The Hoya Guide: Feb. 17, 2012

the guide friday, february 17, 2012

the weekly magazine for life on the hilltop

BEHIND THE COLLAR

the untold stories of georgetown’s jesuits Learn to Spell With Mask & Bauble

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GU Bindaas Brings Bollywood to the Hilltop

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Get a Glimpse of Turkish Nightlife

this issue 3 lifestyle 5 10 food&drink 12 art&culture entertainment 14 hilltop

red square roundup // hide & seek

gu bindaas // under the radar

eat & joy // shanghai lounge

spelling bee // vagina monologues

face the music // this means war

nextissue

8

GEORGETOWN JESUITS SHARE THEIR STORIES

The Jesuits can be found in all places around the world, but many of them call the Hilltop their home.

They’ve dedicated their lives to the Society of Jesus. Through faith and action, they serve the poor, educate young people and inspire those around them. Setting an example for Catholics around the world, they serve in the neediest TIFFANY LACHHONNA FOR THE HOYA of places, from Nicaragua to Camden, N.J. Through it all, they aspire to live up to the Jesuit motto, “For the greater glory of God.” The students at Georgetown University are well aware of the presence of the Jesuits on campus, but few know the path that led them to the Hilltop.

COVER PHOTO COURTESY FR. LEO O’DONOVAN, S.J.

soundbite

OSCAR PREVIEW ENTERTAINMENT

In next week’s issue, check out Jeremy Tramer’s rundown of the nine films nominated for Best Picture. Will the greats like Woody Allen or Steven Spielberg take home the trophy, or will an underdog steal the spotlight?

the guide

Connor Gregoire, Editor-in-Chief Steven Piccione, Guide Editor

Upasana Kaku, Executive Editor Suzanne Fonzi, Managing Editor

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

Chris Bien, Photo Editor Remy Samuels, Layout Editor Samantha Randazzo, Copy Chief

General Information THE GUIDE is published each week during the academic year with the exception of holiday and exam periods. Address all correspondence to: THE HOYA Georgetown University Box 571065 Washington, D.C. 20057-1065 The writing, articles, pictures, layout and format are the responsibility of THE HOYA and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University.

Signed columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of THE HOYA. Georgetown University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression for student editors.

THE HOYA does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, national or ethnic origin. © 2012. THE HOYA, Georgetown University twice weekly. No part of this publication may be used without the permission of THE HOYA Board of Editors. All rights reserved. THE GUIDE is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Additional copies are $1 each.

Victoria Edel, Deputy Guide Editor Alex Sanchez, Deputy Guide Editor Bethany Imondi, Deputy Guide Editor Leonel De Velez, Deputy Photo Editor Sari Frankel, Deputy Photo Editor Christie Shely, Deputy Photo Editor Zoe Bertrand, Deputy Layout Editor Jessica Natinsky, Deputy Layout Editor Emory Wellman, Deputy Layout Editor Nikita Buley, Deputy Copy Editor Emily Perkins, Deputy Copy Editor

Editorial: (202) 687-3415 Advertising: (202) 687-3947 Business: (202) 687-3947 Facsimile: (202) 687-2741 Email: editor@thehoya.com Online at www.thehoya.com

grandma goes to turkey

I do appreciate a good “pop, lock and drop,” “dougie” or “chicken noodle soup” ... not to mention my “cupid shuffle,” which is pretty on point.

MeaganKelly

omglol :I :P :D :(

Kute Kouple? — Kim Kardashian was spotted getting lunch with ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush, trying to ruin the career of yet another athlete.

Shore Thing — The infamous Angelina will be returning to “Jersey Shore” this season. We apologize to the state of New Jersey in advance.

Clear Eyes — The script for the “Friday Night Lights” film is nearly complete. Because we need a movie based on a TV show based on a movie based on a book.



Robots in Disguise — Michael Bay will direct the fourth Transformers. It’s unclear how he can include more senseless violence, but we have faith.

saywhat?

“

Start saving your pennies now. People spend $300 on crazy things all the time, things like handbags. So work all year, scrape the money together and come to my show. I’m worth it.

- Madonna on her newest tour

hilltop

redsquareroundup to sir with love

feb17

gpb movie

To Sir With Love Screening Friday, Feb. 17 at 5:30 p.m.

ICC 108

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 Fri, Feb. 17 - Sun, Feb. 19 at 9:30 p.m. and 12 a.m.

ICC Auditorium

Come help the Program of Justice and Peace wrap up their awesome Peace Education Week with a special screening of To Sir With Love. This award-winning film starring celebrated actor Sidney Poitier is sure to please, and free food will be provided. So come eat, drink and celebrate peace!

feb18

feb17

This weekend, the Georgetown Program Board will be showing the first installment of the popular Twilight saga’s dramatic conclusion.

With heroine Bella Swan pregnant with a halfvampire, half-human child, what will become of her and her beloved vampire beau Edward?

You’ll have to tune in to this week’s midnight screenings to find out.

murder mystery night

Murder Mystery Night Saturday, Feb. 18 at 9 p.m.

Bulldog Alley

feb23 Beowulf - The Epic in Performance by Benjamin Bagby Thurs., Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Gaston Hall, $5 for students

Come join The Gathering and What’s After Dark for a night of murder, mayhem and movies. This 1920s-themed soiree will feature a screening of the movie Clue and a deadly mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Don’t forget to dress the part!

hide&seek

beowulf

Benjamin Bagby, world-renowned musicologist, will be performing “Beowulf” in Gaston Hall next week. With musical accompaniment, Bagby will engage the audience in a dramatic performance of the first third of the epic poem. The performance will be delivered in the original Old English and will feature subtitles.

The photos onleft theisleft an example ofof what appear in &Hide Thetwo photo on the theare complete image last will week’s Hide &Seek Seek, but for next on campus is the photo right? challenge.

Canweek: you finWhere d the location of the photo on on thethe right?

lastweek

STAR-CROSSED STUDENTS The Heyden Observatory is home to the university’s Astronomical Society — a group that’s seemingly hidden from the campus lense.

findme

findme

all photos leonel de velez/thehoya

2.17.12 | the guide | 3

hilltop

GU Bindaas Keeps Bollywood Dreams Alive new club has students dancing all year long

ALEX SANCHEZ Hoya Staff Writer

G

eorgetown’s South Asian Society is known for sponsoring the university’s largest and most popular annual cultural show, Rangila. The performance attracts a large number of students as both participants and audience members and is one of the most anticipated events each year. It seems as though Georgetown’s student body has some sort of insatiable hunger for cultural dance shows. Enter GU Bindaas, the university’s newest dance group hoping to capitalize on this demand.

In addition to being the university’s latest dance troupe, GU Bindaas — whose name means “awesome” in Bollywood lingo — is also one of the newest clubs on campus, formed only three weeks ago. It was founded by Marisha Wickremsinhe (NHS ’15), Sana Imam (COL ’15), Mariam Matin (COL ’15), Smiti Mohan (MSB ’15),

Q & A

4 | the guide | 2.17.12

Trishla Jain (SFS ’15) and Erika Solem (COL ’15) as a Bollywood-style dance group with a focus on all-inclusivity.

Although still a fledgling dance troupe, Bindaas currently boasts more than 25 members and, in the coming months, hopes to attract more interested students, regardless of whether or not they have any prior dancing experience.

For this reason, the group does not require an audition to join.

“It allows people to come outside of their comfort zone,” Wickremsinhe said. “If you go to audition for a dance troupe and you’ve never danced before, the likelihood that you’ll [actually] go out and dance is so slim. Everyone has that ability.”

She also stressed the fact that members are not even required to perform with the group if they don’t want to, though they are still welcome to come to practices and

learn the routines.

