The Georgetown Voice, 08/30/19 by The Georgetown Voice

August 30, 2019

8 | D.C. COUNCILMEMBER JACK EVANS FACES INVESTIGATIONS, PROMPTING CHALLENGERS 10 | CLAIRVOYANCE OR CLARITY? REPORTER RECOUNTS VISIT TO A LOCAL PSYCHIC 12 | SHOOTING FOR THE STARS: GEORGETOWN SOCCER PREVIEW

Contents 4

August 30, 2019 Volume 52 | Issue 1

Celebrating 50 Years

editorials

Dear Incoming Students

Editor-In-Chief Sienna Brancato Managing Editor Noah Telerski news

D.C. Must Renew Disability Assistance Contract

Executive Editor Features Editor News Editor Assistant News Editors

carrying on

Diversity and Inclusion? I’ll believe it when I see it.

sports

Shooting for the Stars

JOHN PICKER & AARON WOLF

AMANDA CHU

voices

Eight Years, No Cheat Days JULIA PINNEY

cover story

leisure

Clairvoyance or Clarity?

Voice Staffers’ Favorite Summer Reads

KATHERINE RANDOLPH

A Little Bit In Love With Love Island

D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans Faces Investigations, Prompting Challengers ANNEMARIE CUCCIA

Lizz Pankova Leina Hsu Natalie Chaudhuri Inès De Miranda Sienna Brancato, Delaney Corcoran, Annemarie Cuccia, Julia Pinney, Noah Telerski, Jack Townsend

leisure Executive Editor Brynn Furey Leisure Editor Ryan Mazalatis Assistant Editors Anna Pogrebivsky, Juliana Vaccaro De Souza Halftime Editor Skyler Coffey Assistant Halftime Editors Teddy Carey, Samantha Tritt, John Woolley

sports Executive Editor Sports Editor Assistant Editor Halftime Editor Assistant Halftime Editors

Aaron Wolf Will Shanahan Tristan Lee Nathan Chen Ethan Cantrell

design Jacob Bilich Delaney Corcoran, Olivia Stevens Egan Barnitt Timmy Adami, Josh Klein, Cade Shore Staff Designers Marie Luca, Ally West, Amy Zhou

↑

SIENNA BRANCATO

feature

opinion Executive Editor Voices Editor Assistant Voices Editor Editorial Board Chair Editorial Board

Executive Editor Spread Editors Cover Editor Assistant Design Editors

voices

Jack Townsend Katherine Randolph Rachel Cohen Annemarie Cuccia, Caroline Hamilton, Roman Peregrino

copy

“Some things exist whether you believe in them or you don’t, period,” Lane said. “Your personal belief system is not what’s driving the universe.”

Copy Chief Neha Wasil Assistant Copy Editors Maya Knepp, Sophie Stewart Editors Mya Allen, Julian Daza, Max Fredell, Stephanie Leow, Moira Phan, Madison Scully, Cindy Strizak, Maya Tenzer, Kristin Turner, Rachel Weinman

multimedia

“What Is In Your Future?” EGAN BARNITT

Executive Editor Podcast Editor Assistant Podcast Editor Photo Editor

Kayla Hewitt Panna Gattyan Peter Guthrie John Picker

online Executive Editor Jake Glass Website Editor Cam Smith Social Media Editor Karissa Teer

business General Manager Maggie Grubert Assistant Manager of Leah Fawzi Accounts & Sales Assistant Manager of Alice Gao Alumni Outreach

PG. 10

support 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. All materials copyright The Georgetown Voice, unless otherwise indicated.

photo by jack townsend

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

editor@georgetownvoice.com Leavey 424 Box 571066 Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057

Associate Editors Emily Jaster, Hannah Song Contributing Editors Dajour Evans, Damian Garcia, Julia Pinney Staff Writers Kent Adams, Luis Borrero, Haley D’Alessio, Bradley Galvin, Darren Jian, Dominic Parente

Page 3

An eclectic collection of jokes, puns, doodles, playlists, and news clips from the collective mind of the Voice staff.

→ LIV'S ANIMAL DOODLE

→ TIM AND LIV'S QUIZ

Teacher's Pet

When Will You Hook Up With Your OA?

2. Where did you go for Destination D.C.? a. Shopping on M Street b. Their Vil B c. I didn’t even show up d. A romantic walk along the waterfront

4. What school is your OA in? a. SFS b. NHS c. MSB d. College 5. Who was your OA’s favorite? a. Obviously me b. I don’t know c. Some girl named Jessica d. They don’t play like that #goodparenting

→ OVERHEARD AT GEORGETOWN

→ SPORTS

Football Preview After a rocky stretch under Head Coach Rob Sgarlata, Hoya football experienced a breakthrough last season, tying for second place in Patriot League play. Now that the Hoyas have put their opponents on notice, can they continue their ascent? Find out in the Voice’s football preview at georgetownvoice.com.

This summer I went on my first date during the Trump administration.

→ AFTERNOON TEA REPORTS

Freshmen–say hi to the people in line with you at Leo’s. You might find your best friend– it worked for us … and that’s the tea. Mostly a’s: You and your OA already hooked up. Naughty; Mostly b’s: You’ll prob hook up at Vil A this weekend. Not your best. Also not your worst; Mostly c’s: You’ll hook up in a Lau basement bathroom during finals. You’re desperate; Mostly d’s: You’ll hook up with your OA at your five year reunion and eventually get married. Congrats!

afternoon tea by egan barnitt; football by georgetown athletic communications; worm by olivia stevens

1. How hot was your OA? a. Um, yes b. Cute enough c. Meh d. Have my children

3. Do you follow your OA on social media? a. Followed them on insta before school even started b. Swiped right on Tinder c. Swiped left on Tinder d. We text

→ PLAYLIST

Halftime Back to School Tunes 1. Hot Girl Summer Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, and Ty Dolla $ign 2. Summer Bummer Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky 3. Dog Days Are Over Florence + The Machine 4. Campus Vampire Weekend 5. I Forgot That You Existed Taylor Swift 6. The Take Over, the Breaks Over Fall Out Boy 7. September Earth, Wind, and Fire 8. Ready To Go Panic! At the Disco

August 30, 2019

photo courtesy of imdb

Now that NSO is officially over and classes have started, it’s time to find out what we know you’ve all been wondering: When will you hook up with your ~fine af~ OA? Answer these questions provided by romance experts Tim & Liv to find out!

EDITORIALS

Dear Incoming Students,

very year, we at the Voice write a letter to incoming first-years, welcoming you to campus. The hospitable sentiment generally seems simple enough. But this year, we felt that our current political climate necessitates an explanation of what the word “welcome” really means. We are excited that you are here and, no matter who you are, you are one of us. This summer, American citizens were urged to “go back to where they came from” for having dissenting opinions. Some people, including the president, took to Twitter to characterize criticisms of this country’s flaws as disrespectful, unpatriotic, and warranting expulsion. This sentiment, which dates back to McCarthy-era attempts to blackball American communists, targets vulnerable populations and impedes progress. We must stand up against it in our own community. We want you to enjoy your time at Georgetown, but we don’t believe in “love it or leave it.” In fact, many Hoyas have proven that if you really love a campus—or a country—you will acknowledge its deepest flaws and stay and fight to create a better future for those who are most impacted by them. As Georgetown students, we are located at the epicenter of the American political world, which could be part of the reason many of you decided to come here. Our university, with its prestigious government department and School of Foreign Service, as well as its political celebrity professors and guest speakers, offers us much to kindle our understanding and awareness of modern politics. But it’s our responsibility, as students and as citizens, to think critically about what we learn here, to form our own ideas, and then to voice them however we can. It may be tempting to take what you learn in International Relations class or what Bill Clinton says at an event as truth, but it is important to question the perspectives they impart, no matter how established they may be. There are many platforms, from campus journalism, to the Lecture Fund, to activist organizations, that allow students to drive the conversation, and we urge you to join them. Here at the Voice, our staff has written in support of the anti-war movement post 9/11, D.C. statehood, and abolishing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy at our law school. It is empowering and liberating to contribute to the marketplace of ideas rather than to only consume them. Don’t limit yourself to the front row seats, whether they be in Gaston Hall or the ICC auditorium, when you are so uniquely positioned to get up on stage and make a concrete difference. So act! Dissent is patriotic, and we all have the right and the responsibility to participate. Go to a protest—there is no shortage of them here. Hoyas have marched in solidarity with indigenous people, to urge Congress to declare a climate emergency, and to protest gun violence. Or, join a local activist organization such as the D.C. Statehood Commission, Capital Area Immigrant Rights Association, or Washington Parks and People, and fight for improvements in the city that will be your home for at least the next four years. When there is no existing community effort through which you can quench your thirst for political change, don’t be afraid to act on your own terms. Last year, a Georgetown student visited the offices of senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski every day to argue against confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, urging 4

