The Hoya: April 9. 2013

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 42, © 2013

tuesday, april 9, 2013

OVERTIME ESCAPE

Georgetown topped St. John’s 14-13 Saturday in dramatic fashion.

EDITORIAL Leo’s must prioritize food and service over PR gimmicks.

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT After Steubenville, Take Back the Night addresses sexual assault.

BRAIN INITIATIVE GU Neuroscience research may receive funding from a new federal program.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A6

NEWS, A4

SPORTS, A10

GUSA Senators Elected Caroline Welch Hoya Staff Writer

After six senators left the GUSA senate to join the GUSA executive cabinet and staff March 25, six new senators were elected to the open seats Friday and sworn into office Sunday. The newly elected senators will hold their positions for the remainder of the academic year. It is common for a significant number of senators leave their positions to join the Georgetown University Student Association executive at this time of year. “We picked our cabinet from the senate and we knew they would have to resign. It wasn’t a factor in our decision but it was something [that] we were aware of,” GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) said. Tisa worked closely with Senate Speaker George Spyropoulos (COL ’14) to ease

“People transition from the senate to the exec, but everyone is doing something.” NATE TISA (SFS ’14) GUSA President

the transition period. “We made sure [that] we had elections as soon as we could. We made sure [that] the executive staff met with senators and that elections were ready to go,” Tisa said. “The expectation is that even though people transition from the senate to the exec, everyone is doing something.” According to Tisa, the senate waited to confirm its new senators before introducing a bill to add sexual assault education to New Student Orientation. “We did this on Sunday in particular because we wanted new senators to be involved in the discussion,” Tisa said. “Generally the senate is a consensus body — something is usually widely supported or not at all.” Though the newly elected senators will only serve until the end of April, they say they still plan to be active during their time in the GUSA senate. According to Spyropoulos, the newly elected senators were unusually active at their first senate meeting. “The senators participated in the See GUSA, A5

US Campuses Clash on Social Policy

GUCR Silent on Marriage BC Halts Condom Effort Penny Hung

Hoya Staff Writer

Although the College Republicans at the University of Pennsylvania have declared support for same-sex marriage along with at least 50 Democratic and Republican student groups nationwide April 4, the Georgetown University College Republicans remain silent on the issue. “Same-sex marriage is an issue on which people of good will can and do disagree. This is true in the national political sphere, within the Georgetown community and within the Georgetown University College Republicans,” GUCR Chair Alex Cave (COL ’15) wrote in an email. “For this reason, it would be inappropriate for the Georgetown University College Republicans, as a group of diverse individuals of varying opinions, to take an organization stance on any side of this issue.” The Supreme Court heard two cases at the end of last month that could dramatically alter state and national law on same-sex marriage, and the debate over this contentious issue has been amplified. Many commentators have identified a changing tide in public support for gay marriage.

Carly Graf GUCR Vice Chair Mallory Carr Hoya Staff Writer (COL ’15) agreed with the club’s statement of neutrality. Boston College’s crackdown on “Our position is to recruit memcampus condom distribution has bers and to have a conversation renewed questions among Catholic about ideas — we want to inform schools regarding contraception young minds, not shape them,” policy. Carr said. “To come out in opposiAdministrators at Boston College, tion like that is controversial bea Jesuit institution, threatened last cause it excludes some voices that month to discipline the student won’t be heard. group Boston It cuts the deCollege Stubate off.” dents for Sexual U.S. Catholic colleges However, Health, which according to that ban campus organizes conGUCR board distribution dom distribumember Tim of contraception tion to students. Rosenberger Traditionally, (COL ’16), GUCR College Republican and BCSSH had limhas discussed Democrat groups joinited condom gay marriage ing in support of samedistribution to internally, esoff-campus losex marriage pecially under cations but rethe leadership cently expandof former Chair ed that service Maggie Cleary to dormitories. BC administrators (COL ’14). sent letters to the group asking it to “Last semester, Maggie, who cease on-campus distribution. whole-heartedly supported gay The warning has reintroduced marriage, left a lasting imprint concerns about the rights of stuon the Republican brand here at dent groups on college campuses, Georgetown — she really turned drawing national attention from the club around, made it relorganizations such the American evant again and embraced gay Civil Liberties Union and university groups around the country. See MARRIAGE, A6

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“As a private Jesuit university, our code of conduct requires students to respect our Catholic values,” Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn wrote in an email. According to The Boston Globe, more than half a dozen Catholic universities prohibit the distribution of contraception on campus, and said they would discipline student organizations that refused to comply with university requests not to hand out condoms. Georgetown was among those colleges that acknowledged the right of Catholic institutions to prohibit condom distribution in university spaces in order to maintain their Catholic identity. The university’s Student Health Center follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which prohibits Catholic institutions from supporting contraceptives. A unique aspect of Georgetown’s birth control policy, however, is the university’s exception for free speech zones. “Our policy would allow students who are acting in unofficial ways, meaning they are not speaking [or] acting on behalf of the university or a university funded See CONDOMS, A5

Academic Funding Slashed

HOLI COLORS

Federal cuts to political science funding may signal more reductions Hiromi Oka

Hoya Staff Writer

ARIEL POURMORADY/THE HOYA

Students of all faiths came together on Copley Lawn on Sunday afternoon for the Hindu Student Association’s celebration of Holi, a Hindu festival honoring the beginning of spring.

Leaving Behind Constraints Natasha Khan Hoya Staff Writer

LEFT: COURTESY GABE PINCUS; RIGHT: COURTESY JOSH ZEITLIN

Gabe Pincus (above) inspects waste management practices in Cairo, while Josh Zeitlin (right) campaigns in Charlotte before the Democratic National Convention.

For most students, “leave of absence” is euphemistic for something serious. Often prompted by medical emergencies or academic stress, they are seen to disrupt the flow of academic progress and leave conspic-

uous holes in transcripts. But for some, leaves of absence provide the chance to pursue opportunities beyond the bounds of the Hilltop and the constraints of traditional study abroad offerings. While the Office of International Programs provides options to study

on five continents, its programs do not necessarily appeal to students seeking to step out from the university’s jurisdiction. Georgetown also does not offer programs in countries with State Department travel advisory See ABSENCE, A6

The National Science Foundation will limit grants for political science research to those dealing with national security and economic policy, a move that has some faculty and administration at Georgetown concerned. President Obama signed a bill containing the amendment, which was added by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), on March 26 as part of the effort to find a solution to the series of government cutbacks known as the sequester and to keep the federal government from shutting down. Originally, Coburn intended to completely remove the NSF’s political science funding and cut other resources in order to reallocate $10 million to the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The cuts would only be in effect until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, and the criteria would only apply to new grants. Although Georgetown receives less money from the NSF than it does from the NIH, Scott Fleming, associate vice president for federal relations, said that the cuts are still symbolically significant for the university and for those in higher education. “There are faculty members ... who receive National Science Foundation money and it is very important to their activities, so we certainly want to maintain both the maximum available pool of money and minimum restrictions,” Fleming said. “All See FUNDING, A5

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OPINION

THE HOYA

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

THE VERDICT

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Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Let Them Eat Burgers — GUSA will be giving free GUGS burgers to the first 50 people in Red Square today in honor of Springfest. Fans Strike Out — Beer at Nationals Park this year will be the most expensive of any team in the MLB, priced at $8 for 16 ounces.

Discriminatory Discretion C

Pizza With Perks — Buy one large pizza with two toppings with your GOCard at Tuscany Cafe and receive two free 24-ounce bottles of Coke, Diet Coke or Sprite.

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Coming Out on Top — Bloomberg Businesweek ranked the McDonough School of Business first in its 2013 list of best undergraduate business schools for finance.

It goes without saying that students are entitled to their individual beliefs, religious or otherwise. But when student activities funds come from a common pool and are billed as a lump sum on each student’s tuition statement, allowing individuals to cherry-pick which activities they fund based on their religious preference is a bad idea. Last Wednesday, Texas A&M University’s student senate passed a bill that would allow students to abstain from funding the university’s LGBT resource center on religious grounds. Their student body president vetoed the bill two days later, arguing that it would harm the student body’s reputation and disenfranchise a group of students. In a university setting, allowing students to pick and choose what to fund based on personal beliefs is divisive and dangerous. Beyond the logistical hurdle of determining what portion of a student’s individual fee is allocated to each group, such exclusion on any grounds weakens the common bond fostered by pluralistic campus life. The logical extension of the senate’s opinion would be a slippery slope. Should atheists, for example, be allowed to opt out of funding all

student ministries? This illustrates the troubling precedent such a bill could set. Furthermore, reducing a student activities fee to a piecemeal allotment for different funds makes little sense unless it is done across the board, which would have students individually pay only for the clubs in which they participate. Texas A&M is a public university, albeit one with a conservative tradition. Though the issue may seem like it would be more complicated if it arose at Georgetown, a campus with religious affiliation, the principle of the matter is not one of religious freedom but of student body solidarity. The Student Activities Fee contributes to community development as a whole, and paying it — or failing to pay a portion of it — should not be interpreted as any student’s approval or disapproval of the nature of a particular group. If practitioners of one lifestyle are given the power to deprive another, funding will wither and student life will be financially strained. For a fair network of diverse opinions and vibrant campus culture, universities cannot reduce activities fees to reflections of individual religious beliefs.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Arturo Altamirano

1,000 Likes, Zero Stars Although thousands of students have spent thousands of dollars on meal plans for Leo O’Donovan Hall, the Georgetown dining service has taken to charging patrons of the beleaguered dining hall a new currency: Facebook “likes.” Last week, the Georgetown Dining Facebook page’s fan count climbed to 1,000. As a reward for reaching this milestone, the dining service promised students on meal plans a surf ‘n’ turf dinner to be offered in April. This social media campaign was the latest in a series of marketing strategies employed by Georgetown Dining, which has made a concerted effort this year to engage students on Facebook and Twitter. Although these efforts are intended to prove that Georgetown’s auxiliary services and parent company Aramark are working to address student complaints, they instead come across as PR maneuvers that distract from the glaring operational inefficiencies. While themed lunches might add some intrigue to the dining experience on a given weekday, bottlenecks at the GOCard swiping stations and upstairs food service lines continue to be an inconvenience that drive many students to settle

for self-serve stations and pizza lines downstairs or avoid the dining hall altogether. Finding seating at peak hours is nearly impossible, as is finding decently prepared food during off-hours. Georgetown Dining would do a better job responding to students by instituting operational changes that would alleviate inconveniences, rather than prioritizing a social media presence that only superficially alters its perception on campus. And when students have already spent thousands on meal plans, it’s inappropriate to demand something like Facebook support to correct service shortcomings. Students understand the hard work of Leo’s employees and the restraints on a college dining hall. With this understanding come tempered expectations for food options. Yet despite its marketing efforts, Leo’s has so far failed to meet baseline expectations for college dining: quick, efficient service, comfortable seating options and a variety of available, edible foods at all times of the day. Leo’s may have gotten more fans on Facebook with this one-night gimmick, but without taking its deficiencies more seriously, the dining hall will continue to get poor reviews from its patrons.