“I think it really helps the atmosphere of the group,” said Wickremsinhe.

On March 24, GU Bindaas will put on their first performance at the Georgetown Program Board Charity Spring Fashion Show, of which all proceeds will go toward the Roslin Orphanage of West Timor, Indonesia.

Currently, the members of GU Bindaas are hard at work preparing for their debut.

“We have two practices a week, and sometimes the choreographers will have a special practice, just to make sure we have everything in order and to get the new dance moves going,” Wickremsinhe said. “It’s basically a four hour commitment [per week].”

The performance will showcase a medley of various Bollywood songs and dance routines infused with elements of hip-hop.

“Basically, it’s your typical dance perfor-

mance, but we’re going to bring a whole new element to Georgetown,” Wickremsinhe said. “No other group on campus does strictly Bollywood.”

When asked about the future of GU Bindaas, Wickremsinhe expressed the group’s desire to become an established club on campus that will provide a way for students to dance and appreciate Bollywood music.

“Hopefully, a lot of people … can just have this new experience and be part of something much like Rangila, but keep that going throughout the year and have multiple performances,” she said.

If you are interested in joining the troupe, contact georgetownbindaas@ gmail.com or join the GU Bindaas Facebook group. Practices are on Tuesdays from 10 to 12 p.m. and Saturdays from 3 to 5 p.m. in Yates.

who is your favorite president and why?

“Teddy Roosevelt — because he loved to smile and he loved the environment”

“JFK — because he’s gorgeous” Erin Kay Cawley (MSB ’13)

Colleen Wood (SFS ’14)

“Teddy Roosevelt — because he was a manly man”

“Lincoln — for his mastery of the spoken word”

Javier Pena (SFS ’12)

Anupam Chakravarty (SFS ’10, GRD ’15)

lifestyle Five Reasons to Appreciate Your Roaring Twenties the 20-something transition

E

BrookeBerger

ntering your 20s brings with it a host of new experiences and big decisions marking entrance into adulthood. From choosing a major and finding a job,to dating and deciding whether or not to go to graduate school, we are faced with choices.

Although every person experiences the transition into adulthood differently, it’s no question that our generation is facing this transition during a time different from any other. The upside?

Millennials (those of us born after 1980) are more optimistic, expressive and educated than any generation preceding us.

Here’s my list of the top five things to be excited about as a 20-something in 2012: 1. We’re connected everywhere and at all times.

At no other time has it been easier to stay in touch with people across the country and around the world. With the release of new social networking tools our generation is able to keep in touch with friends, families and people we knew in kindergarten more easily than

ever before. We can look at and talk to people across the world through Skype and can follow someone’s every move on Twitter. Connectivity has changed the way we communicate in all facets of our lives. Not only does our generation have access to most of the information under the sun, we also have the ability to express and communicate our ideas and opinions in a visible way.

ativity characteristic of our generation to welcome the jobs of the future.

3. We think globally.

Because our generation has been given the tools to connect and communicate globally, Millennials are attuned to thinking this way. Being able to think and communicate in a global way means that our generation is willing to collaborate and share with people all over the world. We’re more aware of Millennials (those of us born what’s going after 1980) are more optimistic, on in the rest expressive and educated than of the world and how our any generation preceding us. actions affect and are affected by the global community.

2. We’re not in a dying job market — just a different one.

Obviously all the talk about the difficulty of getting a job can be extremely discouraging. There’s been increasing pressure to choose “practical” majors in order to ensure a spot in the competitive job market. Although industries are changing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s less value in studying something “impractical” in college.

With changing markets and industries come new opportunities for entrepreneurship, which is fed by the creative thinking that these majors cultivate.

Millennials should embrace the cre-

4. We have technology our parents never even dreamed of.

Just think about the number of times you check your Facebook each day, or how lost you would be without the GPS app on your iPhone. Our generation has access to the technologies that make our lives easier in many ways. We can email, text or call someone at any time, and we can make dinner reservations online. Our generation is con-

Improvisation Sensation Hits GU

B

eginning on Feb. 10, the Georgetown Improv Association produced two nights of unscripted, impromptu comedy that left the audience roaring with laughter. The improv troupe is quickly outgrowing its usual performance site in Bulldog Alley and made the move to Gaston Hall on Friday night to accommodate its larger-than-usual audience.

ImprovFest is one of the oldest improv festivals in the country, and this year it featured Georgetown’s own improv troupe, as well as special guest, Upright Citizens Brigade. On the Feb. 11 show, The Ohio State University’s Eighth Floor Improv, Washington Improv Theater’s Season Six and University of Maryland’s The Bureau all made the journey to the Hilltop to participate in one of the most anticipated improv festivals of the year.

The second half of the Feb. 10 show featured the professional improv troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, whose alumni include talented comedians who have gone on to “Saturday Night Live” and “The Office.” This fourman troupe began its performance by calling up a member of the audience for a little chat about her life at Georgetown and abroad, but what the audience was not expecting was for the rest of their performance to be improvised from the information she gave them. No one in the Georgetown audience could refrain from laughing when the Citizens Brigade acted out a scene of a meth lab in a freshman dorm, complete with a goofy RA stopping by to welcome and inform the students that, “It’s college; there’s going to be a meth lab — just don’t let me see it.”

The Citizens Brigade was able to really connect with the audience through their questions and requests for audience participation. Before you knew it, this new troupe was referencing the freshman dorms (New South), the weird seniors who decide to live on campus and other jokes unique to Georgetown life. This improv troupe didn’t need much info to take off in an innovative, hilarious direction, always keeping the audience on its toes.

Georgetown students all across campus now utilize a new method of hailing a taxi — “the tro-tro way” — in which you stick your back leg out and flail your wrist in the air just like the Ugandans apparently do.

Georgetown’s own improv troupe successfully evoked its fair share of laughter with its performance during the first half of the show. Improv is a difficult

tinuously exposed to tools that remove much of the grunt work our parents once had to deal with.

5. We have more brain power.

Not only are there more first-generation college students than ever before, but there’s also more diversity in education and the workplace. Women and minorities are working in industries previously unavailable to them and bringing with them new ideas and fresh perspectives. More brain power means more opportunities for creativity and growth, both in industry and elsewhere.

Without a doubt, Millennials are experiencing the 20-something transition at a time when things are changing pretty drastically. Because things are changing in unprecedented ways, the ways in which we deal with things are bound to be different. Although scary, this is a time in which things are changing in exciting ways, and we’ll be the ones responsible for changing the definitions of everything from communication to the modern makeup of society.

Brooke Berger is a junior in the College.

THE 20-SOMETHING TRANSITION appears every other Friday in the guide.

DENVER BURTON Special to The Hoya type of performance, but this troupe of Georgetown students were completely at home on the big stage, masters of a difficult art form. The quick wit and lively minds of the improv troupe allowed them to create scenes based on single words from the audience, such as “towel” or “chain.”

Georgetown’s improv troupe includes Hoyas from each class, including seniors Jed Feiman (COL ’12), Danny Hrebenak (SFS ’12), Sean Quigley (SFS ’12) and Daniel Thoennessen (COL ’12).

Feiman did an excellent job directing, designing and producing this annual show, which was likely their most successful shows to date. The improv troupe performs once a month in Bulldog Alley, so for those who want to in on all the latest inside jokes on campus, there will be many more shows to come.

2.17.12 | the guide | 5

lifestyle

centerstage

MICHELLE CASSIDY Hoya Staff Writer

Revising Papers and Plans for the Future: Writing Center Director Offers Guidance It’s hard not to smile when you’re talking to professor Maggie Debelius — her bubbly personality and enthusiasm are contagious. The associate director of the English department and the director of Georgetown’s Writing Center, Debelius has been teaching at Georgetown for the last 10 years. She’s working on a new edition of her 2001 book So What are You Going to Do With That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia. Debelius sat down with the guide to talk about her work, her book and the changes she’s seen at Georgetown over the years.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you do here?

