GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 31, © 2013
friday, february 8, 2013
A MEASURE OF SELF
EDITORIAL The 1634 Society’s new campaign shows donations can be solicited tastefully.
Eating disorders are an unspoken pandemic, especially at colleges.
GUIDE, G6
POLITICAL PROFS Politically active profs are drawn to GU by flexibility and a love of teaching.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A4
NEXT UP: POLAND Two freshmen runners qualified to represent Team USA at Worlds. SPORTS, A10
Leo’s Workers, GSC GUSA Exec Backs Appelbaum Gustafson and Vice President Kohnert-Yount endorse Protest for Committee President Appelbaum and Cleary, Chief of Staff Sticka manages their campaign Protesters urge new joint committee for workers’ rights, food quality Elaina Koros
Special to The Hoya
Workers at O’Donovan Hall delivered a letter of protest to Aramark managers Wednesday afternoon to request the creation of a joint committee that would address complaints about working conditions and provide input on food sustainability and training. “I’m ready. I’m tired of the harassment,” Nini Brown, a Leo’s worker and delegation member, said. “I feel my job is in jeopardy every day I
ELAINA KOROS FOR THE HOYA
Letters of protest were delivered to the offices of John J. DeGioia and Aramark management.
clock in.” The proposed committee would consist of workers, students, Aramark officials and university administrators. Georgetown Solidarity Committee, an organization that advocates for the rights of workers at Georgetown, has launched the “Real Food, Real Jobs” campaign to bring fair jobs and healthy dining options to D.C. cafeterias. Student members of GSC backed the Leo’s workers in their letter delegation and delivered letters of their own Wednesday to the offices of University President John J. DeGioia and Cal Watson, director for business policy and planning. Leo’s workers who were not on shift, GSC members and other supporters congregated in the lower kitchen area of the dining hall at 3 p.m. in hopes of delivering the letter to Aramark management. The group then entered the office of the district executive chef Stephen Winterling, who initially refused to speak with them. “You’ve got to back up,” he said. “You’re supposed to call ahead and tell us that you’re coming to us. If you would like to let me know ahead of time, absolutely.” Management was particularly vocal in its opposition to having students in the lower kitchen. The students had entered under the supervision of union representative Allison Burket. “I’ll talk to the stewards. But I cannot have people who don’t work here [in] here. The students can’t be here,” Winterling said. “They’re going to get hurt. It’s a liability issue.” After Leo’s executives cleared the students out of the kitchen and called the Department of Public Safety, many Aramark members left the cafeteria. However, upper management eventually accepted the proposal letter, which was received by a district chef. “We didn’t delegate the person I initially wanted to delegate, the general See LEO’S, A5
Emma Hinchliffe Hoya Staff Writer
Although they have yet to issue a public statement, GUSA President Clara Gustafson and Vice President Vail Kohnert-Yount are endorsing Jack Appelbaum and Maggie Cleary in the 2013 GUSA executive race, while GUSA Chief of Staff Jake Sticka is managing the ticket’s campaign. Former Georgetown University Student Association President Mike Meaney (SFS ’12) and Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) did not endorse a candidate in the 2012 GUSA race. “As chief of staff over this past
year, I’m obviously committed to this institution and concerned with its future,” Sticka (COL ’13)
“If anyone is going to be able to get things done, it’s the two of them.” Clara gustafson (SFS ’14), GUSA President
said. “I wanted to make sure the ticket I thought was best had the best chance of winning, and that’s why I’m supporting them.” Ethan Chess (COL ’14), chair of the GUSA election committee, said there are no rules prohibit-
ing active members of GUSA from endorsing or contributing to campaigns. Gustafson (SFS ’13) praised the platforms and leadership style of Appelbaum (COL ’14) and Cleary (COL ’14) as “revolutionary.” “If anyone is going to be able to get things done, it’s the two of them,” Gustafson said. Sticka said he sees Gustafson and Kohnert-Yount’s support as an affirmation of Appelbaum and Cleary’s strength. “I think it speaks for itself having the sitting exec’s support,” Sticka said. See ENDORSEMENT, A6
AND THEY’RE OFF
LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA
Georgetown University Student Association leadership hopefuls placed posters and launched campaign websites in tandem with the official kick-off of the executive campaign Thursday at midnight, two weeks before students go to the polls on Feb. 21. See our coverage of each of the candidates on A6.
Tackle Box Pays Contested Wages Dean & Deluca Closed After Health Inspection Ivan Robinson
Special to The Hoya
Tackle Box, a seafood restaurant located at 3245 M St., agreed Wednesday to pay three former workers more than $4,000 to resolve allegations of wage theft. The conflict featured three workers, one who had been demanding his wages for 18 months and two who had been requesting their delayed pay for six months. After their paychecks bounced, they contacted Tackle Box and were told to try depositing the checks again. As the checks continued to bounce, the workers returned to the restaurant multiple times and were continually rebuffed in their attempts to speak with the owner. Jose Ramirez, one of the former workers, said that he received $1,300 in bad checks. “When they paid me in 2011, they wrote me a check and I took it to the bank, but the check bounced because the account didn’t have funds to pay all the employees,” Ramirez said through a translator. “Only those who went to the bank first received their pay.” The agreement came after D.C. Jobs with Justice, an interest group that advocates for workers’ rights, orchestrated a demonstration at the restaurant to protest the restaurant’s failure to pay the workers. While pleased with the conflict’s resolution, D.C. Jobs with Justice Education Coordinator Ari Schwartz
Ted Murphy
Acting in response to a complaint, the D.C. Department of Health conducted a health and Rodent droppings and cock- safety investigation Wednesday at roaches were among the eight the grocery store. Among the most serious violacritical and 11 non-critical health violations cited in Wednesday’s tions observed by inspectors were Department of Health inspection mice droppings and cockroaches, that forced gourmet grocery store which were found around the Dean & Deluca to close its George- cheese section, in the customer service area and in the product town location temporarily. The market section of the store, display area. The DOH report said that Dean located at 3276 M St., reopened & DeLuca needfor business ed to “replace Thursday, but missing weather the outdoor cafe stripping at the remains closed. “I’m kind of bottom of the A statement glass doors inreleased by Katy disgusted. I don’t side of the cafe Foley, an account know if I’ll be back.” to prevent rodirector at Mident and bird chelle Lehmann Hayley mitchell (nhs ’16) activity” and to Communica“seal holes locattions, which reped underneath resents Dean & Deluca, cited ongoing construc- the sinks inside the prepared food tion at the Georgetown Park Mall station to eliminate vermin access & Shops as a major cause of the and possible harborage.” In addition to the vermin citaviolations. Foley said that Dean & Deluca will correct its violations tions, the investigation discovered that the upstairs refrigerator was quickly. “The cafe outside remains closed leaking water onto food. Mold was for service, but only because there also found in the ice machine. Other violations found at are birds that have flown into the open air space,” Foley wrote. “We the store included food being hope to reopen with full service as held at improper temperatures soon as possible.”
Hoya Staff Writer
HANNAH GERDES/THE HOYA
M Street restaurant Tackle Box faced backlash from protesters Wednesday after it failed to pay three workers their wages for up to 18 months. criticized Tackle Box for delaying the payments. “The reality of the situation is that … the workers should be paid their checks, their pay, on time,” Schwartz said. After contacting D.C. Jobs with Justice in July 2012, the workers filed claims with the D.C. Department of Employment Service’s Office of Wage and Hour Compliance, which is responsible for resolving employeremployee conflicts.
Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947
The office sent two letters to Tackle Box but received no response. The claims were then forwarded to the office of D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan. It was not until Feb. 1, after Jobs with Justice announced a protest in front of the restaurant scheduled for Feb. 6, that the wife of Tackle Box owner Jonathan Umbel contacted the workers. The two sides reached See WAGES, A5 Published Tuesdays and Fridays
See INSPECTION, A5
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A2
OPINION
THE HOYA
FRIday, february 8, 2013
THE VERDICT
C EDITORIALS Something Fishy on M Street C C C Founded January 14, 1920
The popular M Street restaurant Tackle Box has been drawing attention lately — not for its seafood or $6 margaritas but for its failure to properly compensate employees. For a year and a half, the owners of Tackle Box have refused to pay three workers because they could not afford their wages — a sum close to $4,000. After the workers went through traditional routes of employer-employee conflict yet failed to receive any compensation, Workers United D.C. and members of Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor threatened to protest outside the restaurant. The Georgetown Solidarity Committee joined the cause. In the face of this bad publicity, Tackle Box finally agreed to pay its workers appropriately. Wage theft is a widespread problem in the District. When the issue cropped up so close to home, it was heartening to see over a dozen Georgetown students stand behind these marginalized workers. They recognized that action initiated by a col-
lective community stance was attainable in the Tackle Box situation, especially given that the local restaurant was not a chain or franchise with the resources of a corporation to put up a resistance. The victory over Tackle Box’s owners is certainly not due solely to the efforts of Georgetown students, but the very fact that the cause was taken up speaks to our concrete presence within the greater Georgetown community. The proposed demonstration never did need to come to fruition, but it did demonstrate that despite criticisms concerning the “Georgetown bubble,” Georgetown students are active residents of this community who will lend their voices to support those who have been downtrodden. The Facebook page detailing the protest read, “We want to send a message to Tackle Box … we won’t tolerate wage theft in our community.” While these activists did succeed in that particular mission, it appears that a much broader message has been sent.
All for One, One for All The 1634 Society launched the “One Campaign” early this week asking each member of the Class of 2016 to donate a dollar toward the university endowment. Advertising heavily via Facebook, a banner in Red Square and food giveaways, the society is making a concerted effort to create a giving culture on campus. By choosing an inclusive approach to donations and asking for a reasonable amount from freshmen, the society has demonstrated that money can be solicited tastefully. The issue of student and alumni giving is a sensitive one. Georgetown’s endowment is small compared to that of its peer institutions and limits ability to expand, offer scholarships and stay competitive as a top-tier research university. Soliciting donations is often a touchy subject, and campaigns asking current students and their tuition-paying families to begin giving has — understandably — provoked backlash at times. The One Campaign is a more tactful approach to giving. Reaching out to current undergradu-
ates when they are still on campus — indeed, when they are just starting their Georgetown careers — rather than telephoning them one day just a few months after they have graduated and asking them to donate, helps foster a relationship between them and the 1634 Society. Emphasis is placed more on the individual and their act of giving rather than the dollar amount they are willing to fork over. What matters is the percentage of students who will take part, not the amount the campaign will eventually raise. This focus on collective participation will not only create a sense of community among the Class of 2016 but also show that even they, the fresh and new residents of the Hilltop, can have an impact on Georgetown’s future. As this paper goes to press, more than 30 percent of the Class of 2016 has contributed to the One Campaign. And ultimately, the financial impact of $474 may not be all that significant, but the willingness of 474 students to give to their university may just prove to be invaluable.
