letter that they expect universities to respond to sexual violence and sexual harassment that’s occurring on their campus,” said Adler. “But also the law is very clear now that the universities are required to respond in a certain way with very fair grievance procedures that give rights to both parties during the investigations.” While Georgetown provides many services that comply with Title IX, administrators struggle with how actively they can engage in the survivor’s healing process. Pushing too hard could trigger post traumatic stress, but not taking enough action could “I want to emphasize that we really want to take our cue from that student, respecting their privacy, because ultimately, we would like to think that the student is going to act in his or her best interest,” said Kilkenny. Day noted, though, that complex systems of resources may confuse survivors, given that they have experienced a trauma. “I
think what’s missing is that really good map or diagram or way of translating all of [the resources] for students who are coming from a place where they’re already traumatized,” Day said. “What we know about trauma, and the trauma-impacted brain, is that people are not good at the usual things, under that kind of emotional experience, so they can’t even interpret in their usual, really very sophisticated intelligent way, what they need to do, and where to go for what [resources].” Olivia Hinerfeld, a Sexual Assault Peer Educator, echoed Day’s sentiment and said that, while Georgetown provides a wide array of great resources for survivors, having to navithrough a trauma can be burdensome. Part of the many resources available to survivors includes receiving academic accommodations and support from their academic deans. While a dean can work extensively with a student to ensure that their needs are met, they may be limited by how much information a survivor chooses to share with them.
conversations around sexual assault at Georgetown to create a survivor-centric campus. “Think About It,” an online training program in its third year at Georgetown, also requires new students to discuss healthy relationships and alcohol consumption. Lastly, the “What’s A Hoya” programs, which are held throughout the school year, aim to empower students to become informed community members and active bystanders. REVISING PROCESSES According to Rohan, the MOU between top-level university administrators and GUSA instructs the administration and GUSA to take the following steps, all of which are in the process of being implemented or otherwise explored: Expedite the hiring process for a full-time Title IX coordinator Expedite the campus climate survey and conduct student outreach surrounding the survey Redesign GOCards to include a list of resources Post informational stickers that list resources on the back of all bathroom stall doors Establish a focus group to review medical leave of absence policy implementation Improve the accessibility and user interface of the sexual assault resources website Implement a comprehensive ongoing educational program centered on bystander intervention that reaches all students as a follow up to “I Am Ready” vors navigate resources sources
“I think what’s missing is that really good map or diagram or way of translating all of [the resources] for students”
MOVING FORWARD Some may praise the university for complying with the oncan with the student and try to make it as comfortable as possible for them and provide accommodations that would allow the student to continue with their coursework if at all possible.” Senior Associate Dean Thomas Chiarolanzio said, “Sometimes after the fact, that’s sometimes a harder thing, because it goes academically when we didn’t know about it.” Recent changes, however, in the university policies and new programs have increased educational opportunities for the student body around the issue of sexual misconduct. Freshmen attended the “I Am Ready” New Student Orientation Program in fall 2014, as a mandatory program for all
part of the sexual assault response process to ease the existing burden placed on survivors. “The university should be crystal clear on where survivors can go to receive housing, academic, medical accommodations and they should not have to continuously repeat their story to town would identify one staff member to work one-on-one with survivors to coordinate all of these services,” said Rohan. “I’m really excited to see so many different people engaging meaningful way,” said Hinerfeld. “I hope that people continue to stay involved and don’t focus on the internal politics but focus on what they can do to really create a more survivor-centric campus and to work together as a community.”
Resources for Students On-campus Jen Luettel Schweer, MA, LPC
Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Services Coordinator Health Education Services 207 Village C West (202)687.0323 jls242@georgetown.edu
Erica Shirley, PhD
Trauma Specialist at Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) Eastern side of Darnall Hall (202) 687.6985. els54@georgetown.edu
Off-campus Jeanne Lord Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Undergraduate Students Leavey Center 530, 37th and O Streets, NW Washington, D.C. 20057 (202) 687-8302 titleixundergrad@georgetown.edu
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DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) Local 24 Hour Rape Crisis Services (202) 333.7273
Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN)
National 24 Hour Rape Crisis Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
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unexpected turns
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September 2, 2015
Georgetown students talk about changing paths By: Graham Piro
Illustrations by: Dylan Cutler
Georgetown students from around the world are returning to the Hilltop this week, all with one thing on their mind: the future. As a new school year commences, it opens up new possibilities. Georgetown students have seemingly unlimited options in classes, clubs, and careers, and no two students’ paths look exactly the same. The Voice sat down with four students, each at different points in their Georgetown careers. They all had unique perspectives and experiences to offer, but the sentiment that each expressed was the same: their paths through Georgetown were impossible to predict.