I direct the Writing Center and I also teach in the English department. It’s a great job for me. I’ve been here for 10-and-a-half years and I also got my master’s at Georgetown, so I’m a Georgetown alum.

Why did you decide to come to Georgetown?

I was working as a journalist and I didn’t really know if I wanted to go back

to graduate school. I started here as a part-time student because I could keep my job but also take classes. I just fell in love with it and knew I wanted to be in academia. Unfortunately, Georgetown didn’t, and still doesn’t, have a doctoral program in English, so I had to go [to Princeton] to get my Ph.D, but as soon as I finished I came right back.

You co-wrote a book while in grad school. Could you tell us a little about that?

I wrote a book at the end of my graduate school career called So What Are You Going to Do With That?, and it’s about careers outside of academia. I wrote this with a friend of mine from grad school as we were struggling to finish our dissertations and figuring out what we wanted to do next. We ended up interviewing literally hundreds of graduate alums who had positions other than jobs as professors. So we asked them about the connections between their graduate training and their careers. We interviewed a midwife, a private investigator, consultants and entrepreneurs

Michelle cassidy/The Hoya

WELL-WRITTEN Professor Debelius helps students in and outside class by leading the Georgetown University Writing Center.

6 | the guide | 2.17.12

and all sorts of exciting lives that people were leading. They all had pretty fascinating stories to tell about the connections. We’re writing an updated edition right now because, unfortunately, the career crisis in academia is even worse now than it was 10 years ago when we wrote the book.

What are you focusing on this time around?

We’re trying to update the stories in the book, looking at new career paths that people are pursuing, and we’re very mindful of the changing landscape of faculty jobs. We’re trying to look at the relevance of a graduate degree for a bunch of different careers.

So why did you get involved in the Writing Center?

My very first job out of college was teaching high school English, and I don’t think I was very good at it because I was a first-year teacher, but I survived.

I felt most effective when I was meeting either one-on-one with my students or in small groups. If I was standing in front of a class of 20 people, I wasn’t sure if I was getting through to all of them.

It was a boys’ school in England so it was all new to me, and I stood up there thinking, ‘Do they understand what I’m saying? Does this mean anything to them?’ But if I was meeting with them one-on-one, then I knew I was connecting with them. And that was just such a powerful connection; it was so immediately clear that that was a relevant way to teach.

You’ve been at Georgetown a long time.

How do you think it has changed since you’ve been here?

I feel like I certainly have changed, but how has Georgetown changed? My students have always been wonderful, but I feel like [they] have gotten even more savvy and practical and career-minded, because they’ve had to be. I spent a year on leave as a visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It was funny to be there and to compare these two different student populations. At Georgetown, when my students need to miss class it’s because they have something to do for their internship, or I had one student who was Egyptian and had to go to the embassy to vote in the election —

the reasons that people have for missing class are global. At Boulder, my students would miss class for a powder day. We got really good snow, and nobody showed up because they were all snowboarding. It strikes me the way Georgetown students are really globally minded.

What would you say is your favorite thing about Georgetown?

I really love having students whose smarts extend beyond the classroom.

There’s always a way in which [class discussions] have a bigger “so what” about how students work in the world.

Four Fun Facts About Professor Debelius: She has a beloved black lab mix named Janey.

Her dad was in the Army, so she grew up in several places, but spent formative years in Alaska.

Shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate are her favorite dessert.

The movie Best in Show always makes her laugh.

lifestyle

Can’t Stand the Dancing in Instanbul grandma goes to turkey

A

MeaganKelly

t last, my faithful and devoted readers (affectionally referred to as “parents” and “friends I guilt trip”), I greet you from the rolling hills of Sariyer, Turkey. Oh, I’m sorry, you’re unfamiliar with that.

Sariyer is a province in Istanbul and where my university is located. I apologize, I forgot that it has already been two weeks and I’m, like, really cultured now. But, yes. After the decision-making, application-completing, form-filling, goodbye-saying (followed by crying) and bag-packing, I am at last in Turkey. So allow me to provide the long-awaited “List of Meagan’s Initial Reactions to Turkey”: • The language sounds nothing even close to English.

• The Turkish word for “cheese” will be vital to my survival.

• As a vegetarian, I will be very hungry.

• Thanks to the Turks’ calling a grilled cheese “tost,” it has become

socially acceptable for me to have a grilled cheese for breakfast — and it’s awesome.

• Why won’t it ever stop snowing in this coastal city?

• The colors and texture of Turkish lira allow me to easily convince myself that it’s monopoly money and that this excessive spending is all a game.

• There is an usually large number of fake gingers here, and I really appreciate it.

• Under no circumstance can I ever convince myself that Americans do not stand out.

• We have way more trash cans in the United States.

• Having to bring your own toilet paper to the bathroom makes going to the bathroom way more awkward.

But enough about cheese, trash cans and bathrooms (not in that particular order). I know you opened to this particular page in the guide, or clicked on the conveniently provided link on my Facebook, to hear the good stuff, all the juicy details about Istanbul’s nightlife.

Well, for that you’ll still have to refer to your Lonely Planet guidebook

or any person cooler than me who has been to Istanbul. What I can tell you about nightlife, however, is that my brief experience, has taught me something very important about myself, something essential to who I am: I really like sitting down.

That’s right. Upon giving it real thought it has become quite clear that I have always subconsciously felt that in any given situation I would ideally be sitting down. I came to this realization with the help of a new friend and fellow American, Kelsey.

You see, Kelsey likes to dance. It is the beginning and end goal of her nights.

I, however, go out to sit.

Picture a bar with appropriate lighting (dim enough to create a “party” atmosphere, while bright enough so that you can identify the facial features of whomever you are conversing with), an enjoyable playlist (complete with late ‘90s/early 2000s Beyoncé hits and whatever Rihanna is doing right now set to a volume loud enough that dancing can happen somewhere separate from the sitting, yet quiet enough that a conversation does not take effort) and, the most important element of all, ample seating. This bar you just envisioned

Cuban Students Look Beyond Politics

W

hen I ask people what they think of Cuba, they usually respond, ‘Cigars and Fidel Castro.’ But I want people to know that it’s much more than that,” Alejandro González (SFS ’12) stated earlier this week. González, the president of Georgetown’s Cuban American Student Association, or CASA, is part of a movement that seeks to overcome the tense political and economic boundaries between the United States and Cuba. Despite the fact that the embargo just reached its 50th year, Cuban culture is thriving and continues to flow freely from the island to America. It comes as no surprise, then, that the culture is so valued here on Georgetown’s campus.

CASA is committed to empowering the youth of Cuba by bringing them educational materials and giving them a voice. González explains, “In Cuba you’re always taught that the Americans are the enemy, but this is a unique opportunity for us [as Americans] to show that we’re not. We’re just like them, [people] who want to reach out and connect.”

This weekend, CASA is teaming up

with Raíces de Esperanza (Roots of Hope), an organization started in 2003

by Georgetown and Harvard students, for a national conference called Avenida Cuba (Cuba Avenue). The 10th stop of the national tour will feature rapper Yrak Sanchez and blog translator M.J. Porter. On Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Copley Formal Lounge, they will be discussing the reality of the situation in Cuba, particularly how it affects the youth on the island. Sunday in the Fisher Colloquium, there will be a luncheon for Cuban American leaders in the D.C. area that will be open to anyone interested in discussing some of the larger implications of U.S.-Cuba relations.