C
A Streetcar We Desire — The District’s Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting on Feb. 20 to consider additional means of transportation between Georgetown and Union Station, with various bus and streetcar routes under discussion. Puppy Love — Butler University’s bulldog mascot and mascotin-training will be visiting Jack and Jack Jr. today. Men and Women for Others — Georgetown has moved up to No. 8 on the Peace Corps’ list of 25 top volunteer-producing colleges in the medium school category. No Post on Saturday — The U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday that it will end mail collection and delivery on Saturdays starting this August. Traffic Jam — The Texas A&M Transportation Institute recently ranked traffic in the Washington, D.C. metro area as the worst in the country — ahead of Boston, New York and Los Angeles.
A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @kciesemier Feb. 6 Hoyas! Participate in a day of service at a DC public school & help build a high school in Zambia: @thehoya @TheCorp @RussPtacek Feb. 6 Rats, mice, roaches: More on @DeanandDeluca closure from @thehoya which did a good quick piece on previous violations. @medthread Feb. 5 Time for a #studybreak RT @thehoya: DC Restaurant Week Winter 2013 is upon us! Check out @thehoya4e @jacksonrperry Feb. 5 I won’t stand for it! RT @thehoya: Laundry service Soapy Joe’s accidentally overcharged 35 Georgetown students.
EDITORIAL CARTOON by Arturo Altamirano
Keep Calm and Campaign On Yesterday’s midnight launch of the GUSA executive campaigns went as smoothly as such a start could go. It was a welcome departure from the tense and cutthroat — albeit exciting — kickoff to campaigns in recent years. Campaign supporters staked out spots on the walls of Red Square before midnight and stuck to them. There was little bickering over wall space, and no signs were torn down or tampered with. Candidates elected, for the most part, to confine their initial electioneering to Lauinger Library, and the Cannon Warren (SFS ’14) and Andrew Logerfo (COL ’14) team started a friendly pick-up kickball game near Intercultural Center. We hope, perhaps with a bit of naivete, that the tempered emotions of this campaign launch will foreshadow a change in tone from the heated election of 2012. Such civil conduct would be a relief for students still weary from the fiercely competitive nature of last year’s election, which included excessive door-to-door campaigning and mean-spirited attacks on other candidates, both subversive and explicit. And although the bombardment of flyers, campaign videos and Facebook solicitations will likely return for this year’s campaigns over
the next few weeks, they are at least preferable to the over-the-top arms race for voter support seen in past years. Tickets for the leadership of our student association should seize the opportunity to state their views and promote their platforms, thus making this year’s election about the issues, not the amount of attention they can grab on social media outlets. This year, perhaps candidates will proceed with an understanding that the two-week election season does not consume the lives of most students the way it does for the candidates. Student voters, in turn, can reward candidates for both good proposals and civil campaigning. The 2012 campaign’s record turnout demonstrated that the candidates’ efforts were at least partially responsible for significant student interest in GUSA. But while students were indeed drawn in record numbers to the polls, it is unclear to what degree, if at all, excessive campaigning is rewarded with votes. It is time for a toned-down GUSA executive election. That is not to say that the office being pursued isn’t important, but the way one gets there is important, too.
Danny Funt, Editor-in-Chief Braden McDonald, Executive Editor Victoria Edel, Managing Editor Emma Hinchliffe, Campus News Editor Hiromi Oka, City News Editor Ryan Bacic, Sports Editor Sheena Karkal, Guide Editor Hanaa Khadraoui, Opinion Editor Leonel De Velez, Photography Editor Zoe Bertrand, Layout Editor Hunter Main, Copy Chief Molly Mitchell, Multimedia Editor Lindsay Lee, Blog Editor
Contributing Editors Michelle Cassidy, Patrick Curran, Suzanne Fonzi, Evan Hollander, Upasana Kaku, Sarah Patrick Lauren Weber, Emory Wellman
Penny Hung Eitan Sayag Ted Murphy Will Edman Arik Parnass Josh Simmons Kim Bussing Nicole Jarvis Emily Manbeck David Chardack Shannon Reilly Sean Sullivan Katherine Berk Rohan Shetty Chris Grivas Erica Wong Jessica Natinsky Kennedy Shields Ian Tice Karl Pielmeier Kate Wellde
Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Sports Blog Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Blog Editor Deputy Blog Editor
Editorial Board Hanaa Khadraoui, Chair Arturo Altamirano, Patrick Gavin, TM Gibbons-Neff, Alyssa Huberts, Sam Rodman
Mary Nancy Walter, General Manager Mariah Byrne, Director of Corporate Development James Church, Director of Finance Mullin Weerakoon, Director of Marketing Michal Grabias, Director of Personnel Michael Lindsay-Bayley, Director of Sales Natasha Patel Glenn Russo Martha DiSimone Nitya Rajendran Jonathan Rabar John Bauke Molly Lynch Pauline Huynh Esteban Garcia Addie Fleron Preston Marquis Taylor Doaty Eric Isdaner Simon Wu Ryan Smith
Alumni Relations Manager Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Publishing Division Consultant Statements Manager Treasury Manager Marketing Research Manager Public Relations Manager Human Resources Manager Professional Development Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Online Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager
Board of Directors
Lauren Weber, Chair
Kent Carlson, Danny Funt, Evan Hollander, Dylan Hunt, Mairead Reilly, Mary Nancy Walter
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 Braden McDonald at (202) 687-3415 or email executive@ thehoya.com. News Tips Campus News Editor Emma Hinchliffe: Call (973) 632-8795 or email campus@ thehoya.com. City News Editor Hiromi Oka: Call (281) 658-8596 or email city@thehoya.com. Sports Editor Ryan Bacic: Call (617) 960-7278 or email sports@thehoya.com. General Information The Hoya is published twice each week during the academic year with the exception of holiday and exam periods. Address
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OPINION
friday, february 8, 2013
VIEWPOINT • Zigerelli
THE HOYA
A3
VIEWPOINT • Grisier
Military Tactics Need Scrutiny Pro-Life Gives Voice W To Unborn T
he first amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1791, 15 years after the founding of the United States. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,” it reads. This amendment gives each citizen the power and ability to voice his or her opinion. Now, over 200 years since the amendment was ratified, there is a group of individuals who cannot exercise their freedom of speech. This group consists of just over 55 million people. They are the unborn. Since 1973, the unborn have been legally silenced and instead must rely on others to lend their voices to them. That is what I try to accomplish as a member of the pro-life movement. It is not an easy task in this day and age — especially as a female college student. Fellow students and even professors raise their eyebrows at me when they learn I am prolife and also a woman — something they consider to be a contradiction. I have collected my fair share of angry, threatening emails and Facebook posts that included lines such as: “You can’t be a real woman if you don’t support abortion. Go away you Bible-thumper, back to where they don’t respect a woman’s right to privacy.” It is incredibly disheartening to have to force my way into conversations — to contend, using factual evidence, that an embryo is a separate entity from its mother, given that it has different DNA, 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 from the father. By the end of my junior year of high school, I knew that, logically, I was pro-life. I carried a plethora of facts and statistics in my repertoire. I soon learned that while hard evidence was crucial to winning any debate, it is paramount that the speaker connect with his or her audience on an emotional level, too. The pro-choice camp has used this strategy time and time again. In lieu of scientific evidence to support its agenda, it constantly pontificates about a woman’s right to privacy and the importance of being a progressive woman. Somehow that meaningless rhetoric convinced even the Supreme Court. During the summer before my senior
Abortion is fundamentally a human rights issue, where a grave violation is occurring on a global scale. year, I discovered my emotional conviction to the cause. I was working as an office assistant at a diagnostic center for high-risk pregnancies. I will never forget the afternoon when I saw my first ultrasound. Staring at the black-and-white image on the screen, I saw the baby’s entire spinal column and all of its individual interlocking vertebrae. I watched as the baby flexed its tiny fingers and toes, squirming around, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to start crawling in the real world. After seeing that child on the screen, all doubts about my beliefs, all inhibitions or fears provoked by words from the pro-choice camp disappeared. The will to fight had never burned stronger within me than at that moment. These babies truly cannot help themselves. Without our voices speaking on their behalf, more will join the already gargantuan crowd of 55 million. According to the American Life League, one baby is aborted every 26 seconds. That means 14 lives have been lost in the time that you have spent reading this. Fourteen defenseless children who will be swallowed up in time and forgotten before they were even given the opportunity to be remembered. This is not a political issue, in which only one party is designated to be pro-life. This is not a religious issue, as many different faiths and those without any faith at all have the ability to unite in this common cause. And this is not a gender issue, for both men and women ought to be equally evolved. Abortion is fundamentally a human rights issue, where a grave violation is occurring on a global scale. To quote another document crucial to our country, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Abortion denies the unborn all three of these basic rights as Americans and as humans. But it is not too late. We must exercise our first amendment right for those who do not have the opportunity to do so themselves.
Laurel Zigerelli is a junior in the School of Foreign Service.
hen Barack Obama entered the 2008 presidential race, Americans had lost faith in their government’s ability to reflect the ideals that had made the nation strong for over two centuries. Nowhere was this more evident than in the way the government conducted itself in its War on Terror. Slowly but surely, we saw our civil liberties shot down at the same time that our country’s leaders began to ignore international treaties regarding human rights. We looked on in disgust as the sordid details of the prison at Guantanamo Bay were brought forward. In our national consciousness, we knew that the Bush administration’s use of the term “enhanced interrogation techniques” covered up a far darker truth regarding its means of obtaining intelligence. The election of President Obama, therefore, seemed to herald a significant moment in the history of our country’s approach to international relations. In Obama, we saw the answer to the problems of the Bush years. Here was a man unafraid to stand up to the conventions of the bureaucracies and industries that pulled the strings behind our overseas conflicts. Four years and one Nobel Peace Prize later, President Obama has significantly altered his positions on national security. Nowhere is this more evident than in the president’s willingness to expand our predator drone program. Details released in a recent Department of Justice memo shed more light on the administration’s legal justifications for its use of drones to kill Americans living abroad who could be linked with terrorists. According to the memo, high-ranking officials hold the power to order a
Perhaps we trusted that the objectionable practices of the Bush administration had at last been abandoned. drone strike on any overseas target deemed to be an “imminent threat” to U.S. security. The wording is vague, and the idea of an imminent threat carries little legal weight. All the president and his closest national security advisers must do before they can assassinate an individual is agree that their target is a member of a terrorist organization. Campaign promises are practically made to be broken, and we are naive to place faith in words alone. To give credit where it is due, President
Obama has done his best to work toward fulfilling many of his most politically volatile promises. It is also important to remember that, when Obama took office in 2009, the United States was faced with the harsh economic reality of the times. Obama was thus forced to drastically change the tone and focus of his presidency. Likewise, we as a nation switched our focus from foreign matters to domestic policy. Perhaps we trusted that the formerly objectionable practices of the Bush administra-
FROM THE OUTSIDE
tion had at last been abandoned simply because Obama was now in office. Last year, the final presidential debate, which focused exclusively on foreign policy, drew the lowest number of viewers out of the three televised debates. Only 5 percent of respondents count foreign policy as the most pressing issue facing the United States in the years to come. There are few presidents remembered first and foremost for their accomplishments overseas. Nixon opened up China. Reagan ended the Cold War. Barack Obama could be remembered as the president who ended the War on Terror, but history could tell a different story. Barack Obama could also go down as the president who accepted a dubious legal justification for drone strikes against American citizens. While most Americans can find some semblance of reason in the use of drones to kill terrorists, the principles revealed in the Department of Justice memo set a frightening precedent for any future expansion of the drone program. Drone strikes remain wildly inefficient. While no definitive study has been released, estimates suggest that for every one terrorist assassinated by a drone, between 10 and 50 civilians are killed. These people cannot become mere statistics or collateral damage. In a 2008 interview shortly after his election, President Obama said that he was committed to reforming our war and intelligence tactics as part of “an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.” It is time for him to truly live up to the promise of his words.