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

them to consider his impact on women’s reproductive rights. This type of activism allows you to test your own potential and look for the best way to make change happen. In the past, we’ve written welcome letters about getting out of the “Georgetown bubble,” and engaging with the national political scene is a good way to do that. But sometimes, the most pressing issues could be at the campus level. While your criticism and actions off campus may not be reflected right away in policy, your impact on the Georgetown community has the potential to be more immediate. You can make a difference here. We’ve witnessed it with our own eyes. In 2012, students founded GU Fossil Free to push Georgetown to sell off its investments in companies associated with fossil fuels, and in 2017, after many sit-ins, protests, and letters, the administration divested from thermal coal and created the Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility. Georgetown’s GREEN club has made efforts to increase transparency around the university’s recycling practices, and has started a community garden and a composting service program. H*yas For Choice has been advocating for reproductive health since 1991, and they are integral to the sex education and contraception options available on campus. Oftentimes, global change and community activism are tied to each other, and this is especially true at Georgetown. In 2016, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, a campus group dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights, made headlines with a 35-hour sit-in outside University President DeGioia’s office protesting working conditions in Nike’s Vietnam factories, where some Georgetown apparel is made. Their activism paid off, as the administration eventually agreed not to renew the university’s licensing contract with Nike unless the company allowed a thirdparty labor rights watchdog organization access to the factory. These efforts and their results prove that our campus is not just a place for learning—it is a platform for political action. We urge you to find what you think is worth fighting for and to dedicate a little part of your life here at Georgetown to realizing the change you think is necessary. We know you can. G

Much Love, The Voice

D.C. Must Renew Disability Assistance Contract

he Department of Disability Services (DDS) announced on May 31 that it would terminate its contract with Georgetown University at the end of August. Georgetown runs the District of Columbia DDA Health Initiative for DDS—a program that provides medical specialists to D.C. residents with disabilities. Terminating this contract directly contradicts DDS’s stated mission to “provide innovative, high-quality services that enable people with disabilities to lead meaningful and productive lives.” DDS has not offered a sufficient public explanation for why it would defund a program that helps D.C. residents with disabilities, a change that will severely

and negatively impact this community. This editorial board believes that DDS must renew its contract with Georgetown. The program was a result of a 1976 federal class-action lawsuit that found that D.C. had violated the constitutional rights of disabled people by not taking measures to ensure that people with disabilities had the care they needed. The suit spanned the terms of eight mayors and came to a close when D.C. met all 70 conditions set by the court in January 2017. This marked the end of 40 years of court battles and judicial supervision over the care of people with disabilities in the District. That it took that long for disabled citizens of the District to get relief in the first place is shameful, and ending this program is an undeniable step back. Georgetown’s Health Initiative, which accounts for $1.3 million of DDS’s $168 million 2018 budget, pays for a physician, two nurses, two psychologists, two home visitors, a health educator, and a health analyst intended to serve disabled hospital patients. These professionals are able to intervene when a patient with disabilities needs help communicating about their illness or understanding what procedures doctors are prescribing. They also teach sex education, help parents with disabilities learn how to best care for their children, and perform many more tasks to help improve the quality of life of disabled D.C. residents. Danielle Darby, the chief operating officer of Revitalizing Community Membership of Washington, one of the largest disability service providers in the city, told The Washington Post, “I don’t think DDS fully thought through what it would mean to lose a contract like this.” Some people, she explained, cannot describe their symptoms—for instance, someone might cry without being able to verbalize their pain—so they receive less and worse medical care. As part of its plan to end its contract with Georgetown, DDS issued a transition plan specifying how disabled people could otherwise obtain the services the Health Initiative program has provided. However, it was quickly criticized by advocates and other concerned parties as an insufficient, rushed response provided just to satisfy critics’ questions. In the future, DDS will supposedly provide some of Georgetown’s services within its agency and divide the rest among other contractors, but there is no concrete plan for this, nor have they adequately explained to the public why they are making this change. On July 29, all 13 members of the D.C. City Council sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser asking her to reexamine DDS’s decision to end the contract. The letter was critical of the three-month time frame between the announcement and the termination of the contract and said that the transition plan was not fully fleshed out. The Council argued that if Mayor Bowser decides to go through with the decision to cut the program, there should be a longer transition period and easier access to replacement resources. The transition plan only gives disabled people three months to find a new source for the medical services they rely on. Additionally, the plan seems to lack critical information, such as when newly contracted physicians will be available to begin planning a transition. Even physicians who currently work for the program at Georgetown are unsure of what will happen when their positions no longer exist. This editorial board believes the people served by this program will be harmed as a result of this change. Despite these responses, the contract is set to expire at the end of August. This editorial board believes allowing this contract to expire is hasty, irresponsible, and inconsiderate. DDS must deliver on its mission of serving D.C. residents with disabilities by renewing its contract with Georgetown. G

VOICES CARRYING ON: VOICE STAFFERS SPEAK

Diversity and Inclusion? I’ll believe it when I see it. AMANDA CHU

n September 13, Felicity Huffman will be sentenced for her involvement in the college admissions scandal, a multimillion dollar conspiracy to gain access to the nation’s top universities. Other indicted figures, like Lori Loughlin, are awaiting trial. While these individuals have received their share of public backlash, less attention has been paid to the ways universities are complicit in securing seats for the upper class. Diversity and inclusion are the new buzzwords of higher education. The top 10 schools on U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Colleges list all emphasize their commitment to diversity and inclusion in their mission statements and on their websites. Most practice need-blind admissions and promise to cover full demonstrated need. This commitment continues on their campuses, exemplified by a recent trend of increasing support for first-generation and low-income students. Only 11 percent of these students graduate in six years. In 2016, Brown University founded its Undocumented, First-Generation College, and Low-Income Student Center. Last fall, Georgetown launched a course called Mastering the Hidden Curriculum to provide its first-generation, low-income students the support and skills necessary to succeed at school. Other Georgetown initiatives, like the Georgetown Scholarship Program and the Community Scholars Program, offer these students resources like workshops, mentorships, and funding. Despite these efforts, college and college admissions remain neither diverse nor inclusive. At least 60 percent of students at Ivy League schools are from the top 20 percent in terms of family income, while less than 5 percent of students come from the bottom quintile. These universities are also predominantly white. While being white does not necessarily mean being financially well-off, in the United States, 8 percent of white households live in poverty, while the numbers for black and Hispanic households are 20 and 16 percent, respectively. Before students from high-income households even apply to college, they benefit from immense social and cultural capital. They tend to have college-educated parents familiar with the application process and college life. They can also afford the best test prep, tutoring, and extracurricular programs, and they go to schools with more resources and funding, regardless of whether they are public or private. These advantages make a difference. A child in a family in the top 1 percent is 77 times more likely to be admitted to and attend an Ivy League school than a child from the bottom 20 percent.

While universities are making efforts to diversify and democratize, a discrepancy continues to exist between their public message and their private practice.

Amanda Chu is a sophomore in the SFS studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs. She hails from Queens, New York.

While universities are making efforts to diversify and democratize, a discrepancy continues to exist between their public message and their private practice. Let’s take a look at legacy admissions, a practice in place at 42 percent of private institutions. At Georgetown, the overall acceptance rate for the class of 2018 was 16.6 percent, while the acceptance rate for legacy students was more than double: 36.6 percent. The difference was even greater at Harvard, where the overall acceptance rate was a mere 5 percent, but the legacy rate was 33 percent. Its class of 2022 is composed of 36 percent legacy students. This leaves less than two-thirds of the highly sought after seats open, putting non-legacy students at a significant disadvantage. According to a Princeton study, having legacy status is equivalent to a 160-point increase in SAT score. These legacy students also tend to be wealthy and white, and, as established earlier, already have the financial and educational resources to prepare for the SAT. Athlete recruitment is another practice that helps maintain a predominantly upper-class population. At Harvard, one in 10 students is a recruited athlete. While football and basketball capture most of the attention, the typical athlete at an Ivy League school plays a sport like squash, sailing, or lacrosse. These sports are not cheap. On average, playing lacrosse costs $8,000 a year. It’s no surprise that 46.3 percent of Harvard athletes come from homes with combined incomes of $250,000 or more. Universities also target a specific socioeconomic class. Their “think about applying” letters do not address the specific financial needs of lowincome students and thus, these students may be significantly less likely to apply. Of the low-income students, with SAT scores in the 90th percentile, over 80 percent do not apply to any selective university. These institutions also promote independent values, like learning to express oneself, over interdependent ones, like learning to be a team player. Having independent or interdependent values is heavily reliant on socioeconomic class. Working class parents tend to have jobs where there is less freedom to question authority and thus, raise their children with interdependent values. University's emphasis on independent values suggests campuses are an upper-class sphere and contributes to the discord disadvantaged students may experience. However, interdependent values are equally important for all students to learn and prepare for the workplace where they will be expected to operate within a hierarchy. Part of this bias in values can be explained by looking at university administrations. While student populations have gradually become more diverse, the staff at selective universities has remained predominantly white. More than 80 percent of Ivy League administrative jobs are held by white people. Universities are places of power, and the people in charge get to decide who has access to this power and who doesn’t. They also decide what values and needs should be prioritized. These preferential administrative and admissions practices create a homogenous environment that does not prepare students for an increasingly globalized world, ironically also promised in university mission statements. When your students come mainly from the top 20 percent of the population, they will lack insight into the issues the majority of the world faces. And so, while we should acknowledge and applaud higher education’s existing efforts, we also have to recognize that full diversity and inclusion cannot be realized with half-hearted commitment. Failing to diversify student populations only perpetuates the stigma that underrepresented students face, that greater diversity will lead to a loosening of standards or a decline in student ability. This baseless stigma threatens the future of affirmative action programs. It’s time for universities to re-evaluate their commitments to diversity and inclusion. Are these merely buzzwords that better their appearance, or do they genuinely believe their campuses will be better because of them? And if they do, have they done everything they can to make these promises into a reality? As a first-generation college student, I’ve received comments hinting that I earned my achievements through circumstance and not ability, but an examination of admissions policies and class advantages suggests otherwise. It’s time for us to hold these institutions responsible. We have to stop seeing incidents like the admissions scandal as standalone events that online pitchforks can resolve, and start questioning how universities are structurally complicit. Ultimately, they play a greater role than anyone else. G August 30, 2019

