The Hoya: Jan. 27, 2012

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 93, No. 27, © 2012

Friday, january 27, 2012

EGYPT: ONE YEAR LATER

The Hoya’s Sarah Amos captures the mixed feelings in Tahrir Square on the first anniversary of the revolution.

TAKE ME HOME

Georgetown returns to McDonough Arena this weekend after a big win at West Virginia.

GUIDE, G8

Workers Rally at Leo’s Mariah Byrne Hoya Staff Writer

O’Donovan Hall employees staged a demonstration at about 12:35 p.m.

Thursday to voice frustration at the slow pace of contract negotiations between the union they formed last year and their employer, Aramark Higher Education.

About 40 Georgetown University Dining Services employees, accompanied by members of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, gathered on the top floor of the dining hall, chanting phrases such as “What do we want? A contract.

When do we want it? Now,” and “We’ll be back.” Students not involved with the GSC also joined as the demonstration grew.

“It really showed how much

“What [the employees] want to show is that they’re united and ... have the support of students.”

SPORTS, A10

Corp Ramps Up SAFE Proposals Pass Security Efforts Sam Rodman Hoya Staff Writer

Attempted theft Wed. was fifth incident this year Sarah Kaplan Hoya Staff Writer

The Corp is reevaluating its security policies after $3,500 worth of cigarettes was stolen from Vital Vittles Monday and employees deterred another attempted theft two days later.

In the latest incident at the convenience store, an unknown suspect attempted to access the hallway to the store room in which inventory is held. Employees stopped the suspect from entering the hallway but did not detain him. The Department of Public Safety and the Metropolitan Police Department were notified of the incident

and are handling the investigation.

The attempted theft followed a burglary of 50 cartons of cigarettes from the store Monday, which was the fourth incident at Vittles this school year.

In September, employees who were restocking inventory discovered that 90 cartons of cigarettes had been stolen.

Three months later, on Dec. 1, a suspect stole more than $200 in cash from a Vittles office. A further $1,500 in cigarettes was stolen Dec. 6.

“I think that Vittles has been pretty clearly identified as a place from which it is pretty easy to steal and get away unnoticed,” said Alex Pon (COL ’12), CEO of Students of Georgetown, Inc. “We take this very seriously, and … we’re taking steps to make [Vittles] less attractive.”

All three proposals to allocate the $3.4 million generated by the Student Activities Fee Endowment reform were passed in a student body-wide referendum Thursday night.

Voting on the three proposals opened Monday evening and closed at midnight Thursday. The Georgetown University Student Association Election Commission released the final results shortly after polls closed.

The New South Student Center proposal, which adds $2.04 million to expand plans for a student space renovation project in the lower levels of New South, was approved by 86 percent of voters. ­Eighty-seven percent of students voted in favor of the $1.25 million Student Innovation and Public Service Fund, and 90 percent approved Georgetown Energy’s proposed $250,000 allocation to install solar panels on about 43 university townhouses and establish a fund to finance sustainability projects.

See CORP, A5

See SAFE, A7

SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

GUSA President Mike Meaney (SFS ’12) celebrates the successful passage of all three referendums.

Hotel Will Become a Dorm by ’14

The washington posts: sims, magee come UP BIG for hoyas

SAMUEL GEANEY-MOORE (SFS ’12) Georgetown Solidarity Committee Member

Georgetown students care about workers in their community,” GSC member Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13) said.

The union operates under the umbrella of UNITE HERE, a national organization for food service employees, and includes employees of Leo’s, the Jesuit Residence, Cosi, Starbucks and the Preclinical Building’s Dr. Mug. Although the union was certified in March, members say that they still have not been given fair wages or a more affordable health care program. According to Kohnert-Yount, Aramark employees pay more for health care than any other group of workers at Georgetown.

“What [the employees] want to show is that they’re united and they have the support of students,” Samuel Geaney-Moore (SFS ’12), a GSC member, said.

See UNION, A5

Leavey to house 250 students two years before originally planned Hiromi Oka

Hoya Staff Writer

A FAMILY AFFAIR Over an evening at her townhouse in an adult living community in Silver Spring, Md., Ruth Ramsdell Stout, the 93-year-old granddaughter of Boland, worked through the details of the portrait’s ownership. After poring over a comprehensive family tree, dredging up old family stories with her son and nephew and making multiple phone calls to different cousins and sisters, Stout, the matriarch of the family, sifted out the ownership line of the portrait.

“It was always known as Uncle Simpson’s picture,” Stout said.

James Simpson was her great-greatuncle through her maternal grandfather’s line.

According to Stout, the painting came into her branch of the family in Germantown when Boland pick up the portrait from members of the Simpson family, who were living in the Georgetown neighborhood in the early 1900s.

From Germantown, the painting moved to the top of the stairs of Stout’s childhood home in

The university plans to convert the Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center in the Leavey Center into a dormitory by the fall of 2014, two years earlier than previously expected.

Administrators announced that they would expedite the project or find alternate space to house additional students in their final submission to the D.C. Zoning Commission as part of the Campus Plan process earlier this month.

According to university spokeswoman Stacy Kerr, the decision to move ahead of schedule was not prompted by additional community concerns.

“When we reviewed our plans and realized that we could move faster than 2016, [we used] our final campus plan hearing to demonstrate our commitment to moving more beds on campus,” she said.

Georgetown has faced pressure from the surrounding neighborhoods to accommodate more students within the university’s gates. More than 5,000 undergraduates currently live on the main campus.

“Our position is that [we feel we] already house a higher percentage of students on campus than almost any other university,” Kerr said.

However, she added that the implementation of any project will ultimately depend upon the final ruling by the D.C. Zoning Commission. Public deliberations and a preliminary ruling will take place Feb. 9, which will allow the university to gauge interest for the renovation.

If the plan is accepted, the hotel is expected to be converted into a dormitory that would house an additional 250 beds.

As of now, the university does not have any alternative student housing plans if the Zoning Commission does not approve the project.

“It’s very much in the planning stages, but we worked with an architectural firm with extensive student housing experience

See PORTRAIT, A6

See HOUSING, A5

FILE PHOTOS: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior center Henry Sims (left) has emerged as a dominant force in the paint this season. Meanwhile, senior forward Tia Magee sparked a second-half rally to lift the Hoyas over West Virginia. See A10.

Restored Painting Now at Rest on Hilltop David Schuler Hoya Staff Writer

AMANDA SODERLUND/THE HOYA

University curator LuLen Walker stands with the self-portrait of James Alexander Simpson, the university’s first professor of drawing and painting.

Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947

Over 80 years ago, William Francis Boland returned to his Germantown, Md., farmhouse with a painting that had been passed down through his family for generations.

The painting was the self-portrait of Boland’s maternal uncle, James Alexander Simpson, a Georgetown-born artist and the university’s first professor of drawing and painting.

In July 2009, it made one final move — to Georgetown to join the university’s art collection.

In December, the university announced that the 1847 self-portrait of Simpson, who was also responsible for the iconic Georgetown landscapes that adorn posters across campus, had been bequeathed to the university in 2009.

After a restoration process, it was recently hung with a new frame in the Special Collections reading room on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library. The university eventually plans to display it in Healy Hall’s Carroll Parlor, the main showroom for the university art collection.

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, January 27, 2012

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Georgetown to Lose Its Finest

Founded January 14, 1920

To the Editor:

The Cost of Experience: Paying to Work Unpaid internships are the new black. They’re trendy and serve as the ultimate resume boost for an increasingly competitive job market. But they’re becoming an unfair burden to students.

We can’t change the fact that unpaid positions are a reality of our generation’s job market, and there are certain internships that pay sufficiently in experience to make up for a lack of monetary compensation. But in the middle of internship application season, students have to contend with not only the applications themselves, but also protecting themselves from being taken advantage of by employers.

In today’s job market, internships are essential, but a growing number of summer positions are unpaid.

Though there are exceptions — notably in the banking and consulting sectors — government, non-profit and other popular industries usually offer only a modest stipend at best. Some employers have even replaced a number of paid employees with unpaid interns, taking advantage of students’ eagerness to gain workplace experience and strengthen their resumes.

But this wave of unpaid internships can’t be blamed on employers; it’s just the result of classic market capitalism. Why pay people to do work that they are willing to do for free?

Unfortunately, this environment leaves students in a financial bind.

Housing in big cities like D.C. and New York is pricey. Add in additional costs of living like food and transportation, and interns often can’t avoid

falling into the red over the summer.

To help ease the financial strain, students can take several measures, such as interning only part-time while working another better-paying job.

They can spend one summer working to save up money and then intern the next summer.

Students should also seriously assess whether or not they can afford an unpaid internship at all. If they cannot, there is no shame in discussing payment or stipend options with possible employers.

To protect interns, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Economic Policy Institute have set out specific criteria that a company must meet before it is legally allowed to not pay its interns. Joe and Jane Hoya’s nightmare unpaid internship is the one that revolves round trips back and forth from a Xerox machine and the local Starbucks.

Should interns find that their responsibilities are dramatically less than what they expected, they should speak up. The law is on their side: Employers have an obligation to either meet the legal standards of unpaid internships or pay up. Copy-making and coffee delivery services cannot, by the letter of the law, come for free.

There are some unpaid internships worth committing to if they have the potential to advance students’ careers.

But there’s no rule that says students are obligated to work for free. If you’re going to pass up paychecks this summer, make sure you’re doing so for a worthwhile experience.

When I heard professor Deneen was leaving, I was greatly awed and saddened. Why would Georgetown have let him go so easily? I have watched recently as an unusually melancholy cloud came over the core of the Tocqueville Forum, the organization that he founded and which otherwise represents the most animated and eager students I know at Georgetown.

Each of our lives has been touched in profound ways by the work he has done at Georgetown.

The best events that I have experienced through Georgetown were all Tocqueville Forum events. I simply can’t imagine Georgetown without them. Countless lectures, seminars, discussions and amazing trips have all been part of my experience. The Tocqueville Forum is the finest organization at Georgetown I know of; anyone who has never benefited from it has had a sorely lacking education. And I have never met as fascinating, as

intelligent, as devoted or as caring a teacher as professor Deneen. Those who have never sat in a lecture by Deneen have never experienced the spell-binding, eye-opening experience that makes every other class drudgery.

Professor Deneen has guided me through every step of the last two years, the most amazing of my life so far. I really can’t begin to recall the countless conversations I have had back home beginning with, “You remember that professor I told you about? Well … ” I count professor Deneen as having been the singular reason I think of Georgetown as a school that changes lives. The Tocqueville Forum really is the place that students at last see the university for what they always dreamed it would be.

Georgetown, you have lost a great teacher and a great man. It is to our impoverishment.

Professor Deneen, we all will miss you very much.

Chris Mooney (COL ’14)

THE VERDICT

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EDITORIALS

Letting Loose — College Magazine took Georgetown off its list of the 10 most sexually repressed colleges.

Walking the (Georgetown) Carpet — Drew Barrymore walked the red carpet at the AMC Loew’s in Georgetown Wednesday night for the D.C. premiere of her latest movie, “Big Miracle.”

Kickoff for Life — Relay for Life will kick off spring fundraising this Sunday in Lohrfink Auditorium.

Hitting the Target — InterHall is sponsoring $1 bus rides to Target from the McDonough Arena parking lot this Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m.

Not on Track — Although the first phase of the Dulles Metro extension is well underway, Loudoun County officials may cancel the complete extension to Dulles Airport.

THE RAW DEAL by Anthony Mastroianni

The Best, but Not Always for All At a university like Georgetown, where the ideals of fairness and justice pervade the undergraduate experience, one would think an issue like equal study space for all students would never need to be debated. But the Rafik B. Hariri Building of the McDonough School of Business needs a lesson in equality, as it fails to open its doors to all students at all times.

After 10 p.m. on weekdays, the luxurious study spaces within Hariri are accessible only to MSB students.

Although there are numerous ways to elude this restriction, such as having an MSB student swipe you in, the policy makes a symbolic statement contrary to the university’s basic principles of undergraduate equality.