Matthew Grisier is a freshman in the College.
AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT...
Legacy Lives Strong Humility and Humor Despite Controversy From Generations Past
F
or the past few weeks, Lance his quick wit, sense of humor, optiArmstrong has been mercilessly mistic attitude and the support of his bashed upon the unforgiving loving and beautiful family showed rocks of the American media for his the world just what a man is capable use of performance-enhancing drugs. of performing. He indeed beat the He has been the subject of betrayal odds, going on to win seven consecufrom friends, enemies and team- tive Tour de France titles. mates alike. He has been the target I simply found it hard enough to of heated vitriol from talking heads, begin freshman year as a cancer pasportscasters and daily-show hosts. tient. Lance made history. Unfortunately, much of the world’s I do not wish to condone the use of attention is diverted from the real tri- performance enhancing drugs at all, umph and story of Armstrong — the but Armstrong’s case is demonstrareal reason he captured the hearts tive of the underlying culture of dopand minds of millions of people ing in cycling: His sponsors, friends across the world. It is not just that and even the cycling leagues reaped he was the fastest human cyclist in enormous profits at the expense of the history of mankind — for seven fostering a culture of doping throughconsecutive years. The reason people out the sport at large. I am disappointlove Armstrong is because he has ed, certainly, to know that his success stood and shall continue to stand as came partly because of drug use. Howa representation of the power of hope ever, Armstrong’s legacy transcends and determination his contributions to in the face of insurathletics. mountable challengThe public crucies and unbeatable fixion of Armstrong odds. by people who have For me, Lance little qualification Armstrong is about to do so or even an more than just the inkling of firsthand championships he comprehension of has won. His story what he endured resonates personally. is nothing short of Three weeks bedisgraceful. He has David Weis fore freshman year been treated as nothbegan, I underwent ing but a common a routine physical Armstrong’s determination criminal, a fallen checkup. A week athlete to be relegatshowed the world what later, I was formally ed to the same place a man is capable of. diagnosed with canin history as Barry cer. Just days before Bonds, Marion Jones my first day of college, I underwent or Jose Canseco. Certainly, he comsurgery to remove a tumor that had mitted wrongs to which he very pubbeen growing undetected for years. By licly admitted. But the sharp vitriol the talent of Columbia Presbyterian ignores the reason why Armstrong is Hospital’s surgical teams, more than so incredible and shall remain an ada bit of grace and a lot of luck, I be- mirable human. gan college on time. Freshman year, To somehow tie this incredibly deunder any circumstance, is a time of termined and generous man simply uncertainty and adaptation; on top to his athletic accomplishments is to of that, I had to worry about having demean what Armstrong means to cancer. Throughout my first semester, millions of cancer survivors across I made routine trips to my doctors in the world. To question his devotion New York City. I left school a week be- to the sport, his courage in the face fore Thanksgiving break to undergo of death or his commitment to the radiation therapy. I didn’t know what cancer survivor community is to deto make of my new home, of my new base all that it is to be a survivor. life, of my diagnosis. I was scared. Despite these revelations of dopThe symbol of Lance Armstrong ing, Armstrong remains and shall proved to me that it was possible to continue to remain a hero in my make it through my treatment and eyes. make the best of it. Compared to For me, the legacy of Lance ArmArmstrong’s story, mine was tame. strong is not about the bike. It’s Though I found freshman year dif- about a remarkable man who beat ficult to adapt to as an ongoing can- impossible odds, who came back cer patient, I was never inches from from teetering on the brink of death death. I never underwent endless and defeat, who proved to millions rounds of chemotherapy or endured what could happen with hardened multiple surgeries. I wasn’t given less determination, a full heart and an than a 40 percent chance of living. unshakable foundation of hope. Armstrong endured all of those and more. David Weis is a junior in the ColArmstrong’s incredible determina- lege. FROM THE OUTSIDE appears tion and perseverance, supported by every other Friday.
L
ast weekend, I spent some ingly, more grateful — stance. time in the Jesuit cemetery In a remarkable way, telling our here on campus. As part of a story, especially about the diverse tour for seniors and their parents, I generations that came before, helps walked among the graves and told us become the “generations to the stories of several of the Jesuits come.” Remembering that this uniburied there. versity is built not just on its shinI found myself inspired once ing moments of triumph but also again by the work of great men who on its long hours of unseen work have arisen in each generation. Fr. and study and conversation and serPatrick Healy, S.J., positioned the vice — and even failures, from time university to serve the national mis- to time — helps us take up our place sion of reconciliation after the Civil in history. And more and more, I War. Fr. Gerry Campbell, S.J., fol- think it provides an important corlowed the call of the Second Vatican rective for us, reining in our someCouncil and made leadership and times insatiable appetite for success interreligious dialogue central to and greatness and reminding us Georgetown’s identity. Fr. Timothy of the virtue of humble groundedHealy, S.J., gave the university na- ness. tional and global aspirations and an Of course that word, “humble,” is expanded research profile. not featured on resumes or job deI was also struck by the genera- scriptions very often. But it might tions that are less be the most imwell-known. These portant thing we include the Jesuit can learn here. priests and brothThe word comes ers who taught, from the Latin offered Mass humus, which and gave spirimeans “of the tual counsel daily, earth.” Gardeners maintained buildwill tell you that ings and worked in English, huin labs and quimus is the most etly tended to the nutrient-rich soil. Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J. spirit, heart and It produces. And mind. In an equalit does so precisely important way, Humor cuts the sting out of ly because it has they contributed our failures and pushes us been enriched by to making this Hilllife that came to learn from our mistakes. the top a sacred place before; it is filled that has formed so with the organic many generations of students. matter of previous generations. The tour raised a deep question Humus is also the root of another for me — one that resonated in the word: humor — something that can wake of Jesuit Heritage Week: How be sorely needed in our constant does this generation — my gen- rush to win awards and achieve eration and yours — carry forward perfect grades. With a generational this tradition? How are we to bear perspective of who contributed to the lofty vision of Fr. John Carroll, greatness even as they lived with S.J., and Patrick Healy while also their own fads, follies and foibles, giving witness to the gentle, quiet we can laugh in a healthy way prayerfulness of the Jesuits who about ourselves. Humor cuts the daily supported and gave life to sting out of our failures and gently that vision? Amid those graves, I pushes us to learn from mistakes noticed a tension in myself between and misfortunes, and to move forthe aspiration to greatness and the ward in hope. equally important call to depth and As I finished the tour of the cemgroundedness. etery, amid my brothers who are I recalled the words of Jose Ortega now literally “of the earth,” I found y Gasset, the Spanish philosopher myself saying a little prayer that our and historian who suggested that generation — students, faculty, staff there is nothing more humbling and Jesuits — might embrace this than recognizing that one belongs moment, in all humility, and bear to a generation. Until you gain this fruit not just in the greatness that perspective, you can think that all wins accolades, but in the depth history depends on you, and that all and groundedness that are most that you do is a new discovery and a truly human. unique accomplishment. But once you see the generations before you, Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., is and see your own generation for an assistant professor in the what it is: historically contingent, government department. He is living out its one brief moment on one of the alternating writers for the planet. You cannot help but AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT ..., which take a more humble — and interest- appears every other Friday.
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THE HOYA
PAGE FOUR
NEWS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Whether to study abroad is an important decision every GU student must make. See viewpoint at thehoya.com
Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.
IN FOCUS
verbatim
ON THE DEFENSIVE
already “ We’re paying an
absurd amount to go here for four years.
”
Alex Barnes (SFS ’16) on the One for Georgetown campaign, which targets the Class of 2016 . See story on A7.
from
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Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called on students and members of Congress to take action to solve American security and budget issues in an address in Gaston Hall on Wednesday morning. See story at thehoya.com.