VOICES

Eight Years, No Cheat Days

JULIA PINNEY

unch was inevitable. In the few months I’ve been rock climbing, I’ve learned to recognize the predictable rhythms of angling my foot just so, willing energy into my shoulders to grasp for the final hold, and listening to the ache in my stomach telling me it’s time to call it a day. We set off for Whole Foods, my new friend and I, rubbing our sore forearms, digging chalk out from under our fingernails, and laughing about the belay test he nearly failed. I had secretly been hoping we’d decide on Whole Foods. Amongst the wealth of options in the prepared food section, we could both get the food that made our respective digestive systems happy. No mental calculus as I decoded the menu, looking for red flags. Plus, I could pick up the oat milk that had been sitting on my shopping list for a week, the kind without too much sugar that I can never find at Safeway. “I’m not much of an exotic eater,” I told my friend. “Eating can be kind of complicated for me.” “Why’s that?” he replied, with a look of mild curiosity and confusion as if eating should be one of the simpler parts of life. *** Each time I have to tell someone I only possess half of my small intestine, I feel familiar and opposing tugs. One side of me doesn’t want it to become a Big Deal because in many ways I’m not limited much by my short bowel syndrome. I stay up late with friends. I enjoy 10 mile hikes. Last spring break, I travelled across two continents and four time zones. Many people don’t see anything “wrong” with me until I tell them. But the other side of me hopes the person in front of me will ask me a question, and then another, and ultimately understand that for me this really is a Big Deal. I am made up of many stories. My health saga is just one of them, but it has intertwined itself into many elements of who I am. Part of the reason I felt so drawn to the boy I fell for in high school was because I saw in him someone who also knew the frustration of challenges you could not escape. Even eight years after the surgery that started this whole journey, I still catch myself standing sideways in the shower like I had to when I had a PICC line giving me intravenous nutrition. I take great joy in delicious, simple food, but have lost aspects of my identity as a foodie due to the stringency of my diet. I’m maybe the least patient person you’ll ever meet. I have an urgency to take action right now—reach out to someone today, take a class this semester—because part of me still doesn’t quite trust that my whole life isn’t going to change again. I am exceptionally good at fixing toilets. Last semester I stood in the Prado, unable to tear my eyes away from the rippling back of the central figure in Velázquez’s Vulcan’s Forge. Simultaneously, I felt my willpower draining as I attempted to keep from crying. There are moments when I am crushed by the feeling that it’s all just not okay. Someone had innocently asked me at lunch if I was grateful for my lack of a full functioning small intestine because it meant I was forced to eat an incredibly healthy diet. “No,” I wanted to reply, “I’m not grateful for wondering if I’m giving myself a kidney stone every time I eat a handful of nuts. I’m not grateful for mornings I wake up cranky and exhausted, symptoms of acidosis, because I couldn’t resist a cupcake. I’m not grateful for the dinners I’ve had to say a quick goodbye and flee from in search of a bathroom because I’d eaten something a little too rich. I’m not grateful I don’t get cheat days.” And that afternoon in the Prado, even as I was overcome by the beauty of the masterpieces around me, I was struck by how much I wanted someone to wrap their arms around me and tell me it was okay to sometimes feel like it’s not okay. Not that it would have been easy for me to let them. A week into my hospital stay, my parents asked my doctors if there was anyone I could talk to—perhaps another 13-year-old with short bowel syndrome? They explained that all the other patients in my situation were only a few days old, that what had happened to me was exceedingly rare, that I was “unique.” Unique became a sort of inside joke between my mom and me, brought up whenever I began to exhibit a new rare symptom brought on by my rare condition. Yet, when my mom looked into getting me into a digestive disorders support group, I was rejected. “She’s too healthy,” the leaders said—a response which reinforced how I was thriving, and at the same time one that didn’t leave me any less alone.

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Julia Pinney is a senior in the College. She went paragliding this summer and will tell anyone who asks.

illustration by olivia stevens

A friend of mine told me a few summers back about how she shut down the first time she and her boyfriend tried to have sex. She’d been assaulted and worried that her anxiety about being intimate again made her in some way unlovable. Her boyfriend assured her that wasn’t the case, she’d just have to teach him how to take care of her. What a lovely thought, teaching someone to take care of me. I’d have no idea where to start. As I walk the grocery store aisles, I know exactly what to buy so I’m not eating too much sugar or fat or oxalate, a compound that will form a kidney stone. Navigating the bureaucracy of CVS and UnitedHealthcare and remembering to take my medications have become second nature. Shouldering the responsibilities and emotions on my own has felt like the only option, never having met someone who shares my condition. And above all, I like the feeling of control that comes from being the sole shepherd of my health. While I used to contemplate why the world grants misfortunes for seemingly no reason, today I reckon more with my everyday needs and limitations. I know to be kind to myself after doctor’s appointments, to not be surprised by the difficult emotions that still come after each visit. Not being able to get an ice cream cone at the end of a date may never get easier. I’m learning that I need a bit of moral support to give myself my B12 shot each month. I really wish I had a sexier symptom to talk about than gas. Over these past few months, when someone has asked how everything’s going, I’ve tried to bring up my health, just as I would my nerves about writing a thesis. I’m trying to be more open about this element of my reality because it’s something that’s going to stick with me, even as other parts of myself change. I want to be seen, just as anyone does, but until I start talking more about my health, I’m not even giving someone the chance. G

VOICES

A Little Bit in Love with Love Island

SIENNA BRANCATO

hile studying abroad in Dublin last fall, I finished almost three seasons of Love Island. It was a source of laughter and excitement during a period of situational depression. Out of a desire not to fail all my classes, I didn’t venture back into the world of Love Island until deciding to watch the most recent season with my mom this summer. So, we embarked upon a months-long odyssey of drama and romance. Love Island is a British dating show in which 12 singles travel to a villa in Mallorca for a summer of fun, hoping to find love (and possibly win £50,000). Over the course of eight weeks, the islanders mix, mingle, and hopefully form relationships. New islanders are introduced, as others are dumped. Eventually, a public vote crowns one couple the winner. Having someone to bounce emotions and commentary off of made the whole experience more enjoyable. If you ever want to get to know your mom on another level, watch Love Island with her. It was hysterical exchanging thoughts and observing each other’s reactions. But my Love Island enthusiasm was also met with criticism. A friend’s mom said she couldn’t tolerate reality TV because it objectifies women. My brother, when he saw us watching an episode, said, “I don’t understand how you can be a feminist and watch this show.” I won’t claim that Love Island is overtly feminist. But I do take issue with the calling into question of my feminism solely because I watch Love Island. Reality TV doesn’t have to be anti-feminist, and even aspects of a silly dating show like Love Island can be empowering. The most recent season of Love Island took a few steps forward from earlier seasons by making conscious choices to avoid promoting gender stereotypes. Firstly, the producers objectify both male and female cast members. This may not seem like a positive, but at least they’re being treated equally! Slow-mo shots pan over both men's and women's bodies, and viewers are treated to frequent close-ups of islanders exercising, eating suggestively, or emerging dripping wet from the pool. However, just because they’re all eye-candy doesn’t mean they’re insubstantial. This season’s original cast featured a professional ballroom dancer, an air hostess, a pharmacist, a firefighter, an eyelash technician, a chef, a gym owner, an aircraft engineer, a surfer, a professional boxer, and a scientist seeking to cure cancer. The inclusion of cast members with careers that don’t always correspond to gender stereotypes—for example, a male ballroom dancer and a female scientist—is undoubtedly a positive step forward. However, it is anti-feminist to judge people based on their career choices. Previous seasons have been very model-heavy, which has led to dismissal or derision from viewers. Valuing certain cast members less because they’re models or beauticians or have other traditionally feminine careers plays into misogynistic stereotypes. Are those who are feminine less serious or less worthy of respect? Love Island revels in drama, conflict, and judgment. The crucial difference lies in how you watch: Do you analyze and discuss whether you agree with their choices, or do you blatantly “slag off ” (as the islanders would say) the women you feel have chosen wrong? Doing the latter encourages the judgement of women who don’t conform to standards or who openly defy them. Women make bad choices. Men make bad choices. Everyone makes bad choices. That’s not to say they don’t deserve to be criticized, but criticism doesn’t need to amount to a vitriolic personal attack. A knee-jerk reaction stemming from a sexist implicit bias deserves to be called out.

illustration by olivia stevens

Sienna Brancato is the editor-in-chief of the Voice and is planning to pursue a Ph.D. in the field of reality television.