It is true that MSB students pay a fee that goes in part to business-specific technology in the Hariri Building. But such a fee does not justify exclusivity.

The other undergraduate colleges lack comparable academic venues on campus; Hariri is not just the best, but the

only, study space of its kind.

Business students should, by all means, retain exclusive access to certain resources in the Hariri Building, such as the near-unlimited printing they enjoy. But there is no reasonable explanation for denying open access to general study space, including the campus-renowned breakout rooms.

Segregating resources based on undergraduate programs lacks precedent. Imagine if the computer lab in St. Mary’s Hall was reserved for students in the School of Nursing and Health Studies. What if business students were denied access to the Intercultural Center Galleria? Such standards would seem unreasonable, and reserving study space for the MSB is similarly petty.

The Georgetown University Student Association once decided to tackle the topic of this separated student study space, but the issue was placed on the back burner during the Student Activities Fee Endowment reform. It’s time to revisit the issue.

Connor Gregoire, Editor-in-Chief Upasana Kaku, Executive Editor Suzanne Fonzi, Managing Editor Mariah Byrne, Campus News Editor Sarah Kaplan, City News Editor Pat Curran, Sports Editor Steven Piccione, Guide Editor Katherine Foley, Opinion Editor Chris Bien, Photography Editor Stephen Levy, Online Editor Remy Samuels, Layout Editor Samantha Randazzo, Copy Chief Fiona Hanly, Multimedia Editor Michelle Cassidy, Blog Editor

Contributing Editors Kavya Devarakonda, Kathryn DeVincenzo, Eddie Fearon, Lawson Ferguson, Meagan Kelly, Shakti Nochur, Eamon O’Connor, Michael Palmer, Glenn Russo, Lauren Weber

Matthew Strauss Rita Pearson Braden McDonald Evan Hollander Ashwin Wadekar Victoria Edel Alex Sanchez Bethany Imondi Martin Hussey Sari Frankel Christie Shely Zoe Bertrand Jessica Natinsky Emory Wellman Nikita Buley Emily Perkins

Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor

Editorial Board Katherine Foley, Chair Sidney Chiang, Laura Engshuber, Danny Funt, Alyssa Huberts, Nneka Jackson

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @corey_blaine Jan. 24 2 years in a row! RT @thehoya: Meth was discovered in an LXR dorm room last Thursday @AnjaliOWYP

Jan. 24 @OWYP has continued to innovate as its volunteers increasingly innovate in the classroom” Great feature in @thehoya @ColtonMalkerson Jan. 26 The Leo’s workers and students are chanting “contract now” @thehoya

Jonathan Rabar, General Manager Glenn Russo, Director of Corporate Development Kelly Connelly, Director of Finance Claire Willits, Director of Marketing Michael Grasso, Director of Personnel Bryn Hastings, Director of Sales Caroline Boerwinkle Catherine Hendren Evan Marks Shane Sarver Sara Eshleman Kent Carlson Keeley Williams Max Gottlieb Mary Nancy Walter Michael Lindsay-Bayley Jonah Joselow Ryan Smith

Alumni Relations Manager Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Publishing Division Consultant Operations Manager Human Resources Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Public Relations Manager Local Advertisements Manager Online Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Carolyn Shanahan, Chair Connor Gregoire, Web Leslie, Jonathan Rabar, Sam Schneider, Lauren Weber, Amanda Wynter

Policies & Information Letter to the Editor & Viewpoint Policies The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story. Letters should not exceed 300 words.

Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues.

Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-800 words.

Send all submissions to: opinion@ thehoya.com.

Letters and viewpoints are due Sunday at 5 p.m. for Tuesday’s issue and Wednesday at 5 p.m. for Friday’s issue.

The Hoya reserves the right to reject letters or viewpoints and edit for length, style, clarity and accuracy. The Hoya further reserves the right to write headlines and select illustrations to accompany letters and viewpoints.

Corrections & Clarifications If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Upasana Kaku at (202) 687-3415 or email executive@ thehoya.com.

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OPINION

friDAY, January 27, 2012

THE HOYA

imperfect union

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VIEWPOINT • Stephen Wu

A Sign of Societal Ills The State of the University F F

ew things reveal the worst aspects try. What they have found is deeply trouof American political life as effec- bling. Abortion in America is inextricatively as the poisonous debate sur- bly linked with poverty and race.

The studies by Guttmacher found that rounding abortion.

This past Sunday marked the 39th the relative rate of poor women receivanniversary of Roe v. Wade, the con- ing abortions is twice that of all women, troversial 1973 Supreme Court deci- and more than five times that of women sion legalizing abortion in the United 200 percent or more above the poverty States. With the anniversary came the line. Moreover, black and Hispanic womannual marches, platitudes and ser- en are significantly overrepresented mons by politicians on both sides of among the women who get abortions, the aisle, which do nothing to resolve relative to their proportion in the overthe underlying problems abortion truly all American population.

Thus, the key to understanding and rerepresents.

The pro-choice faction declares their solving the abortion issue lies in solving opponents to be chauvinistic enemies of the underlying economic and racial iswomen’s rights — extremists who seek to sues that plague American society today.

The tragic reality of abortion in America oppress women.

Those who call themselves pro-life is that it reflects our society’s neglect of label their opposition proponents of the poor and minorities.

Poor women find infanticide and themselves in the murder, and porposition of needing tray them as an alabortions because most bloodthirsty they do not have the cult that relishes in financial resources death. One example to care for children. is a 2006 book popuOften, there is no falar among the prother in the picture life movement that to help them. Morelabels the pro-choice over, many poor and movement as “The minority women Party of Death.”

Sam Blank work jobs in the serThis venomous vice sector that do rhetoric damages our Abortion is a symptom of not grant maternity country, serving only leave, forcing them to polarize the public poverty, lack of access to choose between and foster a climate to contraception, their jobs and their of hatred that all too frequently breeds vioinadequate sex education children.

Opponents of lence. Less than three rights years ago, George Tiland neglect for women. abortion would have us beler, a doctor who perlieve that outlawing formed abortions in Kansas, was gunned down in his church abortion is the key to resolving the on a Sunday morning by someone claim- issue. Hence, they advocate for legising to be pro-life. His death stands as a lation restricting access to abortion, tragic testament to the consequences and seek the appointment of Supreme of the hateful and divisive rhetoric sur- Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. However, the notion that simrounding abortion.

However, these violent consequences ply outlawing abortion will resolve the are only part of the problem in the abor- issue is pure fantasy.

Another study by the Guttmacher tion debate. What is even more striking is how divorced from reality the two Institute reveals there is absolutely no correlation between restrictive abortion sides are.

Both perspectives see the abortion is- laws and lower abortion rates. South sue from too narrow an ideological view- American and African countries tend point, and each side obscures the dark to have more restrictive abortion laws. reality of what abortion truly means However, those regions have the highest for the United States. The issue of abor- abortion rates in the world. In fact, the tion is not a struggle for women’s rights countries with the most liberal abortion against sexism or a battle for life against laws, namely in Western Europe, North America and Oceania, have the lowest a “culture of death.”

Rather, abortion is a symptom of abortion rates.

Thus, abortion is a symptom of pova broader underlying moral and economic catastrophe in our society that erty, lack of access to contraception, inboth sides in the debate largely ignore. adequate sex education and neglect for Pro-life activists are correct when they women across America and the world.

If you’re pro-life, don’t blame the condemn abortion as a representation of the ills of American society. However, women or the doctors who perform they are wrong in their diagnosis of them. Blame a society that neglects the women who seek abortions, forcthose ills.

To shed light on what the phenom- ing them into the desperate and tragic enon of abortion truly represents, one decision to either raise children they must consider demographics. The Gutt- cannot afford or terminate their pregmacher Institute, a non-profit organiza- nancies. tion that studies issues of reproductive and sexual health, has released reports Sam Blank is a senior in the College. IMtracking abortion rates across the coun- PERFECT UNION appears every other Friday.

VIEWPOINT • Nabeel Zewail

aculty at universities nowadays come and go fairly regularly, so it is a rare professorial announcement that shakes a school.

Recently, Patrick Deneen, a former columnist for this paper and professor of government, announced his departure from Georgetown for the University of Notre Dame. Seeking a place that more fully embraces the Catholic identity of its founding and the Western philosophical and literary canon, Deneen has, through his actions, put the question of this university’s character squarely into focus.

At one end is the vision of the traditional Catholic college, which puts special emphasis on Church teaching and classical education. At the other is a machine where departments and committees and working groups independently spin as little cogs in a great apparatus that clanks along, all the while doing groundbreaking research and perfecting the manufacture of various widgets.

Any honest appraisal of Georgetown would place her more in the latter category, and there are certainly tangible benefits in being a forward-thinking research university. Federal funding flows freely, research teams discover the cure for some malady and the prestige of the place grows in direct proportion to the advancements it can offer to modern life.

What dies, however, is the soul of the college.

I confess I am not a dispassionate observer in this contest.

I admire and am involved in the

O

Libya has seen the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi and the beginning of a new era. Syria and Bahrain continue to demand their freedom in the face of oppression and tyranny.

But even after so much has happened, there is still much work to be done to realize the goals that defined the Egyptian revolution.

The next government must write a constitution that sets out the rights of all citizens to freely express their minds and practice their religions openly.

It also protects the rights of women.

Furthermore, the government needs to root out corruption in order to promote a functional democracy.

Egypt will also need to start building a new society from one that is broken, starting with the development of an education system that will allow its citizens to be competitive in the modern world. This system will have to begin at the K-12 level and ensure that every child attends a structurally sound school. Egyptian universities also need reforms that ensure that every college student has the opportunity to excel.

Currently, a substantial percentage of Egyptians live on an income of less then $2 a day. Focusing on economic opportunities remains critical to realizing the goals of the revolution.

Some say that Egypt is incapable of this change, that its citizens are by nature unable to live in a democratic and open society. But one year ago, who would have guessed that the Egyptian people would storm Tahrir Square, demanding freedom? I have no doubt that Egypt and the whole Arab world will continue to shock the international community.

Nabeel Zewail is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service and is on the board of the NAS Arab Society.

eminent Roman Catholic college, founded by no less than the first Catholic bishop in the United States. We are the touchstone of Catholic education in this country. If Georgetown loses the faith, who indeed is left to defend it?

In a word, it is a tragedy that brilliant Catholic academics who wish to integrate their religious convictions into their vocation no longer feel welcome in Washington. We will never go back to being a small religious school. To have the space compressed, however, for those who would defend the old ways, and to squeeze them out slowly is the best example of eradicating intellectual diversity from a place that ostensibly prizes free discourse and thought.

We are not yet a trade school — though we move precipitously closer — and there is unlikely to be a university-wide move towards refocusing on the humanities. Deneen’s departure is emblematic of the fact that classical learning no longer feels able even to compete.

The loss of the one end upsets the equilibrium of the university and makes it poorer overall, and those who would disparage Deneen and his philosophy end up losing the only thing that keeps them in grounded perspective.

We cannot be better off without the Patrick Deneens of the world to question and probe our deepest convictions, and when we lose the animating force that makes this school distinct, only hollow men await.

Stephen Wu is a junior in the College.

THE DISCONCERTED DEMAGOGUE by Daniel Yang

as this jesuit sees it ...

Sometimes, Wrong Can Be Right

A Revolution Turns One F

n Jan. 25 of last year, the people of Egypt rose up to demand freedom and a different course for their country.

They went to the streets of Suez, Alexandria and Cairo, without religious or personal motives, but rather because they had lived in a country that denied them freedom and dignity.

They wanted to see change. In 18 days, the world saw Egypt transform from a country that was governed by a pharaoh to one that had a future and — for the first time in decades — hope.

A year later, Egypt’s first democratically elected parliament held its inaugural session. The emergency law that has prevented Egyptians from exercising their right to peacefully assemble is being lifted. Egypt’s parliament is scheduled to appoint a 100-member committee that will begin the process of writing a new constitution. For the first time in Egypt’s history, the head of state will be limited to two four-year terms.

