The Hoya: Oct. 2, 2012

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 10, © 2012

tuesDAY, october 2, 2012

HOME HUMBLING

Brown trounced Georgetown, 37-10, handing the Hoyas their second loss.

COMMENTARY The Supreme Court will soon make a landmark decision on gay rights.

SPORTS, A10

TICE A new YouTube video may show an alum who went missing in Syria in August.

NEWS, A6

OPINION, A3

TOGETHER AGAIN: ALUMS FLOCK TO HILLTOP FOR HOMECOMING

Hoya Staff Writer

OLIVIA HEWITT FOR THE HOYA

NEWS, A5

DPS Releases Yearly Crime Data Braden McDonald

Thousands of Georgetown students and alumni gathered to watch the sold-out Homecoming game against Brown on Saturday. This year’s Homecoming weekend also attracted a record number of alumni registrants.

BREATHALYZER The District has brought back its breath alcohol testing program.

According to the Department of Public Safety’s 2012 annual crime report, overall crime has dipped at Georgetown’s main campus but tripled at the Law Center campus in downtown D.C. The report, which was released Saturday, highlights crime trends between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2011, at the two D.C. locations and three overseas campuses: the McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies in Alanya, Turkey, Villa Le Balze in Florence, Italy and the School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar. The annual crime report is published annually in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which mandates that all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs make public information about crimes committed on their campuses.

According to the 2012 report, overall crime at the university’s main campus, which does not include theft or citations for possession of alcohol, drugs or weapons, has dropped by 16 percent between 2009 and 2011. In 2009, there were 54 reported crimes; that number fell to 51 in 2010 and then 43 in 2011.

In particular, instances of hate crime dropped dramatically between the 13 reported in 2009 and

the two reported in 2011. However, burglary surged almost 30 percent between the 27 cases in 2009 and the 35 in 2011, peaking at 38 incidents in 2010.

Non-arrests for drugs, alcohol and possession of weapons, which are handled by the university’s Office of Student Conduct, peaked at 483 in 2010 before dropping over 32 percent to 365 in 2011. Alcohol violations composed the majority of these incidents in all three years.

Meanwhile, cases in which students were arrested for drugs, alcohol and possession of weapons doubled from three to six incidents between 2010 and 2011; all incidents in both years were drug-related.

In addition, reported crimes spiked substantially at the Law Center, more than tripling between 2010, when there were three reported cases, and 2011, when there were 11.

Theft, which is not included in the overall crime statistic because reporting thefts is not mandated by the Clery Act, increased at both D.C. campuses in 2011, jumping from 170 to 219 cases on the main campus and from 17 to 22 incidents at the Law Center.

The report cites no crimes at the university’s McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies in Alanya, Turkey, at Villa Le Balze in Florence, Italy or at the Doha, Qatar, campus of the School of Foreign Service in any of the three years.

Newly Elected Senate ANC Hopeful Introduced at Meeting Includes Nine Women Laura Zhang

Special to The Hoya

Annie Chen

“[They] were elected [in] the most democratic and competitive senate session,” Chess said.

The seventh session of the GUSA senOverall, 66 students competed for 27 ate, inaugurated Sunday afternoon, in- spots in the senate. Ten senators of the cludes a record number of female mem- seventh session also held seats last year. bers.

Though some of the races were highly Nine female senators were elected, an competitive — 18 freshmen vied for one increase from the of three positions five women who to represent Darheld seats last year. nall and Harbin “It’s an imporHalls — four were tant change we’ve uncontested.

For the final results of last been fighting for,” Only one canweek’s GUSA senate elections, Sheila Walsh (COL didate ran for the see A6. ’14), Georgetown two Henle Village University Student spots, and a speAssociation senacial election for tor for the Copley district, said. The voter the vacant position will be held in the turnout rate also increased this year, future, according to GUSA Senate Transiwith approximately 34 percent of the tion Chair Nate Tisa (SFS ’14). student body — 2,631 undergraduates — The GUSA senate redefined its districts casting ballots, an overall increase from last fall, creating three additional offlast year’s 25 percent rate. campus seats — increasing off-campus Election Commissioner Ethan Chess representation from two seats to five (COL ’14) attributed part of the high — and reducing the number of at-large turnout to the evidentiary standard ref- seats from six to four. erendum that was held concurrent with The modification aimed to address the senate election but commended the the underrepresentation of off-campus new senators for winning their seats in a students. In previous years, only three record-setting year. senators represented more than 500 offcampus students each, which is almost twice the number of constituents compared to the average on-campus representative.