A Major Pay-Off For the first time ever, the McDonough School of Business was Georgetown’s most selective undergraduate school, accepting only 15.9 percent of its applicants for the Class of 2017, down from 16.8 percent last year. The College, historically the most exclusive of the university’s four schools, had an acceptance rate of 16.3 percent. The more competitive acceptance rate, which was mirrored by increased selectivity in the School of Nursing & Health Studies, points to the heightened appeal of schools that are perceived to guarantee future career safety through more vocational majors. According to a 2012 study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, business and health majors do, on average, have more success getting jobs out of college than liberal arts students. And with many college graduates taking on enormous debt, more students are prioritizing job safety.

But this trend toward professional majors says as much about the changing character of Georgetown as it does about the changing preferences of a generation cognizant of the recent economic climate. After all, the business school has received a large share of funding and university attention in the past few years. With a recently constructed building and consistently high rankings in business school reviews, Georgetown may simply be attracting more qualified candidates. To be sure, some members of the Georgetown community lament the business school’s rise and the university’s movement, however gradual, away from the liberal arts foundation on which it was built. But if this past admissions cycle is any indication, it appears Georgetown’s move toward expanding more professional programs in business and health may just be exactly what the future generation of Georgetown students prefers.

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, Steven Piccione, 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 Nick Phalen Alexander Brown 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 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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

GPB Did Not ‘Ignore’ Poll To the Editor: The article titled “Calvin Harris Set for Spring Concert” (A1, March 19, 2013) does not provide an accurate account of the planning for this year’s event, nor does it carry the kind of tone one might expect to accompany such an announcement. The suggestion that student input was “ignored” in selecting concert artists does not make sense. First of all, this is only possible if, of the given choices, one among them was to have been selected arbitrarily or contrary to students’ indicated preferences. Secondly, I can personally assure you that the concert chair made every effort to respond to the feedback he received in his decision-making while placing great emphasis on bringing an artist with both strong and wideranging appeal. We, on the other hand, felt ignored in our attempts to explain the difficulties facing concert planners. As we have stated, surveys listing specific artists are generally of little use to the committee due to resource restrictions, inability to adjust to artist availability and the volatile nature of negotiations. Artists cannot simply be “selected” as if from a menu and polls are not voting ballots; they are merely ways of collecting input on certain possibilities. In this one instance, the chair felt it was worth polling the student body due to circumstances that allowed for a reasonable probability that one of the options could be secured. His intention was to seize this unusual opportunity to give students a greater voice than they might have had otherwise.

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 Kevin Tian, Director of Technology Natasha Patel Glenn Russo Martha DiSimone Nitya Rajendran Jonathan Rabar John Bauke Molly Lynch Pauline Huynh Esteban Garcia Addie Fleron Preston Marquis Taylor Doaty Brian Carden Eric Isdaner Simon Wu Sean Nolan

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 Local Advertisements 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

That none of these options worked out in the end was borne from adversity, not autocracy. As we have also insisted, nothing regarding the concert headliner or supporting acts is assured until all parts of the contract have been signed and finalized. Lastly, we fail to understand why multiple articles in recent years regarding the Spring Kickoff Concert have carried a generally negative undertone. Each year, the Concert Committee works tirelessly to bring artists to campus that schools of comparable size are unable to afford at a low cost to students. In the article, nothing positive is stated about the artist announcement despite the headliner’s arguably stronger fan base than those of any of the options listed in the November poll. The Hoya willfully criticized the 2011 SKC; when last year’s concert proved largely successful, it had nothing to report. Notable student achievements, as well as exciting community events, should be something to celebrate. We are very fortunate to be part of a community where people live out their passions so strongly and with vibrant results. The Georgetown Program Board sincerely hopes that students, along with faculty and staff, enjoyed the show that took place on Saturday evening. It also recognizes the other student organizations and functions that have been essential in the planning, promotion and implementation of the event. If we can both support and appreciate one another, we may foster a campus life here at Georgetown well worth celebrating.

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

Tyler Simpson (COL ’13)

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. Unsigned essays that appear on the left side of the editorial page are the opinion of the majority of the editorial board. 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. © 1920-2013. 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 Hoya is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Additional copies are $1 each. 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 Circulation: 6,500.


OPINION

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

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Pluralism Needs Action

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ecently I participated in a panel held by Georgetown University’s chapter of the NAACP and met with a couple of students who attend Howard University. The conversation ended that night with an understanding that all schools — whether historically black or predominately white — have room for improvement when it comes to diversity. I later chatted with one of the panelists, and he joked that the quality of a Georgetown education is inferior because of its failure to promote pluralism in its academics. Of course, I defended our school by reminding the panelist that Howard does not have such a requirement either, but it occurred to me that he was right. It astonishes me that many of us will go on to graduate and work on Capitol Hill or other places in Washington, D.C., without having basic knowledge about its inhabitants. So many of us will travel around the world by virtue of our careers with narrow minds and without an understanding of the culture and customs we will encounter. It is a rather archaic thought that, just by living in this bubble for four years,

It is up to leaders to understand that just like racial- and gender-based integration, promoting pluralism is not something that will just happen on its own. we would be prepared to understand others unlike ourselves. It is even more amazing that the opportunities to be pluralists exist on campus, but it is up to the individual to decide to leave their zone of comfort and engage them. The lack of understanding we have for each other at Georgetown blares every day we coexist here. Instead of learning about each other, we sometimes are just given the opportunity to ignore the presence of others unlike ourselves. There is a clear curiosity that we have for the unknown, as apparent by the commentary left on the Facebook page Georgetown Confessions. Everything from “1580: I refer to the area in Leo’s where all the black kids sit as the ‘diversity section’” to “1550: Whenever I go to Leo’s, I purposely sit as far away from the section with all the black people. They are just too freaking loud!” shows us that the so-called Pluralism in Action event during New Student Orientation is simply not enough. Going forward, I feel that there is work to be done on the part of administration to ensure that these views are expressed openly and honestly so that we can grow as a community. Some students, namely a group called Cura Personalis, have suggested the idea of embedding diversity into the curriculum. Their ideas are ambitious but have been met with much opposition from administrators and students alike. These goals need to be at the top of our administration’s agenda but perhaps in a way that is logistically simpler to enact. Indeed, Georgetown could be a lot more functional if a course that focused on unity as opposed to the current division were embedded in general education requirements. Implementation would be simple: perhaps a one-credit course, which met once a week, for all freshmen to take. The course could be taught by professors who are passionate about pluralism — and that should not be limited to faculty of color. Ultimately, it is up to the university to understand that Georgetown should not be considered to consist of individuals from two worlds, those who fit in the mainstream — and arguably closed-minded — culture and those who do not. It is also up to its leaders to understand that just like racial- and gender-based integration, promoting pluralism is not something that will just happen on its own.

Khadijah Davis is a sophomore in the School of Nursing & Health Studies. THE ETHNICITY OF FEMININITY appears every other Tuesday.

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VIEWPOINT • Gibbons-Neff

THE ETHNICITY OF FEMININITY

Khadijah Davis

THE HOYA

Tinder Can’t Spark Real Connections

s a 25-year-old straight male, I’ve used my fair share of technology. I made it to Chimney Rock on the original Oregon Trail, I’ve played Slappers Only on Goldeneye, downloaded quite a bit of music off Napster and sent a few emails during my brief quarter-century on this planet. As tech savvy as I am, I’ve never used technology to land a date. Sure, I’ve put up a couple of angsty away messages on AOL Instant Messenger (why else does anyone look at Yellowcard lyrics?) and arranged a couple of dinners over Facebook, but I’ve never used the Internet to really find someone. With an influx of easy-to-use applications such as Grindr, Blendr and now Tinder, hooking up in today’s society has become a video game. Afraid to talk to someone that has been eyeing you in Lauinger Library? See if they’re on Tinder and swipe right, and maybe they’ll swipe right, too. Now, I’m not saying these applications shouldn’t exist, and it’s obvious with their proliferation and popularity that they are here to stay. But as healthy youngsters who currently live in the last bastion where it’s pretty easy to meet new people — i.e. college — we need to have a discussion on where these applications belong in our life. Technology has seeped into every facet of our existence. Do I even need to talk about Facebook? I’m just as bad as the rest of us — iPads have become pacifiers; 140-character tweets

Is Tinder easy to use? Yes. Convenient? Eerily so. But do we need it? and updates now trump articles in The New York Times. Need I go on? Is Tinder easy to use? Yes. Convenient? Eerily so. But do we need it? Maybe at a later point in our lives, when we’re all crouched behind our desks working jobs we’ve “sold our souls for” and our only exposure to the outside world is the commute home. Maybe then we could validate Tinder’s use. But not now. Now is the time for sucking it up

and walking up to that person you’ve been eyeing in Lau for the past six months and mumbling something that might resemble a hello. Now is the time to be a hopeless romantic because we haven’t seen how bad it really is out there. And you know what? Now is the time to get rejected, because — and not to sound like my father — it builds character. Well, now, I bet you’re saying, “But Tinder lets us meet people

VIEWPOINT • Schilling

we wouldn’t normally run into at Georgetown!” You’re right, and to that 1 percent of people who meet their soul mates at George Mason, I salute you. To the rest, who spend hours sending the same message to 50 people and then proceed to slowly whittle the conversations down to one or two “possible” hook-ups in the same way one would organize a March Madness bracket, I say you’ve taken the easy way out. I could have it all wrong. Perhaps I am just like all those old farts from Generation X who still type with their eyes glued to the keyboard and still put the word “the” in front of everything that belongs to our generation. (“Is little Timmy still playing the video games? Tell him to come in for supper!”) Something tells me I’m not, though. Because, at the end of the day, we want that connection. The hook-up culture that is Georgetown only goes so deep. We’re real people with real wants and needs; we’re not just a picture on a screen and a chat bubble with our name suspended above in unassuming font. Remember when your mom told you to stop watching the TV and go play outside and explore the brave new world of your backyard? I’m saying the same thing here. Put down Tinder and go forth and do things the old fashioned way. Drunk. At Rhino.