Ann Yang & Phil Wong
Phil Wong (SFS ’15) arrived at Georgetown considering pursuing a tech-related career. He even considered transferring to a more technical institute. Ann Yang (SFS ’16), on the other hand, transferred from a small liberal arts college to Georgetown. She had been on track to go into academia or political theory. They are now the co-founders of the start-up Misfit Juicery, which takes produce designated for waste and uses it to make juice. The company has 21 locations around Washington D.C., including some on Georgetown’s campus.
Voice: Can you describe your impressions of your first year at Georgetown? Yang: My impression was that the pre-professionalism was a little bit of a monolith, certainly relative to my experiences at a liberal arts school. Both in the classroom and outside of the classroom, what really shocked me was that there was such an emphasis on extracurriculars at Georgetown, and academics were almost a base-point...When you come to Georgetown, it’s very hard to be aware of any other types of careers because your exposure is mainly to [consulting and investment banking] because of the largesse of their recruitment budgets. I tried to come to terms with the idea that everyone was doing that, and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to do that. I was fighting for exposure to other types of things. Wong: My takeaways from freshman year were that over-involvement was very real, and I was a part of it. I had a bunch of extracurriculars and I was exhausted by the end of freshman year. To be honest, going into sophomore year was much of the same. It wasn’t until I stopped rowing that I actually had some room to breathe. What was really formative for me was going abroad the summer after my sophomore year through GU Impacts. I went to Rwanda and then I studied abroad in Senegal. That six month period really got me outside of my Georgetown norms and the trappings of my habits and normal thought processes.
Voice: When did you guys come up with the idea for Misfit? Wong: It was definitely a slow-burning and nonlinear process to get to where we are...Ann and I were really interested in food for a while. I think that my interest was in the waste side, so I was very interested, for example, in the ways that people would use human waste to generate energy, like methane in landfills. Going to Senegal was monumental for me because food waste is not as much of an issue there because the consumption levels aren’t as high. That set in motion this crazy train that is Misfit. Yang: I’ve always had an interest in local food economies, but at the time I was really interested in urban issues and how they were involved in gender, class, and race, which is something that you really focus on in Culture and Politics.
Voice: Do you have any advice for incoming freshmen? Yang: I think that when you’re in college, you’re kind of in this hyper-intense environment where you’re always near your best friends and everyone’s aware of what’s going on on campus and who’s doing what and who’s in what club, so I think that there’s a fear about doing something that’s not fully iterated into its full idea, and I think that prevents a lot of people from doing things…In reality, a lot of what you can’t figure can’t really happen until you’re in the beginning phases. I had a really rough transition to Georgetown, and I think that a lot of people come here and they really love it, but it takes a lot of people a couple of years to come here and really find their foothold, and I think that the first year of college makes you feel like the only person who doesn’t feel awesome about it. There’s an adjustment period where no one wants to be the person who isn’t loving their college experience so there’s a tendency to hide the growing pains…I love Georgetown, but I had a hard time getting to that point. Wong: A lot of people come to college without a clear cut passion and they settle for something that they could learn to love, but in honesty, they really don’t. Immersing yourself in that uncertainty of the situation is really valuable in college. Exploration is truly that: You don’t have to have an end goal in mind. It’s a privilege to be a university student, so take advantage of that to the best of your ability. There are communities of anything at Georgetown. They may be smaller than other schools, but there are people of all kinds at Georgetown, and that’s a really cool thing. I really think that the ethos of social justice is something that has really struck me as unique, and it makes me really happy that I didn’t transfer anywhere because of that.
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
Joe Luther a member of Georgetown’s Improv Team and the editor-in-chief of The Georgetown Heckler. After running what started as a satirical campaign, Luther was elected as the president of Georgetown University Student Association.