It’s also important to recognize sexist or toxic behaviors when they appear on screen (as they always do). Thankfully, this season’s cast members often did that for us. In one memorable incident, Tom Walker shows off to all the boys by saying, “Let’s see if she’s all mouth,” right before he was supposed to take his partner, Maura Higgins, to the hideaway for some alone time. Maura is a vocal feminist who doesn’t shy away from talking about her sexual desires. Unluckily for Tom, she unabashedly calls him out and refuses to join him in the hideaway as retaliation for his disrespect. Amber Gill couples up with nice boy Greg O’Shea over toxic Michael Griffiths, who chose another girl over her, took his frustrations out on her, and flip-flopped on his feelings until declaring his lingering love when it was convenient for him. She knew her own worth and acted on it, and eventually she won the entire show. Strong female friendships are a source of affirmation, love, and strength. And women standing up for each other is invaluable. For the most part, the women handled conflict with each other maturely, with very minimal cattiness. It’s natural to be jealous when someone else is flirting with the guy you’re interested in, but the girls accepted that that was simply part of the game. Upon leaving the villa, many girls said that they found valuable relationships with lifelong girlfriends, not just romantic love. This season also featured healthy male friendships, refreshingly devoid of toxic masculinity. The guys are often shown giving each other fashion or love advice. The bromance between Curtis Pritchard and Tommy Fury was the highlight of the season. The pair is not shy about cuddling or showing affection, and they often have intimate conversations about their feelings. They are a model for what male friendship could look like when separated from societal constraints. While the cast is great, feminism does not claim that all women are infallible. Not all women are good people, just as not all people are good people. Feminism advocates treating women fairly and not subjecting them to elevated levels of criticism based on their gender, but it does not prohibit criticism in general. Holding women up on pedestals is part of the problem. Feminism can be complex, particularly when it comes to interests that I have been told are anti-feminist. Women are “supposed” to like beauty products and shopping and romance novels because society at large believes that is our place. As feminists, to defy societal standards, we’re apparently supposed to reject these things. But rejecting feminine things for the sake of rejecting them means denigrating femininity. Feminism means creating the social space for women to have a wide range of interests, whether those be traditionally feminine or not. Femininity is not lesser; femininity is power. Feminism empowers women to make our own choices, including, at the very least, what TV shows we watch. Of course, you shouldn’t applaud blatant misogyny if you claim to be a feminist, but you also can’t reasonably denounce a TV show without watching it first. That being said, it makes absolute sense to boycott the cultural output of creators found to be misogynistic, predatory, or abusive. If you’ve seen Love Island and still think it’s anti-feminist, then you’re entitled to your opinion because feminism means respecting diversity of thought. My issue lies with those who condemn the show, and by extension its fans, solely because it’s reality TV. I like Love Island because it’s a mindless, laugh-outloud funny form of escapism, but watching it doesn’t mean I suddenly abandon all of my closely held feminist principles. If my feminism could be shaken simply by watching a reality show, I’d have bigger problems. Two weeks ago, my mom and I were cuddled up watching one of the final episodes of Love Island. All of a sudden, my brother quietly sat down next to us on the couch. My mom and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but let it pass without a word. Three episodes later, after a dramatic confrontation, he interjected, “Oh my god, I can’t believe she did that!” My mom smiled over at me slyly. “He’s hooked.” G August 30, 2019

D.C. COUNCILMEMBER JACK EVANS FACES INVESTIGATIONS, PROMPTING CHALLENGERS BY ANNEMARIE CUCCIA

or the past twenty-seven years, Georgetown students have been represented on the D.C. City Council by one man, who is now the subject of a federal grand jury investigation—Councilmember Jack Evans. Evans has become a staple of Ward 2—which includes Georgetown and the surrounding neighborhood, as well as Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, Federal Triangle, and the National Mall— and is rarely challenged in elections. However, as the June 2020 Democratic primary approaches, Evans faces not only five challengers for his seat, but a series of allegations that threaten his position on the council. Evans, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has been the subject of two ethics investigations since December 2018. The investigations are centered around the allegation that, beginning in 2015, Evans used his position on the Council to acquire business as a lawyer and consultant. During most of his tenure, Evans worked in the private sector, both for a mutual insurance company and for multiple lobbying firms. As the longest serving current member of the Council, and only the second person ever to represent Ward 2, Evans’s influence has shaped not only his ward but the entire city. He comfortably won re-election seven times with the votes of wealthy Georgetown residents and has not been challenged since 2008. Evans has also been a leader in D.C. Democratic politics. He has served as D.C.’s electoral college delegate three times and has been the D.C. Co-Chair on all but one Democratic presidential campaign since 1996. But the length of Evans’s tenure is now a central part of some of his opponents’ campaigns. Among them is John Fanning, chairman of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

(ANC) 2F, who is running against Evans in the Democratic primary. Fanning said that at the beginning of his tenure, Evans significantly improved the ward. He applauded Evans’s role in bringing the Capital One Arena and Nationals Park to the city, as well as his support of marriage equality, but said Evans’s time is up. Patrick Kennedy, another candidate in the primary, said Evans has led economic development in the ward, though he doubts Evans’s ability to adapt to an increasingly younger and more diverse ward. “The challenges that he helped address as a council member are challenges of a very different time, and especially when the city was not prosperous, when it was losing population, when it had high crime rates,” Kennedy said. “Jack’s series of policy solutions are very much geared towards a city that is no longer in existence.” But policy concerns are not the crux of this campaign. Evans’s opponents, prompted by the news of the investigations into his behavior while on the Council, criticize the way they say he has placed his own interests ahead of his ward’s. All five challengers have positioned themselves as a contrast to Evans by promising integrity and respect for the community if elected. These accusations of corruption are at the heart of the series of investigations Evans faces—that he has routinely chosen to enrich himself or his business interests rather than doing what is best for his constituents. During most of his tenure on the council, Evans profited from an outside career as a lobbyist. He is one

photo by dbking

of only two councilmembers (the other is Mary Cheh, a George Washington University professor) with a regular income to supplement the $140,000 salary all members receive, one of the highest for a local representative body in the nation. In 2015, Evans joined the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which regularly lobbies the Council. Two weeks after he joined the firm, the Council was the deciding vote on a merger for two of Manatt’s clients, Exelon and Pepco. Evans and six other councilmembers, including former Pepco executive Vincent Orange (then serving atlarge), wrote a letter supporting the merger, which was approved by the D.C. Public Service Commission in 2016. Though Evans stayed with Manatt until last year, in 2016 he also established his own private consulting firm, NSE Consulting. That same year, Digi Outdoor Media, a digital sign company, began installing their products in locations around the city. Digi failed to obtain proper sign permits and was issued a stop-work order by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), threatening a project valued at $800 million. Evans had an established relationship with Digi. Emails obtained by District Dig revealed that Digi’s founder, Don MacCord, had given Evans’s son a paid internship in the summer of 2016. Evans also asked MacCord to procure contributions for the Hillary for Victory Fund and invited him to a Clinton campaign event in Nantucket. MacCord and his associates collected over $50,000 for that fund and more contributions for the elections of D.C. councilmembers. In November 2016, Evans brought emergency legislation to the Council that would allow Digi to

continue installing signs across the city despite the DCRA’s stop-work order. A month before this legislation was introduced, NSE Consulting received 200,000 shares of stock, estimated to be worth $100,000, from Digi. Evans told The Washington Post that “the stock certificate was returned to Digi as soon as it was received.” Despite MacCord’s lobbying for the legislation, Evans pulled the bill when it became clear it would not pass, though Evans still had contact with MacCord and his associates. Evans also explicitly said that his position, both as a councilmember and as the chairman of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), would be an asset to NSE Consulting clients. In a business development strategy plan sent to the Nelson Mullins lobby group in early 2018, Evans wrote that “In short, that strategy begins by 1) contacting my network of business relationships developed as an elected official, as the Chairman of WMATA, and through my professional and personal affiliations and relationships; 2) partnering with other professional services firms whose clients could benefit from my insight and relationships; and 3) crossmarketing my relationships and influence to Nelson Mullins clients.” Evans also served as the Principal Director of the Metro Board of Directors, which oversees WMATA. He resigned on June 27 following the release of a memo written by a law firm hired by Metro Board Ethics Committee that detailed Evans’s failure to disclose possible conflicts of interest to the board. The memo outlines Evans’s relationship with Rusty Lindner, the CEO of Colonial Parking. Evans and Lindner are close friends, and Lindner and Colonial were clients of both Patton Boggs and Manatt while Evans worked there. In 2016, Forge, Colonial’s parent company, hired NSE Consulting to provide them with “information and advice regarding the metropolitan Washington, D.C. business community, including strategic issues relating to jurisdictional competition, transportation, and real estate,” according to the memo. Evans failed to disclose to WMATA a relationship with Lindner, though he worked intensively on parking issues and attempted to discredit WMATA’s parking vendor and Colonial competitor Laz. He requested a