Aside from Avenida Cuba, CASA and Raíces de Esperanza will continue working to revitalize Cuban cultural awareness in D.C. while empowering the youth on the island. Their two campaigns, Cell Phones for Cuba and USBs for Cuba, highlight methods of disseminating information and helping the youth access educational materials. González said, “There have been some protests in Cuba recently and the images have been captured through cell phones … to share with the

is called heaven. But as a result of my tendency to sit, there has been a constant battle between the sitting (me) and the dancing (Kelsey).

Now, don’t get me wrong; I do appreciate a good “pop, lock and drop,” “dougie” or “chicken noodle soup” (I had to Google that last one), not to mention my “cupid shuffle,” which is pretty on point. I came to Istanbul to experience new things and break out of my sitting-down shell. I want to be more like Kelsey, more like the kind of girl who says things like, “Ladies! Let’s go DANCING tonight!” So I’m trying, I truly, truly am.

And what I can be grateful for is that “grinding” is not a thing here.

That is strictly an American thing and also the silliest concept to ever come from our generation. So I will try to make it a goal while I’m here to live by the age-old proverb of “dance like no one is watching.” The only problem is that’s just not true.

People are watching and most likely judging.

Meagan Kelly is a junior in the College and is a former photo editor for The Hoya.

GRANDMA GOES TO TURKEY appears every other Friday in the guide.

SHEENA KARKAL Special to The Hoya

STUDENTORGS.GEORGETOWN.EDU

BREAKING BARRIERS FOR A NATION Members of the Cuban American Student Association protest the country’s authoritarian regime in Red Square. outside and [with others] on the island. So, it’s kind of a new way of reaching out and connecting that wasn’t there before.”

Though it often seems like the longest trade embargo in recent history shows no sign of breaking down, there is nothing stopping the growth and celebra-

tion of Cuban culture here on campus.

Whether or not you’re familiar with the situation in Cuba, González hopes that Avenida Cuba will be an eye-opening experience that will undoubtedly kindle a new appreciation for the rich, resilient culture of Cuba.

2.17.12 | the guide | 7

the secret lives of jesuits

T

hey celebrate masses, serve in the administration and teach some of Georgetown’s most popular classes. The almost 60 members of Georgetown’s Jesuit community play a wide variety of roles on campus, and their paths to the priesthood have been just as diverse. For some it was an easy decision, but for others it took years to realize their calling.

PREMED TO PRIEST Fr. Leo O’Donovan, S.J. (CAS ’ 56), who served as president of the university from 1989 to 2001, first came to Georgetown as a student.

He originally planned to attend medical school and become a psychiatrist, but after two years at the university, O’Donovan switched to a double major in English and philosophy. After graduation, he earned a Fulbright scholarship and began his studies in France at the University of Lyon. It was in France that O’Donovan decided he wanted to join the Society of Jesus.

“I became gradually aware that what I felt really called to do in life was to be a minister in the Church,” O’Donovan explained. “So I applied [to the Society] from France and it was naturally a key decision in my life and one I’ve never regretted.”

O’Donovan’s choice was influenced in large part by the many religious men and women he had encountered in his education, beginning with the nuns at his elementary school, Corpus Christi, on Manhattan’s West Side.

“The sisters in that school were simply extraordinary,” O’Donovan said.

He recalls a teacher who, in the days immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, had his class draw nativity scenes of the Holy Family as Japanese people.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more ethically imaginative,” he said.

O’Donovan was ordained as a Jesuit priest 10 years after graduating from Georgetown, having also received postgraduate degrees from Fordham University, Woodstock College and the University of Münster in Germany.

He went on to teach theology at multiple universities throughout the country until he became president of Georgetown in 1989, the year of the university’s bicentennial celebration.

“It was wonderful to come home,” he said. “It was a great time to be asked to lead the university.”

Georgetown had undergone extensive changes in the 33 years O’Donovan was away. Perhaps most significant was the university’s decision to admit women to the College of Arts and Sciences in 1969.

“I thought this was great news and would

make for better education for everybody, and it has. I won’t say that women are better students, but I’m tempted to,” O’Donovan said.

One of the most controversial moments during his 10 years serving as head of the university involved his support of the pro-choice group GU Choice, a group that he refused to shut down until he was directed to do so by the Vatican in 1992. The group was the predecessor to H*yas for Choice, which is not officially recognized by the university as a student group.

“I saw it as an educational question,” he said.

“It wasn’t that I sought to promote it, but talking about one’s ideas seems to be part of the educational process. The Catholic Church is a church of reason as well as faith.”

Upon his retirement, O’Donovan returned to New York. He is now teaching theology again, primarily at Union Theological Seminary, but has given lectures in both the United States and Germany. He’s written art criticism, served on a committee evaluating spiritual life at Yale University and is the official chaplain of the New York Athletic Club. He’s also increased his pastoral work, officiating numerous weddings, performing baptisms and leading numerous Ignatian retreats.

Corpus Christi School became a major priority for O’Donovan. After he retired from his position on the Walt Disney Corporation’s Board of Directors, on wihch he served from 1996 to 2007, the board offered to make a contribution to a charity of his choice, and O’Donovan had them build a science lab for the small school. He has also created an advisory board to help guide the school as it continues to grow.

LOVE LOST, FAITH WON Fr. Charlie Gonzales, S.J. (CAS ’56), former rector of the Georgetown Jesuit community and a current professor in the theology department, started his Georgetown career in a way eerily similar to O’Donovan. He too was premed when he entered, and the two men lived on the same floor in Healy Hall as freshmen, allowing them to become good friends.

Gonzales had not considered a life in the priesthood prior to his arrival on the Hilltop.

“I had no idea of becoming a Jesuit when I

came down here,” Gonzales said. “I thought I was going to marry Joan, my first love. We had it all figured out.”

But once Gonzales met the Jesuits who served Georgetown during his undergraduate years, he changed his plans.

“I thought, ‘They’re smart, they’re very worldly, but they’re also very spiritual and they’re doing great stuff for young people,’” he said.

After much reflection, Gonzales decided to abandon the future he had imagined with Joan, although they remain good friends.

“The Lord wouldn’t let go of me,” he explained.

“He kept drawing me in to what he wanted me to do.”

Like the sisters at Corpus Christi who influenced O’Donovan, the nuns who had taught Gonzales in elementary school helped set the stage for his eventual decision to join the Society of Jesus. “[The] Sisters of Mercy taught me academically and taught me how to be human and how to be a boy of faith,” he said. “I learned from them what it means to live a dedicated life, to really look out for others, to really care about your students.”

After he was ordained, Wesleyan University

and hold out a hand to somebody, like somebody must have done for him when he hit New York City,” Gonzales said.

After his time in Camden, Gonzales returned to Georgetown, where he began a Latino ministry. He also visits a local prison every Saturday, celebrating Spanish mass with the inmates.

Gonzales teaches a theology course, “Latino Church Doing Justice,” which focuses on the particular issues of the Latino community and includes an optional field trip to Camden.

RELIGIOUS ROOFTOP LIVING Fr. Otto Hentz, S.J., decided to enter the Society of Jesus in 1955.

“I was serious about the faith, but I wanted to be more serious about it and live it in a way that makes sense to me,” Hentz said.

During his time in the seminary, Hentz taught at Georgetown for three years.

“That’s when I met Bill Clinton. I taught him logic,” he said.

He was ordained in 1968, and after doing his doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, Hentz returned to Georgetown as a member

“I had no idea of becoming a Jesuit when I came down here. ... I thought I was going to marry Joan, my first love. We had it all figured out.” offered Gonzales a position as their first Catholic chaplain.

During his time there, Gonzales developed connections with the Trappist monks in Massachusetts. The monastery held several Buddhist retreats in which Gonzales participated.