Voice Luther: I didn’t have a lot of concrete plans coming into Georgetown. I was undeclared in the college with a vague desire to be a psych major … I had no idea about what kind of opportunities there were for comedy at Georgetown. I vaguely dabbled in comedy in my high school newspaper and didn’t know Georgetown had an improv team before coming here. I found them at the SAC fair and some people encouraged me to try out so I just went for it. The auditions themselves are some of my favorite memories from freshman year and it was a great experience from the beginning. I found out about the Heckler it when I had some time during winter break sophomore year and I loved it and never looked back. Around the second semester of sophomore year, comedy started to be my main thing at Georgetown and I saw that there was a huge potential for the Heckler.
Voice Luther: I was only motivated to run as a kind of physical embodiment of the Heckler. The Heckler really picked up in the spring of 2014 when we made a push to lampoon the GUSA elections and being in the race could take that satire to the next level. The Heckler’s popularity during the fall of 2014 blew me away and I thought that people would be receptive to a similar style in campaigning. We discussed some other options for satirizing this election season within the Heckler staff but ultimately decided that a satirical campaign would be the way to go. Voice www.bureaucracy.com and I say an average of ten meaningless buzzwords per hour.
Voice
Eleanor Fanto Eleanor Fanto (COL ’17) applied to Georgetown as a Spanish major. She had always been passionate about languages, but wanted to take biology classes even though the sciences intimidated her. She switched her major from Spanish to Biology, and then later to Psychology.
Voice Fanto: I applied as a Spanish major. I wanted to pursue foreign language because I was very passionate about that in high school. I was not a science person at all in high school, I was actually kind of scared of it I took AP Bio my senior year and I really loved it, and I really loved biology. I came into Georgetown thinking I was going to stick with Spanish but then try to do some biology. Voice Spanish to Bio in October of my freshman year.
Voice Fanto: It was the combination of being in a new environment, because in high school I was not a science person, I completely pegged myself as not that kind of person and I was in a new place Voice Fanto: I changed my major a third time. Bio was very challenging. I loved it, and I had a great time my freshman year, but the other students in those classes were science students in high school so they’d been taking those types of classes in the subject, so being the new kid was very challenging for me. My sophomore year, I had already been interested in the brain, so I made the transition to Psychology because it made sense for me intellectually. I went from Spanish to Bio to Psych. Voice Fanto: Absolutely not. Voice at Georgetown.
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
LAYING THE
foundation Georgetown football seeks to build a winning culture Joshua Raftis
the georgetown football team has been hard at work throughout the month of august preparing for their upcoming season.
BY: JOE POLLICINO
Joshua Raftis
Georgetown head coach rob sgarlata has gotten the players to buy into his vision for the program.
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
“T
his place should have a good football program ,”
says Georgetown Head Coach Rob Sgarlata in his office while preparing for his team’s Tuesday morning practice. “We’re excellent at everything that we do. This whole place is built on being the best you can be at what you’re doing. There’s no reason why this football program shouldn’t be the same thing.” To say that the Georgetown football team has struggled for much of the past decade would be an understatement. Since joining the Patriot League in 2001, the Hoyas have had only one winning season and play their home games in the smallest stadium in all of Division I football: Multi-Sport Field, an unfinished stadium that has seen numerous setbacks in funding and university prioritization since the Hoyas started playing there in 2005. And it’s only gotten more difficult for the program. In 2012, the Patriot League allowed its football members to start offering athletic scholarships beginning with the freshman class entering in fall 2013. Georgetown was the only school that chose not to offer scholarships, instead opting to continue utilizing the need-based financial aid model used by Ivy League programs. No one is as familiar with these challenges that the program faces as Sgarlata. He graduated from Georgetown in 1994 as one of the football program’s all-time leading rushers and spent 18 years as an assistant coach on the Hilltop before assuming the head coaching role in February 2014. “I knew the score when I took this job,” Sgarlata says as he leans down to put on his running sneakers before practice. “I don’t waste my time thinking about scholarships. The Patriot League is where we should be.” He then grabs an investment banking-style pitchbook detailed with charts, statistics, and maps on how the Hoyas recruit, emphasizing what he’s dubbed as his staff ’s “hit’em where they ain’t” strategy. “Can we beat a lot of the scholarships in the Northeast at times for those who would pay $60,000 to go here versus nothing to go to Lehigh, Colgate, and Lafayette? No,” Sgarlata says. “That’s why we’re in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Washington, and Louisiana. I need to get 16 to 20 kids next year. If I can’t do that with nine coaches recruiting nationally with Georgetown’s brand and find kids of the same caliber that everybody else is