THE PURR-FECT ADDITION Step aside, Iron — the cat is taking your place as ruler of the Monopoly board. Check out more Monopoly analysis on 4E. blog.thehoya.com
Political Profs Drawn to Hilltop GU Investment
Clubs Join Forces
MALLIKA SEN
Special to The Hoya
Georgetown’s faculty is replete with reputable figures across many fields, but the behind-the-scenes process of acquiring these high-profile professors could constitute a course in its own right. Many who come have experience with public policy, whether in government or the media. Edward Montgomery, dean of the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, spoke of the ways in which Georgetown’s location facilitates its hiring process. “Our location here in Washington, D.C., offers a unique opportunity to bring in current and former members of Congress and other top policy practitioners to teach and speak at Georgetown,” Montgomery said. GPPI in particular attracts prominent public figures such as Paul Begala, a political commentator and former advisor to President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68), and, most recently, former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who will join the faculty as a visiting distinguished professor of public policy in the spring. “We are constantly searching for topquality faculty members to join our community at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute,” Montgomery said. While Montgomery said that highprofile individuals will at times approach the university for positions, School of Foreign Service Dean Carol Lancaster explained that the process of recruiting public figures can be a matter of connections. Often, either university leadership or outsiders with friends who work at Georgetown approach potential faculty to gauge their interest in working at the Hilltop. “We’re always on the lookout for interesting people who can enrich our offerings to students and faculty, so if somebody else comes along, there might be an opportunity to engage them,” Lancaster said. Donna Brazile, Al Gore’s campaign manager in his 2000 presidential bid and vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, was approached by the department chair at the time to teach at the university. Brazile, who has been an adjunct professor in the Women and Gender Studies department since 2002, said that after initial conversations with university officials, she was asked to put together a proposal and syllabus. While there are myriad motivations
CHRISTOPHER ZAWORA
use of a blog system called Capitalist Connect, which allows members to post potential stock ideas, check Trebizond Investments, LLC, a investment rationale and keep reprivate, student-run investment cord of the club’s transactions. “We looked at Trebizond, and we group, liquidated its investments to merge with Georgetown Col- saw something we liked. They had legiate Investors, LLC Feb. 2, creat- been using technology in ways that ing the country’s largest private, are very innovative,” McIlhattan said. student-run investment group. Not every Trebizond member will Trebizond’s private equity branch, Trebizond Capital Part- necessarily join GCI, in part because GCI requires every member to conners, will remain independent. The two groups were competi- tribute $250 that is returned upon tors but decided to consolidate graduation. Trebizond did not retheir efforts after negotiations quire members to contribute any money to its investment portfolio, throughout the fall semester. “It really doesn’t make sense to as most of Trebizond’s funds were have duplicate clubs on campus contributed by Tavallali himself. Tavallali expects Trebizond’s trying to do the same thing,” GCI members to add CEO Joseph Mcto GCI’s Ilhattan (COL “It really doesn’t make $25,000 $80,000, while ’14) said. McIlhattan was T r e b i z o n d , sense to have duplicate less optimistic, which had 150 expecting apmembers, was clubs on campus trying proximately 20 founded in 2011 new members, by current CEO to do the same thing.” which would Caspian TavalJOSEPH MCILHATTAN (COL ‘14) Georgetown Collegiate Investors CEO bring $5,000 to lali (SFS ’14), the club. who had previGCI has taken steps to incorpoously been secretary of GCI. The two groups used similar invest- rate Trebizond’s members into its ment models, with club members management structure by extendproviding money for investment. ing deadlines for applications to However, GCI, which was founded middle management positions. in 1997, bases its approach on a Tavallali is now chief development four-year horizon, while Trebizond officer of GCI and plans to pitch focused on short-term investment some of Trebizond’s old stock in a volatile market — differences ideas to GCI. “We are respecting prior experiTavallali and McIlhattan said will complement each other under the ence from that [Trebizond] fund,” McIlhattan said. new, united organization. GCI hopes to reach its goal of “Where GCI lacks, I think Trebizond provides, and vice versa,” Ta- $100,000 in total investments vallali said. “I think it’s a solid com- before May — a goal that is more pany, which we are supporting and feasible with Trebizond’s added resources. Last year, the club had expanding.” “We are hoping to take some of reached $95,000 before returning the good stuff [that Trebizond did], the graduating seniors’ investand then … use our investment strat- ments. Trebizond members are intrigued egy that has worked, and, hopefully, we’ll get a great result,” McIlhattan by the new group’s potential. “I have cautious optimism,” added. “They bring capital and talent to the table, which we are excit- Trebizond member Maxwell Robed about. I am glad that Trebizond erts (COL ’16) said. “It can be difis joining our model.” ficult to merge, but in the end, According to McIlhattan, one of the two combined companies can Trebizond’s greatest strengths is its have much success.”
Special to The Hoya
LEFT: COURTESY TIMOTHY GREENFIELD SANDERS; RIGHT: COURTESY DONNA BRAZILE
Madeleine Albright, left, and Donna Brazile, right, are among the many politically active professors that teach at Georgetown. for notable political figures to take an academic position at Georgetown, many, like Brazile, are passionate about education. “I carve out one day of my life to spend time on campus,” Brazile said. “I enjoy teaching — it’s the highlight of my week.” Others have had previous careers at the university level. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright taught Eastern European studies at Georgetown before joining the Clinton administration. She is currently the Michael and Virginia Mortara Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy. Albright usually teaches “America’s National Security Toolbox” twice a year, devoting a semester each to undergraduates and graduate students. According to one of her teaching assistants, Peter Billerbeck (GRD ’13), the former secretary is heavily involved in the formation and conduct of the course. “[Secretary Albright] is really passionate about designing the finer points of the course,” Billerbeck said. “She really does engage with every little thing on the syllabus and has an opinion on everything.” Lancaster added that some people also enjoy the flexibility academia offers. “Some of them see having a position at the university as flexible, where they can also write books — like Madeleine Albright has done — or be involved with other boards of organizations or other kinds of things [because] it isn’t a nine-tofive job or a nine-to-eight job,” she said. “It gives the individual a lot of flexibility, and I think people coming out of highprofile positions often want that kind of flexibility.”
Other faculty members who have visible name recognition and come to Georgetown do not always have typical professorial responsibilities, however. “A couple of years ago, we had the former president of Poland [Aleksander Kwasniewski] and the former prime minister of Spain [José Aznar] here, not teaching, but being available to do classes and activities and engage with students,” Lancaster said. Some, like visiting professor and former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), are only able to spend a few years at Georgetown before moving on to their next occupation. “Senator Hagel was obviously here — and I think very happy here, according to what he’s told me — but, of course, the opportunity to reach for the position of Secretary of Defense has come along,” Lancaster said. The notable figures also make concerted efforts to spend time with students. Each semester, Albright holds a weekend-long diplomatic simulation, and Brazile makes sure to maintain her time commitment to her class. “Last year, the presidential debate was held on one of the nights I taught, [so] I made it up by spending extra time on campus,” Brazile said. And although politically wellknown professors may belong to one party or another, they still support students no matter what their affiliation is. “I write letters of recommendation for both Republicans and Democrats,” Brazile said. “I have both Republicans and Democrats as [teaching assistants], and I’m proud of all of them.”
News
friday, february 8, 2013
THE HOYA
A5
Union, Students Seek Cafe Stays Closed After Inspection CollaborationforLeo’s INSPECTION, from A1
LEO’S, from A1 manager. He had left,” a Leo’s worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. “We talked a lot about respect. The message was about how the workers are feeling disrespected. It seems like now that we have the union, [management is] retaliating against us in a slick way. They’re doing so much more than they didn’t do before.” GSC member Natalia Margolis (SFS ’13) shared the employee’s reasons for staging the delegation. “There’s been a lot of issues of managers trying to play every loophole they can. The workers have a contract now with the union, but still there’s a lot of intimidation going on,” she said. “We’re doing this after having met with the Leo’s worker committee because we formed a really strong relationship with them.” According to Margolis, although the Leo’s worker committee is useful in generating dialogue between students and Leo’s employees, further progress requires the input of Aramark workers and university officials on a new joint committee. Karen Cutler, director of communications for Aramark, declined to comment on the specific event but wrote in an email that workers have alternative means to communicate concerns to their Aramark managers. “Our employees at Georgetown are represented by a union and covered by a collective bargaining agreement,” she wrote. “This means they agreed to bring their concerns to their union representatives who then bring them to Aramark management on their behalf. This process for addressing and resolving employee issues and concerns, as well as all of the terms and conditions that are outlined in the collective bar-
gaining agreement, are agreed to by both parties.” Union representative Allison Burket agreed that a committee could help incorporate workers in more conversations regarding food options in the dining hall. “Workers are sometimes not seen as important pieces of the puzzle when talking about sustainable food quality, so a committee is one of the ways to get there,” she said. The letter delegation comes weeks after the Georgetown University Students Association passed an amendment Jan. 20 to form a Subcommittee on Food Service, which involves the input of students and workers, to improve food quality. But Subcommittee Co-Chair Sam Greco (SFS ’15) said the committee could not advocate for workers’ rights. “The Subcommittee on Food Service does not have an opinion on or purview toward workers’ rights,” he said. According to Burket, several other schools in D.C., including American University, have already renegotiated their contracts more favorably for workers. “We made a new contract with everything that [Leo’s workers] asking for here: huge wage and benefit increases and all of the sustainable language that people have been asking for, like new training for sustainable cooking,” Ethan Miller, a member of the American University Student Worker Alliance said. Anticipating a response from the university, Margolis hopes leadership will be open to the proposed collaborative committee. “We want to bring together workers and students and representatives from Aramark and the university, so that we all have a say in what happens in the workplace to ensure that workers’ rights are respected,” she said.
refrigerators without thermometers and food being stored on the floor of the walk-in refrigerator. Dean & Deluca was forced to close following the inspection because of a DOH policy that mandates automatic suspension if six of more critical violations are found that cannot be corrected on site during the course of
the investigation. Of the store’s eight critical violations, only one, regarding cooling time and temperature, was corrected during the investigation. Last year, the grocery store was cited for several critical violations by the DOH. However, the store was able to correct enough of the violations during the inspection to avoid closure.
Customers said they would think twice before returning to the grocery store. “I’m kind of disgusted. I don’t know if I’ll be back there anytime soon,” Hayley Mitchell (NHS ’16) said. “I hate the health hazard, and my health could have been compromised because of Dean & Deluca.” Hoya Staff Writer Hiromi Oka contributed reporting.
Students Back Tackle Box Workers WAGES, from A1 settlement late Tuesday in time to defuse the demonstration. When asked about the incident, however, restaurant owner Jonathan Umbel said he was unaware of the bounced checks until last week. “It was brought to our attention last Friday, and it was resolved today. When it was brought to our attention, we took care of it,” Umbel said. “When we got the email from the advocate group, we called the advocate group, we got in touch with the person who runs the advocate group and we settled the claim immediately.” Schwartz disagreed with Umbel’s timeline. “In July of 2012, all these workers made attempts to talk to Umbel, and then repeatedly over the next several months, they did the same thing and never were able to see him or speak with him,” Schwartz said. Demonstrators did not picket in front of Tackle Box Wednesday afternoon as planned because a resolution had been reached; however, they reorganized the protest to take place at the Georgetown Waterfront and advocated for general worker solidarity instead. University students became involved as a result of collaboration between Jobs with Justice and the Day Laborer Exchange program, an initiative sponsored by Georgetown’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Program coordinator Sophia Sepp (SFS ’15) noted that the student body needed to be aware of labor problems in the area. “I think it’s really important, especially
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Georgetown students were among those who went to the Waterfront to demonstrate in favor of worker solidarity and stopping wage theft. for the Georgetown students and the Georgetown community, to realize that right here, a couple blocks away, there is a blatant issue of wage theft going on that our money is supporting,” Sepp said. “It’s something of a wakeup call, for Georgetown and for the employers, to raise awareness of the issue.” Around 13 students took part in the protest, which stopped by Tackle Box to watch the workers receive their paychecks before proceeding to the Waterfront. Members of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and GU Occupy dominated the student delegation.
Zenen Jaimes Peréz (SFS ‘13), a member of MEChA, attended the protest. “My parents are Mexican immigrants, and they are restaurant workers as well,” Perez said. “I’m here to stand in solidarity with the workers here who have lost their wages and who are immigrants to make sure their voices are heard, just like I would want my parents’ voices to be heard.” Perez cautioned, however, that there were still injustices to be corrected. “Hopefully this is something that can happen more regularly, but the fact is that every year here in D.C., hundreds of workers experience wage theft,” he said.