However, the election results showed that the at-large race was more hotly contested than the off-campus race, with 2,028 votes cast in the at-large race and only 157 votes cast in the off-campus race.

Tisa explained that off-campus students were less aware of the deadlines for candidacy declaration. Only three candidates ran for five open spots in this race.

Tisa acknowledged this low turnout and emphasized that it is a challenge GUSA still needs to address.

“The proportion [of votes] makes DAVID WANG FOR THE HOYA sense. It’s just the challenge we have to New GUSA senators were sworn in deal with,” Tisa said. “How do we challenge these people and bring them in?” at a ceremony Sunday afternoon.

Hoya Staff Writer

A NEW TERM

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

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E introduced student commissioner hopeful Craig Cassey (COL ’15) at its monthly meeting Monday.

Cassey, who is running uncontested as a write-in candidate for single-member district 2E04 in the Nov. 6 election, addressed the importance of improving communication between students and neighbors and stressed the construction of the New South Student Center at Georgetown as a tool for improving the relationship between the university and surrounding community.

“There are issues that both the university and the community share, and there is no better time to address them than now,” he said.

Commissioner Tom Birch echoed the idea that Georgetown commu-

EUGENE ANG FOR THE HOYA

Craig Cassey (COL ’15) spoke about town-gown cooperation Monday. nity members have the ability to work together and find common ground, citing the recent agreement on the 2010 Campus Plan as evidence of this potential for com-

promise.

“The community is often criticized for not being able to come See ANC, A6

Students Aim to Bolster Tocqueville Emma Hinchliffe & Elaina Koros Hoya Staff Writers

To compensate for decreased funding after the departure of Tocqueville Forum founder Patrick Deneen last semester, students are in the process of creating an affiliated student-run organization within the Student Activities Commission.

This new organization, called Tocqueville Forum Student Fellows, will be responsible for the undergraduate programming that the forum previously supported.

“Our first goal was to help preserve and continue to expand the great legacy of the Tocqueville Forum,” said Chris Mooney (COL ’13), interim president of the Student Fellows. “The more we work with SAC on this, the more we realize there’s a broader and bigger opportunity to improve intelPublished Tuesdays and Fridays

lectual life on campus that we’re just beginning to tap into.”

The Tocqueville Forum, which was established through the government department in 2006, has

“We’re making sure the Tocqueville forum doesn’t lose its character as a place to provide discussion.”

Jon Askonas (SFS ’13) Senior Adviser for the Tocqueville Forum Student Fellows

generally included a higher proportion of government majors and students in the College. However, Mooney said he believes that this new platform will allow the pro-

gram to reach a more diverse group of students.

“SAC gives us more universal access to all of campus and all four different schools as well as the ability to reach out to freshmen more easily and students involved in other groups,” he said.

Jon Askonas (SFS ’13), a senior adviser for the Student Fellows group, said that the group’s mission relates to his own goals as the secretary of academic affairs in the Georgetown University Student Association. “[The group is] a nexus of intellectual life at Georgetown,” he said.

“We’re making sure the Tocqueville Forum doesn’t lose its character as a place to provide discussion for students of all political backgrounds.”

Askonas said that the student fellows plan to co-sponsor events with See TOCQUEVILLE, A6

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

OPINION

THE HOYA

tuesday, october 2, 2012

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

would be useful to offer alternative dates for exams. Professors could spread these dates out over the course of a week so that the material covered on a test still remains timely and the progression of the class is not held back.

There are a couple of probable objections to this proposal. First, one might anticipate cheating by students who take the test later than others and find ways to acquire questions — and possibly answers — in advance.