But all this change came with a price. Many people died for this cause, some of whom were our age. They were just beginning their lives, yet were willing to sacrifice everything so that their children would have the life they never could. Those are the true leaders and heroes of the revolution.

Egypt’s transformation must continue for them.

However, it is not only Egypt that has seen this change. Scores of Yemenis, Libyans, Syrians, Bahrainis, Moroccans and — even before Egypt — Tunisians have taken to the streets in the name of freedom and dignity. Yemen is in the first stages of the transition into democracy. Tunisia, like Egypt, had its first-ever session of parliament and is beginning to write a new constitution.

work of the Tocqueville Forum, and regard professor Deneen as an incisive mind and a consummate gentleman. A university is bigger than any single individual, but he represents something that is dear to Georgetown, and which she is in danger of losing.

Deneen’s business — and the business of all great teachers — is to challenge students to think about the world and to get in tune with what is timelessly true.

Skills for the workforce will be developed in the workforce; the life of the mind is the university’s charge. Ideally, college graduates would come out broadly educated, able to understand the centuries of thought that have delved into the question of what it is to be human.

Professor Deneen and others like him have long fought to revive humane letters, and to help undergraduates find this common humanity. It is often glimpsed in Plato and St. Thomas, Bonaventure and Tully. How many students, though, have read any part of the Summa and could give a reasonable account of Thomistic prudence? Forgetting that, who could name the century in which the man lived and wrote?

What we need now more than ever are living, breathing teachers who can vivify these authors and ideas and explain why they are so important.

Perhaps more alarming, though, is Deneen’s explicit grievance at the lack of Catholicism at this place. We are Georgetown, the nation’s oldest and pre-

or Christmas, a friend sent me a pleasant book with well-known facts that everyone gets wrong. For example, “Where is Scotland Yard?”

The answer is “Scotland Yard is in England.”

Another example of a question is, “Where in the Bible is gambling condemned?” It turns out that it isn’t — but excessive love of money and trying to get rich too fast are indeed frowned upon in that famous source.

We have all heard the expression: “Don’t bother me with facts!”

Indeed, with cell phones and computers, we are constantly bothered by facts.

During conversation, you may wonder “Who won the World Series in 1936?” Bam, two seconds later, someone checks on his cell: “Yankees.”

The reality is, facts have become more of a bother than ever.

One curious thing about us human beings is that we can spend much time, as it were, getting it wrong. At first sight, this possibility of our erring or sinning might indicate that something is wrong with the world or with us in it.

But if we could never get anything wrong or do anything wrong, we could not be the kind of odd beings we are. We are best described as fallible. The drama of each of our existing lives is carried out within this context of our finiteness and fallibility.

The other side of this principle is that we sometimes get things right and know that we do. This knowledge usually entails realizing that we were wrong at some point. With this realization comes the responsibility to acknowledge the principle that was right. This possibility means that we are be-

ings who can correct ourselves if need be, as it often is.

The question next arises: Do we want to be right solely by virtue of our own assertion? If the basis on which we are right is simply our own opinion, then we logically cannot disagree with anyone else who affirms the opposite of what we maintain. In other words, are there principles or standards that would not simply be what we say

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

Does it make any difference if we cannot get it right? but what we discover, standards that are found in the nature of things?

In this latter case, our discussions are not simply about our opinions but about what we can grasp and understand in common.

Take the question of justice, something we probably learn before we learn anything else. It is a pretty demanding virtue. Plato worried about whether the world was created in justice. If not, nothing much mattered.

To give another example, in a “Peanuts” television special while Linus is at summer camp, his sis-

ter Lucy uncharacteristically sends him a care package.

Charlie Brown, Lucy’s neighbor, is seen running excitedly across the lawn, shouting: “Look Lucy, I got a letter from Linus.”

Her response is ominous: “That blockhead; he never wrote to me.”

Charlie reads from the letter while Lucy listens with a big frown on her face. She shouts again, “He wrote to you, but he didn’t write to me! That blockhead.”

Now, Lucy is not the easiest character to deal with. Linus is more of an innocent, an enthusiast, even a visionary. Lucy believes in reciprocal justice. I give you this; you give me that. She wants her own letter from her brother. What is he doing writing to the loony neighbor kid before writing to her?

How do we get this scene right?

It is, if we think about it, an issue that confronts each of us almost every day in one form or another.

We feel slighted. We do not get what we think is our due. This sense of outrage sours our souls.

Can Lucy really in justice demand her own letter? If she receives a letter knowing that the only reason Linus wrote her is because she would slug him if he did not, is the letter worth much? The best things are beyond justice.

Does it make any difference if we cannot get it right? No, only if we choose to not get it right.

Then it makes all the difference in the world. Indeed, the world exists that such final choices can be made within its confines.

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., is a professor in the government department.

Fr. Schall, Fr. Maher and Fr. O’Brien alternate as the writers of As This Jesuit Sees It ... , which appears every other Friday.

A4

NEWS

THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Student Affairs announced its goals for the year at the third Hoya Roundtable Wednesday. Read more at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

STATE OF THE UNION

verbatim your guy “ Ifwins, you get a job in the White House.

”

Maggie Cleary (COL ’14), on the perks of volunteering for a presidential campaign.

See story on A7.

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SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Students gathered in Sellinger Lounge Tuesday to watch President Barack Obama’s fourth State of the Union address. Student groups including the GU College Democracts and the university’s chapter of the NAACP held viewing parties to watch the speech.

IT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND Catch a screening of “It Happened One Night” at the E Street Cinema and look out for more exciting weekend events featured on 4E. blog.thehoya.com

New Burleith Citizens Association President Shares Goals ESTEBAN GARCIA Hoya Staff Writer

Chris Clements, who was elected president of the Burleith Citizens Association in November, assumed his position this month. The BCA has been a vocal opponent of Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan and has provided testimony at numerous Zoning Commission hearings on the plan.

THE HOYA sat down with Clements to get his take on the Campus Plan and a range of other neighborhood relations issues.

THE HOYA: What, in your opinion, are the biggest issues facing the residents of Burleith?

Chris Clements: Unfortunately, the obvious answer is the Georgetown Campus Plan. Obviously, that’s dominated just about everything over the last year,

but my hope is that we’ll get some resolution on that one way or another, and then we can move beyond that and address some newer concerns that might have been marginalized because there was so much focus on the GU Campus Plan. My hope is that we can start and encourage residents and students alike to start formulating some things you want to see your neighborhood association undertake.

THE HOYA: How do you and the rest of the BCA leadership feel about Georgetown’s Campus Plan as presented to the Zoning Commission Nov. 17?

Clements: At that point, the die had been cast, and I kind of feel that [after] … we got past the final hearing … there were just some issues I don’t think the administration or the neighborhood associations were going to come to agree on. That’s why you have adjudicating

bodies like the Zoning Commission.

I think the consensus … was that the actions that the administration took to address some of the concerns didn’t really get at the heart of the matter. On the flip side, I can certainly understand where the Georgetown administration is coming from. ... They felt they had already done enough. I can completely understand students’ concerns. I think that there was just one bridge too far that couldn’t be solved between the parties so they threw it to the Zoning Commission.

THE HOYA: Which university practices are of particular concern for Burleith?

Clements: If you look at the record since even 1990 … the main concern was the sheer number of students living in the community and … [residents believed] the way to address that was to increase student housing on cam-

pus. The administration did come back with a plan using the Leavey Center to increase student beds [but] the consensus opinion was that wasn’t enough and didn’t get to a level that we as a group thought was necessary, and that was the real issue that we just couldn’t resolve.

THE HOYA: Many GU students reside in Burleith. Do they play a role in the BCA at all?

Clements: Not that I know of. My experience is limited to about two months.

I would certainly invite them to [participate] and I think that that would be a good thing. When I say “resident of Burleith,” I include students. I think it’s wrong to exclude them simply on the basis that they’re students. … I did the Burleith cleanup and there are students out there. That gets to one of the things I hope we can move beyond. I don’t want there to be a relationship

between longtime permanent residents and students that’s an animosity type of relationship.

THE HOYA: Is there always consensus among BCA leadership on issues relating to Georgetown?

Clements: I’m not sure. I definitely believe a majority of residents agree with the BCA. My impression was that the majority of residents were in favor of the position that the BCA board took. … Looking down the road — I know it’s been a long slog here — my hope is that we can take something positive … as a community because nobody’s going anywhere; 10, 20 years down the line, we’ll all still be here. My hope is we can find something constructive here because … I would like to not see our community and GU go through this again. … Perhaps I’m naive but that’s what I’d like to see.

GU Reacts to Birth Control Mandate Forum to Seek New Leader MATTHEW STRAUSS Hoya Staff Writer

In a shift that will force the university to modify health insurance policies, new federal health care regulations will require most religiously affiliated employers to provide contraceptive coverage for employees.

Before the decision was announced by the Obama administration last Friday, religious institutions, including religiously affiliated universities, were exempt from providing contraceptive coverage as part of their employees’ health care benefits.

Currently, health insurance purchased or provided through Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Hospital does not include contraceptive coverage. However, employees may choose to subscribe to an alternative national plan that does provide such coverage, according to university spokeswoman Stacy Kerr.

“Georgetown offers separate insurance plans to students and to employees that are tailored to our mission,” she wrote in an email.

In addition to providing university and hospital employees their choice of health insurance options, insurance plans provided by Georgetown are not mandatory for students.

In August 2011, the Department of

Health and Human Services released a tentative list of rules and regulations that would be enacted under the auspices of the new Affordable Care Act, including the new policy on contraceptives. The policies were officially adopted last Friday.

Since the changes were proposed in August, Catholic and Jesuit institutions had been actively lobbying to allow exemptions for religiously affiliated universities.

The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities — of which Georgetown is a member — expressed concerns with the regulations in a Sept.

26 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

“Compliance with these new rules would force us to deny our religious institutional heritage and identity by helping our students to act contrary to Catholic teaching and belief,” the letter read.

The policy has drawn mixed reactions from groups on campus.

H*yas for Choice Treasurer Brad Crist (SFS ’12) said that while the initiative may offend some, Georgetown and other religiously--affiliated organizations have an obligation to provide contraception.

“I understand how Obama’s policy may offend some conservative religious organizations. However, Georgetown

must also protect the health and wellbeing of [its] female employees, and the benefits of birth control extend beyond just contraception,” Crist wrote in an email. “Birth control represents one of the largest costs to women today, and, in my opinion, if we want full health care coverage in this country, [it] should include birth control too.”

President of GU Right to Life Joseph Cardone (COL ’14) was concerned that the ruling would force Georgetown into conflict with its Catholic identity.

“I have a problem with the fact that Georgetown is being forced to provide things [it is] morally opposed to,” he said.

The exact timeline for the implementation of the Obama administration’s policies remains unclear. The rules released by the Department of Health and Human Services dictate that employers must comply by August 2012, but religious institutions may receive a one-year waiver before they are obliged to implement new policies.

Kerr said that Georgetown will comply with all federal regulations.

“If there are any changes to the law, Georgetown will continue to provide health insurance that is legally compliant,” she wrote. “We will be reviewing and evaluating the new regulations, ever mindful of our Catholic and Jesuit identity and mission.”

MARIAH BYRNE Hoya Staff Writer

The Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy is looking for a new leader after founder and director Patrick Deneen announced that he will resign from the university at the end of the semester.

Deneen, who will join the faculty at the University Notre Dame next year, expressed concerns about the university’s ability to find a replacement to lead the program.

According to Chester Gillis, dean of the College, the university expects to find a new director from within the current faculty.

“Georgetown affirms its commitment to continuing the work of the forum and will shortly confirm and announce the appointment of an interim director of the forum,” he wrote in an email. “Permanent leadership will likely emerge following internal discussion among academic leaders and faculty and perhaps in the context of current faculty searches.”

The Tocqueville Forum was founded in 2006 to study the Western philosophical and religious roots of the United States. It holds regular speaker events, which are open to the public, and reading groups for its over 70 student fellows.