getting in the Northeast, then we have a problem.” That’s why he sees his coaching staff as especially key. In his first year, all of Sgarlata’s personnel consisted of people he had either played or coached with before. He wanted people who knew how to recruit at Georgetown, who knew the type of athlete they were looking for. “We want tough kids who play two sports. We want weight-room guys. Geo rg eto We want kids that, no matter their background, understand what it is to really wn spo work at it.” rt s in But before heading out to practice, Sgarlata emphasizes that he and his staff have fo one goal each day. “Our number one goal is to make sure our players are taken care of,” Sgarlata said. “The players are recruited here and are coming here for a vision and for things that we’re telling them are going to happen. Our job is to make sure those things happen to the best of our ability.” The vision for the program is on full display behind Sgarlata as he speaks, where a crest is adorned with the three tenets of the program: “four for 40,” “men for others” and “Sisu.” “Four for 40” reflects that a commitment to Georgetown is not just a four year commitment to football, but a forty year relationship that builds personal, professional, and career leadership throughout one’s life. “Men for others,” represented by a sun on the crest, symbolizes the team’s commitment to living up to the Jesuit values of service to the wider community. Lastly, “Sisu,” a Finnish word that does not directly translate to English, expresses the will to fight and prevail even against the most insurmountable of odds. It stems from former Georgetown defensive end Janne Kouri (B’97), whom Sgarlata has a close relationship with, and his efforts to battle back from paralysis and how he is a living embodiment of that ideal. For Sgarlata, who enters his second year at the helm of the Hoya football team, these distinct ideals display the type of program he wants to build and the type of people that he believes his players should aspire to become, no matter their obstacles. That commitment to putting the players first starts right at the top with Sgarlata, as the door to his office inside McDonough Arena has a sign that reads “This meeting may be interrupted at any time by a Hoya Football Player.” It’s one of the many actions that Sgarlata and his staff have taken to build a culture where players see their coaches and fellow teammates as not just a team, but a family. “Coach Sgarlata is a player’s guy,” senior running back Jo’el Kimpela says. “He’s really invested in our lives outside of football. We’ve gotten close to the other coaching staff. That player and coach interaction, I think that’s something that’s changing and is going to continue.” It’s a drastic shift from the regimented style of previous Head Coach Kevin Kelly, especially for senior defensive back Ettian Scott.
“I don’t even know if he knew my last name. That’s a big difference,” Scott says. As a result of this renewed focus on the individual players, Sgarlata, more affectionately known as “Coach Sgar” to his players, has created an all hands on deck, bottom-up approach that has many players feeling their voices are heard. “I feel the vision. I’m part of the vision. We’re striving for a goal not just on the field, but off the field,” said senior defensive lineman Dez Richardson. “The coaches are more active. The coaches are all on board. The players are all on board. Coach Sgar really came to instill some values in this football program.” Those core values of “Four for 40,” “men for others,” and “Sisu” have certainly paid dividends, according to Kimpela. “We all come from different places, different races, and different economic backgrounds. But when we come together and put those pads on, I feel like we’re just one team. There’s not one individual. It’s a family.” Sgarlata does not want to create a family atmosphere solely among the team; he wants to extend it to the wider Georgetown community. Several initiatives undertaken include “4 for 40” Fridays, where alumni return to offer career advice on the Friday before each home game, and the Faculty Fellows Game, where players recommend two to three faculty or staff members to be invited to a home game. “One of the most exciting things about this place is that there’s not one person on campus who I’ve asked for help that hasn’t helped us,” Sgarlata said. “The support we get is unbelievable. I haven’t been refused yet. That’s not because of me, it’s because of our kids. If they didn’t do a good job, they wouldn’t offer help.” The focus by Sgarlata and his coaching staff on having the Hoyas be successful in the classroom has certainly paid off. Last season, 45 Hoyas were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, which requires a player to earn a 3.2 grade point average or higher during the semester of their respective sport. The number set not only a program record, but a league record as well. And while success off the field has certainly come to fruition, the team feels it has been making strides on the field as well, where the Hoyas will look to defy their last place pegging in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. “We’ve been putting in the work and we will continue to put in the work,” said Richardson. “When next Saturday comes, all we have to do is show everyone that us being picked to finish 7th in the Patriot League is just crap.” The intensity level of practice did not fit one of a last place team. Players and coaches alike demand accountability and attention to detail from each other. Sgarlata himself paces from drill to drill, hopping in to demonstrate the proper technique of running a fade route to the receivers and showing defensive players where to position