But midterms generally cover enough content to offer at least two comparable but distinguishable exams, and we trust that professors have the capability to develop multiple tests that offer the same level of difficulty. Second, it might be considered an unfair requirement for professors to develop and administer an extra test, but we consider it a tolerable responsibility considering the far greater struggle students go through during the midterm period.

Anxiety is a part of undergraduate life, but with students constantly encouraged to pursue excellence, it is only fair that the university allow them time to achieve it. When it comes to midterms, the phrase “multiple choice” should apply only to test questions, not to the issue of which exam a student should study for sufficiently.

Rash of Thefts Treatable In reviewing the Department of Public Safety’s 2012 annual crime report, two statistics stand out: Crime on Georgetown’s main campus fell 16 percent between 2009 and 2011, and the number of thefts jumped from 170 to 219 in the last year.

If DPS is to take a well-earned bow for the overall reduction in crime, it must also answer for the nearly 20 percent spike in thefts, which exceeds an arbitrary fluctuation. Members of the Georgetown community should not have to be overly paranoid about holding on to their possessions, and both DPS and students share a responsibility to decrease the frequency of property theft on campus.

Laptops and bicycles are the most commonly stolen items, making up 53 percent of thefts in 2011. DPS offers students the opportunity to register their laptops and bikes with the university, a program designed to

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Homecoming Record — The Alumni Association reported a record 5,252 pre-registrants for Homecoming Weekend.

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Solving the Stress of Tests There is a palpable point where schoolrelated stress ceases to be a necessary part of the learning process and becomes an impediment to it. The university has implemented simple but effective remedies to assist overworked students during final exams, and as midterm season approaches such safeguards appear equally appropriate.

Final exam schedulers provide make-up dates for students who have multiple exams on the same day, and professors often try to further accommodate students who are overloaded with several tests within two days. Unfortunately, such considerations are frequently disregarded for midterm exam schedules. One might assume that final exams are both more demanding and consequential than midterms, but neither of these assumptions is necessarily true.

Considering the accumulation of extracurricular expectations, jobs and a full plate of other classwork during this period, preparing for a midterm at the same time is no small burden.

Midterm exam dates often fall within a small window, and students will occasionally encounter multiple midterms on the same day. While students understand that coordinating midterm exam times for different courses is not feasible, they say that it

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District Distinguished — D.C. was ranked third in a recent survey by Bloomberg Businessweek of America’s 50 Best Cities.

serve as a deterrent to theft and help to recover stolen items. Registered laptops, at a $10 fee, receive a permanent security device and a security plate, allowing ownership to be verified.

But the effectiveness of these initiatives as deterrents only works in proportion to usage. Until there is widespread participation in the programs, we will not see a reduction in the number of laptop and bike thefts. The university needs to better advertise these opportunities, which, in the current system, students must actively seek out through the DPS website. Students, in turn, must make the most of these procedures Both DPS and students have a role to play in curtailing crime, and in this case, the next steps seem to be clear. Common sense and use of DPS programs can help secure both students’ possessions and our peace of mind.

Merchant of the Week — Free drink are available all week with any sandwich or salad purchased with a GOCard at Café Tu-O-Tu. A Bite Out of Wallets — The District has instituted a 10 percent sales tax on food truck sales, effective Monday.

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @GUFluVaccine Oct. 1 Hey @thehoya! GU is offering FREE flu vaccines for students this month in Yates! Can we get a RT to keep our Hoyas healthy this winter? @GUHoyasMSoccer Sept. 30 Good win last night ... 3-1 Hoyas...UCONN next at North Kehoe ... clear your schedule @georgetownhoyas @WeAreGeorgetown @thehoyasports @ruiyongchen Sept. 28 Shocking — never would have guessed. “MT @thehoya: 96% voted in support of raising the evidentiary standard in GUSA’s referendum”

Professor E.J. Dionne, Jr., in an interview with The Hoya: “What strikes me is that the Obama campaign, starting in the summer with a lot of help from the Obama super PAC, was trying to get swing voters to see Romney as a really rich guy who was out of touch with the concerns of middle-class voters. The mistakes Romney has made recently played right into the image of him that the Obama campaign was trying to create, and that’s especially true of the “47 percent” remarks. The Democratic Convention also put out a much more consistent message. Bill Clinton’s speech in particular had the effect of persuading people that the economy is not what we want, but Obama made it a whole lot better than it was, and we’re on the right track.”