“That was the beginning of a new relationship with a different spirituality, which in the end led me to become a deeper Christian,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales later became the superior of the Jesuits at the University of Scranton and then the rector at Georgetown, where he served from 1988 until 1994. He took a year-long sabbatical at the end of his term to reconnect with his father’s family and his 11 cousins in Spain.

Upon his return to the United States, Gonzales decided to take an assignment in Camden, N.J. after spending a weekend with the city’s underprivileged Latino community.

“They’re the most banged up, bereft, beaten human beings I ever thought I would meet in the United States of America. I was there for nine years,” Gonzales said.

He was inspired by his father, who had come to the United States from Spain in order to make a life for himself and succeeded.

“I felt that I needed to spend some time with Spanish-speaking people who were struggling

of the theology department. He has lived in his Village A rooftop apartment since the complex opened in November of 1979.

Hentz said he’s particularly fond of “The Problem of God,” which he teaches every semester.

“I think [it] is the most important course, because you want to get [students] thinking about basement issues, fundamental issues,” he said.

LAW AND THE ORDER Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J. (COL ’88), vice president for mission and ministry, took much longer to discern his vocation as a Jesuit. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Georgetown, O’Brien returned to his home state to attend law school at the University of Florida.

“I wanted to be involved in politics, so I went back to Florida on the advice that all politics is local,” he said. “I found that my desire was a real desire to serve, to make the world a better place. There was also, though, a lot of ego and unhealthy ambition tied in there.”

O’Brien left law to teach at a local Catholic high school and eventually realized his calling to serve as a Jesuit priest.

“I found that my desire to serve was slowly transformed by God to serve not in public office, which can be a noble profession, but as a teacher,” he explained.

Victoria Edel Hoya Staff Writer

Although O’Brien was inspired by the Jesuits at Georgetown, it took time and distance for him to fully realize his calling.

“I’d thought about becoming a Jesuit at different times when I was a student here, but it wasn’t anything serious back then,” O’Brien said.

During his training, O’Brien spent summers in places like a leprosy hospital in India, an immigration detention center in Los Angeles, poor neighborhoods in Bolivia and a summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains for innercity families.

At Georgetown, O’Brien continues his commitment to the poor by leading an annual Alternative Spring Break trip to the ArizonaMexico border.

“One of the reasons we started that was to give our students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of the migrant poor, and also, very selfishly, I enjoy the experience,” he said. “I need to get away on spring break and have that experience in a world very different from Georgetown.”

O’Brien previously served as executive director of campus ministry, overseeing the largest campus ministry in the country. Last year, he was appointed to his current position of vice president and is now responsible for advising University President John J. DeGioia on campus issues.

“Part of my particular role is to bring the Catholic and Jesuit heritage to bear on these decisions,” he explained.

O’Brien also teaches an extremely popular class in the theology department called “The Church in the 21st Century.”

A JOURNEY WORTH TAKING Although O’Brien loves life as a Jesuit, he acknowledged that it can be demanding.

“One of the reasons the Jesuits were founded was to meet the needs of the church that were not being met, and there are so many needs out there,” he explained. “It’s hard to not be overwhelmed by need and find the proper balance between prayer, work, study and leisure.”

Hentz also acknowledged that being a Jesuit isn’t always simple.

“Sometimes you run into people who are arrogantly dismissive of religious issues,” he said. “But sometimes the difficulty is the Church itself. It’s slow to change in some cases and in some cases too inward looking.”

O’Donovan explained that although being a Jesuit can be difficult, it is a joyous existence.

“I love being a Jesuit priest, and I love it more now than ever before,” he said. “You’re asked to love Christ and the human family, and that’s wonderful. I get up every morning, and the first thing I say is, ‘This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.’”

TIFFANY LACHHONNA for the hoya

TIFFANY LACHHONNA for the hoya

A JESUIT FOUNDATION The Copley Crypt, left, offers a quiet space for reflection and prayer. The statue of Fr. John Carroll, S.J., right, commemorates Georgetown’s founder.

COURTESY KEVIN O’BRIEN

TIFFANY LACHHONNA for the hoya

JESUIT RESIDENTS Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., top, left law school in order to return to Georgetown as a Jesuit. Wolfington Hall, bottom, houses many campus Jesuits.

food&drink

Rediscover the Joy of Late-Night Eats Restaurant Brings Turkish Cuisine to DC michael hennessey Special to The Hoya

 EAT & JOY

1204 34th St. NW cuisine: American and Turkish price: $$$$

W

alking down 34th street toward M, one can find the hidden gem that is Eat & Joy. Eat & Joy is Mehmet Kocak’s second restaurant in Georgetown and is little known to the public. However, its variety of Turkish and American dishes should have a wide appeal.

The restaurant itself does not look like much on the exterior, but real beauty lies inside. The somewhat frightening facade opens up to an airy and modern space, where menus and place settings are waiting for costumers. What makes Eat & Joy stand apart from other restaurants is its service and food. When I first ate at Eat & Joy, I had my doubts about the quality of the food, but within minutes of receiving my meal those thoughts were quickly swept away. The quick and friendly service was a pleasant surprise, and the staff makes sure your food is up, hot and delicious in no time.

The food is delightful and every entree is a surprisingly full meal. One dish that I particularly enjoyed was

the Turkish doner gyro. It is warm meat straight off the roasting rack and stuffed into a pita. Topped with a combination of salad and a mouthwatering garlic butter sauce, this is the Turkish dish to have at Eat & Joy. The restaurant also has kebabs of all varieties that make it worth the walk from campus.

One thing that makes this small eatery stand apart is its bread, which is baked daily. The bread gives each sandwich a hearty and homemade taste. Even after eating one of the filling sandwiches offered on the menu, such as the chicken parmesan or the cheese steak, you will want some more of that darn good bread. It outshines the competition of Wisey’s and Booey’s hands down with Turkish flair.

Finally, this small place is the best late-night option in West Georgetown.

It offers pizza that is worth eating sober, something that its rivals have difficulty doing. This place has short lines when hunger strikes late on a Saturday

happyhour

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night. Eat & Joy combines the best of all the late-night spots with great pizza, delicious Turkish food and good service.

Eat & Joy is a great spot for a quick lunch or some late-night munchies. It has very reasonable prices by Georgetown’s standards and offers a halfprice student discount every Tuesday.

The food has great flavor and has the potential to challenge the Georgetown restaurants of old.

dishes you have to try: chicken parmesan sandwich with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese

turkish donor gyro

with lettuce, tomato, caciki sauce and onion on homemade bread

A weekly roundup of some of the best shots, mixes and punches.

+

The nicki minaj In honor of the Grammy’s usual yearly drama, indulge in “The Nicki Minaj.” Reflective of her Trinidadian roots and eccentric personality, this fruity mix is a great blend of sugary, sweet syrup and citrus.

Rebecca goldberg for the hoya

Turkish delight Eat & Joy’s atmosphere is almost as warm as its renowned bread.

10 oz. vodka

+ 10 oz. Fassionola (tropical fruit syrup)

8 oz. orange juice

food&drink

Shanghai-Class Dining Quick Home Cooking

BETH GARBITELLI Hoya Staff Writer

T

ired of Mai Thai? Take a stroll up Wisconsin for Chinese at Shanghai Lounge, located at 1734 Wisconsin Ave., NW. A friend of a friend who studied abroad in China assured that its offerings are closer to what he had eaten on the mainland than those of most local Asian restaurants. I was eager to see how it was, so I took a friend to check it out.