A6
news
THE HOYA
friday, february 8, 2013
GUSA Campaigns kick Off
Meet the Candidates
T
he campaigns for the Georgetown University Student Association executive leadership officially got underway Thursday at midnight, with the five tickets’ campaigns already in full swing as they court votes for the Feb. 21 election. There will be a vice presidential debate Feb. 11 and a presidential debate Feb. 18, and voters are looking to get to know the canidates in addition to the social media blitz and flyers covering campus. The Hoya interviewed the 10 contenders as an introduction to the race.
THE PULSE OF GEORGETOWN
Tisa & Ramadan
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Three-year GUSA veteran Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and his running mate Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14) identified their partnership as the central theme of their platform, which is unity of all students. Tisa said he chose Ramadan as his running mate to provide an outsider’s perspective to complement his familiarity with student government. “I didn’t want to allow myself, as somebody who has so much GUSA experience, to be blinded by that experience,” Tisa said. Ramadan agreed that his experience outside GUSA is as an advantage. “We are a perfect mix of a foot in the door in terms of GUSA but a foot out in terms of being the bridge to the rest of campus,” Ramadan said. The pair aims to promote effective
use of student space, reform the funding system under the Student Activities Commission, expand free-speech zones on campus and facilitate conversations about sexual assault, all of which they identify as unifying issues that affect all students. Both Tisa and Ramadan indicated that aligning Georgetown’s core values with student rights is imperative to their platform “The Catholic identity on campus means ‘no’ right now. It means no contraception, no free speech for a lot of groups, no gender-neutral housing, but we think it should be ‘yes’ to social justice, yes to community service, making these Jesuit values not just buzz words that are thrown around but true things that define our community,” Tisa said.
let’s get weird
pair will seek the right balance between keeping students engaged and eliminating excessive communication. “We’re definitely going to cut back on emails because those are really annoying. I don’t want to hear about what my GUSA president is doing every week,” Warren said. Warren also identified rats as an imminent problem the ticket seeks to address. “We’re going to have a rat-hunting competition. Having this is going to highlight how unacceptable the rat situation is on campus,” he said. Ultimately, the pair said they want to have fun while pushing their ideas forward. “I don’t think we’re going to take ourselves way too seriously. We’re not trying to run for GUSA so we can dress up in suits and put it on our resume. We really want to get stuff done,” Warren said.
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join the movement
Corbin-Johnson & Vandegriff
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Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson (SFS ’14) and Joe Vandegriff (COL ’14) cited their wide engagement in student groups ranging from the Black Student Alliance to Jumpstart as their ticket’s defining characteristic. The pair is focused on promoting social justice through different aspects of student life. Their initiatives include introducing monthly service projects through the CSJ, pushing for genderneutral housing, recruiting black and Latino professors, ensuring protected speech for O’Donovan Hall workers and increasing awareness of sexual assault on campus. “These are not only campaign platforms; these are life priorities for us. Our work outside GUSA really shows our commitment to social justice and diversity,” Vandegriff said.
The ticket proposes increasing student engagement and student rights through a Student Group Forum within GUSA that will hold regular meetings with student leaders. “To me, GUSA has almost fallen into a referendum — a year and you’re done. ‘Clear and convincing’ was phenomenal, but the problem to me is that it’s four months later and you have freshmen asking, ‘What does GUSA do?’” Vandegriff said. Vandegriff specified that their ticket is pushing for a “movement” rather than a campaign. “A movement is a collective push of ideas. We want people to take ownership of what that movement is, so if we take office, when we’re trying to rally support for these initiatives we’ll have people behind these movements already,” he said.
One Georgetown
Walsh & Silverstein As the only ticket without prior GUSA experience, Spencer Walsh (MSB ’14) and Rob Silverstein (SFS ’14) are confident that their fresh perspectives could be an asset to the university community. “People in GUSA in general work very hard, but they tend to be very narrowly focused on GUSA. We come from a different background with no GUSA experience, which we believe helps us take a more aggressive approach,” Walsh said. Silverstein cited the pair’s involvement in clubs ranging from the Philodemic Society to the Georgetown University Cycling Team as instrumental to their relationship with the student body. “We aren’t a part of that bureaucracy, so we understand student frustrations about space and events,” Silverstein said. “We have out-of-the-box ideas for how to make things work better.” All profiles compiled by Hoya Staff Writer Annie Chen
Walsh referred to the GUSA website — which was down for more than a semester — as an example of the university’s bureaucratic inefficiency. He stressed his commitment to creating a centralized space-booking system and a system tracking the promises he and Silverstein make throughout their campaign. “The simple websites ... can be built with or without university support,” Walsh said. Walsh and Silverstein’s ideas include replacing advisory board approval for student group events with a general event contract declaring “presumed consent,” arranging shuttle buses from the parking lot outside the McDonough Arena directly to Verizon Center on game days, developing a discount for mass student deliveries from Safeway and expanding shuttles to airports and Union Station before major holidays.
Sticka Manages Appelbaum Team ENDORSEMENT, from A1
Warren & Logerfo Two-year GUSA senator Cannon Warren (SFS ’14) is vying for the GUSA presidency with running mate Andrew Logerfo (COL ’14), accounting controller of Students of Georgetown, Inc. “A lot of GUSA politicians misinterpret what the power of GUSA is. Mainly, we want to be big advocates for student rights,” Warren said. Warren and Logerfo’s initiatives include reforming the Student Code of Conduct, improving recycling options on campus and creating a transparent system for tracking work order requests. The pair emphasized the importance of keeping students engaged. “The real power that GUSA has is to be lobbyist for students, but that power is only able to be used and applied in its fullest form if you have engagement and involvement of the whole student body,” Logerfo said. But Warren said that if elected, the
LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA
Jake Sticka (back center of table) worked with the Applebaum and Cleary campaign late Wednesday night in Lauinger Library.
SUNGJIN KIM FOR THE HOYA
Sticka cited his close work with Appelbaum as leaders of the College Democrats and in the current GUSA executive cabinet as a major factor in his decision to support the ticket this year. Appelbaum expressed his appreciation for Sticka’s support. “It’s a great testament to the strengths of our ticket and experience on campus,” Appelbaum said. Other candidates, however, questioned the significance of the executive’s endorsement. “The most important thing is whoever takes over and continues the progress Clara and Vail have made — who they endorse is not the most important thing,” vice presidential candidate Robert Silverstein (SFS ’14) said. “We’re disappointed that they chose to endorse Jack and Maggie’s campaign, but we respect their right to do so,” vice presidential candidate Joe Vandegriff (COL ’14) said. Presidential candidate Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) said he was surprised by Gustafson and Kohnert-Yount’s choice, and said that Sticka played a role in their decision to support Ap-
pelbaum and Cleary. Tisa has worked alongside the executive as speaker of the GUSA senate. “While we respect the current execs, the one commonality between them and their ticket is Jake Sticka,” Tisa said. “It’s been widely known that Sticka was going to manage their campaign and he was going to work his hardest to bring his partners on board.” Tisa emphasized the similarities between his platform and Gustafson and Kohnert-Yount’s focus on social justice in the 2012 race. “If you look at the tickets in the field of furthering social justice and diversity and bringing new voices into GUSA, that’s us,” Tisa said. “We are the ticket that truly does represent their legacy even if they’ve gone in a different direction.” Gustafson expressed confidence in the student body’s interpretation of her endorsement. “I hope Vail and I have done a good job by the students of Georgetown and I hope they know we want to make sure this new GUSA of openness and transparency is continued,” she said.
solutions for georgetown
Appelbaum & Cleary
Former Student Activities Commission Chair and current Director of Student Life ReportImplementation for GUSA Jack Appelbaum (COL ’14) and his running mate, former president of the College Republicans Maggie Cleary (COL ’14), prioritize funding reforms in their campaign platform. Cleary, who ran unsuccessfully for the GUSA executive as a vice presidential candidate in 2012, said Appelbaum’s focus prompted her to participate in the election again. “There are still things that I campaigned for last year that still matter to me this year, which is giving students more of a voice and advocating for student groups. I think reforming the funding system certainly does allow students to have more of a say and create a more democratic system,” Cleary said. Appelbaum identified funding reform as the first step to further reforms that will expand freedom for student groups to put on more innovative programming. The pair said they compiled their platform ideas from various studentgenerated reports, such as Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown and the Student Life Report, from recent campus-wide studies such as the external review of the Office of Student Conduct and from the work and experience of past student leaders. “The philosophy of the report focuses on student autonomy, increasing accountability and constant review and recommendation for improvement. That will
LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA
really help us to go through and have an expansive view of the issues impacting student life,” Appelbaum said. Distinct to Appelbaum and Cleary’s agenda is a comprehensive list of specific problems and concrete solutions that encompass diverse student life issues, ranging from student safety to social justice. “In order to increase and maintain the legitimacy of the student association both in the eyes of the students and the administrators, GUSA has to have both short-, medium- and long-term solutions and goals — some short-term victories and some long-term goals to establish students as real stakeholders in campus discussions,” Appelbaum said.
News
friday, February 8, 2013
Speaker’s Corner
Amer Madhi
Syrian Activist and Fulbright Scholar “We were people who, before the Revolution, never carried weapons, never conveyed that we wanted to change the country by force … This was new to the [authorities], so they didn’t know how to deal with us.”
“When we walked, ... church bells started to ring in honor of our protest. It is these things that will continue to inspire and unite us.”
“Guantanamo Bay would be a heaven ... compared to where we were imprisoned.” CHARLIE LOWE FOR THE HOYA
Emily Summit
Special to The Hoya
Syrian activist and Georgetown Public Policy Institute Fulbright Scholar Amer Madhi spoke about the importance of social media in his country’s revolution Wednesday afternoon. Madhi, who began as a community organizer in his hometown Daraya, committed to changing Syrian society and politics through public service such as street-cleaning projects.
He used Facebook and Twitter to promote the projects and was imprisoned for his efforts in 2002. Madhi said that the Syrian social media movement had been growing prior to the revolution as a new generation of Syrians discovered the Internet’s potential as a vehicle for free expression. In response, the Syrian government began a wave of crackdowns and blocked Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter and
YouTube. In 2012, it completely cut off state-run Internet access. Since then, Madhi and others have attempted to smuggle independent satellite equipment into the country to help revolutionary news outlets publish. Mahdi said he was doubtful that Syrian’s problems could be resolved in the near future due to Russian interference and aid to the ruling regime. Nevertheless, Madhi expressed optimism that Syria has the potential to exist as a peaceful sovereign state.