The forum also publishes an academic

journal, Utraque Unum, sponsors courses and offers post-graduate fellowships.

Student fellows of the program voiced concerns that it will be difficult to find a new director who shares Deneen’s passion for the forum and who sees higher education in the same unique light he does.

“I think it will be difficult for someone to follow in his footsteps because he’s left such an impression,” Peter Prindiville (SFS ’14), a student fellow in the forum, said.

Deneen cited a lack of support for the forum among faculty and administrators as a factor in his decision to leave Georgetown. “[Over] the years, it has been increasingly evident to me that I have exceedingly few allies and friends elsewhere on the faculty to join me in [the forum] and dim prospects that the trajectory of faculty hiring will change,” he wrote in an email to select students and in a post on his personal blog. “I have felt isolated from the heart of the institution where I have devoted so many of my hours and my passion.”

Gillis, however, described the Tocqueville Forum as one of the university’s integral programs.

“The forum has added significantly to the vibrancy and diversity of perspectives that make up the intellectual life of our university,” he wrote.

News

friday, january 27, 2012

THE HOYA

A5

Thefts at Vital Vittles SAO Assumes Role as Mediator May Be Connected Kelly Church Hoya Staff Writer

CORP, from A1 According to Pon, these steps include working with the University Facilities and Student Housing to restrict access to the hallway behind Vittles that leads to offices and storage areas and to improve the lock on the doors to the store room. The Corp is also focused on implementing measures to ensure the safety of employees.

“Nobody has felt unsafe, but we don’t know whether the suspect [was] armed,” Pon said. “Our main concern is our employees’ safety.”

According to Pon, suspects have been stealing cigarettes by walking through Vittles and picking the lock on the door leading to the storage area.

“People are in and out of there all the time. … You can’t see the entire hallway from one end to the other,” he said.

Usually, the thefts are not noticed until employees take inventory and realize that items are missing.

In the December and January cases, employees were able to review video footage of the suspects captured on security cameras and provide images to officers investigating the incidents.

The cameras were installed in Vital Vittles and Hoya Snaxa last semester as part of The Corp’s ongoing security upgrades.

However, no suspects have yet been

apprehended in any of the incidents.

“MPD and DPS have been very good at responding, but unfortunately, we haven’t made a whole lot of progress in pursuing the suspects,” Pon said.

Suspects in the two most recent thefts were both described in Metropolitan Police Department incident reports as Hispanic males between the ages of 25 and 40, with a medium build and a light complexion.

Pon said that it is unclear whether the thefts are connected but he noted similarities between the suspects in the incident on Wednesday and previous thefts.

“In my unexpert opinion it was a person who looked very similar to the people we have seen on our security footage in the past,” he said.

Though The Corp has insurance against thefts, no decision has been made to file a claim regarding Monday’s incident.

Despite the recurring thefts, Pon said that he believes the new security measures will help prevent future incidents.

“We are definitely disappointed by all these situations. We’re trying to run a business so we can best serve Georgetown, and unfortunately, these thefts make it more difficult for us to do so,” he said. “But I truly do believe we are on the right track to addressing a lot of the concerns.”

Students Demonstrate With Leo’s Workers union, from A1 Geaney-Moore explained that the demonstration was a way for students, particularly those originally involved in the unionization efforts, to show support for the employees’ campaign.

“It’s great to see the workers and students together. To me that’s the real meaning of solidarity,” Aramark employee and union leader Donté Crestwell wrote in a press release. “We are seeking a living wage, reasonable benefits and a

40-hour work week for all. We’re glad that we’ve had the support of Georgetown students through this process.”

Thursday’s participants kept the demonstration a secret until it began during the lunchtime rush on a day on which Aramark officials were on campus.

After the short demonstration, employees immediately returned to work, and members of the GSC passed out flyers to inform students of the progress of negotiations thus far.

After its first semester, the Student Advocacy Office has developed a foundation to serve as a resource to help students navigate the disciplinary process, its directors said.

The SAO, a project developed by the Georgetown University Student Association’s executive branch, has been working to establish a successful partnership with the Office of Student Conduct since the initiative kicked off in early fall 2011.

Although all student meetings are confidential, SAO co-director Ace Factor (COL ’12) said that the majority of cases the office works with are Category A violations, the least serious and most common category of offense, which includes alcohol and noise violations. The directors declined to give a rough estimate of the number of students served.

The advocates have also helped students by answering questions

about the Code of Student Conduct and acting as a resource for those who need help understanding the disciplinary system.

According to James Pickens (COL ’12), co-director of the SAO, the most recent meeting with the Disciplinary Review Committee, the university’s student disciplinary system, was focused on expanding the group’s presence on campus.

“We specifically discussed ways for Residence Life and Student Conduct to work together with the SAO to help students through the disciplinary process,” he said. “I believe we have been officially recognized by the university, both as [an offshoot] of the GUSA executive [branch] and as a legitimate part of campus life.”

The newly-created office received almost 60 applications at the beginning of the academic year from hopefuls wanting to become student advocates. Although only 18 applicants were selected, the enthusiasm was encouraging, according to Factor.

“We had more applicants than we needed. I think that’s a good thing. I think it shows that student rights on campus are something people care about,” he said.

The new advocates undergo a strict training process that requires meetings with the Office of Residential Life and Director of Student Conduct Judy Johnson.

The process ensures that all advocates have a firm understanding of the disciplinary system and are adequately able to help students, Factor said.

Pickens and Factor have also been working on adding a Bill of Student Rights and Responsibilities to the university’s Code of Student Conduct.

Although Pickens and Factor are graduating this semester, they hope that the office will continue to provide for students in the future.

“One of our biggest goals is having it continue,” Factor said. “It really depends on another group of committed students to help continue that.”

DPS BLOTTER Thursday, Jan.19, 2012

witnesses.

Alcohol Violation, Village A, 1:18 a.m.

A Department of Public Safety officer investigating a noise complaint discovered the underage occupants of a room consuming alcoholic beverages. The case has been forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct.

Theft, Walsh Building, 12:25 p.m.

A faculty member reported that he accidently left a university iPad in a classroom. When he returned to retrieve the iPad, it was gone. There are no suspects or witnesses.

Assault, Harbin Hall, 11:07 p.m.

DPS officers responded to a call for an assault on an Resident Assistant by an inebriated and noncompliant student. The case has been referred to student conduct.

Theft, Southwest Quad Parking Garage, 8:42 a.m.

A staff member reported that a generator was stolen from a parked truck. The case is under investigation.

Burglary, New South, 9:25 a.m.

A student reported that an unknown person entered her unsecured room while she was sleeping and stole her laptop computer. The case is under investigation.

Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 Theft, McDonough Gymnasium, 10 p.m.

A student reported that her iPhone was stolen from her jacket while she attended a party on Dec. 12, 2011. There are no suspects or

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 Burglary, New Research Building, 9:34 a.m.

A faculty member reported that an office suite was burglarized.

Money and an electronic item were stolen. The case is under investigation.

Theft, Hariri Building, 11:07 p.m.

A student reported that her unattended laptop was stolen. There are no suspects or witnesses.

Theft, Harbin Hall Bicycle Rack, 11 a.m.

A visitor reported that he parked his bicycle on the bike rack. When he returned, he found the bike was stolen. There are no suspects or witnesses.

Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 Alcohol Violation, Village C West, 2:52 a.m.

DPS officers investigating a noise complaint made contact with underage students drinking alcoholic beverages. The case has been referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Drug Violation, Village C West, 2:52 a.m.

DPS officers recovered drugs from a student room.

Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 Theft, Vital Vittles, 3:38 p.m.

A student worker reported that an unknown male entered the stock area unauthorized and stole two cases of cigarettes. The case is being investigated by DPS and the Metropolitan Police Department.

The blotter is compiled weekly by the Department of Public Safety.

GU to Add 250 Beds in 2014 HOUSING, from A1 to determine the feasibility of the conversion and to develop a concept plan,” Kerr said.

Because the project has not yet been approved, Kerr was unable to give a potential date for the start of construction. While the dorm is slated to be completed and ready for occupancy by the fall of 2014, no details were given on which year of students the new dorm would house.

The Hoya previously reported the conversion of the hotel would cost about $8 million, which does not include the revenue lost from the discontinuation of the hotel and decreased business of the conference

INDEX

center.

Although the conversion plans will not be finalized for several months, students already have mixed reactions about the possible change.

“I think it’s going to be a good idea because the rooms will be so nice,” Emily Schuster (COL ’13) said. “Since it’s a hotel, it’s made for high-paying guests.”

Others, however, feel that the loss of the hotel could impact those who come to visit the school.

“My parents stay there all the time,” Hillary Heer (COL ’15) said. “I feel like it’s so much more convenient to [stay there] when you’re [visiting as] a prospective student.”

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I will pay $710 per week and get you 1 car. The Boy is friendly and playful with anyone.

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The Hoya Classifieds Line Ad Rates Regular line classified ads are $0.50 per word.

Optional Extras Bold words: $1.00 per issue. Make individual words or an entire ad stand out.

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For more information, please email classifiedads@thehoya.com

A6

news

THE HOYA

Week Recognizes Jesuit Identity Emma Hinchliffe Hoya Staff Writer

In an annual celebration of Jesuit traditions, the university will hold its 12th annual Jesuit Heritage Week from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4.

“It’s a week when we celebrate our roots and engage our Georgetown faculty, students and community in our heritage,” Alma Caballero (SFS ’13), co-chair of the Jesuit Heritage Week Committee, said. “It’s not only for the Catholic community. We try to engage every single faith and student on campus. We break the normal routine and identify with what our university really means.”

Michael Fischer (SFS ’13), the other co-chair of Jesuit Heritage Week and a columnist for The Hoya, believes that the events provide opportunities not only to appreciate the Jesuit tradition but also to give thanks to the Jesuits at Georgetown.

“The Jesuits are a humble group, yet they give so much of their time, talent and lives to make Georgetown the place it is and make us

Hoyas who we are,” he wrote in an email.

The week will include a variety of academic, spiritual and service events, beginning with an opening mass in Gaston Hall Sunday evening.

According to Caballero, many of the other planned events were shaped by the desire of members of the student committee to reflect on their own personal faith backgrounds.

Events will range from talks on women’s role in the church and Jesuits in Latin America and Africa to the popular Spike-a-Jesuit volleyball tournament. The week’s festivities will also include a conversation about Jesuit identity with students at the School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

“We interact with our Doha students and bring Jesuit Heritage Week to them, and I think that’s really important and interesting because the majority of those students are not Catholic, yet they’re still celebrating their Jesuit identity,” Caballero said. “It’s an interfaith dialogue.”

friday, january 27, 2012

On Display: A glimpse into the past, a momento for the future

LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA

“Moments in History: Student Life at Georgetown,” the result of Emma Green’s (COL ’12) summer research in Lauinger LIbrary’s Special Collections, officially opened Wednesday. The exhiibt will remain permanently on the first floor of the Leavey Center.

Pursuing Health Professor Returns in Portrait Form Beyond the Border PORTRAIT. from A1

Heather Flynn Hoya Staff Writer

When Anja Frost (COL ’12) and Ashley Sharp (COL ’12) founded the Georgetown chapter of GlobeMed, a national organization that helps provide health care and education in Guatemala, they were hoping to fill a void on campus.

“Georgetown is such an inter nationally -focused school, but before we didn’t have a global health club, which is odd since there are basically three majors at Georgetown dedicated to global health,” current CoPresident Anna Trakhtenberg (SFS ’13) said.

GlobeMed, a national organization founded at Northwestern University, links student groups from 46 different American college campuses with individual health organizations in developing countries around the globe.

Last semester, the group raised more than $6,500 through bake sales and individual donations to support a new nutrition program at Primeros Pasos, a health clinic based in the Palajunoj Valley in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The clinic works in the surrounding rural communities to provide health care and education to the area’s youth.