T.M. GIBBONS-NEFF is a sophomore in the College. He is a member of The Hoya’s editorial board.

LETTERS OF THE LAW

Marriage a Convention Roberts Ignores Call Grounded In Creation To Uphold Justice

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dvocates of redefining mar- from marriage are identical to those riage often regard themselves undergirding the attempt to redeas the champions of equality, fine the institution. Americans have justice and human rights. In recent grown increasingly hesitant to view weeks, an enormous head of steam children as a constitutive element has been generated on this page of of marriage and more inclined to THE HOYA by the repetition of these view sex as the natural link to proprinciples ad nauseam. Some have creation. The advance of same-sex even expressed their desire to toss marriage is the logical end point to the historic understanding of mar- this cultural movement. It sends the riage into the junkyard of social message that marriage — if distilled conventions, alongside racial segre- to essentials — has nothing to do gation and anti-miscegenation laws. with the procreation and education Marriage is a heavy issue, and it de- of children or the sexual compleserves to be evaluated by a standard mentarity that even makes them of charity proportionate to its mag- possible. Marriage is simply understood as an instrument for satisfying nitude. Charity first demands that we rec- the romantic and sexual yearnings ognize our own shortcomings. Far of individuals. A peculiar form of self-deception too often our government and religious communities have failed to is required to deny the influence of welcome gays as equal and full par- this message on the way Americans ticipants in society. In a world reluc- will think and act with regard to tant to respect the dignity of gays, marriage and raising a family. Of many have acquiesced in defending course society will not collapse into the rights of everyone. Both our cul- a “modern-day Gomorrah” (“Marture and our Church are in need of riage Equality is Imperative”, A3, greater openness to the LGBT com- April 5, 2013), but honest advocates of redefining marriage know that munity. But true compassion for our LGBT it undermines norms such as monogamy. In a friends does statement ennot require “Beyond that we rush Marriage deals with far more titled Same-Sex Marto transform riage,” over 300 marriage into than social statuses and prominent gay a legal tool for governmental designations. and lesbian acsocial inclutivists — includsion. Marriage ing three prodeals with far more than social statuses and gov- fessors at Georgetown — demanded ernmental designations. It is central legal recognition for multiple sex, or polyamorous, partnerships. Their to bringing new life into the world. This procreative understanding judgment makes sense if we treat of marriage was never founded on children only as an optional suppleprejudice or the desire to exclude. ment to marriage, like mustard is to Rather, society’s recognition of the a hotdog. Failing to learn from this logic, right to marriage has developed in tandem with the important some have pressed the case that governmental interest of promot- redefining marriage will actually ing stable, permanent and procre- strengthen “family values” ( “Sameative relationships. Social science Sex Couples, Same Family Values,” and common sense indicate that A3, April 5, 2013). At precisely the children are more likely to flour- moment when society needs to ish in healthy homes where they strengthen the bond between facan come to know the dedicated thers and their children, they would love of their biological mother and declare, as a matter of policy, that father. If society neglects this real- fathers are not only optional to the ity, we will only deepen social and family unit but that they contribute economic inequalities, not alleviate nothing unique to a child’s development. If we truly wish to promote authem. Unfortunately, we hear little thentic human progress, let’s honor about the rights of children among fatherhood and motherhood within the chattering world. The desires the pro-child institution known as of adults now occupy our collective marriage. But progress requires that we lisconsciousness. Over the past four decades, marriage and the family have ten attentively to both sides of the been placed on life support, with issue. Our message is not grounded detrimental consequences to the in bigotry or hatred but in the very well-being of young boys and girls. nature of love itself. Authentic love Divorce rates have steadily risen, fol- is not restricted to the romantic lowed by unintended pregnancies and physical exchange between inand out-of-wedlock births. Cohabi- dividuals. It goes far beyond that to tation progressively serves as a sub- include the possibility of bringing stitute for marriage, and two out of new life into being. Love is fundaevery five children are now raised in mentally co-creative. Let’s deliver it the institution it deserves: marriage. divorced homes. But society should not pull the plug on marriage. The trends re- ANDREW SCHILLING is a junior in the sponsible for divorcing children College.

T

he framers of our Constitu- the case.” tion were well aware of the Roberts was referring to the redrawbacks of democracy. cent spate of senators who have For the most part, these men come out in support of gay rights, believed in a government by the and indeed, their support is enpeople, for the people. But they also couraging. But Roberts’ point was realized that, to achieve the latter, to deny that gays were truly a disfathey had to restrict the former. A vored minority and thus deserved government by the people means full constitutional protections. It a rule of law dictated by the major- seemed to matter little to Roberts ity. Most of the time, the will of the that virtually every senator who majority makes good law. But oc- supports marriage equality opposed casionally, the will of the majority it for many years, that the House can turn into the tyranny of the ma- remains a virulently homophobic jority. Certain classes of people will body or that only nine states actunever be welcomed by the majority. ally afford marriage rights to gay It is only human nature, then, for couples. Roberts doesn’t seem to the majority to enact laws restrict- care that, until recently, gays could ing those people’s rights. not serve openly in the military or It seems trite but necessary to say visit their partners in the hospital. that the Bill of Rights was designed The democratic process is taking to avoid these ends by preclud- care of this issue already, he believes. ing these beginnings. The framers A history of homophobia doesn’t created the Due Process clause of matter when gays have senators on the Fifth Amendment in order to their side. safeguard the liberty of all citizens Such comments, though dolt— favored or deish, probably spised. Years later, come naturally to the 14th AmendRoberts, who, at ment added a other times, has new protection for displayed a blinddisfavored minoriness to bigotry ties: a guarantee of that bordered on equal protection of homophobia itself. the laws. Between Discussing PropoMark Joseph Stern these two noble sition 8, which dictums, Ameribanned same-sex It seems that Justice marriage in Calican jurisprudence is imbued with a but not civil Roberts was absent fornia shield against the unions, Roberts for that civics lesson. stated that gay tyranny of the majority. The specific couples “have evminorities in question may change, ery other right. It’s just about the but the constitutional commands label in this case.” Then he issued that protect them remain constant this stunning remark to Ted Olson, so long as our country stands. who was challenging Prop 8’s conThis lesson is taught to Ameri- stitutionality: can schoolchildren every day. But it “If you tell a child that somebody seems that John Roberts, chief jus- has to be their friend, I suppose you tice of the United States, was absent can force the child to say, ‘This is my for that particular civics lesson. So, friend,’ but it changes the definition for that matter, were Justices Alito of what it means to be a friend. And and Scalia. Based on Roberts, Alito that’s, it seems to me, what the supand Scalia’s questions during the porters of Proposition 8 are saying Hollingsworth v. Perry and United here. All you’re interested in is the States v. Windsor arguments, it label and you insist on changing the would seem that each justice would definition of the label.” be content to let the majority rule What petty fools supporters of on matters like women’s rights and marriage equality are. They care African-American civil rights. Their only about the silly label of “marfaith in the majority is willfully na- riage,” Roberts believes, and should ive, and their insistence on leaving learn to settle for what they can get. marriage equality up to a major- Never mind our nation’s societal ity vote is a shocking abdication of and jurisprudential struggle for their judicial duty. equality. Never mind the dignity Although court-watchers ex- and respect that label affords loving, pected Scalia to spew homophobic committed couples. Never mind vitriol during arguments, he re- the 14th Amendment or inalienmained relatively muted by his stan- able rights or a government for the dards. It was Roberts who asked the people. In John Roberts’ mind, equal most offensive questions. “You don’t protection of the laws is a privilege doubt,” he demanded of one attor- bestowed upon the minority by a ney, “that the lobby supporting the benevolent majority. enactment of same-sex marriage And if they don’t get it, they must laws in different states is politically not deserve it. powerful, do you?” Roberts then snidely noted that, “as far as I can Mark Stern is a senior in the tell, political figures are falling over College. LETTERS OF THE LAW themselves to endorse your side of appears every other Tuesday.


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TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE MeChA discussed Latino affairs East Coast Chicano Forum in Gaston Hall Saturday. See story at thehoya.com.

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very much so “ It’s [portrayed as] a white woman’s issue.”

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COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who visited Georgetown to receive an honorary degree Feb. 27, 1981, died Monday. Thatcher faced student protests against Britain’s involvement in Ireland upon her arrival to campus.

FREE CONE DAY Craving some Chunky Monkey? Head down to M Street for a free cone from Ben & Jerry’s today. Find the details on 4E. blog.thehoya.com

Amid Budget Woes, Scientific Initiative to Study Brain DREW CUNNINGHAM Special to The Hoya

On April 2, President Barack Obama formally announced an initiative designed to help researchers better investigate the complex structures and functions of the brain at the White House, a move that could have immediate implications for research initiatives at Georgetown. The $100 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative is the government’s largest spending project since the $3.8 billion Human Genome Project, which began in 1990 and achieved its goal of sequencing the entire human gene by 2003. But according to Howard Federoff, executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the Georgetown University School of Medicine, the increased funding associated with the BRAIN Initiative will not be enough to significantly counteract the sequester, across-theboard federal funding cuts. “I think the sequester was, unfortunately, politics at its worst. It

was not strategic, it was not thinking about the future of the nation and it was a failure of a bipartisan effort to come together and really do something that was in the interest of us as a society,” Federoff said. “The sequester will have a definable and demonstrative impact on science and funding, as it will curtail funding that has already become extremely competitive, even more than it was historically.” Federoff added that he is even more worried about the long-term impact on the scientific community. “It puts us at risk of losing a whole generation of scientists and clinician-scientists,” Federoff said. “The sequester will have been one of the worst things that will have ever been done to science, assuming that it isn’t rectified. … The BRAIN Initiative is a small and wonderful jewel, but I think it’s ultimately inadequate to erase a decade of what has been damaging policy toward science.” Nonetheless, Federoff expressed optimism about the benefits of the BRAIN Initiative to Georgetown, a school with a strong commitment

to neuroscience research, most of which is anchored in the Georgetown University Medical Center. GUMC has become competitively positioned to receive grants in neuroscience in the last few years, according to Federoff. Roughly a quarter of researchers who are investigating the functional imaging of the brain at the molecular level could potentially qualify for funding from the BRAIN Initiative, Federoff said. “The probability of [fully receiving funding] can change dramatically based on who the competition is,” Federoff said. “But the bottom line is, although we don’t know what the numbers will look like, the folks at Georgetown are well-prepared.” Federoff indicated that much of that success was due to the 2012 creation of the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery in collaboration with MedStar National Rehabilitation Network. The center focuses on the ways in which the brain learns and develops and how those processes might be helpful in treating stroke, traumatic injury, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and a

number of other brain-related ailments. Elissa Newport, a psychologist and neurologist who is director of the CBPR, added that no specific details have been released about what the initiative will fund. “We all hope for a general increase in funding for biomedical research and for research on the brain in particular,” she wrote in an email. “Our ability to speak and listen, our memories, our ability to learn — these are at the heart of what makes us who we are, and all can be lost forever from the diseases that are increasing so rapidly across the nation.” Federoff said that federal funding was a crucial part of the research process for the CBPR, as well as for individual researchers. “Georgetown is a soft-money environment, which means that investigators need to secure outside funding before they can go ahead with their projects,” Federoff said. “Given where we are as a university and as a country, I think this issue of extramural funding couldn’t be more important … than it is at Georgetown.”