themselves against a specific offensive formation. It’s the little things that count. But that’s not exclusive to on-field preparation for Sgarlata, his staff, and his players. A postlunch meeting with Special Teams Coordinator Kevin Doherty runs through a chart of at least 40 unique in-game situations and how the Hoyas will approach them such as a fake field goal attempt. A film session among the team’s offensive staff ends with a discussion on how to rename a play call because it currently sounds too similar to the name of another set. And the offensive team’s film session, spoken in jargon that even the most devoted of football fans would only partially understand, sees players quizzed by Offensive Coordinator Michael Neuberger on the notes that they’re jotting down. Yet, Sgarlata and his staff aren’t afraid to ask for help. In fact, they welcome it, as Sgarlata has brought in numerous speakers over the past two seasons to address his team. Notable names include former NFL Commissioner and Vice Chair of the University’s Board of Directors Paul Tagliabue, and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater. “It’s kind of like how you hear your dad say something 50 times and then you hear your uncle say it once,” Sgarlata said. “They’re preaching the same things as our coaching staff but it just gives our players another perspective.” After almost three weeks of their rigorous training camp schedule, which has the team hard at work from seven in the morning to nine at night, the Hoyas are confident heading into their season opener against St. Francis (PA) on September 5. Making the short walk with the team from McDonough to Reynolds for a team meeting after dinner, one can hear players talking about how they’re going to surprise all their naysayers this season. But while seniors such as Richardson know that they may not see immediate results on the field, they believe they’re building the foundation of a culture that will lift the program out of mediocrity and to new heights. “We’re in the process of becoming something great. I may not see it. We may not see it. But we’ll get there.”
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
LEISURE
14
best of
Summer album releases, a team of leisure writers and editors have pooled together a list of personal favorites from Summer 2015. See more blurbs online at georgetownvoice.com/leisure.
Sequels that appear decades after the release of original titles are often really, really bad–see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (actually, don’t see it). Mad Max: Fury Road may be the exception to this rule; Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman isn’t. You just know that it’s bad when a Georgetown English professor publicly calls the work “kind of a mess,” and makes no apologies to her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. I don’t doubt that Go Set a Watchman has value–since it is, heard enough to know this allegedly long-lost manuscript doesn’t hold a candle to the book we all treasured in our middle school English classes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to “ruin” my relationship with Atticus Finch, who–spoiler alert–evovles into a raving racist; I’m personally not reading Go Set a Watchman because it smells like a money-making endeavor as oppose to than a literary one. Nothing in this world may be sacred, but don’t expect me to play a part in the corporatized desecration of an American classic.
books
(Don’t) Go Set a Watchman
The Cartel Six hundred pages have never felt so short. Don Winslow’s The Cartel grabs narco-politics. Former DEA agent Art “Killer” Keller is forced out of retirement when a hefty bounty is placed on his head by former friend and defacto drug king Adán Barrera. What follows is a pulse-pounding race for money, control, and power that tears the country apart. Far from a simple thriller, the strength of Winslow’s novel comes not only from its honest depictions of violence, but also from his portrayal of the effects of violence on the country. México is a land of artistry, natural beauty, and strength - but one that’s sick, diseased by American addiction. It’s this intimate depiction that makes connecting with the novel’s (rather large) cast of characters so simple. No one wants the violence to continue, but it spreads like a cancer, unobstructed. It’s - Chris Castano
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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE
The Gift
Almost four years after their monumental debut with My Head is an Animal Beneath the Skin, in June. Fans of the indie-pop/folk fusion group will rejoice: the Icelandic band has maintained its original sound and themes throughout most of Beneath the Skin. Listeners will rediscover brooding, metaphorical ballads in tracks such as “Wolves Without Teeth” and “Drowning,” but will also bounce along to anthems such as “Empire” and “Crystals.” Yet Beneath the Skin is clearly a more mature work, evident in the added sophistication and personal intimacy within OMAM’s sophomore album. While the group heavily relied on harmonies and blending elements in My Head is an Animal, Beneath the Skin gives each vocalist the opportunity to present his or her respective timbres and styles. On “Organs,” for example, lead vocalist and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir uses no whimsical allusions to describe inner heartbreak and regret. Her voice stands alone but resolute against the soft string accompaniment, creating an eerily
It’s been a rough couple of years for Pixar. After movies such as Monsters University and Brave failed to impress an audience with extremely high expectations, Pixar’s latest effort, Inside Out, had to be very good. Luckily, it’s great.