Lisa Convery, the clinic’s development director, estimated that in the past few years the clinic has treated

almost half of the children and adolescents living in those areas, or about 3,000 patients annually. Many of these children would otherwise be at risk for deadly but preventable diseases like appendicitis.

“There’s highly limited access to public health care for people in the rural areas, and there’s no health education in any of the curriculums in their public education system,” Convery said. “That’s why it’s so important that organizations like GlobeMed … provide the services needed to marginalized communities.”

The organization now hopes to raise a total of $10,000, which will go toward hiring a nutritionist to assess the needs of Palajunoj Valley’s population and distribute vitamins and other nutritional supplements.

Four to five members of GlobeMed at Georgetown will also visit Primeros Pasos this summer to volunteer at the clinic and in the surrounding community.

“The unique thing about us is that we actually get to go there and see the people you’re helping,” Club Secretary Sheena Karkal (COL ’15) said. “I’m really excited to get to talk to the kids, tell them what’s a proper meal and how to take care of themselves [and] help people who don’t have access to the things we take for granted.”

Gaithersburg, Md. In one storied family tale, an in-law particularly taken by the painting stepped back to gather a better angle and tumbled all the way to the bottom of the stairs, eventually ending up in the hospital. She made a full recovery.

At one point, the portrait hung over the sofa in the living room of another home, where it appeared in family photos. Uncle Simpson was then placed over the mantle. He moved with families and passed through hands, ultimately ending up in the Riderwood Village community in Silver Spring, the last residence of Stout’s sister, Jane Ramsdell Frank, and her husband, Richard.

But the 2009 deaths of both Jane and Richard Frank left the painting in another period of transition.

“I called Ruth [Stout] and asked her, I said, ‘Who was the person in the picture?’ She said, ‘All I know is that it was Uncle Simpson,’” Justin Frank, Jane and Richard’s son, said. “I had to do something with it. Nobody wanted it.”

From there, Justin’s sister, Marcia Frank, a former archivist, found out that James Simpson had taught at Georgetown. After calling the university, the siblings were eventually led to the university’s art curator, LuLen Walker.

“We were thrilled,” Walker said. “I didn’t know such a thing existed.”

THE MAN BEHIND THE LANDSCAPES Not only did no one outside his family appear to know of his self portrait’s existence, but no one at Georgetown had ever even seen an image of James Simpson before.

“I didn’t have a clue what he looked like,” Walker said.

Simpson, who was born in 1805, is known largely in the university community for the five iconic landscape paintings of the campus he completed in the late 1820s and early 1830s. These are the same landscapes that hang in Carroll Parlor and the president’s office and

whose prints decorate walls throughout campus and hang in the homes of scores of alumni.

“A portrait is an artwork, but it’s also a historical document,” Walker said.

Simpson made his mark on the regional art scene as well, primarily in portraiture. Currently two of his works on display and a third in storage at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A note in the university archives by Simpson dated Sept. 7, 1831, explained that one of the sunbeam-laced landscapes was painted precisely as the campus appeared at exactly 2 p.m. that day from the Trinity Church steeple (the church’s location was different from where it stands on N Street today), complete with cows grazing in an idyllic hillside pasture.

“The landscapes in Carroll Parlor are always everyone’s favorites, even though we have a van Dyck and a Luca Giordano,” Walker said.

Now the man behind those bright landscapes has his moment in the sun, as well.

“I think he did a really fine job,” Walker, who worked as a curator at the National Portrait Gallery for 10 years before taking up her current position in 1999, said.

“I see it as him proclaiming the peak of his artistic career and artistic success.”

The 1847 portrait did in fact come in the prime of Simpson’s career. He had already completed numerous commissioned portraits by that time and the year before had finished a reproduction of Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of Commodore Stephen Decatur for the naval hero’s widow.

A FACE REFRESHED Simpson’s self portrait came to Georgetown in need of significant restoration and cleaning. Most notable was the fact that a decades-old L-shaped tear appeared near the middle of the painting, according to Stout.

Ann Creager, the art conservator commissioner charged with restoring the

portrait, worked to mend it over a sixmonth period. She had a challenging task in repairing that tear, which had been poorly patched over using a piece of cloth and what she judged to be Elmer’s glue.

After addressing other restoration needs, Creager was able to begin cleaning away over 160 years of dirt, grime, varnish and more dirt. The six-month restoration project was completed in September 2011.

“I knew that painting was going to clean, and I knew it was going to be dramatic,” Creager says. “I knew I was going to make Georgetown happy cleaning it up.”

The university was more than excited.

“When I saw the painting on the easel I was just completely overwhelmed by how beautiful it looked,” Walker said. “It was like a whole new painting.”

The portrait is oil on canvas and features Simpson in full formal wear, standing at an easel with paint palette in hand. He is painting a portrait of an unknown woman and looking directly at the viewer, a confident look on his face, with a sketch book resting in the background.

Dabs of paint on the palette literally rise from the surface of the canvas.

“He really just saved himself for the palette,” Creager says. “It’s just like a palette would be.”

From Germantown to Gaithersburg and Upture Street to McLean Gardens, from the top of the stairs to over the mantle to above the sofa and now to Lauinger Library, the painting has been guarded by one family after the next.

“This is your great-great grandmother’s brother you’re talking about,” Stout once scolded a son who jokingly suggested taking the portrait for appraisal at the Antiques Roadshow.

It is safe to say that now that Simpson is at Georgetown, he will be moving less often than before, certainly remaining in this family for some time.

“It felt as if [Creager] brought back to life a long-lost relative,” Walker said.

For Mom Congress, Education Is Not Just a Students’ Issue Bebe Albornoz Hoya Staff Writer

While Georgetown may seem to be bustling with undergraduates, the university also serves as a hub for parents and advocates for the improvement of elementary education.

Mom Congress, an initiative that partners with the School of Continuing Studies, boasts over 25,000 members, both male and female, who are passionate about seeking reforms in their children’s school systems.

The program, which was launched by Parenting Magazine in 2009, advocates for positive change in the education system across the United States.

“There are cases where parents are stepping up and making change in schools all across the country. It can be a case of homework policy. In other cases it’s better playgrounds and funding for school libraries.

Parents are taking a more active role and that’s how Mom Congress

was born,” Catherine McManus, director of brand communications and partnership at The Parenting Group, said.

Robert L. Manuel, dean of the SCS, contacted Parenting Magazine to create the partnership in the fall of 2008 after learning about parents’ work to raise awareness for educational reform. “[The] SCS has been a wonderful partner since the very beginning, and our goal was to give parents all across the country the tools and resources that they need to effect change,” McManus said.

Parenting Magazine, in partnership with the congress, chooses 51 education advocates, representing each state and the District of Columbia, to attend the annual Mom Congress on Education and Learning Conference, which is held at Georgetown University. During the event in late April, parents meet with the prominent education leaders to discuss the importance of family engagement.

At the inaugural conference in

May 2010, the delegates joined hundreds of local education and community leaders in a town hall on parental engagement in education with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has been a constant presence at the conference for the past two years.

“The Department of Education really has been a wonderful partner with Mom Congress, and they see these women as advocates for children … and understand the power that they have,” McManus said.

The focus of the conference changes each year, as a new theme is presented and new issues are addressed.

“We’re constantly learning new things. We’re not only responding to what the Department of Education and some education leaders are telling us is important, we’re listening to the moms as well who have played a huge role in the development of this campaign,” McManus said.

According to Kelly Holdcraft, university liaison for Mom Congress

and director of the paralegal studies program at the SCS, versatility is a key asset of the initiative.

“The beauty of the conference and Mom Congress itself is that we have the opportunity to address issues in different ways,” she said. ”Something else we’re learning about Mom Congress as we go along is that it’s very much an evolution. Each year we have the opportunity to evolve it based on what’s happening with education advocacy issues.”

One result of the inaugural conference in 2010 was the “Lesson Plan for Change,” a guide created to empower parents to involve themselves in their children’s educations. The guide was drafted by Parenting Magazine editors, the Mom Congress advisory board and SCS faculty.

Students from SCS’s Masters of Professional Studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communications program as well as from the journalism program have also assisted in the efforts.

As the educational partner to Mom Congress, the School of Con-

tinuing Studies works to help the delegates ground their campaign in facts.

“At the SCS, our role is [that of a] problem solver. [We] identify a problem and convene people around that problem. [We] bring people together,” Holdcraft said.

The conferences help garner more attention to education issues, and though Mom Congress has not yet brought about national legislative changes, it has had success locally, according to McManus.

“I would not say we effect legislation on a national level, but a lot of the goal is to provide these women with the tools that they can go back to their communities with and lobby for changes to state or local legislation,” she said.

As a developing grassroots organization, Mom Congress has helped emphasize the conversations about education that are taking place across the nation.

“So many different success stories have come out of this small group of women,” Holdcraft said.

news

friday, january 27, 2012

THE HOYA

A7

Campaign Trail Is Proving Ground for Student Volunteers Beth Garbitelli Hoya Staff Writer

All campaign calls begin roughly the same way.

“Hello, may I speak with Mrs. Smith, please? I’m calling on behalf of Jon Huntsman for President.”

Follow the script, mark off the paper and repeat five hundred times — that is phone banking in a nutshell, according to Georgetown alumus Colin Nagle (COL ‘11). Nagle worked for the Jon Huntsman campaign this past year, and phone banking was one of his chief duties. “[Call scripts] would differ from event to event, but they would mostly be the same,” Nagle said. “I would change it up now and then so I wouldn’t sound so robotic — and also to see if I could increase my odds by doing things differently.”

His tricks paid off. According to Nagle, his calls elicited the highest turnout at events.

“My first day on the job, [Huntsman] went up in the polls five per-

cent,” he joked. “I take full responsibility, though I had nothing to do with it.”

For students interested in furthering their own careers, joining a campaign can offer unparalleled hands-on political experience. The prolonged Republican primary process has given plenty of Georgetown students the opportunity to try their hand at presidential politics.

Kevin Preskenis (COL ’12) got his first taste of life on the campaign trail while working on Newt Gingrich’s presidential bid. Preskenis has been working for the candidate since high school but has recently stepped up his involvement.

“I get a sense of the pulse of America as I travel to different states and find ways of reaching out to voters,” he wrote in an email.

Balancing life as a student and a campaign worker is not easy.

“It has certainly been a challenge,” Preskenis wrote. “My phone is always buzzing through classes and it is difficult to not check my

email. But I do my best to compartmentalize where I can, and so far, so good.”

Ziad Jawadi (COL ’15) hopes that his work on the Gingrich campaign will help launch his own political career.

While attending the Values Voter Summit a few months ago, Jawadi

“My phone is always buzzing through classes ... but I do my best to compartmentalize where I can.”

Kevin Preskenis (COL ’12) Volunteer with the Newt Gingrich Campaign

told Gingrich that he supported the candidate’s proposal of a loyalty test for Muslims.

“I made a comment [that] kind of struck him,” Jawadi said. “He didn’t expect any Muslim to agree with him.”

After the conversation, Gingrich asked Jawadi to work for him as

student director for Muslim outreach, a position Jawadi has made his own.

“So far, he’s kind of had me doing my own independent thing,” Jawadi said.

Jawadi began looking into finding other Muslims who support Gingrich and has worked on writing policy memos highlighting some of Gingrich’s commitments to Muslim Americans.

As an Arabic and government double major who hopes to make a presidential run by the time he turns 40, Jawadi has definite political aspirations. But he claimed that real enthusiasm, not calculation, motivated his support of Gingrich.

“If I wanted to be ambitious, I would have picked Mitt Romney,” Jawadi said. “Working for [Gingrich] is genuine.”

Working for a campaign can also pave a path to even more appealing jobs. Maggie Cleary (COL ’14), president of the Georgetown University College Republicans and head of Georgetown’s chapter of Students

for Mitt, put the matter simply.

“If your guy wins, you get a job in the White House,” she said.

Cleary has spent the last few months working with Students for Mitt to coordinate on-campus events, attend District-wide meetings with other local colleges and organize trips and phone banking events. Her organization has attracted a diverse group of supporters, she said.