According to an online database of National Institutes of Health grants, Georgetown received approximately $51 million from the institutes in fiscal year 2012, but that figure has been in a downward trend since the university had about $69.4 million in NIH funding in fiscal year 2010. The vast majority of the individual grants are small, totaling between $100,000 and $400,000. But the NIH has limited the number and amount of grants awarded due to the sequester, under which its budget will be reduced by over $1 billion. The NIH’s budget this year is cut 10 percent compared to last year’s budget. Federoff said that researchers will soon feel the effects of the cuts. The acceptance rate for successful grant applications, which are already extremely competitive at around 10 percent, will go down. “What happens is, when they designate projects like this, it gets more competitive,” Federoff said. “We’re in a period [during which] people are trying to do whatever is necessary to maintain their laboratories.”

DC Reads Tutors Donate Work-Study Awards to Charity LACEY HENRY

Special to The Hoya

After years of giving back to the D.C. community through D.C. Reads, Craig Melcher (MSB ’13) and Evan Curdts (COL ’13) decided to turn their personal impact into a financial one. Melcher and Curdts founded Working for the Kids, a nonprofit corporation that allows D.C. Reads tutors with work-study awards to donate part or all of their salary to a public charity supporting D.C. child literacy. If each of the approximately 120 work-study tutors donates one hour of the average six hours per week that tutors typically work, Working for the Kids will fundraise close to $30,000 a semester. “The importance of [Working for the Kids] as a whole is that it will essentially be doubling the impact of D.C. Reads,” Melcher said. “Not only are students able to actively affect these kids’ lives by tutoring and helping them learn, but it’s also having a financial impact

on other organizations that are doing the same things.” Melcher tutored with D.C. Reads during his freshman and sophomore years but decided to return when he found himself with more spare time in his senior spring. Because he wanted to tutor on a purely volunteer basis but did not want his work-study salary to go to waste in his last semester of college, he had the idea to found Working for the Kids. “I didn’t want my motivation for doing D.C. Reads again to come from getting paid,” Melcher said. Approximately 40 tutors expressed interest in donating part of their work-study salary to Working for the Kids when Melcher introduced the program March 13, but only seven have set up the direct deposit process necessary to transfer their donation to the Working for the Kids account so far. While the program appeals most directly to students with work-study awards, those who tutor with D.C. Reads without compensation are also

welcome to donate. “Fundraising development is an aspect we haven’t taken on as a program,” Curdts, a D.C. Reads coordinator, said. “It’s an opportunity to take on a deeper role and do more for the community and schools we work in.” Depending on how much money is

“It’s an opportunity to take on a deeper role and do more for the community and schools we work in.” EVAN CURDTS (COL ’13) D.C. Reads Coordinator

raised, Working for the Kids will donate to one or multiple charities. The next step for the organization is to apply for 501c(3) nonprofit status, after which it will become a public charity, making donations tax deductible.

Though Working for the Kids is not directly affiliated with D.C. Reads, D.C. Reads Program Director Nathanial Roloff has supported Melcher and Curdts as they have spearheaded the project. He said that this project will be especially helpful to smaller charities that are working toward the same goal of community development but have limited access to necessary resources. “Most students ask themselves what they can do here, and what they can create here. I’m really impressed that Craig thought to himself, ‘What can I create outside of Georgetown, and how can I connect resources at a university to these larger projects that we all talk about wanting to support, especially those of us who actually see that struggle?’” Roloff said. “There is a place for students who engage in this work to be critical about the way that development in the city can work. I hope that students choose to get engaged, not just donate, but engage to help support some of the development that they would like to see outside of

Georgetown.” D.C. Reads Coordinator Allie Liotta (COL ’15) was one of the first tutors to donate to the program. “We don’t get a lot of funding for D.C. Reads through [the Center for Social Justice],” Liotta said. “I think this project is a good way to demonstrate what we’re interested in, and what we want to see accomplished in the city in Wards 7 and 8. This is a way we can make our influence heard more effectively.” Roloff said he hopes to see the project continue to grow in size and impact. “Students at most universities in this city have expendable income and no specific way to think about ways to engage in that,” Roloff said. “In an ideal world, this project would become the hub for students throughout the city that do engage in community work to be thinking about how they can make a contribution to growing the community development organizations that matter.”


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tuesday, April 9, 2013

THE HOYA

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Store Design Elicits Concern NSF Cuts to Affect Political Lily Westergaard Hoya Staff Writer

Resistance by the Old Georgetown Board may delay the target August opening date for the proposed 7-Eleven store at 1344 Wisconsin Ave. NW. In an April 4 meeting, the OGB voted down the proposal for the new convenience store citing multiple concerns, the foremost of which was the obstruction of many of the store’s windows. “Virtually every window facing the street is blocked,” Thomas Luebke, an OGB spokesperson, said. “There was very little sense of transparency. That was the number-one issue.” OGB asked 7-Eleven to reconfigure the interior arrangement of the store as well as the main entrance to increase the number of unobstructed windows. Luebke said that the store’s prominent location in Georgetown made the board especially

sensitive to aesthetics. “This is pretty much at the heart of the commercial district,” he said. “It’s difficult to make these historic buildings work for a modern convenience store.” A 7-Eleven was previously housed at 1600 Wisconsin Ave. NW, but the store closed down several years ago and was later replaced by Edible Arrangements. There is currently a branch of the chain in East Georgetown at 2617 P St. NW, however. The OGB meeting was not the first time the proposed convenience store chain met resistance from local residents. At an April 1 ANC 2E meeting, Commissioner Bill Starrels described aspects of the 7-Eleven building proposal as “trashy.” Architect Robert Bell, whose firm is located on 3218 O St. NW, expressed concern about the types of customers that the store would attract.

ANC 2E Commissioner Tom Birch told The Hoya that he was not opposed to the 7-Eleven, provided that the store’s design did not attract too much attention. “It should have a very low profile and fit in comfortably with the commercial aspect of Wisconsin Avenue,” Birch said. “I think the people who own the building have decided [that] this is the tenant they want to sell it to, so we’ll make the best of it.” 7-Eleven will revise its proposed interior plans and resubmit them to the OGB. “I have no reason to think it won’t go forward, but it will continue [to be] reviewed,” Birch said. “I think it will be a few months before reviews become final and 7-Eleven gets the building permits.” Representatives of 7-Eleven had not responded to requests for comment by press time.

New Senate Members Elected GUSA, from A1 debate, which new senators never do,” Spyropoulos said. He acknowledged, however, that the new senators will play a different role in the senate due to the limited timeframe of their tenure. Nico Dona Dalle Rose (SFS ’15), who replaced new Chief of Staff Zach Singer (SFS ’15) as LXR senator, said that GUSA should expand communication with the public in the remaining weeks of the semester. “It is imperative for the administration to reform and simplify the way in which it communicates with the student body,” Rose said. “By restructuring the system of online platforms — from work orders to the Georgetown home page — current and prospective students will have an easier time and

will make the best of Georgetown’s resources.” Mary Beth Brosnihan (SFS ’13) replaced former Chair of Finance and Appropriations Sheila Walsh (COL ’14) as townhouse senator. As a senior and the only woman elected in Friday’s special elections, Brosnihan hopes to push for change during her final month on the Hilltop. “I have plans to continue drafting a proposal for [Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle] buses on weekends … working toward further party reform, rat eradication and expedited housing repair. It’s ambitious, but I hope to see some tangible results before graduating,” Brosnihan said. Spyropoulos pointed to the unique position of seniors elected to GUSA in their final semester on campus.

“I’m glad to see [that] people who have no future GUSA aspirations … want to join student government. It’s important to have seniors in the senate — they have a different perspective,” Spyropoulos said. Jimmy Ramirez (COL ’15) replaced Tisa as Village A senator. Danish Zaidi (COL ’13), who took a hiatus from the GUSA senate after serving in 2011, replaced former senator at-large and GUSA presidential candidate Shavonnia Corbin Johnson (SFS ’14), who resigned to become director of group outreach in Tisa’s cabinet. Liam Detwiler (COL ’15) will serve as Southwest Quad senator, replacing Director of Special Initiatives Nolan DiConti (COL ’15). Josh Shinbrot (COL ’16) will take over as New South senator for Deputy Chief of Staff Chandini Jha (COL ’16).

Science Research at GU FUNDING, from A1 of us in the academic world find this limitattion on the use of National Science Foundation money on certain types of research very troubling.” In particular, some say that Coburn’s amendment could lead to further spending reductions in other areas of study. “Today, it was political science that got in the crosshairs for somewhat idiosyncratic reasons, but tomorrow it could be certain kinds of economics research,” Michael Bailey, chair of the government department, said. “Taking one senator’s beef with one academic enterprise, it seems kind of a dangerous precedent to whittle away at the autonomy of these academic enterprises to pursue the things that they think are interesting.” Bailey noted the irony in cutting political science funding amid public concern about governance. “People are worried about the political system. Left, right and center, you name it, someone’s concerned that the way we make decisions — the way democracy makes decisions — is flawed,” Bailey said. “Everyone thinks there’s huge problems with it, so it seems like not a good time to stop caring about it.” According to Bailey, no one in the government department currently has an NSF grant, but the agency plays an important role in creating the data infrastructure and

empirical work necessary for political science research. However, he noted that the current economic climate has created a challenging environment for academics. “Certainly there’s a lot of people in Congress who just want to pare back on everything the government does, and that would include research funding,” Bailey said. “But if the government doesn’t have the money, it has to stop spending, and these are the kind of places where they have to stop spending.” Fleming agreed, saying that even though the grant restrictions would reduce research, the situation could have been worse. “Even though this restriction, this limitation that was put into effect, is troubling, it is less troubling than the money just disappearing completely to fund research,” Fleming said. However, the university may contend with further cuts when Obama’s budget proposal is released this Wednesday. Fleming said that the discretionary spending portion of the budget, which funds everything from research to road construction, will be something the university will monitor closely. “I remember once somebody said that legislating is like sausage-making. You don’t like watching the process,” Fleming said. “There is seldom a piece of legislation that comes up that doesn’t have pluses and minuses, and at the end of the day, you have to decide whether the pluses outweigh the minuses.”