“IN WARD 2 FOR WAY TOO LONG, PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO COMPETE FOR THE TIME AND ATTENTION OF OUR CURRENT COUNCILMEMBER JACK EVANS. I KNOW THAT GOVERNMENT IS A PRIVILEGE AND NOT A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.”

series of investigations into Laz’s proposed projects with WMATA. The law firm concluded that Evans violated five articles of the Ethics Code to which he was bound, including the duty to avoid conflicts, the duty of loyalty to the interests of WMATA, and the prohibition of using his position for personal or private gain. The firm found similar violations in Evans’s conduct with Digi. A federal grand jury is conducting a second investigation into Evans’s possible conflicts of interest with clients. Though the investigation has not yet released any findings, it has issued subpoenas. The FBI raided Evans’s Georgetown home in June. Despite the events of the past months, Evans still sits on the Council. Though Evans attempted to convince the Council no actions should be taken until all investigations into the matter had concluded, they voted to remove him from his position as chairman of the Committee on Finance and Revenue. The Council also agreed to hire a law firm to conduct an investigation into Evans, similar to the one WMATA conducted. A 6-6 tie prevented Evans from losing his membership on all committee assignments. Evans himself cast the tie vote. Though Evans has not yet declared his candidacy to keep his seat, it seems he intends to continue to represent Ward 2. Many of these interactions have been recently brought to light by The Washington Post and local papers, causing an immense backlash both from Evans’s colleagues and constituents. Kennedy, who has served on the Foggy Bottom ANC since he was a student at George Washington University, was the first to announce his candidacy on April 8. He previously served on Evans’s re-election campaigns in an honorary capacity, but said he had no idea about Evans’s conflicts of interest. Like the rest of the candidates, Kennedy has chosen to emphasize integrity in his campaign. “The ward needs a councilmember they can trust,” he said. Jordan Grossman, who works at a Medicaid agency in the District, said that the Ward 2 residents he has spoken to feel Evans is not spending time on the issues that matter to them, especially housing affordability. “In Ward 2 for way too long, people have had to compete for the time and attention of our current councilmember Jack Evans,” Grossman said. “I know that government is a privilege and not a business opportunity.” Kishan Putta, an ANC commissioner for Georgetown and Burleith, said that he is running because he felt decisions that harmed the community were being made in private and creating cynicism among residents. “All these community voices have been drowned out and it’s been done behind closed doors,” he said. Daniel Hernandez is the only candidate who has not previously worked for the government in any capacity. “I’m not someone who has spent adult life in the public sphere,” the former Marine and current Microsoft employee pointed out. “Moving on from Councilmember Evans, voters are looking for something different and some real change from politics as usual, and I think I’m that candidate.” All of the candidates support a ban on outside employment for councilmembers as part of their campaigns. Grossman said he felt the issue was pervasive across the city’s government, as many former councilmembers also become lobbyists. “It's frankly embarrassing that we have an elected representative who simultaneously serves as a paid lobbyist,” he said. All five opposition candidates have chosen to participate in D.C.’s new Fair Elections Program, which

matches individual contributions made by D.C. residents at a five to one ratio. To qualify for the program, candidates have to agree to only receive small dollar donations and contributions from the committee, preventing them from taking money from super Political Action Committees and lobbyists. Grossman, who has raised $18,061—the most of any candidate according to end-of-July financial reports—said he liked the knowledge his donations were coming from individual residents.

“IT'S FRANKLY EMBARRASSING THAT WE HAVE AN ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE WHO SIMULTANEOUSLY SERVES AS A PAID LOBBYIST.” The program is also designed to allow more candidates to run, as long as they can demonstrate a small base of support. “When you're running up against big money, and you're a viable candidate but don't have access to big money, the Fair Elections Program supports candidates like myself to be able to run a successful and viable campaign,” Fanning said. With almost ten months before the primary, the candidates are working to distinguish themselves in a crowded field. While Hernandez emphasizes his outsider qualities, Grossman, Fanning, Putta, and Kennedy all assert they have the track record of accomplishments and institutional knowledge needed to succeed. All the candidates highlighted housing affordability and transportation access as key to their campaigns. Both have potential to impact Georgetown students, especially those who live off campus. Hernandez specifically said he wants to bring a Metro stop to the Georgetown neighborhood. Fanning said he hoped to improve small business retention, especially in the area surrounding M Street, as well as end homeless encampments in the area. Putta, who is Indian American, feels he has a lot to offer Georgetown students, especially as the race’s only candidate of color. “Diversity is especially important when rights are being attacked,” he said. Student involvement is crucial for Kennedy, who said he has spent much of his time on the ANC elevating the voices of college students. Along with the rest of the candidates, he expressed his excitement at potentially being able to represent Georgetown on the Council. Though most Georgetown students are not registered to vote in D.C., the decisions made by the Ward 2 councilmember affect their neighborhood and community. The campaigns will undoubtedly be influenced by continuing news from the Evans investigations, and his possible entry into the race. Evans must declare candidacy by March 2020 to be in the running to keep his seat, and has said he plans to run for re-election. But with opposition to Evans growing, for the first time in nearly three decades, Evans’s tenure in D.C. politics might be in jeopardy. G

August 30, 2019

CLAIRVOYANCE OR CLARITY? I Visited a Psychic on a Quest to Learn About My Future, but I Left With Much More. By Katherine Randolph

rs. Natalie Tarot Readings of Georgetown is situated in a tiny, dimly lit shop at the corner of Wisconsin and P Street. The window is crowded with suspended glittering stars and moons, a palmistry guide, and an assortment of crystals. Inside, paintings adorn the walls, and red curtains divide the small space into a waiting area and two reading rooms. In early July, Mrs. Natalie informed me I would meet the love of my life within three weeks and marry them in 10 years. Normally, I wouldn’t have given this information about my supposed soulmate a second thought, but her confidence was compelling. According to Mrs. Natalie, I’m a creative person, a writer probably, and I’ll eventually have to make a huge choice from four options. She also told me that there was a dark, toxic person in my life that I needed to push away. I’ve been a Christian my entire life, and I think of myself as someone who believes in the scientific and the

explainable. And yet, for days after my reading with Mrs. Natalie, I discussed her predictions with friends and dissected her description of my future spouse. It quickly became apparent to me that my visit to Mrs. Natalie was less about understanding my future and more about understanding myself. I walked into the shop hoping for an accurate reading that wouldn’t scam me out of my money, and left with insight into my own anxiety about the future. *** Psychics claim to be able to access and interpret nonphysical and supernatural forces, through palm readings, Tarot cards, and crystal balls. According to the Pew Research Center, 32 percent of America’s most religious demographic—those who attend weekly services—believe in psychics. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 11 percent of those classified by Pew as “solidly secular” believe in psychics. Why do people turn to psychics in the face of the uncertain? Georgetown sociology professor William

illustration by delaney corcoran

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Daddio says that people who might consider themselves reasonable often turn to clairvoyance in times of confusion or after other avenues have been exhausted. “People are looking for answers. So if they don’t find them, they’ll say ‘well, let me try this,’” Daddio said. For college students, Daddio pointed to postgraduation insecurity as a reason some might visit a clairvoyant. “You’re on a future mission right now. You’re in school; you’re looking at what you want to be; you’re in very concrete steps. But over a period of time, people become unhappy, so they tend to try looking at other options.” Psychics, seers, soothsayers, and clairvoyants have existed throughout recorded history. They have taken the form of biblical prophets such as John or Elijah, who were known for their ability to communicate with divine forces. Ancient Greeks travelled to see the Oracle of Delphi make predictions about the future. In 1555, French astrologer Nostradamus published Les Prophéties,

a collection of poems that many believed predicted major historical events. Today, fortune telling is a growing industry. In a 2016 report, business research firm IBISWorld estimated that the total market for psychics’ services was worth $2.1 billion in the United States alone. Within a mile of Georgetown’s front gates, four separate storefronts claim to offer clairvoyant services, including Mrs. Natalie, who declined to be interviewed for this article. She wasn’t alone. I visited every psychic shop in Georgetown seeking interviews for this story, and every one refused to speak with me. My search for a psychic to interview brought me to Baltimore, Maryland, where K.C. Lane has been in business for 13 years. Five years ago, she left her job in software development to run her shop full time. Lane said that she does not have trouble attracting enough customers to make a living because she believes that divine forces bring them to her business. “I feel like if the person's meant to be there it's all kind of guided,” Lane said. “I've never advertised really in my entire life, and I've never one time ran out of clients in 13 years.” Lane is a medium, which means that she offers clients the opportunity to connect with deceased loved ones. Lane has noticed that her clients are mostly women, spanning ages 21 to 68, who have some form of higher education. Many of them are teachers or businesspeople, but she specifically noted that a large portion of her clientele work in medicine. “They're at least 25 percent of my clientele, healing fields,” Lane said. “Nurses in particular are fascinated with their dealing with life and death issues all the time.” Lane believes that female clients in the professional sphere are particularly drawn to her because of her history in software development. “I believe that like energy attracts like energy and because I'm a professional woman myself, and I have a very nice environment I read out of, they seem to prefer me.” When I asked her about the shops in the Georgetown neighborhood, just a short walk away from campus, Lane carefully differentiated herself from psychics who operate in areas that attract tourists or students, like Georgetown. “They are a different type of psychic,” she said. “It's a very different type of reading than someone who's just sitting there reading Tarot cards who claims to be a psychic.” For Bob Nygaard, a private investigator based in Florida who has gained notoriety investigating psychic scams, Lane is drawing distinctions where a difference does not exist. Nygaard spent a decade tracking down Maryland psychic Gina Marie Marks, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to felony theft for scamming five clients out of $341,000 and was sentenced to six years in prison. Nygaard said that all that separates Lane from the psychics in Georgetown is the customers they target. “One of the reasons that they would pick an area where there’s a lot of tourists is because they know that if they can get a good hit and make some money, then the tourists won’t be around to go to court in the future,” Nygaard said of the storefronts near the campus. Psychics like Marks often seek out clients who are particularly vulnerable, and then promise to lift curses, solve problems, or bring back lost loved ones if the patron is willing to spend extra money. The scheme starts out with a regular reading and then escalates until the victim has spent thousands of dollars. The scams can take place over the course of months, and according to Daddio, victims might return for another reading even after they realize that something isn’t quite right with their psychic.