“It’s definitely an interesting bunch of characters,” she said of the people she’s worked with while campaigning.

For many collegiate campaign workers, studying in D.C. has been instrumental in promoting their interest in politics.

Jawadi stressed that Georgetown’s location in the national capital helped to facilitate his involvement in the campaign, since he would not otherwise have attended the Values Voter Summit.

“I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if I’d gone to a different school,” he said.

GUSA Celebrates SAFE Referendum Success SAFE, from A1 The three proposals were each required to reach a 2,000-vote minimum for the election to be considered valid. All three received enough votes to cross the threshold Tuesday and had garnered over 2,500 votes by the time polls closed.

“I think it’s really exciting to see more students participating in an election,” GUSA Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) said.

“I think it’s a testament to the fact that it was a great proposal that students were excited to have passed.”

The implementation of each of the proposals was guaranteed through an agreement letter that GUSA signed with the administration Monday.

Colton Malkerson (COL ’13), chair of GUSA’s

Finance and Appropriations Committee, which helped finalize the proposals, said he was excited about the opportunities the proposed funding will bring.

“Three full years ago, GUSA wasn’t seen as an effective organization. I think SAFE reform has really righted the ship, essentially,” he said. “We have three really excellent proposals that will benefit student life for many years to come.”

Members of GUSA’s executive branch and senate launched a campaign last week to raise student awareness about the proposals, spreading the message through a door-knocking and social media campaign.

“Like every election, what really counts was knocking on doors, educating students about the proposals and having a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter,” Malkerson said.

every game. every shot.

GU Gears Up Bike Resources every second.

ERICA WONG FOR THE HOYA

Georgetown has been working to provide programs, including a registration system for lost bicycles, a bike pool and more covered parking for the university’s cyclists.

Sarah Patrick Hoya Staff Writer

In order to better accommodate the over 60 percent of students, faculty and staff who commute to campus, the university and its Law Center ramped up their bicycling initiatives this past semester.

The university is working to reduce the number of community members who drive to and from campus each day by making cycling safer and more convenient, according to John Lichtefeld (LAW ’10), the former sustainability fellow at the Law Center. The fellowship was a temporary position that ended in 2011.

“President DeGioia has set a target of a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions from Georgetown by 2020, and we’re doing our part to make sure we reach that,” Lichtefeld wrote in an email.

Installing more Capital Bikeshare stations on or near campus has been a major focus of the main campus bicycling initiative. The public bike rental program currently has 1,100 bikes available throughout D.C. and Arlington, including locations outside the main campus gates and one block away from the Law Center.

In his time as a sustainabil-

ity fellow, Lichtefeld worked closely with the Georgetown Law Green Committee on recycling and composting projects and a carbon dioxide reduction plan. The committee developed the idea for a bicycle tool kit, which was packaged and sold to students and faculty at the Law Center.

Lichtefeld also contributed to a project headed by Christopher Jewell, a member of the Green Committee, who developed a listserv database for community members who cycle to and from campus. The matching system is organized by zip code, allowing bicycle commuters to share route information or ride together in a ‘bike pool.’

The Law Center also increased the number of covered bicycle parking spaces it offers to protect the bikes from the elements and from theft, but bicycle commuters did not use the covered parking as much as the university expected.

“We’ve found that our daily commuters are not interested in [taking] additional time to park their bikes in the garage and seem to prefer the campus racks,” Therese Stratton, an administrator at the Law Center, wrote in an email.

Dimitrios Roumeliotis (MSB ’15), who uses his bike

to get to crew practice every morning, believes that the main campus needs to provide better bike storage options.

“Georgetown could provide inside storage for bikes on campus over breaks, so students don’t have to worry about their bikes getting ruined or stolen,” he said.

The main campus has 1,616 parking spaces available for bikes, including covered parking in the Leavey and Southwest Quad parking garages. Outdoor parking is also available throughout campus. However, the Transportation Report included in the 2010 Campus Plan made the point that not only is more long-term bike parking space needed but also that bicycle rack designs on campus use space inefficiently, forcing bicyclists to use railings or poles to secure their bikes when racks are full or unavailable.

The Department of Public Safety also supports bicycling initiatives by running a bicycle registration program and assisting in the donation of abandoned bicycles to local organizations. The registration program allows bike owners to record their bike serial number with DPS so stolen or lost bikes can be more easily located.

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sports

THE HOYA

TOP OF THE KEY

FRIDAY JANUARY 27, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Murray St. No Cinderella E

While the Racers really haven’t played anyone ven though Murray State has raced through 20 straight victories and cracked notable this season, it isn’t for a lack of trying. the national top 10, questions still linger They travelled to the Great Alaska Shootout, one about the team’s legitimacy. With eight games of the better early-season tournaments for midleft in the regular season, the Racers have not yet majors, but only encountered Division II Alaska faltered in the Ohio Valley Conference, meaning Anchorage, San Francisco and Southern Missisthat the Racers will probably complete the first sippi.

Southern Mississippi, part of the best Conferundefeated regular season since St. Joseph’s did ence USA class since Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisso in 2004.

But, like the Hawks, they will not make it to ville, Marquette and South Florida left in 2005, is one of three C-USA squads Murray State has the Final Four.

Make no mistake about it: Murray State is faced this season in Prohm’s attempt to beef up a good team. At the end of last season, former his team’s nonconference resume.

But these attempts have failed. Memphis, Head Coach Billy Kennedy defected for the greener pastures of Texas A&M and three start- while a contender for the league title, is not the powerhouse many predicters graduated. No one ed. Alabama-Birmingham, would have expected the another C-USA opponent, Racers to stay at the top of is a league laggard that will the OVC. struggle to win 10 games.

But Head Coach Steve Because of the weakProhm has had one of the ness of these opponents, it best collegiate coaching decould be argued that Murbuts ever, skillfully guiding ray State’s toughest game Murray State through half was a convincing victory of a season and putting at Morehead State, usually himself smack-dab in the one of Murray’s rivals for middle of the conversation Evan Hollander the Ohio Valley Conferfor national coach of the ence crown. Morehead was year.

That the Racers’ streak The road to New Orleans particularly strong last seawhen Kenneth Faried has gone on so long is all will prove a bit too tough son, led the Eagles to an upset the more impressive given of Louisville in the NCAA that senior forward Ivan for Murray State. tournament’s opening Aska — who was averaging round.

12.6 points per game — was Murray State isn’t withsidelined for six games, inout a tournament history, either. They’ve never cluding three road contests.

Aska is, however, only one third of Murray’s reached the Sweet 16, but in the two years that leading trio. Junior Isaiah Canaan leads the team they have gotten out of the first round, they have in scoring at 18.7 points per game. The versatile lost by fewer than three points to eventual Final 6-foot guard also shoots 47 percent from beyond Four squads. That they ran into red-hot Butler in the arc and distributes the ball effectively, as evi- 2010 and Kansas in 1988 is incredibly bad luck.

Last season, Murray vied with Morehead all denced by his four assists against 2.5 turnovers winter long, winning the regular season title each game.

The Racers’ other leader is senior guard Donte but falling in the conference tournament. Not Poole, who, while not as stellar as Canaan, still only do the Racers remember that game, but contributes 14.6 points per game. He also dem- they undoubtedly remember a costly turnover onstrates good range, shooting better than 41 with three seconds left when they trailed Butler by just two points in the 2010 tournament. percent from beyond the arc.

With their talent, coaching and motivation The weakest links of Murray State’s roster are Jewaun Long and Ed Daniel, both good shoot- from those bitter memories, this year’s Racers ers who rarely take the opportunity to make a will go further than any of their predecessors ever have. They will likely reach the Sweet 16 or bucket.

All of these players are talented, and could even Elite Eight. But without an NBA-caliber talfind a spot somewhere on almost every team’s ent in the mold of Butler stars Gordon Hayward roster. But none of them, with the possible ex- or Shelvin Mack, the road to New Orleans will ception of Canaan, have the potential to play at prove a bit too tough for Murray State. the next level.

For now, they have found a groove where they Evan Hollander is a sophomore in the School of seem to play very well together. But just how far Foreign Service and a deputy sports editor for The Hoya. TOP OF THE KEY appears every Friday. can they go?

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior forward Tia Magee scored 17 points in a win over West Virginia.

Hoyas Seek Sunday Upset Leonard Olsen Hoya Staff Writer

The No. 20 Georgetown women’s basketball team (16-5, 5-3 Big East) returns home this weekend to face No. 11 Rutgers (17-3, 6-1 Big East) Sunday afternoon. The Hoyas are coming off a road win at West Virginia Tuesday and hope to start another winning streak with a victory over the formidable Scarlet Knights.

The Blue and Gray have posted a disappointing 1-3 home record against league opponents this year, and Rutgers, currently ranked third in the league standings, will certainly not make things any easier. The Scarlet Knights are particularly effective on the defensive side of the ball, allowing opponents an average of only 54.3 points per game.

“Our offense is going to have to be very onpoint because Rutgers is a very good defensive team,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We have to make sure that everything is right. … And we always have to make our shots.”

Williams-Flournoy also noted that the Scarlet Knights present a tough challenge on offense because of their unique methods of attacking a zone, so the Hoyas will have to be on top of their game on both sides of the ball.

Individually, the Scarlet Knights have been led by the duo of senior guards April Sykes and Khadijah Rushdan. Each averages over 13 points per game and nearly six rebounds per game. Junior forward-center Monique Oliver has been a force down low as well, posting 12.2 points per game and adding 7.8 rebounds per game, good for seventh-best in the conference.

Rutgers will also enter McDonough with a little bit of momentum, which will make a win even more difficult for the Hoyas. The Knights have won their last two games, knocking off South Florida last Saturday and earning a close

win over No. 23 DePaul at home on Tuesday. “[Rutgers] has some really good guards,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We just have to be ready to defend them.”

However, the Blue and Gray bring plenty of talent and a little momentum of their own to the table heading into Sunday’s matchup. In their win against West Virginia, the Hoyas were able to elevate their play late in the game to knock off the Mountaineers — an encouraging sign after a disheartening three-point loss to No. 16 Louisville last Sunday.

Another positive development for Georgetown against West Virginia was finding consistent scoring outside of junior guard Sugar Rodgers, as senior forward Tia Magee stepped up and scored 17 points in the second half to propel the Hoyas to victory.

Rodgers, the Big East’s leading scorer at just under 20 points per game, is the backbone of the Georgetown offense. As a result, teams have given her special attention all year in the form of double teams and even a box-and-one defense, which means her teammates often need to pick up the scoring slack.

“We really need to be disciplined on defense because they are a good team with a lot of threats,” Rodgers said. “On offense we will continue to stick to our same principles of rebounding and sharing the ball just like we do every game.”

If the Hoyas are able to upset the Scarlet Knights, the win would not only move them up in the conference standings but would also provide a morale boost in finally knocking off a top Big East rival.

“We had some very good wins early in the season, but I think this one right here would give us the signature win we need going [down the stretch],” Williams-Flournoy said.

Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday at McDonough Arena.

File Photo: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Freshman forward Otto Porter is leading the team with 6.9 rebounds per game this season.

GU Seeks Revenge at Pitt Lawson Ferguson Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown men’s basketball team will return to the court Saturday, a week after earning its 16th victory of the year in an ugly 52-50 win over Rutgers. The No. 9 Hoyas (16-3, 6-2 Big East) will take on Pittsburgh (12-9, 1-7 Big East) at the Petersen Events Center. The Blue and Gray last appeared in the Steel City on Jan. 20, 2010, when they snapped then-No. 9 Pitt’s 31-game home winning streak.

That game, seen as a modest upset for a then-No. 12 Georgetown squad, could not be much different from the one that is expected to play out tomorrow afternoon. The Panthers are led by Ashton Gibbs, who scored 22 points in a nationally-televised blowout of the Hoyas at Verizon Center last January, but the senior guard’s team-high 16.7 points per game masks what has been a pretty mediocre year for the New Jersey native. Forced to play more point guard in the absence of injured redshirt junior Travon Woodall, Gibbs is scoring less than he did last year despite playing more minutes. The senior’s assist numbers are slightly up, but so are his turnovers. He has also struggled shooting the ball more than at any other point in his career.