Alejandro Zendejas (SFS ’14) on the Latino vote: “Contrary to what some have suggested, the Latino community does not vote as a unified group. Although the majority of Latinos are Mexican-American, other nationalities do not share the same interests. Not everyone in the Latino community has immigration reform as their top priority. Cuban-Americans, who arrived in this country due to a special policy, and Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, see immigration only as a symbolic issue because they don’t have to go through the nuances of entering the United States.”

For the full transcript of Dionne’s interview and more from Zendejas, and for campaign commentary from Alejandro Zendejas (SFS ’14), Sam Dulik (SFS ’13), Scott Stirrett (SFS ’13) Hannah Miller (COL ’14) and Daniel Pierro (COL ’15) check out thehoya.com.

1789 PROBLEMS by Arturo Altamirano

An Unsung Initiative Each candidate endorsed by Georgetown this year for the Rhodes, Marshall and Mitchell Scholarships are current or former members of the Carroll Fellows Initiative.

Last year, Carroll Fellows made up three out of the four candidates nominated for a Truman Scholarship, including Joanna Foote (SFS ’13), who was the eventual recipient.

For a program that has helped students receive such accolades, it’s time that the Carroll Fellows Initiative received recognition as a thriving program on campus.

The Carroll Fellows Initiative, a three-anda-half-year enrichment program, attracts some of Georgetown’s most academically talented and ambitious undergraduates. Its success is significant: Beyond producing a number of scholarship candidates, the program annually generates graduates who are

prepared for elite work opportunities beyond the Hilltop.

Despite its success, the program suffers from a lack of proper promotion. Few Georgetown students even know what the Carroll Fellows Initiative is. While there is an annual open house in Gervase Hall during Parents’ Weekend, more needs to be done to make freshmen and transfer students aware of the many opportunities that the program provides, including the chance to engage in extensive undergraduate research.

Undoubtedly, the initiative’s success in developing student talent demonstrates its ability to further the university’s goals. It’s up to university administrators to recognize the program and ensure its continued development.

Connor Gregoire, Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kaplan, Executive Editor Steven Piccione, Managing Editor Sarah Patrick, Campus News Editor Braden McDonald, City News Editor Evan Hollander, Sports Editor Victoria Edel, Guide Editor Danny Funt, Opinion Editor Leonel De Velez, Photography Editor Emory Wellman, Layout Editor Hunter Main, Copy Chief Michelle Cassidy, Blog Editor

Contributing Editors Mariah Byrne, Patrick Curran, Kavya Devarakonda, Katherine Foley, Bethany Imondi, Upasana Kaku, Shakti Nochur, Samantha Randazzo, Ashwin Wadekar, Lauren Weber

Emma Hinchliffe Hiromi Oka Kelly Church Sam Rodman Arik Parnass Ryan Bacic Zach Gordon Sheena Karkal Shannon Reilly Jamie Slater Hanaa Khadraoui Chris Grivas Zoe Bertrand Kyle Hunter Jessica Natinsky Nikita Buley Martin Hussey

Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Deputy Features Editor Deputy Sports Editor Sports Blog Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Graphics Editor Deputy Blog Editor

Editorial Board Danny Funt, Chair Kent Carlson, Sidney Chiang, Patrick Gavin, Hanaa Khadraoui, Laura Wagner

CORRECTION The article “Referendum Is Vaild, Ongoing” (A1, Sept. 28, 2012) incorrectly stated that the 2,509 votes on GUSA’s evidentiary standard referendum was the largest ever for a student body-wide referendum. A 2006 referendum saw a higher turnout.