While you can get good Chinese food to go from a few local stores, you would miss some of the ambiance that we got at Shanghai Lounge. The two-floor establishment gives customers a cozy feel with its soft lighting, warm color scheme and black-lacquered small tables. According to its website, it offers four schools of Chinese food: Cantonese, Szechuan, Hunan and Shanghai. The menu doesn’t overwhelm customers with too many options, though it does skew from serving only Chinese dishes with a few Japanese- and Thai- inspired offerings.

The greatest benefit of eating in a restuarant is the service. Shanghai Lounge’s waitstaff was completely courteous without being overbearing. They also gave great recommendations.

Our waiter started us off with a handpicked list of beverage suggestions. For beer lovers, he had a Chicago winter micro-brew that had been picked after much deliberation and beer-tasting. The menu also featured a special swanky cocktail in honor of the the year of the dragon.



Makes for Healthy Hoyas culinary quips

SHANGHAI LOUNGE 1734 Wisconsin Ave., NW Washington, D.C. cuisine: Chinese price: $$$$ We ordered both. The cocktail fizzed and bubbled as clouds of smoke whisked off of it — almost too pretty to drink. The beer was less elaborate, but turned out to be a good match to the chicken dishes we got as our main meals.

We ordered kung pow chicken and ginger chicken on the advice of our waiter. Both complimented each other well and tasted a step above general takeout stir-fry. The kung pow had enough kick to not be overpowered by the flavor of the peanuts in it. The ginger chicken was a little plain, but my friend enjoyed the subtle, clean flavor. Both meals came with a dish of steamed white rice.

In traditional fashion, the meal ended with green tea. We supplemented it with almond cookies and a Shanghai rice dumpling, which consisted of sweet rice folded over with dates. Overall, the price was worth the soothing setting, as well as for the great service.

For a delightful and relatively authentic Chinese dinner, don’t miss Shanghai Lounge.

ElizabethSabol-Jones

W

ith midterms fast approaching and interview season in full swing, food tends become less of a priority for us students. In an effort to remedy our lack of kitchen time during high-stress time periods, we often turn to frozen meals, boxes of Easy Mac or chocolate-covered pretzels, which while delicious, do not suffice as a “well-balanced meal.” As a result, we are left with either takeout or making our own meals.

Delivery gets expensive and cooking every night can be arduous for those who do not typically spend too much time in the kitchen.

The best solutions for eating on a busy schedule in college are to preplan your meals. Now, I realize that seems easier said than done, but with some strategic shopping and about an hour-and-a-half study break, you can have a few solid meals ready for the week.

When venturing to the grocery store, there are some things you should always put in the basket: dried pasta, premade pizza dough,

FORTUNE COOKING Shanghai Lounge serves delicious Chinese food, and its cool ambiance and helpful staff will make your visit well worth it.

Elizabeth Sabol-Jones is a junior in the College. She can be reached at saboljones@ thehoya.com. CULINARY QUIPS appears every other Friday in the guide.

homemadepizza

1.

HOTFROG.COM

a bag of salad greens, tomato sauce, and salad dressing. Salt, pepper and olive oil are pantry staples, and must be purchased if not yet on hand. Browse the produce department and pick up your favorite mix of vegetables. Penny-pinchers, you can also purchase bags of frozen vegetable medleys. Extras like cheese, bacon, nuts and other proteins are also worth picking up.

With this mix of ingredients you can create some simple yet healthy meals. Tossing some cooked pasta with vegetables, protein, and salad dressing makes for a quick pasta salad that stays fresh for about a week in the refrigerator.

When you finish up the pasta, use your leftover vegetables for a salad.

Don’t, however, make the salad in bulk as the greens will rapidly wilt and become soggy.

For those nights you don’t want to venture to Tuscany or Leo’s for a slice, making your own pizza is an inexpensive, hearty dinner. You can use items from the other two recipes to make one tasty pizza, and, of course, leftovers always taste better the next day.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take the premade dough out of the fridge and let it sit out for about 20 minutes. When the dough reaches room temperature, sprinkle flour on the counter and start rolling out the dough.

Once rolled out, place dough on a cookie sheet and use a fork to poke holes in the dough to prevent air bubbles.

Drizzle on a little olive oil and spoon on some of your tomato sauce.

Add cheese, plus any veggies or meat your heart desires.

Bake the pizza until its crust is crisp and golden.

2.17.12 | the guide | 11

art&culture

‘Putnam County Spelling Bee’ Wins First Prize joanie greve Special to The Hoya

W

hen Jesus found out the myrrh was regifted, he called the Wise Men ‘Jews.’”

That joke is not the latest comment to get Mel Gibson into trouble, but rather a line from The Mask & Bauble Dramatic Society’s most recent production, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical that depicts six elementary school kids as they compete for first prize at their county spelling bee. While the characters might be still learning their multiplication tables, the show’s audience should be years out of elementary school, as the play makes jokes about everything from religion to politics to gender expectations.

The humor — some of which was written by Mask & Bauble’s own Joe Madsen (COL ’14) who plays Vice Principal Douglas Panch — make you feel guilty about laughing, but not guilty enough to stop you. The cast has great chemistry, making each character’s eccentricities (one character uses his magical foot to spell out the words before saying them) even more hilarious.

Producer Ellison Roberts (COL ’14) writes in her note to the audience, “I believe our quirky harmony is also in the truest spirit of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’” Despite the quirky and sometimes ridiculous nature of the show (a certain religious figure makes a personal appearance toward the end) the characters also experience the moments of revelation and sadness that occur in every young child’s life. One song, which repeats the line, “Life is random and unfair,” will remind anyone of the first time they whined about life’s unfairness.

Olive Ostrovsky, who is played by Molly Roach (COL ’15), feels this injustice of life more deeply than anyone else in the show. Olive, whose mother has recently left her and her father, spends the whole bee waiting for her dad to come watch her compete. In one of the final songs, Olive imagines both of her parents at the bee telling her they love her. The heartbreaking sentiment and Roach’s amazing singing voice make the song the show’s most poignant moment.

The musical also shows the pressures these students put on themselves to win the bee, which forces one contestant’s parent to resort to cheating. The director of the show, Beni El-Dalati (COL ’12), believes the competitive atmosphere of the bee has a strong connection to the undergraduate experience at Georgetown. “We are these kids, with the spelling bees and the geography bees,” he said.

In this way, the characters in the show manage to bring out both the little kid and the adult who forgets some of these most basic truths in all of us. With this talented cast, the audience sees the transformation that comes with growing up.

As El-Dalati writes to the audience, the final lines of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee demonstrate this best”: “we grew up undeniably, and look our hair is thinning/ our past caught up with us at last.”

Tickets for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” are $8 for students and $12 for other audience members.

The show will be playing at Poulton Hall this Thursday, Feb. 16 through Sunday, Feb. 19 and next Wednesday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 25.

all photos HANSKY SANTOS/THE HOYA

USE THAT IN A SENTENCE The Mask & Bauble Dramatic Society puts their Georgetown education to the test in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

12 | the guide | 2.17.12

art&culture

Get Study Habits Down to a Tea of the place, I was already more at peace. It is set off the bustling circle in a classical building. As I walked in, I checked all of my GeorgeCourtneyMastrangelo town worries at the door. The atmosphere evoked a sense admit I’m quite the Lau- of calmness — something Lau star. As much as our be- does not offer. The walls were loved library holds a soft painted in calm earth tones. spot in my heart, it is a black The lighting was warm, unhole. Day in and day out, I like the fluorescent lights leave Lau more drained of that give me a headache in life (whether it be from end- the library. There were over less hours of studying or of 50 kinds of teas from which procrastination) than I was to choose to aid me in staywhen I entered the prison- ing awake. I grabbed my falike building. My personal vorite jasmine green tea and experience has been that all their special salty oat cookie and headed of the inupstairs to formation grab a table I tried for The minute I stepped and set up hours to about and got a clear camp. sorb is easThis place ily forgotten view of the place, I was is a little the minute I already more at peace. getaway step into the only twofresh air — and-a-half and you bet miles from campus. The best it’s frustrating. part: I ended up getting more The other day all I wanted to do was go on work done at Teaism than I an adventure, but due to the probably would have if I had amount of homework I had spent the night in Lau. It was an enlightening exaccrued, my day was slowly heading toward a night in perience. I was able to experiLau. Then I remembered ence D.C. When I’m stuck in the my friend had been rav- my classic everyday routine, ing about a place called Tea- I forget that there is more ism. It has “Tea” in its title, to life than what is on our so they must capitalize on side of the front gates. D.C. is busy Americans’ dependence roughly 68 square miles, and on caffeine, right? I decided we are frequently contained that my thought process was in just a small portion of it. rationale enough for me to I challenge you to break free trek over there with my boul- from your comfort zone for the sake of your sanity — beder of a backpack.