THE HOYA
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1634 Society Campaign Targets Freshmen Alexandra Douglas
organized several launch week events for participants. Students from the dormitory with the highest participation will The 1634 Society is targeting the Class receive paraphernalia and VIP perks at a of 2016 through the “One for George- closing barbecue celebration. town” campaign to promote undergradSatterly said that he anticipates a high uate giving and raise money for the New turnout at the events, partly motivated South Student Center, which will be by the $10,000 gift contingent upon parcompleted during the freshman class’ ticipation. junior year. “If they don’t reach the goal, then they The campaign, which was announced don’t reach the goal. That’s it,” Satterly in an email to the freshman class Thurs- said. day and will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 28, Initial student response to the camencourages each student to donate $1 to paign was mixed. a fund that will be used for the construcCourtney Klein (SFS ’16) said that she tion of the New South Student Center. If believes that philanthropy is pivotal to 50 percent of the freshman class partici- the undergraduate experience and that pates, an anonymous benefactor will do- this particular campaign should encournate $10,000 to the campaign. age participation. It is the first social philanthropy cam“Georgetown gives us so much. We paign targeted at underhave to give back,” Klein graduates that the 1634 “We want to change said. “The New South Society, which aims to Student Center is a good inspire philanthropy and alumni giving for the cause because our money promote alumni-student will directly benefit stufuture.” relations, has sponsored. dents. … We know where According to Chairman our money is going.” BRYAN SATTERLY (SFS ‘13), of the 1634 Society Board On the other hand, Chair of the Board of Directors 1634 Society of Directors Bryan SatterAlex Barnes (SFS ’16) was ly (SFS ’13), 30 percent of skeptical that students alumni currently give to the university should donate money to the university — a significantly lower figure than the before graduation. One for Georgetown campaign’s goal of “We’re already paying an absurd 50 percent participation. amount to go here for four years,” Barnes By improving attitudes toward giving said. “It’s more of an alumni thing to be among current students, the 1634 Soci- giving back. It’s kind of strange they’re ety is hoping to eventually increase the already asking for donations when we’re percentage of alumni that give to George- barely into our second semester of our town. The group is considering launch- freshman year.” ing campaigns for other class years if this Barnes added that he would not donate campaign is successful. to the university until after graduation. “We want to change alumni giving for Scott Goldstein (SFS ’16) was unconthe future,” Satterly said. “The backbone vinced of the merits of the campaign beof 1634 is to instill philanthropy.” cause of the project it plans to fund. 1634 Society board member Alex Pom“It’s not for charity and it doesn’t seem mier (SFS ’15) agreed, adding that the to serve an intellectual purpose that new campaign is based on this goal. would improve our academic experience “The campaign was inspired by the at Georgetown,” he said. “It would merely spirit of giving back to Georgetown,” be for a nice hang out space. It seems like Pommier said. a nice but unnecessary improvement. … He hopes that students who give as un- It just seems like an unnecessary use of dergraduates will, in turn, give as alumni, money.” with this campaign serving as a means of However, for Mackenzie Boydston (MSB instilling a “giving-back habit” that will ’16), investing in Georgetown as a freshbenefit the university for years to come. man will help her establish a habit of doThe society announced on its Face- nating in the future. book page Tuesday that it has already “My experience at Georgetown is bethad more than 30 percent participation ter because of alumni donations, so I will from the freshman class. But to encour- want to give back as an alumna as well,” age wider contribution, the 1634 Society Boydston said.
Special to The Hoya
A8
Sports
THE HOYA
MEN’s Basketball
friday, February 8, 2013
SOFTBALL
GU Looks to Avoid Letdown New-Look Hoyas Slated To Start Season in Florida RUTGERS, from A10
does not anticipate the time off having a significant impact on the game. “It’s pretty much a normal week,” Thompson III said. “It just gives our guys a chance to catch up on studies.” Points will be at a premium against a Rutgers team desperate for a win. The Scarlet Knights have lost their past five games but tend to elevate their level of play at the RAC — only having allowed visitors to surpass the 70-point barrier three times all year, including an impressive 67-62 win over Pittsburgh Jan. 5. “They have three very good guards who are all interchangeable,” Thompson III said. “They all can score. This is another team where … we have to know where they are on the floor.” The Hoyas are currently riding a four-game winning streak, which includes victories at then-No. 24 Notre Dame and against then-No.5 Louisville. “Are we coming along? Yes, we’re coming along,” Thompson III said. “The guys, particularly on the defensive end, are in a groove, but we’ll see how much of a groove we’re in against those guards [Saturday].” Despite losing sophomore forward and defensive ace Greg Whittington, Georgetown has actually clamped down on defense, holding opponents to a lower field-goal percentage. As tough as it may have been to predict when Whittington was suspended, the Blue and Gray have more than compensated for his 12 points and seven rebounds per game. To do so, Thompson III has dug deeper into his bench, often relying on unusual lineups to step up. Freshman guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera — renowned for his scoring and passing abilities — has grabbed four more rebounds per game since Whittington’s suspension, while redshirt sophomore forward Aaron Bowen has increased his scoring and rebounding averages in almost nine additional minutes of playing time. Sophomore forward Moses Ayegba has stepped
Rachael Augostini
FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA
Sophomore center Mikael Hopkins was the only starter not in double figures against St. John’s, notching eight points. up in a major way as well. Not every player, however, has earned more playing time; sophomore forward Mikael Hopkins has had a difficult time filling the Henry Sims role in the offense, as he has been forced to constantly play out of position. The Maryland native has shown flashes of the player he could be, brandishing a couple nice moves in the post against St. John’s early on in the game. Hopkins has also done a better job of limiting his turnovers in recent outings, but he still needs to make strides to earn back the minutes he received earlier in the year. Meanwhile, the three leaders of the team — junior forward Nate Lubick, junior guard Markel Starks and sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. — have
elevated their games, particularly in clutch situations, their last few times out on the floor. “I’ve said there for two years now. … Otto’s reliable,” Thompson III said. “He brings it every night, and I don’t anticipate that changing throughout his career. Otto’s one of the best players in the country.” Containing Rutgers’ trio of sophomore guards — Eli Carter, Myles Mack and Jerome Seagears — will be key for Georgetown. If the Hoyas can use their length to bother the shooters on the floor, they will put themselves in a good position to win the game. But the Blue and Gray also need to be sure to track down long rebounds, of which there will surely be many. Tip-off is set for noon Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.
cross country
Freshmen Qualify for USA MUSGRAVE, from A10 Energy had to be conserved out of the gate, as the athletes immediately focused on preparing for the race’s conclusion. “I was really proud of how both Nadel and Fahy ran,” Bonsey said. “They executed their plans like veterans.” Fahy was faced with a dogfight right down to the finish for the six qualifying spots — with a mile to go, some 20 athletes were packed together at the front. At the 800-meter
mark, eventual winner Craig Nowak of Oklahoma State surged forward and caused the pack to string out. Fahy hung tough, though, and won a kicking battle in the final 200 to pull out the fourthplace finish. Nadel, on the other hand, was in the top six for most of the race, chasing a group of two athletes who had pulled away early. Nadel’s chase pack comprised five athletes that held a consistent pace through most of the race until the pace picked up with a kilometer to
go and one runner dropped. Nadel then closed out the race with a strong clutch push, claiming fifth and her ticket to Poland in the process. “This is a huge deal for these athletes and our program. It is always a great honor to represent your country and wear the Team USA jersey,” Bonsey said. “We as coaches are very proud of the athletes.” “And as far as the race plan for Poland goes,” he added, “It is a real goal for both Darren and Sam to be the top United States finishers.”
raising the bar
Ring Trumps Distractions LEWIS, from A10 then when he could physically bounce no more, Favre hung up the cleats. His body had finally betrayed his mind. His carnal need for one more championship, one more go at the game he so loved, couldn’t propel his aching body anymore. Worse yet, Favre’s attempts to go out on top tore to pieces a storybook ending to a career that was meant to be finished in a Packers uniform. Favre drove his body into ruin and put a dent in his Packers legacy, all in hope of going out on top. Even “His Airness” himself experienced withdrawals similar to Favre’s. Twice Michael Jordan leapt out of retirement to return to the court in search of another championship ring. The first comeback was a grand success – another three championships for the G.O.A.T. His second comeback, this one despite his reputation as the most influential basketball player of all time having
years on the Hilltop, having started in almost every game she has played since her freshman year — the majority of which have come With hopes of starting off their season on behind the plate. While her defensive prowthe right foot, the Georgetown softball team ess has been crucial, perhaps her even bigger is heading down to Miami, Fla., to participate contribution has come on offense, where she in the 2013 Panther Invitational, hosted by led the team last season in hits, slugging perFlorida International. The tournament kicks centage, on-base percentage and home runs, off today as the Hoyas take on the Wolfpack of hitting a staggering 23. The Hoyas also have a number of juniors NC State at 11 a.m. and finish the day against that have flashed the potential to be big factournament hosts FIU. With this being the team’s first tourney tors this season both at the plate and in the of the team’s 2013 season, the Blue and Gray field, including shortstop Allie Antilla and will be beginning in earnest its efforts to fill outfielder Elyse Graziano. Still largely a team built on youth, Georgethe voids left by three key departed seniors. Coming off its best season in program his- town will put its young talent to the test this weekend against NC State, a tory, Georgetown looks to team it lost to 9-2 last season. continue its improvement as The freshmen The Wolfpack finished last it simultaneously rebuilds, bring both talent season with a 23-31 overall boasting six new freshmen record, but the Hoyas’ pitchon its roster. and positional ing staff will nonetheless The freshman class inhave to face another strong cludes catcher Mikaela Bleddiversity to the that includes fifthsoe-Downes, catcher Molly table, but time will lineup year senior Bethaney Wells. Morrison, shortstop Taylor The North Carolina native Henry, infielder Grace Aptell how much of hit .293 last season with a pelbe, infielder/pitcher Saan impact they’ll team-high 39 RBIs. mantha Giovanniello and After their N.C. State reinfielder/outfielder C.J. Semobe able to make match, the Blue and Gray nes. This new crop brings a this season. will have little time to rest great deal of talent to the tabefore squaring off with FIU ble in addition to its positional diversity, but time will tell how much of an in the nightcap of their doubleheader. The Panthers are coming off a mediocre 28-27 seaimpact they will be able to have this season. The Hoyas’ biggest area of concern is likely son, but they did claim 17 of their 25 home finding a new ace. After losing the best pitch- games, a fact that doesn’t bode particularly er in program history last year in Mackensey well for the Hoyas today. FIU is led by junior Carter to graduation , it is vital that the team pitcher Mariah Dawson, who posted a 20-13 find someone who can take her place and pro- record last season and is the definitive anchor of the Panthers’ rotation. vide a new dominant presence in the circle. The action doesn’t stop there, though, The majority of the pitching burden will fall on the shoulders of sophomores Lauren as Georgetown will take on the Kansas JayO’Leary and Megan Hyson, who notched hawks in their third game of the tourna134.1 innings and 92.1 innings last season, ment on Saturday. As a member of the Big respectively. O’Leary led the team in wins in 12, the battle-hardened Jayhawks regularly 2012, but she will need to lower her ERA this compete against Midwest powerhouses season to give the Hoyas their best chance at like Oklahoma and Texas. Georgetown will therefore look to keep up with Kansas in a a win when she takes the field. With Carter’s departure, Georgetown lost game that is sure to be played at a high pace. The final game of the tournament will be a key leader both on and off the diamond. Senior catcher Shikara Lowe and senior third played on Sunday against an opponent yet to baseman Jordan Hansen have been appointed be determined. First pitch in Georgetown’s matchup with as co-team captains, meaning that it will priNC State is slated for 11 a.m. in Miami, marily be up to them to fill the void. Lowe has played an essential role in the while its contest against FIU is set to follow Hoyas’ success over the course of her three at 6:30 p.m.