The Gift
intimacy of Beneath the Skin. For both prior OMAM fans and curious listeners, Beneath the Skin is certainly not an album to miss.
Paired with a team of psychologists, director Pete Up, returns to create the incredibly moving story of move to San Francisco. Her actions are strongly controlled by her emotions, which are representerwise known as Riley’s brain. The concept is a
-
of the most psychologically thrilling and brilliantly indo, a seemingly crazed psychopath who is determined to ruin the lives of a married couple played by Jason the audience’s expectations out the window. The three lead actors are all fantastic, but Edgerton’s unhinged psycho is undoubtedly the show-stopper. The Gift takes the clichés of the slasher genre and turns them on their head, resulting in a chilling and unnerving experience that’s sure to keep even the most seasoned horror veterans on the edge of their seat.
star-studded cast and total commitment to seeing this far-out concept though, Inside Out is a brilhelp teach children how to explain and express their emotions. Bravo.
- Graham Piro
Mr. Holmes
Wilder Mind
In what is certainly an unusual take on the famed detective, Ian McKellen portrays an aged Sherlock
After bursting onto the worldwide music scene with Sigh No More ing themselves with the 2013 Grammy Album of the Year Babel, Mumford and Sons returned from a shorter-than-expected hiatus with the vastly different Wilder Mind. Putting aside their traditional acoustic folksiness for a more produced sound, the band alienated and confused some loyal followers and critics, but nevertheless produced an album both commercially and artistically successful. The band was scorned for their more pop-leaning work, but songs like “Believe,” “Tompkins Square Park,” and “Broad-Shouldered Beasts” maintain the band’s customary soulfulness, even as electric echoes replace the beaten banjos of albums past. Lead singer Marcus Mumford and his gravelly voice helped the album soar to the tops of charts across the world, but don’t let the commercial success fool you. The Londoners’ work is still as emotionally distraught as ever, making for a complete and effective album.
cus on Holmes’ character as opposed to the mysteries
Summertime ’06 lands like a brick thrown through a window: quick, rising star of West coast rap Vince Staples describes his adolescent years as a gang member in Long Beach, California. While the concept might sound suspiciously similar to that of Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, it’s quite clear after one listen that Staples’s creation is much different. Unlike Lamar’s album, ’06 is dark. Many of the verses are rapped over grinding instrumentations that are meant to jar and unsettle the listener. This, coupled with Staples’s matter-of-fact style of rapping that refuses to glorify, explain, or justify anything that he sees, hears or feels, increases the tension. The result is an album that forces you to pay attention to exactly what you might want to ignore.
movie a surprisingly poignant, emotional core. McKellen is outstanding as the eponymous detective, embodying Holmes’s regret of the mistakes in his career not very long and has a story with very low stakes, but the supporting cast is sublime and creates a simplistic, yet beautiful narrative that tells of another side to the seemingly immortal detective. - Graham Piro
IMDB
Movies
Summertime ’06
LEISURE
Inside Out
albums
Beneath the Skin
IMDB
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max stood out as one of the best action movies not only of the summer, but also in recent memory. Returning to helm Mad Max stunning action sequences with a memorable post-apocalyptic narrative. Though the talented Tom Hardy starred as Max, it was Charlize Theron who captivated viewers as the intimidating and intense Imperator Furiosa, earning rave reviews claiming Furiosa to be the strongest female action character of the year. While Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World, Mad Max achieved a rare but rewarding combination of critical and commercial success, grossing over $350 million worldwide.
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Hey, you. Join the Voice.
Open House Friday 9/4 4 P.M. Leavey 424