This season, Gibbs is shooting just 39 percent from the floor and 35 percent from behind the arc, well below his career

averages of 43 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

The return of Woodall should help Gibbs and the Panthers, though, as the junior finally returned to game action in last Saturday’s loss to Louisville after missing 11 of the team’s previous 12 games with a groin strain and abdominal tear. Before his injury, Woodall had been averaging 14.1 points and a spectacular 8.3 assists per game. The junior tried to take the court in Pitt’s conference opener against Notre Dame but played 18 ineffectual, scoreless minutes before sitting for five more games. Wednesday night, however, Woodall lit up Providence for 17 points and nine assists. Not coincidentally, Gibbs also scored more points (22) than he had at any point during Woodall’s absence, and the Panthers cruised to their first Big East win of the year.

The talent to go on a lateseason run is certainly there for the Panthers, who were ranked No. 10 in the country in the preseason AP poll. The Georgetown guards’ perimeter defense will go a long way toward determining whether or not the Hoyas can avenge last season’s humiliating defeat.

Senior Jason Clark will likely spend much of the game chasing Gibbs around, while sophomore Markel Starks should start the game guarding Woodall. If Starks — who has struggled at times with foul trouble this year — is unable to contain Woodall, the Blue and

Gray could be in for a long afternoon in Pittsburgh.

The Georgetown frontcourt could also have its hands full, particularly with senior forward Nasir Robinson. Robinson is the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.1 points per game and also averages a team-high 6.8 rebounds, part of a team rebounding effort featuring four Panthers averaging 5.8 rebounds per game or better. A fifth, freshman big man and former McDonald’s All-American Khem Birch, averaged five boards per game but transferred to UNLV just 10 games into the season, contributing to the Panthers’ sudden fall from grace.

Mercifully for the Hoyas — who shot an astonishingly poor 29.3 percent from the field in last Saturday’s win over the Scarlet Knights — Pitt has struggled defensively this year. The Panthers allow 67 points per game and allow teams to shoot 44.3 percent from the floor, second-worst in the Big East. The Blue and Gray should also find it relatively easy to avoid turnovers, something that plagued them in recent losses to West Virginia and Cincinnati, against a Pittsburgh defense that forces the fewest turnovers in the conference.

The Panthers have undeniably failed to live up to expectations this season. But with the return of Woodall, Georgetown can’t afford to overlook a possibly rejuvenated Pittsburgh squad.

Track & Field

Injured Kimbers to Return in Relay Track & Field, from A10 peak at the end of indoor season for the Big East and National Championships, Henner also has one eye on making sure his athletes are in shape for the spring outdoor season.

But much of this meet will focus on individual efforts. On the men’s side, Henner is looking to juniors Andrew Springer, Bobby Peavey and Christian Tobias and freshman Omar Kaddurah to make big strides this weekend.

For the women, Henner has high praise for senior London Finley and junior Amanda Kimbers, the latter of whom is comFile Photo: SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA ing off a minor injury. Kimbers’ presence should improve the The Hoyas will compete in the Penn State National today. women’s 4x400 meter relay team and Henner hopes she will this year [too].”

The Hoyas compete on both Georgetown relies much more Friday and Saturday before travreturn to sprinting events by on track events than on field elling to New York for the New next weekend.

“Kimbers might be one of the events, but that freshman Rich- Balance Collegiate Invitational most talented athletes in the ard D’Ambrosio has a chance to and to New Haven, Conn., for country,” Henner said. “And Lon- bolster the Hoyas’ performance the Giegenback Invitational next don Finley should do a lot for us in field events this weekend. week.

Sports

friday, January 27, 2012

THE HOYA

A9

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The bleacher seats

Why the Public Believes Tough JMU Looms for Hoyas In Braun’s Innocence W WOMEN’S TENNIS, from A10

hile the majority of Ameri- themselves as Latino (the lowest since cans were focused on the NFL 1996), the perception of steroid use conference championships seems to transcend race. Barry Bonds, about to take place last weekend — the Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi are games had the most viewers in over 30 examples of three former MVPs who years, in part by including three top-10 have faced overwhelming amounts of television markets — Milwaukee Brew- media scrutiny due to performanceers left fielder Ryan Braun accepted the enhancing drug use, regardless of their 2011 National League MVP award at a ethnic backgrounds.

The common traits shared by many quiet ceremony in Manhattan.

Normally a joyous event, the ceremo- vilified steroid users — but certainly not ny for this past season’s award was an all — are their larger-than-life muscles awkward affair for all involved. Braun and power-hitting numbers, neither of recently tested positive for a perfor- which applies to Braun.

Braun has hit for mance-enhancing over 30 home runs in drug during his four of his five years award-winning 2011 in the major leagues, season. but this number does Even after the posinot set off any alarms tive test, Braun has asin the steroid era of serted his innocence baseball.

Further, and kept his award, Braun’s slugging stating through a percentage for the spokesman that 2011 season (.597) there are “highly unis well below that usual circumstances of villains such as surrounding this Corey Blaine Bonds and Sosa, who case.” Most baseball both topped .700 writers and fans have Even after the positive at certain points in taken an uncharaccareers. In fact, teristically sympatest, Braun has asserted their Bonds slugged .863 thetic approach to in 2001, a staggering this case and have his innocence. number compared to kept an open mind Braun’s .597. on the matter.

While Braun’s personality certainly This isn’t the first time in baseball history that a former hero has been im- plays a role in the public’s willingness plicated as a steroid user. In fact, a 2007 to listen to his arguments claiming his report by former Sen. George Mitchell innocence, he lacks the same outland(D-Maine) implicated over 80 current ish physical features that were found in and former players as steroid users. Fur- Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose ther, between 1990 and 2010, 18 MVP Canseco and that grabbed our collective awards were given to players who later attention. The image of steroids in baseball became one of players who look were found to have links to steroids.

So why is it that when Braun claims like body builders hitting 60 or more he’s innocent — as so many players have home runs a year, not of a player with a — there is a tendency in baseball circles career batting average of .312 who stole to listen to his argument, or even to 33 bases in his MVP season.

For the first time in the steroid era want to believe his innocence?

Is it because Braun is one of the most of baseball, the public is at least willlikable players on one of the more en- ing to listen to a player’s explanation joyable teams of the 2011 season? This as to why he tested positive. If Braun is possible, since there is a tendency is correct and there really is a “highly to make excuses when likable figures unusual” detail in this case, there is a chance his reputation can be salvaged. make mistakes.

However, that standard does not But baseball fans have grown weary of fit the steroid era in baseball. At their superstars being implicated as steroid peak, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez and users, so no matter how different Braun Mark McGwire were some of the most may be, his leash will remain very tight.

Regardless of the fact that Braun popular players in all of baseball. But when their steroid scandals became does not fit the mold of the public’s prominent, each realized their popular- perception of a “steroid user,” baseball ity could not shield them from scrutiny, fans should still be wary of his explaand all three faced an ugly end to their nation. The findings of the Mitchell Report have shown that even players careers.

While he is likable, this does not suf- that look “clean” could be using perficiently answer the question as to why formance-enhancing drugs to gain a fans want to believe Braun is innocent. competitive edge. Nobody — including Could the public’s desire to find Braun Ryan Braun — should be above suspiinnocent represent the racial inequali- cion. ties still found in modern baseball? It’s Corey Blaine is a junior in the Mcunlikely. While it’s true that only 8.5 percent of MLB players identified them- Donough School of Business. THE selves as black and 27 percent identified BLEACHER SEATS appears every Friday.

Men’s tennis

GU Favored at Richmond Arik Parnass

Special to The Hoya

Tennis is a mental game. Unlike most sports, the athlete is his own coach during the match, and Head Coach Gordie Ernst understands this dynamic.

“All we can do is get these guys ready, and they’re out there battling 1-on-1,” Ernst said.

Last weekend, the men’s tennis team battled hard and came out of the VCU 4+1 invitational with a 2-1 record. In the first match of the weekend against Norfolk State, the Hoyas dominated on all courts en route to a 4-0 win.

Senior Andrew Bruhn, junior Charlie Caris and freshman Shane Korber notched singles victories and the doubles pairing of senior Brian Ward and sophomore Casey Distaso completed the sweep.

Next, Georgetown went up against the formidable host, Virginia Commonwealth. The Hoyas couldn’t secure the win, but they were encouraged by Korber’s performance. The freshman, taking a rare turn playing first singles, stunned the 47th-ranked player in the nation in straight sets.

Korber had played third singles in the match against Norfolk State, but moved to first to allow Bruhn to play doubles. “[Korber] had a good result [against Norfolk State], so we gave him another opportunity,” Assistant Coach Matthew Brooklyn said.

Many coaches would have been hesitant to throw a freshman into the fire so soon against such a difficult opponent, but lack of depth meant that the Hoyas had to make some difficult personnel choices.

“If they’re ready, they’re going in. If

they lose, they lose, but they gain experience and build character,” Ernst said. “And I’ve never seen a guy beat a ranked player like that.”

In their final encounter, the Blue and Gray went up against Longwood, a team they hadn’t beaten in five years.

But Ernst’s squad shrugged off that history, if they even paid much attention to it before the game.

“Are we healthy? Are the players doing well in school? That all matters more, because tennis is a mental sport,” Ernst said.

In this particular match, Georgetown was able to defeat Longwood, 3-2.

Overall, Ernst was pleased with the performance, but he insisted that VCU is not so formidable that the Hoyas could not beat them in a rematch.

“When it’s the first match of the year, you aren’t ready yet. When you don’t have as much talent, what it comes down to is training and matches, ” Ernst said, “That’s when you can pull off an upset.”

The men’s team next faces Richmond, a team that has struggled to begin the season, winning only a combined 11 games in their four singles matches against VCU. “They’re the underdog, but they believe that they can beat us, so we carry some pressure. That’s what tennis is, that’s what makes matches interesting.”

Ernst said.

For Ernst and the Hoyas, this weekend was the first step in what he hopes will be a winning season, something that has eluded the squad for several years.

“Winning is all about confidence. …

It is a learned behavior,” Ernst said.

The men’s tennis team hosts Richmond in an indoor match in Alexandria, Va., on Saturday at 3 p.m.

crucial indicator of the season to come.

“JMU is probably saying, ‘We crushed them two years ago.’ But this year it is about revenge for them. They did not expect what happened last year,” Ernst said.

The Blue and Gray, however, are confident that they will not be on the receiving end of the blowout they were handed two years ago.

“We are an entirely different program and we take pride in it,” Ernst said. “The girls walk on the court and expect to win. Before, they were just happy to get to play.”

The difference in the team can be at least partially attributed

to this year’s new group of talent. Georgetown has recently acquired transfer sophomore Kelly Comolli from Cornell. Comolli played No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Big Red. “Kelly adds a different dynamic to the team with her doubles and her athleticism,” Ernst said.

The Hoyas can also expect big things from freshman Sophie Panarese, who was ranked 45th in the country coming out of high school, and has Ernst excited for the season.

“Sophie is the recruit you want to get every year,” Ernst said. “She is low-maintenance and all the girls love her. Sophie is really a gamer and fights hard in every match.”

Despite her accolades, the promising freshman will likely appear in Ernst’s No. 5 or No. 6 singles spot. But this is less a reflection on Panarese than an indication of the caliber of her teammates.

“Having a player like Sophie in a lower seed shows how deep we are,” Ernst said.

The Hoyas will need all of their players to come out strong on Saturday against JMU. Ernst is confident his team will do just that, based on their recent performance.

“This is Division I and they are really thinking like D-I athletes,” Ernst said.

This Saturday’s match against JMU will take place at noon in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

The 6-foot-10 Sims is having a surprising year, leading the team in assists and shooting 73 percent from the stripe.

Senior Anchors Hoyas’ Front Line MEN’s BASKETBALL, from A10 class that was ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

Then, Sims just disappeared.