Georgetown Free Speech Policy Gives HFC Unique Role CONDOMS, from A1 organization, to distribute condoms in this free speech zone,” Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh wrote in an email. This provision allows groups such as H*yas for Choice, which receives no money from the university, to distribute condoms in free speech zones, including Red Square, without fear of administrative backlash. “We have never faced direct threats or anything that would make us feel uncomfortable from the university,” H*yas for Choice Co-Events Coordinator, Laura Narefsky (COL

’14), said. “They have turned a pleasant blind eye to us.” Narefsky said that she supports BCSSH’s distribution of condoms on campus and accused the BC administration of violating student rights. Some students, however, support Boston College’s defense of its Catholic identity. “These students came to a Catholic university and are now asking it to change its policy. That’s not correct considering the resources available off-campus in the [local] area,” Right to Life board member Kelly Thomas (SFS ’15) said.


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On Leave, an Education ABSENCE, from A1 warnings. Gabe Pincus (SFS ’14) took a leave of absence this fall to spend the semester in Egypt and savored the lack of university-imposed structure during his time away. “I enjoyed having the freedom and not being restricted by really anything,” he said. “I was living right next to Tahrir Square, which is where all the action is happening. This wouldn’t be possible if I was studying abroad through Georgetown or enrolled in any formal program.” Pincus said that students are often reluctant to go abroad through programs that are not university-sponsored. “People underestimate their capabilities, and there’s a lot to be gained from figuring things out yourself as opposed to having them organized for you,” he said. But he said that his status as an independent student and researcher rather than as a foreign exchange student made for a more authentic Egyptian experience. “If you’re going to be officially affiliated with the university or with any program, [it doesn’t] want [its] name on something if something bad happens. It’s bad publicity for the university,” Pincus said. Sam Dulik (SFS ’13) took a leave of absence in fall 2011 to study at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia — a country to which the State Department discourages travelling. “Colombia has a State Department travel warning against it that is not based in reality. I had an incredibly safe experience,” said Dulik, who is writing his senior honors thesis on the Colombian government’s negotiations with major rebel groups and is relying heavily on his experience in the country. “No one touched a hair on my head. I was never unsafe. I was never threatened.” For students pursuing work experience rather than travel, the promise of independence comes with responsibility. Josh Zeitlin (COL ’13) stayed in the U.S. during his leave of absence last fall to work on President Obama’s re-election campaign in

Charlotte, N.C. It was his second leave of absence after taking time off in fall 2010 to work for a Tennessee statehouse campaign and his third semester away from Georgetown including his semester abroad in Edinburgh in fall 2011. While Zeitlin began his time with Obama for America during the summer as a border state fellow, he was promoted to field organizer when he decided to stay through November. “There are important opportunities that come from seeing something like a campaign all the way through. The outcome of the campaign was too important to

“I ... came back with a better sense of what I wanted to do after I graduated.” COLE LAUTERMILCH (SFS ’14) Took a leave of absence to intern in DC

me and to so many other people for me to consider not continuing through the fall semester,” Zeitlin said. Sebastian Silva (SFS ’15) also took a leave of absence to work for the Obama campaign last fall. He decided to leave Georgetown for the semester after being offered a job working for the campaign in New Mexico. “I don’t know when I would have another opportunity to go and work on a campaign for seven months,” Silva said. Cole Lautermilch (SFS ’14), who stayed closer to Georgetown as an intern in a public defender’s office in D.C. as an investigator for the parole commission, said that he was able to see a different side of the District during his leave of absence. “I think I came back with a better sense of what I wanted to do after I graduated and what I wanted to do with my time here,” he said. Along with excitement and boundless possibilities, those who go abroad without university support often face a unique set of challenges. Rather than arriving to a welcoming host family or the relatively familiar scene of a college dormitory, Dulik landed in Colombia without housing or any guidance as to where to find it.

“I got a hotel for three nights. I had zero idea where I was going to be staying or living after that,” he said. “I literally got off the plane and purchased a copy of El Tiempo, the Bogotá newspaper, and just starting poring through classifieds.” Leaves of absence also raise questions on college transcripts and earn students no credit, concerns that Dulik was quick to dismiss. “I am very cognizant of the fact [that] on my transcript it says, ‘From June 2011 to the beginning of January 2012 Sam Dulik was on a leave of absence,’ but when presenting [that experience] on a job interview, it wasn’t like I was just chilling. I was doing an academic experience to complement my Georgetown curriculum,” Dulik said. “You don’t get any recognition of courses you took, but it was important to me to generate this study abroad experience into my broader trajectory.” Zeitlin agreed that his leave of absence was worth any negative stigma. “I can’t imagine that taking time off to do something you are passionate about will hurt in the job search, and if it does, that’s probably not an employer I want to work for,” Zeitlin said. Those who have taken leaves of absence were also quick to point out that the cost of going abroad independently is far less than that of studying abroad through Georgetown. Pincus said that his entire trip to Egypt cost about $9,000, whereas if he had gone on a Georgetown study abroad program, he would have had to pay full tuition. “Essentially I’ve saved enough money to, basically, if I want to after I graduate, go back to Egypt and not even have a job,” he said. Dulik was able to use the money he saved during his leave of absence to travel extensively in Latin America. “I had a massively increased amount of autonomy to chart my own course,” he said. For his part, Zeitlin will be graduating a semester late because of his two semesters away from the Hilltop, a reality that causes him little concern. “I looked at it as I’m going to graduate when I’m going to graduate and that these were really great opportunities,” Zeitlin said.

GUCR Members Divided MARRIAGE, from A1 marriage,” Rosenberger said. Former GUCR board member Sam Dulik (SFS ’13) supported the pledge taken by students at Penn. Dulik argued that the nature of political organizations is to express views on complex issues. “I think one of the things that makes American politics broadly and the Republican Party specifically so great and so strong is that there’s such a diversity of opinion,” Dulik said. “I want to encourage and foster discussion and debates on this and other complex issues.” Rosenberger personally agreed and commended the Penn College Republicans for their bravery. “I think that politics is about the issues,” Rosenberger said. “Although you can have diversity of opinion, your group should take a stance. If you refuse to take a position, then there’s no point. I think it was very admirable for Penn and other Republican groups to do this to send a clear message.” Overall, GUCR members attested to the diversity of opinion within the organization, but Dulik added that, from his experience, he has seen a large base of support for same-sex marriage from within the club. “My belief, and what I’ve observed not only in Georgetown in general but also specific to College Republicans, is overwhelming support for marriage equality from

young Republicans,” Dulik said. “I think you see it in groups around the country — people in their teens, twenties, thirties. … They’re saying, ‘You know what, we’re done with it — we’re on board.’” Rosenberger agreed, citing the national progress the party has shown in recent years. “We’ve already gone from the party going from vehemently saying no to

“There’s going to be some hiccups because we’re a Catholic university.” TIM ROSENBERGER (COL ’16) GUCR Board Member

same-sex marriage to this spineless equivocating,” Rosenberger said. “It’s a sign that we’re moving in the right direction. I think in a few years everything will totally change.” However, he acknowledged that Georgetown faces unique challenges because of its identity as a Catholic university. “There’s going to be some hiccups because we’re a Catholic university, and we’re going to have a couple issues where we don’t agree on some issues,” Rosenberger said. The same challenges have affected the Georgetown University College Democrats’ response. Club President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15)

said that while his organization’s membership holds a range of views, a vast majority of his members agree that same-sex marriage should be legal. Though Tezel signed the agreement representing the relative consensus of GUCD in favor of same-sex marriage, he stressed that GUCD, as a recipient of Student Activities Commission funding, cannot announce an official platform on positions in order to conform with university administration policies. “The one thing we are careful of is making sure we aren’t advocating for particular pieces of legislation, especially using club resources to do so, because that constitutes a direct violation of our rules,” he said. For his part, Dulik expressed disappointment that the argument about samesex marriage is still going on. “There’s too much policy bandwidth dedicated to this that should be devoted to other issues. There are people who are so animated about this. I have to tell you — for people out there who are spending every equal hour making sure people don’t get this right — get a hobby,” Dulik said. “It’s important, but it should be an afterthought — of course private citizens should be able to get married, to enter basically a contract, albeit formed with love, with each other.” Hoya Staff Writer Natasha Khan contributed reporting.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

Annual Take Back the Night Events Launch Molly DePippo Hoya Staff Writer

In the wake of highly publicized rape cases in Steubenville, Ohio, and New Delhi, Take Back the Night is holding its annual sexual assault week to raise awareness of the problem on campus. The series of events, titled “Sexual Assault Is a Hoya Issue,” aims to address various student perspectives on sexual assault. Events include a screening of “The Invisible War,” a documentary about sexual assault in the military, and a panel discussion with the editors of Feministing, a feminist blog. According to coordinator Kat Kelley (NHS ’14), the theme was chosen to represent the reality that sexual violence transcends gender, race or ethnic barriers. “Sexual assault happens within all communities,” Kelley said. “But in a lot of mainstream discourse, it’s very much so [portrayed as] a white woman’s issue.” Coordinator Deanna Arthur (SFS ’14) saw the theme as a way to unify the campus community against sexual assault. “Even though Hoyas have different points of view on a lot of issues, we can all agree that sexual assault is something we can fight against,” Arthur wrote in an email. The coordinators said that the event series, which comes on the heels of the Steubenville rape case (in which the media came under fire for giving undue sympathy to the perpetrators), is particularly timely. “The week that the Steubenville trial occurred, there was so much talk about how poorly the media portrayed the trial,” Kelley said. “So many people came to me, so many people who normally don’t talk or think about sexual assault came to me and [said], ‘This is upsetting. This is not OK. I don’t know how to deal with this.’” Arthur added that it was important for students to be aware that large cases such as Steubenville represent a fraction of the many sexual assault cases each year. “One thing that was really notable about the Steubenville case was the really inspiring amount of outrage I saw from Hoyas on social media,” Arthur wrote. “Hopefully that event will stay in people’s consciousness. … People will realize that the Steubenville case is just one of many. Most of these stories are not so heavily publicized, and even more of them don’t even go reported, don’t go to trial and don’t end in a conviction.”