“One, it’s the hope. It’s the psychological need to see if they can make that connection,” Daddio said. “Number two, what happens sometimes, is that once you get into it, you don’t want to admit that you’re wrong. You continue on, you want to believe it now, because otherwise you have to admit that you were taken advantage of.” Nygaard described a case in which Marks claimed she would cure a child of autism in exchange for his mother’s money. Nygaard accused Marks of making promises that she knew she couldn’t fulfill and targeting a desperate parent. “When that woman takes her child to the doctor and the doctor says, ‘that child has autism,’ there is no cure for that,” he said. “But then she goes to Gina Marks and Gina Marks says, ‘I’m gonna use my special supernatural powers, and I’m going to help cure the child of autism.’ That’s very powerful to a mother who wants her son to be cured.” Others seek psychic’s services out of curiosity rather than in the hopes of solving a specific problem. This summer, Catie Tresslar (COL ’20) and three friends got palm readings from a psychic named Amy in Manhattan, New York. Amy, who could not be reached for comment, only took cash from her clients and operated out of her apartment. Tresslar found Amy through Yelp when she looked for psychics, with an eye toward cost first and quality second. One Yelp review claims that Amy once asked a client for $585 to heal a curse, but Amy did not ask Tresslar’s party for any money beyond the cost of their reading. She left the reading uncertain whether Amy possessed psychic abilities.

“Some things exist whether you believe in them or you don’t, period,” Lane said. “Your personal belief system is not what’s driving the universe.”

Amy told Tresslar that she’d be travelling somewhere, most likely California, in October or November. Tresslar is from Chicago and has never visited the West Coast. Amy projected that Tresslar has a bold, stubborn personality, and told her that Aug. 17 would be a good day for her. Tresslar recalled the date as being a perfectly fine one, but not particularly special. Though she isn’t sure how accurate the reading was, Tresslar said she would be open to visiting a psychic again. For Tresslar, Amy’s potential fraudulence wasn’t a dealbreaker. Tresslar’s skepticism did not render her reading meaningless. Instead, like my reading, the value of her encounter with clairvoyance was in the feeling it evoked, the feeling that a psychic’s reading might become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. I can’t know whether psychics understand that phenomenon—whether they

harbor their own skepticism about their ability to predict the future—but still, my experience and the experience Tresslar had leave me wondering whether the veracity of their claims matters at all. Lane recognizes that others in the industry have taken advantage of clients but insists that she’s in it for the right reasons. She said that she will not make predictions about three topics: health issues, when someone will die, and accusations of criminal activities. According to Maryland law, it’s illegal for her to offer health advice to her patrons without a medical license, and the state categorizes all psychic readings as for entertainment only. Lane believes that people shouldn’t seek psychic readings more than once every three months. She said she routinely turns away clients she calls “psychic junkies” who constantly solicit appointments and seem to want a friendship with their psychic. The junkies can turn to psychics to make major life decisions for them—Lane described an instance in which a woman asked her to help her decide whether or not to get an abortion—and should probably be looking for a therapist rather than a clairvoyant. “You cannot traverse the line between friend and client. They're not your friends, they're your client,” Lane said. In Nygaard’s opinion, seeing psychics is neither instructive nor helpful. He encourages prospective clients to see therapists or doctors for health issues instead, warning that supernatural forces can’t be qualified by degree or certification. “When you put your faith in a neon sign that says ‘psychic,’ there’s no backing—there’s no proof. That’s a very dangerous thing, to put your hope and your faith and your trust in someone that doesn’t have anything to prove that they’re credible.” Nygaard holds firm that no one has ever been proven to have psychic abilities. Lane, however, is undeterred by that criticism. She says that she rarely has clients come back and complain about an incorrect reading and estimates that she’s accurate “about 80 percent” of the time. “Some things exist whether you believe in them or you don’t, period,” Lane said. “Your personal belief system is not what’s driving the universe.” *** After being asked to leave four separate psychic shops and researching the ins and outs of modern-day fortune telling, I would still consider visiting a clairvoyant again. If nothing else, it was an entertaining afternoon, and it’s a good conversation starter at parties. As for my missed connection, I’m not holding my breath. Maybe Mrs. Natalie’s timeline was more metaphorical than literal, like the Bible and the creation of the Earth in seven days. Maybe my soulmate was hit by a bus and the universe is manufacturing a new match for me right now. At first I thought a psychic reading would be comforting in its certainty, a source of mental stillness. But what if what was most engaging about Mrs. Natalie’s predictions were the possibilities they provoked, the ones I’ve been turning over in my head ever since? I’m not convinced that Mrs. Natalie knew any more about my future than I did, but her reading opened my mind to a new realm of possibility. If my psychic reading was merely frivolous, inconsequential fun, I wouldn’t have spent so much time envisioning my supposed soulmate in my mind’s eye or turning my relationships with friends over in my head, wondering who could be the toxic figure Mrs. Natalie advised me to avoid. I entered her shop worried she might be a fraud. When I left, I knew it didn’t matter. G August 30, 2019

Shooting for the Stars

WITH NEW ADDITIONS GUIDED BY EXPERIENCED VETERANS, WOMEN’S SOCCER GEARS UP FOR ANOTHER RUN AT THE NATIONAL TITLE.

ith the preseason over, fresh sod set on Shaw, and new faces eagerly waiting in the wings, the Georgetown women’s soccer program is looking to get back to business as usual. The thing is, business as usual is becoming an increasingly high bar to clear for the highflying Hoyas. Last year, the Blue and Gray won their second straight Big East regular season title, third straight Big East Tournament, and made their second College Cup appearance in three years, ending in a semifinal exit at the hands of North Carolina. The coaching staff, headed by Dave Nolan, was also named the United Soccer Coaches National Coaching Staff of the Year. After last year’s accolades, there are considerable expectations for this team heading into the 2019 season. Georgetown was ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and was picked as the Big East favorite for the third year in a row. In addition, senior forward Paula Germino-Watnick and senior defender Meaghan Nally were both named to the watchlist for the Missouri Athletics Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy, an award given to both the top male and female soccer players in the country. But while their track record encourages optimism, the Hoyas will still have to overcome their fair share of challenges this season. Georgetown will need to establish new sources of goal production after losing last year’s top scorers, Kyra Carusa and Caitlin Farrell, who together scored 28 of the team’s 53 goals. Rather than focusing on who they lost, though, the players are instead looking ahead to the next crop of stars they’ll develop. “Obviously they were amazing players, and it is hard to lose two of your leading scorers, but at the same time, each year we create a new identity,” graduate student forward Amanda Carolan said. “And I think Dave [Nolan] does a good job of matching our style of play to the personnel we have.” That new identity begins with Germino-Watnick, who had eight goals and six assists last season. GerminoWatnick is a tantalizing player to watch when she’s on the ball, and the Hoyas will look to play primarily through her. That said, she is more of a playmaker than a pure finisher, meaning the team will need to rely on Carolan to produce goals. Carolan is an experienced striker who scored nine goals in 2017 and added another four goals and four assists in 2018. Still, fans can expect her to play an even bigger role in Georgetown's attack this season. “Amanda’s a very good player, and especially with the way we play, she’s a very good target player,” Nolan said. “She’s probably been a little bit unselfish over the years, and we’ve been trying to get her to be a little more selfish.” Carolan, Germino-Watnick, and the other seniors are especially excited about this season because they have a chance to make history. Once they reach 12 wins this season, they will become the winningest class in school history. “It definitely speaks volumes to the hard work that we’ve put in over the past three years and on top of that just having the opportunity to be the only class ever to have won four Big East Championships,” Carolan said. “That’s something that will definitely go down in history.”