He averaged less than two points and two rebounds per game in his first two seasons, overshadowed by the dominant Monroe.

Despite Sims’ talent, he was was rarely called off the bench to spell Monroe or other members of the frontcourt. Sims’ playing time doubled in his junior year after Monroe’s departure to the NBA, but he still averaged only three points and three boards per game.

This summer, though, something changed when Sims realized he had just one year left on the Hilltop. So he hit the gym. By his own estimation, Sims spent 90 percent of the summer getting stronger, working with former NBA and Georgetown center and current team assistant Othella Harrington on becoming tougher around the basket.

All that work has produced tremendous results, and Sims’ stat line (12 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 blocks per game) reflects his improvement.

He leads the team in assists, and hits 73 percent of his free throws, both of which are unusual for a center.

Head Coach John Thompson III is among those surprised by Sims’ quick turnaround, but he still has advice for the the former Mount St. Joseph star.

“Henry has to rebound more,” Thompson III said. “That’s something that he understands and now he has to go out and do it, and hopefully that will not be his last [double-double], but he has to go out and rebound more.”

Rebounding isn’t the only skill

in which Sims has room for improvement. He shoots 47 percent from the field — by no means a terrible number, but still too low for a post player. His season has been slightly marred by a few poor shooting performances, including a 3-of-12 mark in the second game against Memphis and a 2-of-13 showing against Providence. Even in his doubledouble performance against Rutgers, Sims was just 2-of-9 from the floor. In fact, nearly a third of Sims’ points have come at the free-throw line.

“All-around, nobody is perfect, I still have to work hard,” Sims said. “Strength, and probably offense, making sure I’m not the only one getting shots, making sure I can facilitate for other people as well.”

Facilitation has been his best attribute thus far. Although he has been distributing excellently all season, Sims still frequently catches opponents by surprise with remarkably quick and accurate passes. His height is also an asset in this phase of the game, as it allows him to create passing lanes that shorter players wouldn’t be able to see. His passing acumen has, in turn, opened up space for Sims to drive to the hoop or take his surprisingly effective midrange jumper.

“I think Henry has progressed in all areas. I think confidence is his biggest one,” junior forward Hollis Thompson said. “I think he’s really confident in himself and we’re confident in him. Offensively and defensively, he’s made massive strides.”

Sims said that he chose Georgetown for multiple reasons — excellent academics, proximity to home and the history of its basketball program among them —

and that it was a no-brainer to come play for Thompson III. “It felt like it fit me,” Sims said in October.

It did — perfectly. Thompson III’s Princeton-style attack relies on forwards and centers to distribute the ball, and Sims has proven to be adept in a role that Monroe shined in while the two were roommates.

Sims’ emergence is driven by one desire. Both he and Clark have yet to win a game in either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. It’s that desire to leave a positive legacy that has manifested itself in a never-say-die attitude between the two friends.

“Me and Jason, we’re both really close and it kind of gives us ownership of the team,” Sims said. “It’s kind of our duty to make sure we lead this team the right way, lead vocally and by example as well.”

“You come to college not knowing many people, and you meet somebody, and you are immediately glued to them,” Clark said before the season started. “[Sims is] a big reason for my success here.”

As for post-graduation plans, Sims refused to comment. He’s staying focused on the season, and with good reason. Georgetown still has 10 conference matchups left, including games against Syracuse, Connecticut, Notre Dame and a rematch against Marquette. “[Jason and I] haven’t gotten to where we want to get, to the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, a Big East title,” Sims said in October. “You never want to leave a place without your name being remembered.”

If Sims keeps playing like this, there’s no chance that he will be forgotten.

Sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL No. 9 Hoyas (16-3) at Pittsburgh (12-9) Tomorrow, 4 p.m.

ESPN

friDAY, january 27, 2012

Recent Scores: big east WOmen’s basketball

WHAT’S INSIDE: Arik Parnass previews the men’s tennis match against Richmond this weekend.

UConn Syracuse

95 54

Seton Hall USF

45 57

DePaul Rutgers

64 65

Upcoming Games: big east WOmen’s basketball Notre Dame at St. John’s Tomorrow, 12 p.m.

Senior center Henry Sims

Women’s basketball

Magee Leads Hoyas in Late Rally at WVU Beno Picciano Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior center Henry Sims has nearly quadrupled his points-per-game average from last season.

Immediately following Sunday’s disappointing home defeat to Louisville, Georgetown senior forward Tia Magee was crystal clear in her prognosis of what the Blue and Gray required from their midweek visit to Morgantown, W. Va. “We cannot lose,” Magee said. “Defensively we need to get more aggressive, offensively we need to be more aggressive and more confident, and [we need to] just do whatever it takes to win.”

Magee made good on her words in a big way Tuesday night, as the Hoyas’ secondleading scorer and top rebounder led No. 20 Georgetown (16-5, WEST VIRGINIA 54 5-3 Big East) to a 64-54 victory over Georgetown 64 West Virginia (146, 4-3 Big East) with 17 second-half points in a crucial conference showdown.

It was the first road win against the Mountaineers in Head Coach Terri WilliamsFlournoy’s eight-year tenure with the Hoyas, and the result moved the Blue and Gray to within a half-game of fourth place in the Big East.

“It’s great to win here, but more impor-

Sims Enjoying Breakout Year Michael Palmer Hoya Staff Writer

The No. 9 Hoyas enter a daunting final stretch of games as perhaps the most surprising team in the nation, thanks in large part to the play of Henry Sims.

The senior center scored a career-high 19 points in the first game of the year, broke that in a 24-point performance

Marquette at WVU Tomorrow, 7 p.m.

“That was my mindset. To make sure I leave and people remember who I was.”

Men’s Basketball

Baltimore native aims to solidify legacy with storied hoops program

Villanova at Louisville Tomorrow, 2 p.m.

against Memhpis 11 days later and hasn’t looked back since.

Against Rutgers last Saturday, the 6-foot-10 big man achieved another career milestone, notching his first ever double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Baltimore native hasn’t gone unnoticed by the national media, and is often found at the top of lists of the nation’s most improved players.

“I kind of expected it, because I expected to come out this year and to surprise a couple of people,” Sims said of his newfound place in the national spotlight.

“I haven’t had as good a three years as I wanted to, so this year

I knew I would be playing and I had to make a name for myself.

That was my mindset — to make sure I leave and people remember who I was.”

Until this season, Sims was better known on the Hilltop for his failed bid to become the student body vice president last spring than for his athletic achievements.

On the basketball court, Sims was nothing but a disappointment. A highly touted high school senior in the Class of 2008, Sims joined Greg Monroe and Jason Clark in a recruiting See MEN’S BASKETBALL, A8

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Junior guard Sugar Rodgers, shown against Louisville, scored 17 points in the win.

tantly, after coming off of a loss it’s good to get a win and get the kids back and feeling confident,” Williams-Flournoy said in a press release.

Despite their coach’s emphasis on improving their shooting and confidence on offense, the Hoyas — whose 36.2 field goal percentage is 15th in the Big East — did not begin the game well. Georgetown managed a meager five points in the opening 10 minutes of play, and Magee was held scoreless for the entirety of the half.

Georgetown trailed early in the contest until an 11-0 run sparked by freshman guard Taylor Brown’s three-pointer began a series of lead changes for the remainder of the half.

Standout junior guard Sugar Rodgers — the conference’s leading scorer with 19.9 points per game and four-time member of the weekly Big East honor roll — kept the Hoyas close, scoring 10 of their 23 first-half points, but the Mountaineers entered the break on top thanks to redshirt sophomore guard Christal Caldwell’s jumper with 18 seconds remaining in the half.

The Blue and Gray quickly found themselves in a seven-point hole to begin the second period, but a steady comeback culminating in a Magee layup put Georgetown ahead, 3938, with 9:52 to play. The Hoyas never looked back, as Magee scored seven points in a 13-0 Georgetown run.

West Virginia was held scoreless for over seven minutes as the Georgetown lead swelled to 13 points at its largest. The Hoyas wreaked havoc with their full-court press and turned West Virginia’s 16 second-half turnovers into 17 points. The Mountaineers finished with 30 turnovers while shooting only 29.2 percent.

“Our kids have really bought into the philosophy that if we press and turn them over, we’ll probably win the game,” WilliamsFlournoy said.

The Blue and Gray were much improved on offense, shooting 41.7 from the field, but lost the battle of the boards, 40-31. Rodgers matched Magee’s 17 points, while senior point guard Rubylee Wright added eight points and six rebounds. Caldwell led West Virginia with 25 points.

Georgetown continues its run of critical conference matchups Sunday, when it plays host to No. 11 Rutgers (17-3, 6-1 Big East). Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at McDonough Arena.

track & field

WOmen’s tennis

Hoyas Look to Avenge GU Heads to Penn St. for Tough Meet Loss Against Dukes Ashwin Wadekar Hoya Staff Writer

CelEE Belmonte

Ernst is assisted by a recent graduate of the women’s tennis program, Stephanie Wetmore (GRD ’11), who After dropping their spring sea- has returned to the Hilltop to serve as son opener to Virginia Common- assistant coach. wealth on Monday, the George“Stephanie left big shoes to fill,” town women’s tennis team has Ernst said. spent the week preparing for SaturBut Wetmore has high hopes for day’s match with another Virginia this season’s players and what they team, James Madison. can accomplish in the coming weeks.

While the defeat was a disap“[Greco] is really strong at No. pointing way 1 and hopefully to open the seathat can continue son, Head Coach “ Greco beat the this weekend,” Gordie Ernst’s No. 1 player in our Wetmore said. hopes are still The two teams have met in the buoyed by his region. She wasn’t past, with JMU players, especially ready to beat a playcrushing Georgesenior Lauren town, 6-0, two Greco. er like that but she years ago and the At No. 1 singles, Hoyas defeating Greco registered really smoked her. ” the Dukes by a the Hoyas’ only Gordie Ernst score of 4-3 last win in the match Tennis Head Coach year. against VCU, with Led by senior a score of 1-6, 6-3, Kinsey Pate, JMU has not played 6-4.

“Greco beat the No. 1 player in since their final match of the fall our region. She wasn’t ready to season. Because of that the Dukes’ beat a player like that but she real- spring season opener against ly smoked her,” Ernst said. “It is all the Hoyas on Saturday will be a about confidence. She was down 6-1 and turned it around to win.”

See WOMEN’S TENNIS, A8

Special to The Hoya

A week after the season’s lone home meet, Georgetown track and field hopes to log another strong performance when it makes the trek to State College, Pa., to compete in the Penn State National Invitational.

The invitational will provide the Hoyas a higher level of competition than last week, as schools like Ohio State, Bucknell, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Syracuse will be represented in a field that will include more than 1,000 athletes.

At last week’s Hoya Spiked Shoe Invitational, Georgetown’s only opponent was La Salle. But Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Patrick Henner says that his athletes’ mindset is consistent regardless of the competition.

“The mental process should be the same,” he said. “We want to use the same mechanics and processes [in every meet].”

Part of this steadfastness stems from Henner’s strategy for most of the regular season. He is more focused on making sure his athletes get times low enough to qualify for the Big East and National Indoor Championships than on winning any given event. The team’s training regimen allows it to peak for these championships in late February and early March.

“Our goal is to keep getting better

FILE PHOTO: SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Senior Autumn Touchstone competes at the Hoya Spiked Shoe Invitational.

to get some NCAA times,” Henner said. “We haven’t yet … but I think we will this weekend.”

Part of Henner’s confidence comes from an anticipated response to the competitiveness of this weekend’s meet. “[The competition] in and of itself is going to help everybody run faster,” Henner said. “The nature of competing brings out faster times.”

The magnitude of the meet has also

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affected Henner’s workout schedule for his athletes.

“We’ve definitely backed off the training this week,” Henner said.

“They’ve been training really hard all fall … so they should go into this meet [well rested].”

In track and field, athletes compete during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Therefore, while it is ideal to See TRACK & FIELD, A9