ERICA WONG/THE HOYA

In the first of a week of events, the editors of Feministing, a feminist blog, shared perspectives on sexual assault on Monday. According to coordinator Nora West (SFS ’15), Take Back the Night contacted every HoyaLink-registered campus group and received tremendous response from groups that pledged their support for sexual assault awareness. Participants included some unexpected groups, such as Georgetown Gaming. Students of Georgetown, Inc., Outreach Service Committee, H*yas For Choice and the Georgetown University Student Association will also cosponsor events. Arthur said that she expected that Wednesday evening’s “It Happens Here,” a reading of anonymous stories from sexual assault survivors, bystanders or friends of victims, would have the largest impact on attendees. “In terms of rape culture at Georgetown, I think the issue obviously isn’t that people don’t think it’s an important issue; they see it as something big, scary, foreign and not something that happens at Georgetown,” Arthur wrote. “Hopefully, this event, along with the media campaign, will start to get people thinking about some of the difficult truths of sexual assault.” The week will culminate in Friday’s final event, which will ask students to pledge to work against sexual assault. In particular, participants will pledge to ask for consent, to support survivors and to continue discussing sexual assault. Although the week focuses on the realities of sexual assault, the coordinators said that they hoped that people would leave with an optimistic and proactive outlook. “It can get easy to become depressed,” West said. “Our real goal is to try to make it positive and empowering.”



A8

SPORTS

THE HOYA

MEN’S LACROSSE

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

FINAL FOUR

McKinney Delivers Winner Louisville Claims Third Title in Win Over Michigan JOHNNIES, from A10

Georgetown’s will was severely tested in the second frame, as St. John’s ripped off a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Warne’s squad was up for the challenge, though, and Bucci’s and O’Connor’s second goals of the game brought the halftime score to 8-7. With seventeen goals and seventeen assists this season, O’Connor has thus far done a fantastic job picking up the slack left by injured senior attack and star Brian Casey. The senior captain has not played since he injured his leg back on March 16 against Providence. “[Reilly’s] been awesome. He’s been our quarterback. He’s been our guy that gets everybody on the same page, does all the right things,” Warne said. “He’s really taken a leadership role in our offense.” In their six loses this season, Georgetown has been abysmal on extra-man opportunities with only four goals in twentyone chances. The Hoyas were 2-for-2 on the power play on Saturday, including on senior attack Jason McFadden’s goal with under a minute to play in the third. The goal helped Georgetown come back from their third two-goal deficit of the day and tie the game at eleven heading into the fourth. In the final period, the Red Storm outshot Georgetown 19-6, but redshirt sophomore goalie Jake Haley stood tall in between the pipes, and Knarr won four out of five faceoffs. Knarr has been a revelation for the Hoyas on faceoffs all year

EVAN HOLLANDER

82 - 76

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore attack Reilly O’Connor scored four goals in the overtime win Saturday, increasing his season total to 17. long, and his .657 win percentage heading into Saturday was good enough for fourth-best in the country. “No matter what happens you really want to do whatever it takes to get the ball and that’s really what it comes down to,” Knarr said. “[It’s about] hard work.” The game appeared over with under thirty seconds to play, as St. John’s had possession of the ball and a 13-12 lead before senior defenseman Patrick Murray forced a turnover and flipped the ball to McCormick. The sophomore midfielder had a shot denied by St. John’s Jeff Lowman, who had replaced injured starting goalie Harry Burke at the

half, but McCormick picked up his own rebound and tied the game with just over 10 seconds remaining. The Red Storm would never get an opportunity to win the game in overtime, as Knarr won the opening faceoff, which allowed the Hoyas to call timeout. McKinney beat his man to the inside and scored the winner as the Hoyas improved to 2-1 in Big East play. The Hoyas will be back in action on Sunday in South Bend against Notre Dame. The game will be televised on ESPNU at 11 a.m.

Hoya Staff Writer Carolyn Maguire contributed to this report.

GAME OF CHANGE

Pernetti Deserves No Defense

‘W

e want Tim! We want Tim! We want Tim!” So chanted Rutgers students about Tim Pernetti — the athletic director forced out in the wake of the Mike Rice saga — Friday morning after he tendered his resignation. Though the footage of Rice’s verbal and physical abuse of his players was both shocking and disturbing, the video clip of Rutgers students calling out in support of Pernetti en masse was even more sickening. The students — many of them student-athletes — were defending the man who chose not to fire but to merely suspend and fine Rice after seeing video evidence of his rampant abuse. This was the man who gave Rice what amounted to a wag of his finger behind closed doors as punishment for shoving, kicking, hitting and calling his players “f------ fairies” and other homophobic slurs. This was the man who failed in his duty to teach and protect the student-athletes who could not speak up for themselves out of fear of ruining their college basketball careers. One might think that students, and certainly fellow student-athletes, would choose to side with the abused players, not the person who failed to do all in his power to stop cruelty happening right under his nose. However, such thinking is the epitome of optimistic naivety: As we’ve learned from past college sports scandals, students and the larger university community are quick to prize sporting success over the well-being of the vulnerable. The Rutgers-Mike Rice-Tim Pernetti scandal is eerily similar to the Penn State–Jerry Sandusky–Joe Paterno scandal, right down to the severely misguided students who threw their support behind a person who did not deserve it. Paterno, the late former Penn State football coach, was told about Sandusky sexually assaulting children and effectively did nothing, but because he was the paragon of the mighty Nittany Lions football program, the students literally rioted to show their support for him. In a similar story, Pernetti watched video proof of Rice’s abuse and for

The fact that Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino was able to bring home the trophy in 2013 was a tribute to the enduring basketball legacy of the The collapsing giant that was the old Big East Big East. Pitino made his first trip to the Final Four went out with a big bang in last night’s national with Providence in 1987, an appearance made championship. possible only by defeating a John Thompson Jr.Louisville secured its third NCAA title in school coached Georgetown squad in one of that year’s history and its first (and last) as a member of the regional finals. Big East with an 82-76 win over Michigan at the It’s hardly any consolation after a round-of-64 Georgia Dome Monday night. exit to Florida Gulf Coast, but Georgetown fans The Cardinals — who had defeated Wichita may take some small pleasure in knowing that State 72-68 in Saturday’s their team defeated the evensemifinal — were paced by tual national champions 53junior wing Luke Hancock, 51 in their lone meeting this who scored 22 points and season, on Jan. 31 at Verizon was named most outstandCenter. ing player of the Final Four. While Georgetown and Luke Hancock (Louisville): 22 points Senior guard Peyton Siva the rest of the old Big East’s (5-of-5 from 3pt) chipped in 18 points and “Catholic Seven” — joined Trey Burke (Michigan): 24 points,four sophomore forward Chane by Butler, Creighton and rebounds, three assists Behanan scored 15, as LouXavier — will retain the Big isville came back from a East name, the conference 12-point deficit in the first is splintering this summer. half to cut down the nets for the first time since Several teams will join the ACC, while others will 1986. become a part of the nascent American Athletic Michigan sophomore guard Trey Burke, who Conference. edged Georgetown sophomore forward Otto The Cardinals will spend one season in that Porter Jr. for most of this season’s national player new league before jumping to the ACC the followof the year awards, led the Wolverines with 24 ing year. points. Teammate Spike Albrecht added 17 points, That point, however, was all but lost in the 12 of which came off of his four three-pointers. cheers and confetti of Monday night, as Louisville But despite those impressive scoring efforts, Mich- sophomore guard Kevin Ware — recuperating igan could not contend with Louisville’s stifling from a horrific injury sustained against Duke — pressure defense, which forced 12 turnovers on was the final Cardinal to cut down the nets, folthe night. lowing the Big East’s seventh and final NCAA title.

Hoya Staff Writer

some reason did not fire him, but because Pernetti successfully navigated conference realignment and secured Rutgers a place in the Big Ten, students protested on his behalf. It is both easy and necessary to call for the firings of people who actually perpetrate abuse; it is equally necessary, but apparently not as easy, to hold accountable those who let it happen. Just like at Penn State, however, the wildfire of public outrage surrounding the Rutgers scandal will not be extinguished with the firing of Rice and Pernetti. And if history is any indication, the same fate suffered by former Penn State President Graham Spanier awaits Rutgers Presi-

Laura Wagner

The victims at Rutgers are being are forgotten. dent Robert Barchi, who inexplicably did not even watch the video of the abuse until months after he received it. While there is no shortage of public outcry over this scandal, the Rutgers community seems to be ambivalent about Rice’s abuse and skeptical about Pernetti’s cover-up. In fact, for the most part, students appear to be firmly rooted behind Pernetti. The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team painted Pernetti’s initials on their calves before Sunday’s game, a tribute that seems more appropriate for honoring a teammate or coach who has passed away than for an athletic director who was complicit in the abuse of students. Former Rutgers football players Eric LeGrand and Ray Rice also showed their support for Pernetti on Twitter and in person. The Baltimore running back’s support of Pernetti is especially disappointing considering his involvement in

and outspokenness about anti-bullying campaigns. How can Rice not care that Pernetti was guilty of allowing a bully to remain a bully? The answer can be found on Rice’s own Twitter feed. “Big 10 doesn’t happen without Mr. Pernetti. He has done a GREAT job for RU, our future is bright with him leading us. #greatman,” Rice tweeted April 5. In less than 140 characters, Rice candidly sums up why, time and time again, university communities are willing to let terrible decisions slide: Sports matter more than people. Just like the Penn State sex abuse scandal, the guilty — Paterno, Pernetti, Spanier, Barchi — have all been martyred. Sandusky’s victims and the Rutgers basketball players, the real victims, are simply forgotten. This is our fault. There is always discussion about how college sports programs are too powerful, how coaches have too much influence and how there is too little NCAA oversight, but really it is the students and their tuition dollars that make these programs the empires that they are. If students were to change the way they think about college sports and realize that sports are, in fact, not everything — that integrity, safety and basic human respect all matter more than winning games or protecting a team’s reputation — coaches and administrators might follow suit. When students defend students, universities will do the same. When the emphasis is on the well-being of studentathletes and other people who can’t always speak up for themselves, we will find that there will be no more cover-ups. NCAA regulations can only do so much; if we want to truly change the culture of college sports we must recognize that it starts with us. The next time a college sports scandal rocks the country, which it inevitably will, I hope the students again gather to chant the names of the guilty. Not in support this time, but in condemnation.