Jonathan Rabar, General Manager David Hanna, Director of Corporate Development James Church, Director of Finance Erica Hanichak, Director of Marketing Kent Carlson, Director of Personnel Mary Nancy Walter, Director of Sales Michael Vu, Director of Technology Glenn Russo Martha DiSimone Kelsey Zehentbauer John Bauke Molly Lynch Sheena Garg Michal Grabias Keeley Williams Suzanne Fonzi Michael Lindsay-Bayley Ryan Smith

Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Statements Manager Treasury Manager Public Relations Manager Human Resources Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Professional Development Manager Online Advertisements Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Lauren Weber, Chair

Patrick Curran, Connor Gregoire, Dylan Hunt, Jonathan Rabar, Mairead Reilly, Sam Schneider

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OPINION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

THE HOYA

VIEWPOINT • Christiansen

A3

LETTERS OF THE LAW

China Puzzle Looms Gays Await High Court Beyond U.S. Campaigns W O

n top of shouting matches on every topic from economic policy to the appropriate way to store canines in moving vehicles, President Obama and Mitt Romney are still squabbling over one issue: Chinese policy.

Both candidates have argued that the United States should adopt an aggressive attitude in dealing with China. This attitude comes at the expense of diplomacy that appreciates topical complexity and strives to build durable long-term relationships.

Mitt Romney has vowed to issue an executive order on “day one” to file a sanction at the World Trade Organization over Chinese currency manipulation. This manipulation, which pegs the Chinese currency in relation to the U.S. dollar at a rate below market value, artificially depresses the price of Chinese goods on foreign markets and contributes to the trade deficit. In this argument, Romney finds an unusual intellectual ally in Paul Krugman, whose similar suggestion triggered opposition and denunciation from economists worldwide two years ago. Krugman was opposed then and Romney is opposed now for the obvious reason that starting a trade war during periods of low growth can trigger recession.

Obama recently emphasized a “pivot” in U.S. military deployment from the Middle East toward the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the State Department has announced that the U.S.-Japanese security treaty would apply to the disputed Senkaku Islands.

The president has also adopted a similarly aggressive stance on trade policy, recently launching a WTO enforcement action against the Chinese automobile industry. He used an executive order to block a Chinese company from constructing windmills near a military test sight in Oregon, the first time a president has directly interfered in foreign private business in 22 years.

Both candidates seem to be playing off of America’s historical tendency to assign blame to an impenetrably different foreign power — recall the Red Scare. Specifically, Obama’s actions suggest a military and economic protectionism that runs contrary to his message of engaging foreign nations as equals. Apparently, the votes of those keenly interested in preserving archaic protectionism trump the central vision of Obama’s message.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, comes from a faith whose text of scripture, “The Book of Mormon,” describes an international sphere

consisting of only two ideologically incompatible states engaged in perpetual warfare. In that conflict, the advocates of freedom, religiosity, culture and family values face off against godless, violent and expansionist foes. Perhaps this influences his apparent tendency to see the world through bipolar lenses. First it was the United States versus Russia; now Romney has selected a more palatable, godless expansionist movement for this new good-versus-evil dichotomy.

In reality, the question of China and its role in East Asia is complicated and cannot be recklessly simplified. China’s National People’s Congress is set to begin a process in November that will reorganize how new leadership is chosen for China’s most important committee.

During this leadership transition, the scandal surrounding party leader Bo Xilai’s indictment for corruption, escalating tensions with Japan over the Senkaku Islands and state-supported rioting in major Chinese cities will resonate in the background.

Meanwhile, the tech revolution in China will continue to reshape the way that government and citizens interact. The meteoric growth of the government is slowing, leading to questions regarding whether the Chinese government can sustain civil order among an oppressed and increasingly unemployed populace. Recent polling suggests that Chinese people are no happier than they were before the economic growth of the ’90s.

During such a notable period of transition in China, the candidates perform an injustice as they refuse to intelligently discuss an effective China policy grounded in moderation and relationship-building diplomacy.

Perhaps both candidates, already well versed in unrealistic simplification, fear-mongering and lying during the campaign season, actually have no intention to follow through on any of their threats. But as the Chinese staterun newspaper Huanqiu recently contended, China has little incentive and no moral imperative to sit idly by as the presidential candidates insult their national honor.

Unlike both the Obama and Romney campaigns, China will not simply disappear after November. While this campaign season will soon become a historical footnote, the damage it has on a constructive relationship with the greatest power of tomorrow will not soon disappear.