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Also in this senior class, veteran midfielders Sarah Trissel and Carson Nizialek will hold down the center of the pitch again this year. Junior midfielder Grace Nguyen, who started 21 games and tallied nine assists last season, is currently unavailable due to an injury. According to Nolan, freshman midfielder Julia Leas is the most likely to take her starting spot, while sophomore midfielders Devon Lis and Maya Fernandez-Powell will begin to gain important experience in the midfield. “She’s a very, very good central midfielder,” Nolan said of Leas. In fact, Leas scored against James Madison University in just her first start. The defense should be strong again this year, led by reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year Meaghan Nally. Joining her in the center of the backline will be junior Kelly Ann Livingstone and sophomore Charlie Kern, who was injured last season. Sophomore fullbacks Jenna Royson and Boo Jackson will drop back and push up as needed on the wings. Last year, the Hoya defense had 15 shutouts and allowed just 10 goals. Nolan says to expect freshman Anna Leat to be the starter in goal. Georgetown will need to find their form quickly because they have an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule. They are playing five teams that finished in the NCAA top 30 rankings a year ago, including two top-10 teams in Duke and Virginia. “It’s good not only for us to measure ourselves against a good team out of our conference but also to work on the things we need to work on and be our best going into Big East play,” Carolan said. Strong performances against these top-ranked opponents are also vital to securing a higher seed and home-field advantage in the NCAA Tournament. “Those non-conference games against big opponents are really big, especially later in the season when we’re hoping to think about the NCAA Tournament in terms of our RPI [Rating Percentage Index] and everything,” Nally said. RPI ranks teams according to their win-loss record and strength of schedule. This means that wins against higher-ranked opponents earn a team a higher seeding in the tournament, which is why Nolan and his staff schedule such highly regarded opponents. “Think about the fact that only one non-Power 5 team has made the Final Four since 2005 and it’s been us. We’ve done it twice. There hasn’t been another non-Power 5 team that’s done what we’ve done,” said Nolan. “It’s incredibly difficult for the non-Power 5 schools to get respect, but also to have the body of work that’s needed, which is why it’s very impressive what we’ve managed to do over the last few years.” The Hoyas have been challenged in their first few games, beating James Madison 2-1 before falling 3-1 to No. 17 NC State and drawing with No. 10 Duke. The road doesn’t get any easier from here, as Georgetown plays Bucknell this Sunday at Shaw Field and then travels to No. 6 Virginia on Thursday. G

BRIAN WIESE’S MEN’S SOCCER PROGRAM LOOKS TO CEMENT ITS STATUS AS A NATIONAL POWERHOUSE WITH ONE OF HIS DEEPEST SQUADS TO DATE.

or Georgetown men’s soccer, elite play on the pitch has become the status quo. Over the past decade, MLS SuperDraft selections, conference championships, and individual accolades have become the norm at Georgetown, and head coach Brian Wiese sees no reason why that won’t continue in 2019. “I think this team has a very high expectation of where they should be at the end of the year,” he said. “I think they expect to be competing for the Big East again. I think they expect to be in the NCAA Tournament again. I do think that this group is capable of winning a national championship if it all falls together right.” 2018 marked yet another historic season for a program that has enjoyed sustained success and national prominence over the course of Wiese’s 14-year tenure. The Hoyas went 13-5-3 in the regular season, notching signature away victories over ninth-ranked Duke and 14th-ranked Creighton along the way. In the Big East Tournament, Georgetown never conceded a goal, winning a second straight conference championship with a 2-0 victory over Marquette in the final. There were high hopes heading into the NCAA Tournament when the Hoyas earned a 13-seed, but they were disappointed for a second straight year as they failed to reach the quarterfinals, losing a hard-fought Third Round match against Michigan State. After such an impressive year, one key loss in the postseason can come to define the entire season, but senior defender/midfielder Dylan Nealis sees it as fuel for future success. “We’re just going to reflect on that experience, how we felt after those games and share it throughout the team and make sure to avoid it as much as possible,” Nealis said. “We’ll use those previous games as experience to overcome these future ones.” Despite the NCAA Tournament letdown, the Hoyas boasted an array of postseason honors. Nealis was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, while a total of five Georgetown players made either the All-Big East First or Second Teams. Additionally, two Hoyas, goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis and midfielder Sean Zawadzki, were named to the All-Big East Freshman Team. Going into 2019, Wiese will have to overcome a few key losses for his squad to succeed. Central midfielder Kyle Zajec graduated and signed a professional contract with the New York Red Bulls reserve squad after tallying four goals and seven assists in his senior season. Finding and developing solid defenders to fill the shoes of Peter Schropp and Brendan McDonough, critical components of Georgetown’s backline for the better part of their time on the Hilltop, will be one of Wiese’s toughest challenges heading into the season. Fortunately, Wiese can rely on at least one player in the backline to provide consistent production and leadership each game. Nealis notched seven assists and two goals from the right back position last season and was selected in the preseason coaches’ poll to repeat as Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Wiese praised his versatility and ability to get forward and join the attack. “What makes him special is his athleticism and experience and his ability to be a very good defender at the same time,” Wiese said. “It makes him a wonderfully dynamic player.” Joining Nealis in defensive duties will be a trio of juniors, Sean O’Hearn, Rio Hope-Gund, and Foster McCune. Of the three, O’Hearn has the most experience,

photos by John Picker

having started all but one game last season. Hope-Gund appeared in 16 matches, starting in four, and showed flashes of potential, including a stretch where he scored crucial goals from the backline in two of three matches. McCune appeared in 20 games off the bench last year, fulfilling a variety of midfield and defensive roles. Among the team’s new additions, graduate transfer Siggi Geirson, a 6-foot-2 defender from Reykjavík, Iceland, will be another intriguing option at Wiese’s disposal. In the midfield, Wiese has an array of experienced players with sharply different playstyles to choose from, and he believes several could make an impact this season. “Jacob Montes has been maybe the most dangerous player of our preseason,” Wiese said. “You have Jack Beer, who’s been terrific, Zach Riviere has been terrific, and Paul Rothrock, the transfer from Notre Dame, is a totally different dimension of things. Ethan Lochner in his fifth year has got his wily head to him. You’ve got all these different pieces and they all supplement each other really well.” Lochner, a graduate student, is an experienced winger who tallied three goals and four assists last season. Beer and Riviere have both impressed during the offseason and can expect a sizable uptick in minutes this year, despite limited playing time last season. Among the midfield newcomers, Rothrack will likely have the largest role this season, after appearing in 13 games as a sophomore for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish before a season-ending injury. Montes is the surest bet among those midfielders to play hefty minutes this season, after starting all 21 games in 2018 and lighting up the preseason, while Zawadzki will look to get even more involved in the middle of the pitch this season after starting 13 games as a freshman. On the attacking front, Derek Dodson and Achara are the clear standouts, having both been named to the All-Big East First Team in 2018 and picked to repeat on the team this season. “I think we’re going to be really dangerous,” Achara, a senior, said. “With me and Doddy [Dodson] fully healthy, we’re just going to do as much as we can to make it difficult for other teams.” Dodson, a junior who led the team with nine goals in 2018 and was picked as the preseason Big East Offensive Player of the Year, has struggled with injuries and consistency in the past, but feels ready to produce in 2019. “My confidence is feeling pretty good,” Dodson said. “We’re coming off of a great preseason, so I feel like the whole team is just buzzing right now.” Wiese was quick to praise the two forwards’ development over the course of their time at Georgetown. “These two guys have grown as leaders,” he said. “They’re both captains along with Nealis, and you see them taking much more ownership of the team, much more ownership of the players around them, ownership of the culture.” First up for the Hoyas this season is a rivalry matchup against a dangerous Syracuse side on Aug. 30. But with a winning culture deeply ingrained on the Hilltop, Wiese knows that the last thing his team will do is back down from a challenge.

“I don’t think this group is going to be nervous about playing against anybody,” Wiese said. “I think they’ll walk on to every match feeling like they can and should win.” G

August 30, 2019

LEISURE

' S R E F F A VOICE ST

E T I R O V A F

S D A E R R SUMME The Bluest Eye TO N I M O R R I S O N I read The Bluest Eye in the eleventh grade, and it had a sense of realness that books hadn’t yet held for me. It wasn’t rooted in an awful event, which can provide comprehensibility for younger audiences. Instead, it was based on the tragedy of human experience, of the black experience in the United States. I read it again this summer when I heard that Toni Morrison, the first black woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature, had died. The Bluest Eye presents uncomfortable thoughts on how we outcast people, how we judge them without knowing who they really are, and how our words can be internalized with disastrous effects. Pecola Breedlove, a victim of incestuous rape and abuse, of her socio-economic status, of the consequences of racism, and of colorism within the black community, is the story’s protagonist. The chapters unfold without chronology, telling the story of Cholly, an abusive husband and father to Pecola and her brother. Through flashbacks, it is apparent he has been the victim of racist emasculation in a way that, while not excusing his behavior, provides further insight into how he became an abuser. This book is a study in gray areas, where there are multiple sides to every story, and events aren’t caused by singular factors but rather a lifetime of experiences. Pecola wants blue eyes to be pretty like the blonde, white dolls she longs for, while Pecola’s fierce friend, Claudia, destroys her white doll because she hates whiteness without yet understanding why. This story shows racism not only between white and black Americans but also within the black community, as Claudia observes that Pecola was used as a scapegoat, deemed ugly so everyone else can feel prettier. Toni Morrison was an incredible author not only because of her literary skills but also for her analysis of potentially less obvious but no less important aspects of racism. —Inès De Miranda