Laura Wagner is a sophomore in the College. GAME OF CHANGE appears every Tuesday.

BASEBALL

Hoyas Take One of Three From Gaels in Thriller GAELS, from A10 only two more hits after the first inning to allow the Gaels to take the game 6-1. Senior Thomas Polus (2-3, 4.72 ERA) took the mound for the Hoyas when the squad returned to the field on Saturday, but he lasted only four innings while allowing four runs (three earned) and striking out four. The lone run on the day for the Hoyas came in the top of the third. Freshman shortstop Curtiss Pomeroy drew a leadoff walk and ultimately scored on a throwing error by St. Mary’s senior catcher Riley Heinzer. It was the second straight game without an RBI for Georgetown. The best chance to tie the game for the Blue and Gray came when they loaded the bases in the eighth inning, but they were unable to capitalize. Georgetown subsequently went down 1-2-3 in the ninth and dropped the game 4-1. “Saturday’s game was a frustrating one,” Wilk said. “We didn’t make the adjustments offensively we needed to make, and that’s why we lost.” The series finale on Sunday was a back-andforth affair. St. Mary’s jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first off of sophomore

starter Matt Hollenbeck (1-3, 4.35 ERA), but the Hoyas rallied, scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. The Gaels struck back with four runs in the bottom half of the sixth, seizing a 5-3 lead and ending Hollenbeck’s day in the process. Once again, the Hoyas fought back, taking a 6-5 lead with one run in the seventh and two in the eighth. Senior reliever Charlie Steinman was unable to hold the lead in the bottom of the eighth, however, allowing a St. Mary’s sacrifice fly to tie the game. Knotted at six after nine innings, the game headed to extras. After a scoreless tenth inning, Georgetown staged a dramatic two-out rally in the eleventh. Matern reached base on an error and proceeded to steal second to set the stage for an RBI double by Leeson for what proved to be the game-winning run of a 7-6 victory. “That was a big win, especially the way we did it,” Wilk said. “The kids could’ve caved any time and chalked it up to the [travel], but they showed a lot of character coming back and getting our RBIs when we needed them.” Georgetown returns to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday against George Washington. Having defeated the Colonials 10-4 on March 19, the Hoyas will look to complete the season sweep.

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sports

tuesday, APRIL 9, 2013

tennis

THE HOYA

A9

Turning two in the 202

Men See Eight-Match Win Nats Set for Even Better ’13 Streak Snapped by GW T wo weeks ago, I introduced my 2013 predictions for the American League, and now I present my forecast for the National League. Last year, your favorite prognosticator nailed the ascendancy of Washington, D.C.’s boys of summer but whiffed on the decline of division rival Philadelphia, a team I expected to play for the World Series. Hopefully for fans in the DMV, my pick this year does not fall victim to that same kiss of death.

Tim Eldridge Hoya Staff Writer

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams are putting together impressive runs to end their respective seasons, building up important momentum with only a couple of matches left before the Big East tournament. The men’s team (10-9, 3-0 Big East) came into the weekend riding a six-game winning streak. Head Coach Gordie Ernst credited the early adversity his team faced with preparing it for the second half of the season. “That’s why we’ve been able to be successful — because we had a lot of tough matches and tough losses,” Ernst said. “We’ve responded really well to it.” The Hoyas kicked off the weekend with a Friday home match against conference foe St. John’s (2-14, 0-2 Big East), coming out on top 4-3. That win over the Red Storm kept the squad undefeated in Big East play, a statistic that has made Ernst optimistic heading into the postseason. “It gives us a lot of confidence for the Big East [tournament]. For the first time I’ve been here, we are going to have a higher seed than seventh,” he said. “I know that doesn’t sound too sexy, but it’s an accomplishment.” The Blue and Gray the proceeded to dominate Fairfield (9-5, 3-0 MAAC) Saturday by a 6-1 scoreline to stretch their streak to eight. Ernst singled out the leadership and play of senior captain Charlie Caris as being a key catalyst for the recent run by the Blue and Gray. For Caris, a key cog for his entire time on the Hilltop, the program’s successes have been a long time coming. “Caris [has never] missed a match for the Hoyas,” Ernst said. “I think it’s worth mentioning and acknowledging a guy who has played all four years on the lineup for us — that is an accomplishment.” The win streak did come to an end Sunday, however, when George Washington (12-5, 3-0 Atlantic 10) defeated Georgetown 6-1. Ernst noted that the match was nonetheless closer than the score indicated, and he was ultimately satisfied with the way his team competed. “When you really look at it, we were right there with them,” Ernst said, explaining that a few critical lost points led to the Hoyas digging themselves a hole too deep to climb out of. The women’s team (13-4, 3-2 Big East), meanwhile, had another successful outing, defeat-

Projected NL East Standings 1. Washington Nationals 2. Atlanta Braves 3. Philadelphia Phillies 4. New York Mets 5. Miami Marlins

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Senior Victoria Sekely came back from two games down to earn a win against ECU. ing East Carolina (12-9) 4-3 in its lone weekend contest. Throughout the season, the Hoyas have developed a penchant for winning close matches by coming up with a clutch point or comeback win. Saturday was no different, as senior Victoria Sekely surged back from a two-game deficit to win her match, and graduate student Liz Hamlin won the final match to secure the win. “Normally you get one or two [close wins] if you’re lucky. We’ve had like five of them. That’s not luck,” Ernst said. “It’s the fact that they fight so hard — and fight so hard for each other — that anything can happen.” Sekely has been one of the most consistent performers for Georgetown over the last four years, and Ernst singled out for particular praise after her central role in Saturday’s victory. “As a coach, you expect her to win a match like that once in a while, where she doesn’t have her A-game going but she digs down deep and fights, and that’s what she did,” Ernsty said. “In the third set she only made one unforced error. That put us in position to win.” Both the men’s and women’s teams have one more week of regular season play before the Big East tournament begins April 18.

The East is incredibly top-heavy, with three candidates for the postseason, two of which — the Nationals and Braves — reside among the league’s best. Those two clubs each boast incredible depth and feature complete pitching staffs and exciting young players expected to play major roles in 2013. After winning the division in 2012 — and thanks in part to a significant change in leadership in Atlanta with the retirement of Chipper Jones and the arrival of the Upton brothers — the Nationals remain the favorite for the division crown in 2013. Expect young stars Bryce Harper of Washington and Jason Heyward of Atlanta to take the next steps in their careers and contend for the MVP award this season. For the Phillies to compete, meanwhile, a lot is going to have to go right. Key veterans who have dealt with injuries — like Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley — need to return to their original form, and former top prospect Domonic Brown also needs to develop into the offensive force he was projected to be just two years ago; while I am pessimistic on the former, I remain hopeful on the latter. As for the Mets and Marlins, I expect each of them to fall into the bottom five of the entire league, especially after the Mets’ loss of ace Johan Santana for the entire season.

NL Central 1. Cincinnati Reds 2. St. Louis Cardinals 3. Milwaukee Brewers 4. Pittsburgh Pirates 5. Chicago Cubs

Like with the Nationals in the East, I expect the Reds to return to the promised land this season as winners of their division. Cincinnati’s competition, however, appears easier than its counterpart in D.C., with St. Louis the only significant threat to the Reds’ supremacy. Aside from adding outfielder Shin Soo Choo, Cincy mostly held steady this offseason, but

Preston Barclay the offensive upgrade from Drew Stubbs to Choo in center field should be significant. Likewise, the Reds are set to return Aroldis Chapman to the closer role, where he had one of the best seasons ever by a reliever a year ago, with a 1.51 earned run average, 0.81 WHIP and astounding 122 strikeouts. The Cardinals, though, always outperform their perceived talent and have several impact prospects waiting in the wings. Up-and-coming outfielder Oscar Taveras projects as an All-Star long-term, while pitchers Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal have top-of-the-rotation arsenals that will bolster St. Louis’ big-league staff this season. NL West 1. Los Angeles Dodgers 2. San Francisco Giants 3. Arizona Diamondbacks 4. San Diego Padres 5. Colorado Rockies I learned my lesson with supposed superstar-laden rosters

before, but I still cannot help but believe the Dodgers will dodge the trend and emerge as the champions of the NL West in 2013. Yes, they are significantly overpaying several players — notably the trio of Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett they received from the Red Sox last August — but the roster is incredibly deep with offensive and starting pitching depth. Should Crawford or Andre Ethier struggle in the outfield, they have phenomenal outfield prospect Yasiel Puig waiting in the wings, while they also have seven starting pitchers to fill five spots, led by ace and Cy Young award favorite Clayton Kershaw. Sure, the production won’t match the price tag (the Dodgers, not the Yankees, are projected to have the league’s highest payroll in 2013), but there is just too much talent in L.A. to avoid the postseason. Moving on, I fully expect the Diamondbacks and defending World Series champion Giants to contend for not only the division but also the wild card positions, though I ultimately see them falling short in a fiveteam race with the Braves, Cardinals and Phillies for the two spots. NL Championship Series: Nationals over Braves The Fall Classic in D.C.? You’d better believe it. The Nationals are simply baseball’s most complete team thanks to a versatile offense, excellent starting five and quality bullpen with a steady closer. Not only do I expect them to win the National League, but I also see the Nationals emerging victorious in the World Series. Dare to dream, District faithful.

Preston Barclay is a junior in the McDonough School of Business. TURNING TWO IN THE 202 appears every Tuesday.