I jumped in a cab outside cause Lau causes all of us to the front gates with the go a bit stir-crazy — and your weight of a brick constantly grades, because studies have reminding me of the work I shown that the best way to had to complete, but I was ex- exercise your memory is to cited to see this Teaism place add some diversity to your in Dupont Circle. As I was get- study habits and change your ting out of the cab, the driver study spot frequently. asked me, “Is Teaism a bar?” I sarcastically responded, “Yes, Courtney Mastrangelo is a I’m headed to a bar called sophomore in the College. She Teaism on a Wednesday can be reached at mastrangenight with a North Face back- lo@thehoya.com MORE FROM pack.” The minute I stepped MAZ appears every other Friday out and got a clear view in the guide.

more from maz

Courtesy MLKPhotos for Georgetown

hansky santos/the hoya

FEMININE THEATRICALITY Georgetown women give annual performance of “The Vagina Monologues” to stimulate discussion on women’s issues.

Play Speaks to Women’s Rights Denver burton Special to The Hoya

O

n Feb. 11, 2012, Zoë Lillian (COL ’12), Alex End (SFS ’15) and Emily Bertsche (SFS ’12) successfully directed one of the most entertaining and informative plays of the year, “The Vagina Monologues.” As if the title were not revealing enough, this atypical play featured a series of 12 monologues, each performed by a different actress with a distinct voice, perspective and story to tell surrounding one common theme: their vaginas.

There was occasional humor sprinkled into the play, such as the line, “I’ve got 99 problems but a hymen ain’t one”; however, the main point of this production was to raise awareness about violence against women. Between Feb. 1 and April 30, organizations across the globe are banding together to fight for this important cause. Georgetown joined the movement by donating proceeds from the event to resource centers for women in D.C. and Haiti.

“The Vagina Monologues” was written by Eve Ensler, who interviewed 200 women of all ages, races and backgrounds to produce a play that represented women everywhere and the difficulties they have been silently facing for decades. From these interviews, Ensler compiled several independent yet complementary stories that sought to empower women from all walks of life.

The titles of these monologues ranged from “My Vagina Was My Village” to “My Angry Vagina,” and each one brought a new, exciting atmosphere to the stage. Each actress took on a unique accent or dialect to successfully transition from a young, lesbian rape victim to a woman in the delivery room, walking onto the stage with authority and confidence.

The play was a bit raunchy at times, featuring one monologue by a lawyer who gave up her career to assist other women in “finding their moan.” Whether it was the Georgetown

I-should-be-studying moan or another of the wide array of other moans, Amelia Powell (COL ’12) demonstrated phenomenal acting chops and professionalism in performing what was probably the most explicit scene of the play.

“The Vagina Monologues” was performed on a cleared stage with a single projection board featuring the title of each monologue along with occasional dramatic phrases to set the mood. The lighting crew successfully used this simple set to its advantage, ensuring that no props or stage changes took attention away from the play’s message of raising awareness of female genital mutilation and violence against women. And it worked — the audience heard it loud and clear.

Ensler’s play highlighted a wide range of problems women face: transvestites searching for acceptance, young girls shamed for reaching maturity, rape in foreign camps, acceptance of the body. A common theme that united the 12 monologues was the initial shame each woman felt, the journey to acceptance each one found in life and the ultimate empowerment gained through their understanding. “The Vagina Monologues” raised awareness for women around the globe, not only through the acting and storyline, but also by utilizing a narrative voice that projected across the theatre to announce the real statistics on the issue, such as the fact that over one billion women today have been violated.

This play may have been awkward for any parents or family in the audience, but it did a fabulous job of raising awareness about violence against women and young girls.

Nothing was suppressed as this team of empowered young actresses stomped onto the stage, shouting that they were “over” the injustice, discrimination, judgment and violence that women around the world face today.

I

2.17.12 | the guide | 13

entertainment We Found Love in a Hopeless Playlist woman seeking love and finding herself foiled at every turn. It’s “6060-842” by the B-52s. In this beautiful story, a young woman named Tina finds the number of an escort service in a bathKinneChapin room stall and calls it repeatedly, only to find that the number has been disn the wake of Valentine’s Day, the connected. Can you guess what the roads are still covered with fading number was? And no, it’s not a real rose petals and there’s hardly a escort service, so don’t call it. Full disblood diamond left on the shelves of closure: I used to listen to this song in Jareds. All the world heaves either a the car with my parents all the time sigh of relief that they can temporar- growing up. I’m not sure they were ily forget about their loneliness, or a the best influence on me.

The last song for this week is a sigh of depression that it will be another 360 some-odd days before they selection from the British boy band can express their feelings for their Westlife. For those of you unfamiliar with British music after the Beatles, loved ones once more.

In honor of celebrating love year same-sex pop music groups like the round, I want to postpone looking Spice Girls are still recording and at new music this week in favor of are incredibly popular. It’s kind of songs that celebrate love, even if they surprising for a country with such a cool musical aren’t quite history. But as your traditional I have a wellballad. Love is disguised love not just about I learned most of what I for all things holding hands know about love from The *NSYNC, I can’t and strolling Lady and The Tramp, is complain. Anyin the sand beway, among fore sharing a that evident?

Westlife’s catamilkshake (I logue of hits is learned most the love ballad of what I know “When You’re Looking Like That,” in about love from The Lady and The Tramp, is that which the lead singer decides not to evident?). Sometimes love is about break things off with his girlfriend making your relationship Facebook because she looks smokin’ at the official, restraining the urge to badger club. This song has a lot to teach us your partner about his neck hair and about the importance of physical falling asleep in front of the television. beauty in relationships … you know, Here are a few songs that can help us old-fashioned moral values.

With the help of these three songs, appreciate the types of love that get I think you’re ready to celebrate love overlooked on Valentine’s Day. Up first is a heart-rending selection in all of its forms year round. Because from the man in black — and no it’s we can’t just celebrate beautiful and not “Ring of Fire” or “Walk the Line.” inspiring love — that’s discriminaWhat do you mean you’ve never tion! As a very wise woman named heard of “Flushed from the Bath- Liz Lemon once said, “Love isn’t judgroom of Your Heart”? Well, I prom- mental. Love is patient. Love is weird ise you, it is a real song by Johnny … and sometimes gross. Love is eluCash. The title kind of says it all for sive, and you found it. So treasure it.” this selection. A pure love ends, and Here’s to those weird, gross and elupoor Mr. Cash finds himself removed sive loves. Here’s to three songs that from the heart of his beloved much help us give them the credit that is like water from a toilet bowl. One long overdue. can only wonder what fight Johnny was having with June Carter the Kinne Chapin is a senior in the College. FACE THE MUSIC appears every week he wrote this song.