Hoya Staff Writer
already been cemented, was a calamity by comparison. Two lackluster seasons right here in Washington, D.C. barely yielded even a sniff of the postseason, much less another title. Air Jordan is still the greatest. But even he was held captive by that fleeting feeling of standing tall on the podium as a champion one last time. Not all the tales of superstar athletes end in agony, though. John Elway finished off an already solid career with two Super Bowls, retiring after winning the second game’s MVP and repeating as champion. Cal Ripken Jr. finished on his own terms; same with Wayne Gretzky. Although it was just a regular season contest for both, the two legends rode off into the sunset with a final home game, no indecisiveness to be found, touching tributes to their Hall of Fame careers. But they, along with Lewis, are the exceptions to the rule. Ray acknowledged as much in his post game chat with Balti-
more native Michael Phelps. Phelps is someone who knows a little something about going out on top, having won 18 Olympic gold medals and retiring after this past summer’s Olympiad. Lewis said to Phelps, “I told you I was going out on top!” The exclamation, looking at the path so many superstar athletes have taken looking for one last title, seems to be much more a defiance of the norm than a recap of events. If winning a championship is the goal for any season, then a championship in a final season is the sweetest of them all. Ray Lewis is one of the lucky few to have triumphed in this regard. So when the dust settles and we take a step back and examine the complex career of Lewis, let’s start by remembering Ray for what he did at the end: go out on top.
Peter Barston is a freshman in the McDonough School of Business. RAISING THE BAR appears every Friday.
sports
friday, february 8, 2013
women’s Basketball
THE HOYA
WOMEn’s basketball
A Super Bowl ‘What If?’ P
FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA
Freshman guard Katie McCormick scored 21 points in 23 minutes last time out against Louisville after returning from injury. She’ll be counted on for more of the same Saturday.
McCormick Aiming To Step Up Again at SJU Carolyn Maguire Hoya Staff Writer
Coming off of a hard-fought loss to Louisville, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (13-9, 4-5 Big East) is looking to rebound and make a statement when it takes on St John’s this weekend at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y. With just nine games remaining in the regular season, every game counts as Georgetown begins its playoff push. But a game against St. John’s (10-10, 4-4 Big East), especially on its home floor, is certainly no easy task. Despite a mediocre record, the Red Storm this season has played numerous elite teams tight — including, most recently, a 71-65 loss to No. 3 Connecticut. “We are a young team, so this will be the first time for most of our girls to go into that arena, and it is a tough place to play,” senior center Sydney Wilson said. “I think it will be a learning experience if anything. We don’t really have the veterans that we had last year. It will definitely be a very intense game, [but] we have the potential to play really well.” The Hoyas will turn once again to the Big East’s leading scorer, senior shooting guard Sugar Rodgers, to lead them against the Red Storm. Rodgers will hope to recover from a particularly poor shooting performance against Louisville, who defeated the Hoyas 74-60, when she managed just six points on 2-of-17 shooting. “Sugar better come out on fire,” freshman guard Katie McCormick said. “No, I mean a lot of people are associating her with having a bad game [against Louisville] just because she didn’t have as many points, but her assists were off the charts and she really kept us together on the defense end. She really didn’t have that bad of a game — it just wasn’t up to her norm.” McCormick herself is another one that the Blue and Gray will look to against the Red Storm, having scored a career-high 21 points against Louisville. Going forward, McCormick has the potential to be something that Georgetown has been looking for all season — a consistent scorer not named Sugar Rodgers. “Katie played great [against Louisville].
A9
She is going to play a lot more minutes after coming out and scoring 21 points — that is a great game and a confidence booster,” Wilson said. “I know, as a freshman, to get such a boost like that, you’ll ride on that for that rest of the season, so I think she will continue to play well.” In addition to what would seem to be an edge outside, Georgetown also has a noticeable advantage over St. John’s in the paint. This size difference will give Wilson, senior center Vanessa Moore and junior forward Andrea White more opportunities to score in the low post. “We are going to pound the ball inside this game because they play four guards, so they don’t have a real post presence,” Wilson said. “They have a junior center that is about 6-foot-2, but other than that, they don’t have anyone coming off the bench that is a post. We should be able to go inside a lot this game.” With this size advantage, Georgetown should be able to facilitate an inside-out game to give their guards open outside looks. On the defensive end, the Hoyas will be facing a thin Red Storm offense. Thus far this season, St. John’s has only averaged 60 points per game. Senior guard Shennika Smith ranks in the top five in the Big East in scoring and leads the Johnnies in scoring, averaging 16.7 a game. “We are going to stay with our defense — a basic press — and then we are dropping back our zone a little bit in hopes of containing [Smith],” McCormick said. Along with Smith, Georgetown will have to manage freshman standout guard Aliyyah Handford — who was recently named Big East rookie of the week — and junior guard Briana Brown. Both Handford and Brown are coming off strong offensive performances against Connecticut and Providence. “If we can just stop [Smith] from penetrating, we’ll be able to contain them because they aren’t really a shooting team,” Wilson said. “Also if we limit our fouls and limit [Smith’s] getting to the basket and distributing we have a chance to win because they definitely aren’t really looking to shoot.” Georgetown will take on St. John’s Saturday in Queens, N.Y. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
ut simply, momentum is vastly overrated in professional sports. Usually, it’s just employed as a narrative that allows fans and analysts to depict one moment as the turning-point of an entire game when generally other factors are responsible. But on Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans, after the Superdome’s lights shut off when Bane teamed up with Sean Payton to threaten all of humankind — and specifically NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — it is hard to believe that the momentum of the game didn’t shift at least a little bit. While the 49ers followed up the delay with another three-and-out drive, something clearly had changed, as their offense scored 23 points in the final 28 minutes of the game after struggling to get six in the first 32. Colin Kaepernick started playing aggressively again, and the Ravens’ defensive unit, which generally has more anger packed into it than a lonely teenager watching the Bar Refaeli commercial, looked less energetic and assertive. Between halftime and the blackout, the players spent over an hour doing nothing but stretching. It would make sense, then, that any emotional advantage that Baltimore may have had was nullified. So the question is: What if the 49ers had come back to win? Personally, I don’t think fans properly appreciate just how controversial, catastrophic and downright crazy that scenario would have been. First of all, the city of Baltimore would not have looked very good on Monday morning, and I’m only using a euphemism because I can’t think of a phrase that adequately describes the situation. When the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011, huge riots took place in downtown Vancouver that night. Game 7’s score was 4-0, meaning it wasn’t close ... and, oh yeah … those were CANADIANS.
Yes, Canadians — known as the most mellow, kind and trusting people on Earth. (To remind you of this stereotype, search “Family Guy Canadian Alcatraz” on YouTube. You’re welcome.) Now let’s turn Vancouver into Baltimore, a city that already has a history of violence; let’s make the game the last one for the franchise’s most recognizable player ever; and let’s have the team lose in a last-minute, heartbreaking fashion with absolutely no precedent to something as wild as a 34-minute delay. Frankly,
Tom Hoff
A 49ers comeback after the blackout would’ve been catastrophic. Baltimore’s riots would have made Vancouver’s riots look like Louisville’s performance vs. Georgetown: a no-show. On a few lighter notes, let’s look at the other potential consequences of a Niners win. First, an epic collapse and comeback would have meant we’d be subjected to even more “Thanksgiving dinner for the Harbaugh family is going to be awkward this year!” jokes. (Oh, I get it, because the winning and losing coaches in the Super Bowl will be at the same Thanksgiving table because they’re brothers … HA!) Secondly, because many analysts and fans judge individual players far too heavily on his team’s success — which involves factors out of his control — Joe Flacco wouldn’t be given as much credit as he’s deservedly getting now. Colin Kaepernick’s early game struggles would be forgotten, meanwhile,
and we’d only remember how clutch, gutsy and athletic he is. Then there’s the fact that one villain (Randy Moss) would have a Super Bowl ring, and another (Bernard Pollard) wouldn’t. Plus the “Blackout Bowl” would replace the “Superbaugh” and the “Harbowl” as the game’s nickname. Actually, I still want this to happen. The Blackout Bowl would be considered another demerit on Roger Goodell’s resume as commissioner, as he would have resided over possibly the sketchiest Super Bowl result ever. I’m not Goodell’s biggest fan, by any means, but I’m fairly certain he had nothing to do with the lights going off. The Barstool Blackout Tour would cash in on the marketing goldmine by creating a West-Coast event that starts in San Francisco. My introlevel economics education tells me that demand would be so high for a limited supply of tickets that the equilibrium selling price of one ticket would be the same as the price listing for Mark Zuckerberg’s San Franciscoarea house. And finally, Super Bowl XLVII would go down as possibly the biggest “asterisk” game of all time, right up there with the USA vs. USSR 1972 Olympics basketball game and that time I lost in NBA 2K because my friend hit my controller on a lastsecond free throw. For years to come, 90 percent of the conversations among Ravens fans about that game would inevitably start with the obnoxious quip that “the wrong team won.” Ultimately, then, the NFL dodged a huge bullet when the 49ers’ comeback came up short, and so did the city of Baltimore and many people in between. However little comfort that may be for the 49ers and their fans.
Tom Hoff is a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business. DOWN TO THE WIRE appears every Friday.
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FILE PHOTO: SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA
Senior Charlie Caris will again be expected to pull his weight — and then some — against Ivy Leaguers Penn. The Hoyas were blown out by the Quakers 6-1 in last season’s meeting.