Softball

GU Drops Final Two to Rutgers ANTTILA, from A10 Lowe drove in two more runs in the fourth and Giovanniello contributed an RBI of her own by drawing a bases-loaded walk, but Georgetown could not catch the Scarlet Knights, who added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth to take the game 7-4. The rubber match on Sunday was a pitcher’s duel, as each team was limited to four hits, a drastic change from the first game’s offensive onslaught. “I thought the pitching for both teams was more effective on Sunday, because you have the opportunity to see the strengths and weaknesses of hitters through a doubleheader on Saturday and pitch to those weaknesses,” Conlan said. Rutgers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the

fourth to make the score 1-0, then doubled to drive in two more in the fifth for a threerun lead. The score would stand at 3-0 until the seventh inning,

Anttila’s Big Day 4-of-4 hitting Four home runs 10 runs batted in 16 total bases Four runs scored 12-11 GU win when Georgetown had a lategame spark in its final at-bats. Hyson led off with a double and was later driven in by freshman third baseman Taylor Henry’s single, but with two runners on base, a fly-out

to second would end the rally and the game, with the Blue and Gray losing 3-1. “Rutgers put a few more hits together in games two and three and was able to make some things happen on offense,” Conlan said. “We had opportunities as well; however, they did more with theirs.” Regardless of the series outcome, Conlan was excited by the way her side played and looked forward to pushing its potential as the season goes on. “I loved the way this team competes. Rutgers was a very good team, and we had opportunities to win all three games, so for me, the weekend was a positive one,” she said. “We need to continue to play our game the way we are capable of and good things will happen.” The team will travel for a doubleheader against Connecticut on Wednesday.


SPORTS

BASEBALL Georgetown (18-11) vs. GW (11-20) Tuesday, 3 p.m. Barcroft Park, Arlington

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013

TENNIS

TALKING POINTS

Both the men’s and women’s teams are cruising ahead of the Big East tournament. See A9

NUMBERS GAME

” 10

If he’s around after the 10th round [of the draft], I’ll eat my hat. Baseball Head Coach Pete Wilk, on St. Mary’s starter Ben Griset

The number of runs batted in on Saturday afternoon by softball’s junior right fielder Alexandria Anttila.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

MEN’S LACROSSE

Offense Drives 14-13 OT Victory No. 7 GU Squeezes Past No. 20 Loyola DILLON MULLAN

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

the fourth quarter of an 8-6 loss to Villanova on Wednesday and had lost three of their past four heading into Sunday. Current form does not matter once the whistle blows, however, and the Blue and Gray were able to pick up a massive Big East overtime win behind do-it-all redshirt junior defender Tyler Knarr’s 10 ground balls and Canadian sophomore attack Reilly O’Connor’s four goals. The most important play of the day came from senior midfielder Dan McKinney, whose goal with 3:24 left in overtime ended the game at 14-13. “I thought the guys played hard,” Head Coach Kevin Warne said. “They never gave up, even when we were down a couple of goals. In a back and forth game like that, they didn’t allow themselves to get lost in the moment — they just worried about the next play and that’s what we tried to focus on.” Both offenses came out firing from the start, and the Hoyas took an early 3-1 advantage behind goals from sophomore midfielder Joe Bucci, junior midfielder Grant Fisher and sophomore attack Bo Stafford. The Red Storm evened the score just 90 seconds later, but Georgetown’s sophomore class would not be denied, as O’Connor and midfielder Charlie McCormick scored to give the Hoyas a 5-4 lead after the first quarter.

Senior midfielder Dan McKinney fired home a golden goal with less than four minutes left in overtime Saturday to topple St. John’s.

See JOHNNIES, A8

Hoya Staff Writer

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup in the Battle at Bethpage, the Georgetown and St. John’s men’s lacrosse teams were trending in opposite directions. Behind the second-

BASEBALL

Georgetown Drops Two Out West TOM SCHNOOR Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown baseball team (1811, 3-3 Big East) is nearing the midpoint of its Big East schedule, but instead of facing a conference foe this past weekend, the team ventured almost 2,500 miles to Moraga, Calif., for a three-game series against the St. Mary’s Gaels (11-21, 2-4 WCC). The Hoyas struggled to get their offense going and dropped the first two games of the series 6-1 and 4-1, respectively, but rallied Sunday afternoon to pull out an exciting 7-6 win in 11 innings. There were no signs of jetlag for the Blue and Gray early on in the series opener, as the team put runners on the corners in the top of the first after back-to-back singles by seniors Trevor Matern and Justin Leeson. A balk by St. Mary’s starting pitcher Ben Griset (3-2, 1.44 ERA) then scored Matern to give the Hoyas an early 1-0 lead. Griset recovered well from his mistake and proceeded to retire the next eight batters he faced, as Georgetown couldn’t manage another hit until the fifth inning. “Ben Griset was pretty damn good,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “If he’s around after the 10th round [in this spring’s MLB draft], I’ll eat my hat.” Redshirt sophomore Jack Vander Linden (2-1, 3.28 ERA) got the start for the Blue and Gray but struggled to find his form early on. The first five Gael batters reached base, and, by the end of the first inning, the Hoyas were staring down a 4-1 deficit. Vander Linden settled down after that, though, going seven innings and allowing only one more run, but the Georgetown offense could muster See GAELS, A8

leading point scorer in Division I, junior attack Kieran McArdle, the No. 19 Red Storm (7-3, 2-2 Big East) had won four in a row, including an upset of Notre Dame — ranked No. 1 overall at the time — in South Bend, Ind. Meanwhile, the Hoyas (56, 2-1 Big East) were outscored 3-0 in

SOUND BITES

Men’s soccer Head Coach Brian Wiese talks conference realignment ON THE NEW BIG EAST’S MAKEUP IN 2013:

“It’s a ground-up construction project. You don’t have a league commissioner yet. You have to do things kind of [by] the seat of your pants this first year.”

ON PARTING WITH FOES LIKE NOTRE DAME, UCONN “We’re losing a lot of rivalries, a lot of history ... and that’s why I think it’s important that you play everybody that first year, so you can start kicking each other a little bit.”

ON THE QUALITY OF THE LEAGUE GOING FORWARD

“When 50 percent of your conference [was] in the [2012 NCAA] tourney, that’s not bad. Not a lot of conferences can say that, if any.”

Sophia Thomas scores four to power win over Greyhounds in Baltimore

and clear, outshooting the Greyhounds 14-10 in the second half. However, Loyola kept it close, trading leads with Georgetown until midway through the second half, when the Hoyas took an 11-10 lead — thanks to LAURA WAGNER another goal by Thomas — and never Hoya Staff Writer relinquished it. Though Loyola managed to get In its third Big East game one more goal on the board, the last this season, the Georgetown 10 minutes of the game belonged to women’s lacrosse team (8-2, 3-0 the Hoyas as they scored two more of Big East) downed the talented Loyola their own and held the Greyhounds Greyhounds (5-6, 2-1 Big East) — de- scoreless to end the game. Fried credfending league champions — in a 14- its his team’s tenacity in finding the 11 thriller. The parity between the strength to close out close and tough teams was apparent from the start, game. as they traded leads for most of the “I think that we have a team that game; in total, the score was tied at wears people down. People come seven different points during the out really sharp and strong, and I contest, but the thought our kids Hoyas were able to did a great job of control the tempo “I thought our kids just believing in at the end of the did a great job of just what we were dogame to seal the ing, maintaining victory. believing in what we the attention level The Blue and and continuing Gray started fast were doing.” to push forward,” when junior midFried said. RICKY FRIED fielder Meghan Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach Fried acknowlFarrell, assisted edged the evenby senior attack Rosie Corcoran, ness of the game and was pleased notched the first score 20 seconds with the way his team responded to into the game. Six minutes later, the intensity. Georgetown extended its lead when “We knew going in that we were senior midfielder Sophia Thomas evenly matched. They are in a posiscored her first of four goals. tion where they kind of need a win Loyola then went on a 4-0 run to a little bit more than we do, so we take the lead before senior attack knew it was going to be a tough Dina Jackson, sophomore attack Car- game,” Fried said. “I felt pretty comoline Tarzian and junior midfielder fortable with how we were playing, Kelyn Freedman scored consecu- even with the layoff, so I thought tive goals in under three minutes. we wore them down and then really The Greyhounds then answered to took charge of the tempo about midtie the score at five goals apiece. In way through the second half.” the waning minutes of the first half, Though Georgetown is tied for both teams scored off free-position second with Syracuse in the Big East shots to enter the half with the score standings, Fried says it is too early to knotted at six. speculate on the Hoyas’ chances of At the break, Head Coach Ricky winning the conference title at the Fried’s advice for his team was the season’s end. same as it has been all year. “Looking at the scores from this “I told them pretty much what weekend, everyone [in the Big East] we always talk about. [There were] a is playing well. There have been very couple of things that we wanted to competitive games, so while we are focus on; primarily, staying focused optimistic about where we are, we and making sure we weren’t giving also realize that we need to focus on the ball away. We had too many un- how we play and play at that level on forced turnovers,” Fried said. “Really, a consistent basis,” Fried said. it was just to maintain what we were The Hoyas continue conference doing and keep working hard.” play next weekend against MarThe Hoyas got the message loud quette and Notre Dame.

SOFTBALL

Anttila Slugs Four Homers in Series Opener JULIANA ZOVAK Special to the Hoya

After an explosive win in the first matchup of a three-game series against Rutgers, the Georgetown softball team could not sustain its momentum, losing the final two games and dropping the series to the Scarlet Knights in a tough conference challenge in Piscataway, N.J. The Hoyas (14-24, 4-4 Big East) started strong, winning a gameone offensive showdown 12-11 thanks to a performance for the ages from junior right fielder Alexandria Anttila. The Illinois native went 4-4 with four home runs, hitting a three-run homer in the first, a grand slam in the second, a solo shot in the fourth and the go-ahead two run home run in the seventh that put the Blue and Gray in the lead for good. Overall, Anttila had 10 RBIs and recorded 16 total bases in what was a historic performance not only from a personal perspective but from a Georgetown and NCAA one as well: Anttila’s home run and RBI marks on Saturday are Georgetown

softball single-game records, and she tied the NCAA Division I record with her home-run and total bases totals. “Allie’s performance was unbelievable. I have been playing and coaching for 35 years and have never witnessed something that incredible,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “She had a very memorable game and single-handedly helped us get that win.” The other two Georgetown runs of the game came off solo home runs from sophomore Megan Hyson, who also pitched five innings in relief en route to earning her fifth win of the season. “I think both found their pitches to hit and took really good swings all game,” Conlan said of Hyson and Anttila. In the second game of the Saturday doubleheader, the Hoyas took an early lead on an RBI single from senior catcher Shikara Lowe that drove in freshman shortstop Samantha Giovanniello, but Rutgers followed with five runs in the third inning to cement the win. See ANTTILA, A9

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FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

After sophomore pitcher Lauren O’Leary (above) was pulled Saturday, replacement Meghan Tyson came up big in relief to fuel GU’s comeback.


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