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Queenie C A N D I C E C A R T Y-W I L L I A M S Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams begins with the titular character strapped into stirrups at the gynecologist’s office. This sometimes uncomfortably intimate lens defines Carty-Williams’s debut novel. Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican-British woman who lives in London and works at a national newspaper, but feels like she doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. At work, she’s surrounded by white, middle-class colleagues whose experiences seem distant from her own. And within her own family, she often doesn’t feel Jamaican enough. Following a devastating breakup, Queenie spirals into a series of self-destructive decisions. She seeks out sex as a source of comfort and validation, engaging in unhealthy and often disastrous hookups. She deals with racism, exoticism, and fetishization from romantic partners, friends, coworkers, and strangers, as she navigates a very white London in a black, female body. Queenie is left questioning her identity, forced to determine who she is apart from those around her. “Having Queenie as the title felt so right, especially a time when black women were using the term Queen to define, express, and self-empower ourselves in a way that we haven’t typically been allowed to,” Carty-Williams said. For most of the book, Queenie teeters on the precipice of a full-on breakdown, and when disaster after disaster finally becomes too much to handle, the repercussions are crushing. Queenie’s road to therapy is wrought with personal anxiety and familial disapproval.

design by cade shore

Queenie claws herself up from rock bottom slowly, messily, and painfully. Carty-Williams’s prose possesses a small, descriptive beauty that confronts trauma with skill and an appropriate degree of hesitancy. Her portrayal is not unflinching; in fact, it flinches deliberately because the subject matter warrants it. The novel is both laugh-out-loud funny and cry-outloud heart-wrenching. It’s honest, political, innovative, and important, especially within an overwhelmingly white publishing landscape. Carty-Williams forces readers to confront Queenie’s trauma along with her and ask ourselves, if we were in her situation, would we really do any different? — Sienna Brancato

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland PAT R I C K R A D D E N K E E F E

Say Nothing, by New Yorker writer Patrick Radden Keefe, starts with the murder of a single mother of 10, and it remains equally dark and thrilling, with periodic flecks of idealism, adventure, optimism, and romance throughout. The book chronicles a 50-year period of unrest and violence in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to the present, but despite being a hefty historical undertaking, it’s not written for Irish history experts. It was my first intellectual encounter with the Irish Republican Army

LEISURE (IRA), The Troubles, and the Good Friday Agreement, and I devoured it. The first two sections of Say Nothing are fast-paced and gripping—they read like a murder mystery novel with a complex web of complicit characters. But the last section, titled “A Reckoning,” forces the reader to face the sober aftermath of revolution uncommonly addressed in fiction. The victims of The Troubles and their families evoke sorrow and sympathy, but perhaps even more tragic is the futility of their involuntary sacrifice. The Good Friday Agreement brought peace, but it didn’t grant Northern Ireland independence from the British government, leaving once idealistic former IRA members burdened with the guilt of the means they employed for ends never to be attained. As a journalist, Keefe doesn’t take a side, and neither should the reader, if only for how confusing it could get. The conflict’s complexity, combined with the author’s meticulous reporting, makes many of the book’s characters difficult to pigeonhole into categories of good or evil. It’s hard not to admire IRA member Dolours Price’s aspirations for justice, just as it’s impossible not to recoil in horror at the measures she takes to achieve them. There are no sweeping judgments to be made in Say Nothing because every chapter brings a new ethical dilemma. Does a double agent deserve mercy? Are a few deaths by hunger strike worth the political gains that result? Should 10 children be orphaned because their mother is an informant? This is what makes the book so captivating—the historical account serves as a vehicle for the moral questions that plague us all. — Lizz Pankova

Red, White, & Royal Blue CAS EY MCQU I STON

Published in May of this year, Red, White & Royal Blue quickly became a summertime sensation. This romantic comedy follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the United States president, and Henry, Prince of Wales. Following a disastrous encounter at a royal wedding, the two are forced into a fake friendship in order to salvage relations between their respective countries. With time, they begin to realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined, and their tabloid friendship evolves into a secret romance. With his mom running for her second term and his senior year at Georgetown University coming to a close, the last thing Alex expects is for a stuffy prince to make him question not only his own sexuality but also his life goals. Living under the pressure of the Crown, Henry is constantly pretending to be the perfect prince. Red, White & Royal Blue is a heartwarming, and gripping story about the power of love and friendship. The political backdrop makes the story stand out, as issues of race and sexuality are explored on a larger, more complicated scale. Furthermore, every character is developed and unique enough to deserve their own novel. Henry and Alex complement each other perfectly with their love for their countries and their passion for knowledge. Henry soothes Alex’s nervous energy while Alex supports Henry during his darker moods. Their love for each other is powerful enough to change not only their own lives but the minds of people across the world. Alex says it best, “History, huh? Bet we could make some.” Impossible to put down and filled to the brim with romance and laughter, Red, White & Royal Blue is the

perfect summer read. It is binge-able, re-readable and, most of all, loveable. — Samantha Tritt

Where The Crawdads Sing DELIA OWENS A glowing addition to Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club list, Where the Crawdads Sing was recommended to me for its riveting motifs: nature, feminism, and murder. Owens’s descriptions of the Carolina coastline and wildlife make for a beautiful backdrop to an otherwise haunting tale. The story follows Kya Clark, the Marsh Girl, through her upbringing and abandonment in a swamp near a small town in North Carolina. She lives off of the land and mostly keeps to herself, but that doesn’t stop the locals from pointing fingers at her when the town’s sweetheart, Chase Andrew, is found dead in the marsh. Despite its focus on ecology and biology, this book is about love: the care Kya didn’t receive from her family, her deep reverence for nature, and her love affairs with two boys from town. One love breaks her heart and the other leads to an inexplicable death that puts Kya on the stand in a biased and speculative trial. Because Kya is a social outcast, she’s already disliked by many of the townsfolk and the perfect person to blame for the loss of Andrews. She’s an enigma to them—and to the readers. This is the kind of book that readers can’t put down until they’ve finished it. It’s the perfect quick and easy read, but when the mystery is finally solved, it will leave the audience wishing for just one more page. Kya keeps her secrets buried deep within the marsh, but they slowly unravel, bubbling out of the mud, sand, and water and onto the pages of Owens's book. — Brynn Furey

Daisy Jones & The Six TAYLOR J E NKINS RE ID Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest release, Daisy Jones & the Six, follows the rise and fall of the fictional rock band of the same name during the late ’60s and mid’70s. The story weaves together interviews with band members and other important figures into a complex oral history. The details differ slightly as the interviews flip between accounts, and long stretches of recollection are interspersed with short snippets from other band members, sometimes supporting the account, and other times directly contradicting it. This writing style creates a multifaceted narrative that conveys much more than a simple record of events. This book lends itself beautifully to audiobook format with a full cast recording that will enchant even the most stubbornly traditional readers. Throughout this wild ride, Reid delves into addiction, femininity, heartbreak, love, and music. Reid includes song lyrics throughout the narrative, which help to further explain the emotions of the characters during certain scenes without breaking the momentum of the story. The main plot follows the dynamic between lead singer Billy Dunn and promising new artist Daisy Jones. Though all the characters are well developed, Daisy’s bold, brilliant, and unapologetically authentic self could have carried the entire book. She is far from perfect, but her

flaws and struggles make the story impactful. Addiction, something with which both Billy and Daisy struggle, is a huge part of the book. The various perspectives and selfreflective attitude of the writing allow Reid to explore the negative effects of drug use and the glamorization of addiction prevalent within the music industry during the time period. The rich atmosphere and complex story-telling format make it hard to remember that the band isn't real. Though there was no Daisy Jones or The Six, the powerful impact of their story is no less palpable. — Samantha Tritt

The Nickel Boys CO LSO N W HI T EHEAD Fresh on the heels of his 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead has returned with The Nickel Boys, a beautifully written yet sobering novel set during the height of the 1960s civil rights movement. The racial brutality described throughout the novel, however, is reminiscent of the antebellum years, a reminder of the legacy of slavery that has managed to linger and permeate to the present day. The Nickel Boys tells the story of Elwood Curtis, a forward-thinking black teenager from segregated Tallahassee, Florida, who becomes enamored by the heroism of the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. Due to circumstances beyond his control, Elwood finds himself sentenced to attend the Nickel Academy, a corrupt, state-funded institution meant to reform young boys and men. Here, Elwood meets fellow “classmate” Turner, a boy familiar with the dark secrets of Nickel, and finds his ideal vision for peaceful revolution clashing with survival in the predatory and discriminatory criminal justice system. The novel follows the journey of Elwood and his friends, and the violence and trauma it spawns soaks each page with revelatory weight. Yet, the most disturbing aspect of the novel is the reality it reflects. The setting is based on the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, a reform school in the Florida Panhandle that shut its doors a mere eight years ago after torrents of abuse allegations, both historic and recent. Whitehead’s fictional depiction of the school makes the discovery of the graves of over 100 boys, which shocked forensic anthropologists from the University of South Florida in 2011, disgusting yet not unexpected. The Nickel Boys delves deep into predation and abuse in a place where white supremacy reigns free. In doing so, it forces the audience to question the institutions that surround us, and puts in conflict our generation’s own idealism and the reality of the racialized society that we have inherited and continue to perpetuate. — Ryan Mazalatis

August 30, 2019

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