Crosstown Battle Awaits Tim Eldridge
Special to The Hoya
The Georgetown men’s and women’s tennis teams find themselves in very different positions as they both come off dual matches on the road last weekend — while the girls handled Duquesne and Pittsburgh to sweep their Friday-Saturday slate, the men’s team fell in two hotly contested matches to Duquesne and Toledo. The women will look to build on their impressive performance last weekend against crosstown rival George Washington this Saturday, when they face off against a squad riding momentum from a 5-2 victory over Howard last weekend. The match against the Colonials will be an excellent opportunity for the Hoyas to prepare for the Big East
season, which will pick up in earnest after this week. The Blue and Gray started the conference season off the right way against Pitt — pulling off a road victory in the second day of a dual match — and will try to keep things rolling as they briefly return to their non-conference schedule. George Washington is certainly no pushover, but look for the women’s team to continue its impressive start with another strong showing on Saturday. The men’s team, meanwhile, will look to rebound against Penn on Wednesday, a game that Head Coach Gordie Ernst has had circled on the calendar since before the season even started. The Quakers, who dominated the Hoyas 6-1 in the two teams’ meeting last year, present an opportunity for the men’s
team to earn its first 2012-13 victory over an Ivy League opponent. Penn is likewise fresh off a dual-match weekend, in which it fell to in-state rival Penn State 1-6 and defeated Buffalo 6-1. In an interview with The Hoya last week, Ernst made clear that he wants his team to start earning respect and building a national reputation. Defeating an Ivy League team on its own court would certainly be a great way to do just that. The men’s side has battled hard in all its matches this season, but so far, it has struggled to find a way to pull out close contests. Penn will provide a tough test, but that also means it should be a good measuring stick for how close Georgetown is to getting over the hump and starting to win competitive matches.
SPORTS
BASKETBALL Hoyas (16-4) vs. Marquette (16-5) Monday, Feb. 11 Verizon Center
FRIDAY, FEBR UARY 8, 2013
DOWN TO THE WIRE More than the result would’ve changed if the 49ers had completed their comeback. See A8
TALKING POINTS
“
It is a real goal for both Darren and Sam to be the top U.S. finishers.
NUMBERS GAME
5 ”
Cross country Assistant Coach Brandon Bonsey
The number of games that the Rutgers men’s basketball team has lost in a row entering Saturday.
CROSS COUNTRY
CURRAN
GU Must Fahy, Nadel Head to Poland for Worlds Watch for Road Trap PATRICK MUSGRAVE Hoya Staff Writer
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eorgetown is riding pretty high right about now. The Hoyas have made a triumphant return to the national rankings, clocking in at No. 20. They’ve won six of seven games. Otto Porter Jr. is a Big East player of the year favorite, and some now consider his team a darkhorse pick to win the conference. Paging Admiral Ackbar. Even the most optimistic sections of its fanbase can’t deny that the team has a penchant for spectacularly crashing and burning in a “trap” game, usually just after it has gained respect among national pollsters and talking heads. In 2011, the Blue and Gray rose to No. 9 in the country and promptly faceplanted at Temple. Last year, it was No. 9 again until a sloppy night in Morgantown. This year, No. 15 and a stinker at Marquette. So you’ll have to forgive the Georgetown faithful for keeping their eyes peeled for a trap in the upcoming schedule. And Saturday’s game at Rutgers is as likely a candidate as any for the start of the impending collapse many traumatized fans are predicting. The Scarlet Knights enter the game with a 12-9 record and a five-game losing streak, numbers that won’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of, well, anyone. But while Rutgers’ resume isn’t
Georgetown University is known for its commitment to international relations and its abundance of students who study abroad every year. Georgetown athletics is getting into the spirit as well: Two freshman cross-country runners, Samantha Nadel and Darren Fahy, have qualified to represent the United States at the IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland on March 24. Nadel and Fahy qualified for Worlds by competing in the USA
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Cross Country Championships in St. an official visit in the fall of senior Louis on Feb. 2. Nadel finished fifth year,” Nadel said. “It’s a great school in her race with a 6 kilometer time of and a great program, so I was set.” After excelling in high school 21:10, while Fahy placed fourth in the and joining the Hoya cross country men’s race with a 24:51 8k time. For each athlete, the qualification squad, both Fahy and Nadel quickly stood as just one of many accomplish- rose to the occasion in their first sements in a burgeoning cross country mesters of collegiate running. Fahy ran one of the best freshman seasons career. Both Fahy and Nadel were elite in recent memory, earning a spot on athletes in their high school years. the all-Big East team, and Nadel was a Fahy, for one, won a state cross coun- fixture in the Hoya women’s top five try championship in California and as well, running in the Big East meet, NCAA regionals then doubled in and NCAA nationhis senior state “This is a huge deal als. track meet, winFollowing so ning both the for these athletes much success on 3200- and the and our program. It is the NCAA scene 1600-meter runs. in the regular seaNadel likewise always a great honor son, therefore, it had a very sucseemed natural to cessful four years, to represent your try to qualify for winning a New Worlds. York state cross country.” “I never had the country title and BRANDON BONSEY Cross Country Assistant Coach chance to qualify earning runnerin high school beup honors in the cause I was injured, so when I heard state 3200m race as a senior. After experiencing so much suc- about Worlds for cross country this cess in high school, then, the stage year, I was really excited to try to qualwas set for the decision of where to ify,” Nadel explained. In training for the cross country run in college, and it was one that qualifier, Nadel and Fahy also had to featured plenty of options. “When I was looking for colleges, simultaneously keep up with their I knew that Georgetown was a great track training, a testament not only school academically and had a re- to their dedication but also to their ally good team,” Fahy said. “So I knew fitness levels. Cross country Assistant Coach that I wanted to use my running to go to a great school, and Georgetown Brandon Bonsey organized most of had the best balance. I was talking to the training for the qualifier, meanthem throughout my junior and se- ing that he got to see their progress and potential firsthand. nior year.” “A week before the Worlds qualiFor Nadel, the reasoning was similar, and the ultimate decision to com- fier, both Sam and Darren ran some track events at our home meet and mit to Georgetown was simple. “Georgetown was one of the did very well, hitting some times schools that called me first, and I took that put them among the best fresh-
PAT CURRAN is a junior in the College and a former sports editor of The Hoya.
FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA
Junior forward Nate Lubick came up big for Georgetown against St. John’s last Saturday, posting a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Hoyas Face Knights With Streak on Line Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown men’s basketball team (16-4, 6-3 Big East) is hoping that Rutgers (12-9, 3-7 Big East), whom it faces Saturday, will prove an easier opponent than last year’s edition did. It was only current sophomore Otto Porter Jr. and his clutch free throws at the end of regulation — which came as a result of a questionable off-ball foul — that allowed the Hoyas to edge the Scarlet Knights 52-50 at Verizon Center in
See WORLDS, A8
Ignoring the Noise, Ray Retires on Top
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men in the country,” Bonsey said. “A week later, they showed their versatility and fitness levels when they ran much longer distances to qualify for Team USA.” Qualifying out of Junior Nationals was no simple feat, especially considering the high winds that prevailed on the day in addition to an extremely competitive field. Because of the winds, all runners were forced to change their strategies at the start of the race.
RAISING THE BAR
MEN’S BASKETBALL impressive at first glance, the Knights boast wins over St. John’s and then- No. 24 Pitt earlier this year, as well as close losses to then-No. 20 Notre Dame and then-No. 11 Louisville. Add in Myles Mack — a diminutive guard who can light it up from downtown any given night — and you’ve got a recipe for beating a streaky Georgetown team. The basketball pundits say differently — and hey, maybe they’re right. Each of Porter Jr.’s performances over the last month has been a thing of beauty, and the new, fast-paced offense seems to be clicking without Greg Whittington. Despite a 4-of-17 performance against Seton Hall, Markel Starks has emerged as a reliable second scorer with a deadly threepoint shot. And against all odds, the Hoyas have been playing statistically better defense without their 6-foot-8 Plastic-Man patrolling the wings. Unfortunately, this sound reasoning won’t be enough to convince most of the loyal fans who witnessed the trap games of the last few years that the Blue and Gray aren’t doomed for a jarring fall. Commenters on the popular Georgetown blog Casual Hoya bemoan any hype in the national media for fear of a rankings or popularity jinx. I say bring it on. It’s not that I think the Hoyas will have a cakewalk tomorrow. I think they’re in for a matchup that’s much tougher than it looks — and on the road, to boot — so there’s a very real chance they lose. I scoff at the jinx only because Rutgers represents a test Georgetown needs to pass should it wish to join the ranks of the college basketball elite this season. If the Hoyas want to join the land of the Michigans, Floridas and Kans — okay, maybe not the Kansases — of college basketball, the Rutgers game will be as important as any top-25 matchup.
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Jan. 2012. Now, after completing their season sweep of longtime rival St. John’s, the Blue and Gray will hit the road for the first time in more than two weeks when they make the trip up to Piscataway, N.J. Following a week-long break — their second longest layoff of the entire season — the Hoyas are hoping to avoid the offensive rust they faced earlier in the year when they put up just 48 points at Marquette following a two-week break. But Head Coach John Thompson III See RUTGERS, A8
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t’s safe to say Ray Lewis will be Lewis, putting on the Ravens jersey and tearing up the turf, sideline to remembered for a lot. His mysterious white suit sideline, for the final time, went out from that fateful night in 2000. His with the Lombardi Trophy in one squirrel dance. His pregame pep hand and the other hand cupped talks. His bone-crushing tackles. around his ear: “I can’t hear you.” His championship is talking too Oh, and some deer antler spray. But for a second, forget all that. loudly. How many athletes can claim to Forget the allegations and the accolades. Retiring after 17 years as the have done what Lewis has just done face of the Baltimore Ravens, Lewis with his career? Excellence from is finally departing the game he start to finish, all with one team. Intensity, passion, loves so dearly, and and dedication is doing so in the that never waned. rarest of fashions. And most imporRay Lewis is gotantly, our final ing out on top. memory of him Say what you will be that of a will about his Super Bowl chamconduct on the pion. gridiron (nothing Peter Barston Going out on short of stellar), in top is a tantalizing the locker room (fiprospect for superery inspiration unHow many athletes star athletes. Of rivaled in today’s NFL), and off the can claim to have done course, all players set out each year to field (questionable, what Lewis just did? win a title. But the to say the least). odds are always All that matters in this moment is that Lewis has against them. For superstars in their just accomplished what so few leg- final act, this is a brutal reality. Look at Brett Favre. His quest for ends in any sport have been lucky enough to enjoy: ending his career the El Dorado of athletics, that glorious championship in the final with a championship. His performance in Super Bowl season of a career, left him battered XLVII wasn’t a vintage Lewis perfor- and bruised. He couldn’t locate the mance — a mere four solo tackles elusive treasure with the Packers, — and the build-up to the big game and so gave his tearful goodbye to was surrounded by the swirling ru- the game – or so we thought. Before mors of his use of deer antler spray, we could process the gunslinger’s the latest cutting-edge performance fine career with Green Bay, he was enhancing supplement to enter our demanding another shot at that championship. He bounced to the PED lexicon. But all that can be summed up Jets, and then to the Vikings, and simply enough. Ray Lewis, in his final season, his final game, left See LEWIS, A8 on the highest of high notes. Ray