The next song is the tale of a young other Friday in the guide.

face the music

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14 | the guide | 2.17.12

All Is Fair In Film About Love and War ALLIE DOUGHTY Special to The Hoya

T

he trailer for This Means War labels haps because of the confusing and erits two male protagonists, played by ratic advice of her friend, Trish (Chelsea Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, as “the Handler) basically plays herself in the C.I.A.’s best.” While both men are easy role of Trish, except that she is married on the eyes, to say the least, I’m not sure and has children, to whom she claims what government agency would truly the sippy cup of vodka that she totes desire – let alone pay – to have them around is filled with “special milk.” working as undercover operatives.

The secondary plot consists of Tuck and Tuck (Hardy) and FDR (Pine) are partners FDR undertaking a covert assignment to and best friends who work in the C.I.A. field locate a villain who is out to get revenge office in L.A. Having sacrificed most of their on them for killing his brother. While this relationships for their jobs, both men’s love mission is actually required by their jobs, lives are in shambles. Daunted by the pros- it ‘s put on the backburner until it inconpect of ending up alone, Tuck, a recent di- veniences the men’s courting of Lauren. vorcé and the more sensitive of the two men, Still, the three leads are charming, while attempts to get out of his slump by creating Handler is, as always, crudely funny. However, a profile on an online other elements of dating website, where the film comprohe meets equally desmise the charisma perate Lauren Scott of the stars. Some of (Reese Witherspoon), the dialogue is funa consumer product ny, while other parts tester who is still recovare merely tolerable, THIS MEANS WAR ering from a breakup. but the real fiasco is Their first date goes the surplus of utterly starring: Reese Witherspoon, well, but a chance inconceivable sceChris Pine, Tom Hardy encounter between narios – anyone who Lauren and womancan afford to live in did you know?: Bradley Cooper izer FDR at a massive an apartment with was cast, but had a conflict. video rental store a swimming pool as (the sheer existence part of the ceiling of which is but one is clearly not living ridiculous aspect of the film) complicates off of a government salary. All implausibility matters. Just when Tuck and FDR think aside, the chemistry between Witherspoon that nothing can ever come between and the two leading men is adequate, but the them, and even profess that each would real sparks lie in the friendship between Tuck take a bullet for the other, Lauren enters and FDR. As a bromantic action comedy, this their lives, acts more and more like an in- movie really does have the ability to please secure teenager as the movie progresses, any audience. and steals both of their hearts. Soon the This Means War is a fun and entertaining spies are competing to best use the C.I.A.’s film, as long as you can get past the far-fetched resources for his personal gain. possibility that anything portrayed onscreen One of the most preposterous scenes could be remotely realistic on any planet. involves an outrageous invasion of privacy (of which there are many); Tuck and FDR stealthily creeping around Lauren’s apartment while she is there, planting hidden cameras and taking note of her interests. She is too preoccupied with her dance moves and rendition of an *NSYNC song to notice that two men have broken into her residence.

Lauren remains oblivious to the fact ROTTENTOMATOES.COM that these two men know one another, that they are spying on her, or that their TOP-SECRET TIFF This new romantic dates are suspiciously extravagant, per- comedy spies on the dynamics of love.

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entertainment

French Duo’s Latest Album Is Full of Hot Air ABBY REUTZEL Special to The Hoya

I

n 1902 the short film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) was released. The film is considered one of the most important movies ever created, and this past year it was completely revamped. The film was rereleased in hand-painted color and, additionally, the Groupama Gan Foundation for

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the Cinema and the Technicolor Foundation titled Le Voyage dans la Lune, the same name decided that the film would no longer be a as the movie it takes its inspiration from. silent experience. This is where the French While the film may be known as one of the music duo Nicholas Godin and Jean-Benoit most acclaimed works of cinema, this album Dunckel, better will not be known known as Air, come as one of the best into the picture. The works in music. This two foundations aprecord is not special proached Air about or noteworthy. This crafting a soundtrack isn’t to say that the for the film, and Air, album is not a job in turn, created both well done and that LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE a soundtrack for the Air’s extremely demovie and a fulltailed work isn’t to artist: Air length album. be appreciated, but song to download: “Decollage” The latest version rather the album of the film debuted at as a whole is, to be song to skip: “Parade Cannes in 2011 and frank, boring. was met with critical Every song is acclaim. Air was so detailed and immoved by their work for the 16-minute film maculately crafted, as if there’s a certain preand the soundtrack that they expanded on planned formula that the duo created and their score for the movie and have crafted a now feel they have no choice but to stick to.

30-minute, full-length album. The album is The sound of the album feels stale, like it’s

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newreleases “Unless You Speak From Your Heart” Porcelain Raft // Strange Weekend

 It’s impossible not to tap your foot or sway your head to this peppy electronica track. A tambourine jingles merrily through the hazy synthesizer and the falsetto vocals of Mauro Remiddi, the man behind Porcelain Raft.

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been done a bunch of other times — even by Air themselves — but back then even they executed it with more feeling.

The combination of instruments was obviously aimed at creating some sort of intriguing layer to the songs, but this technique ends up falling flat. The songs that include vocals, like “Cosmic Trip” and “Seven Stars,” sound like the vocals were added in at the last minute. The voices detract from the intricately designed melodies and rhythms that should instead be the stars. This album is more of a collection of background noise than it is a collection of songs to be played over and over again for enjoyment.

The effort and time that Air put into this record is obvious; however, their efforts seem forced and unenthusiastic. It is almost as if they’re trying to prove that they’re still the electronic power houses they were once deemed to be. Instead, this album has proven just how much work Air has left to get back to that place.

RIANNA FOLDS Special to The Hoya

“Give Me All Your Luvin”

“Big Beast”

Killer Mike feat. Bun B, T.I & Trouble // R.A.P. Music

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This single is the result of a collaborative effort by Killer Mike and El-P. As a salute to Atlanta and the musicians involved the album’s production, the song features an industrial beat that reflects the collaborators’ urban roots.

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Madonna feat. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj // MDNA

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Fresh from her Super Bowl performance, Madonna disappoints on her latest single, a bubble gum pop tune that gets lost in a crowd of similar hits.

The song is catchy, but it’s not worth getting stuck in your head.

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2.17.12 | the guide | 15

bestbets

friday Dust off those dancing shoes and don your favorite poodle skirt or powder blue suit, because the new swing dance favorite The Cutaways are offering beginners’ lessons in swing dancing. Jamming to an upbeat blend of blues, jazz and R&B, The Cutaways will make sure even those with two left feet can show off some new moves.

Where: 13869 Park Center Dr., Herndon, Va. When: 8:30 p.m.

Info: (703) 359-9882 Price: $15 Metro: Vienna/Fairfax-GMU (Orange line)

Sumaiya Ismail Special to The Hoya

a nation of peace

saturday With no dress code, annoying photographers and only pure music to consume your attention, the U Street Music Hall is excited to bring back Belgian sensation disc jockey duo Cassian and DJ Provoke. Returning to D.C.’s crown jewel of night clubs, the DJ duo wants you to get ready to dance the night away with some international flair.

Where: U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW When: 10 p.m.

Info: (202) 588-1880 Price: $10 Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown (Red, Green and Yellow lines), U Street/Cardoza (Green line)

- sari frankel

monday Feeling especially patriotic this Presidents’ Day? World-renowned conductor and composer André Thomas will lead the festival chorus in a free concert, commemorating the great leaders of our country. The concert will feature Howard Hanson’s “Song of Democracy” and John Rutter’s “Gloria.”

Where: The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW When: 2 p.m.

Info: (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324 Price: Free Metro: Foggy Bottom (Orange and Blue lines), Gallery Place-Chinatown (Red, Green and Yellow lines)