TOM CHRISTIANSEN is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service.

ho gets the equal protection of the laws in the United States?

Since the passage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868, this has been a critical question in American jurisprudence. Do black people? The Supreme Court did not say so until 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Do women? Only since 1976, when the court declared that sexbased discriminations deserved a heightened level of judicial scrutiny in Craig v. Boren.

Do gays? We will know in 2013.

Last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in a question-andanswer session that the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans would “most likely” be examined by the Court toward the end of the current term. There are two such bans currently awaiting review: Proposition Eight, which prohibits same-sex marriage in California, and the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage in states where it is legal.

Reviewing DOMA presents a small risk for a moderate reward; if it is overturned, the federal government would acknowledge same-sex marriages only in states where they are legal. If upheld, the status quo would remain.

The challenge to Proposition Eight presents the bigger risk — and the greater potential for change. If the Court overturns it, it will declare every ban on samesex marriage unconstitutional.

But if the Court upholds it, it will set back the gay rights movement for a generation.

Many progressive commentators are calling for the Court to take on DOMA, not Prop Eight, to avoid the bigger risks that the proposition presents. The call for caution is understandable but hugely misguided. The Court should take on Prop Eight and overturn it. The Constitution does not grant equal protection by the law to some; it grants equal protection to all. Our Supreme Court must embrace that fact entirely, and it does no one any good to

hedge on justice.

Constitutionally, both of these cases should be quite simple to resolve. The Court has recognized several “suspect classes” of citizens, like blacks and religious minorities, and proclaimed that laws discriminating against them are presumptively invalid. A state, in other words, must prove why such prejudiced laws further a compelling government interest.

But the Court has refused to say whether gays deserve a heightened level of scrutiny. In Romer v. Evans, the Court ruled 6-3 that

Mark Joseph Stern

The call for caution with Proposition Eight is hugely misguided.

Colorado could not prevent its municipalities from passing antidiscrimination laws to protect gay people but vacillated on what level of scrutiny was applicable.

In Lawrence v. Texas, Justice Kennedy proclaimed that Texas could not outlaw gay sex — but again wavered on scrutiny for gays.

In truth, however, it does not matter what level of scrutiny should be applied to laws discriminating against gay people. Any given law that targets a specific class of people — whether they’re considered a “suspect class” or not — must have a rational basis in furthering a legitimate government interest. And what rational basis could possibly exist in preventing gay couples from having their marriages recognized by the state? What is the government in-

terest in discriminating against a class of people based exclusively on their identity?

The only justification for banning same-sex marriage is hatred with a touch of fear and misunderstanding. Should the Supreme Court uphold marriage bans, it will be endorsing a view of the law wholly antithetical to the foundations of the United States. We are not a country built on contempt for minorities, but a country based in tolerance for all. The 14th Amendment was designed to recognize that — to heal the grave wound of slavery and to bring the United States into a new era of equality. No longer, its framers declared, can different classes of Americans be treated unfairly under the law. No longer shall our Constitution discriminate between citizens on the basis of their identity.

Yet the Court waited nearly a century to strike down racial segregation on the basis of the 14th Amendment and did not extend a similar assurance of equality to women until decades after that.

Equality comes slowly in America. But it does come.

No matter what judicial conservatives assert, it is clear that the Constitution gains meaning with societal growth. In theory, the guarantee “equal protection of the laws” is unambiguous. In practice, it has been ignored, twisted and willfully misconstrued in an effort to deny the promise of equality to all Americans. Now is the moment to right that wrong.

The Supreme Court will, within the next nine months, have the opportunity to strike down the hateful, homophobic laws passed in 32 states and in Congress. Our Constitution demands nothing less.

The stakes may be high, but the reward is inestimable. Until samesex marriage is affirmed, equal protection of the laws will remain an empty promise.

Mark Joseph Stern is a senior in the College. LETTERS OF THE LAW appears every other Tuesday.

SCRIBBLES OF A MADMAN by Ben Mazzara

AGGIORNAMENTO

Limited Labels Obscure True Sexual Diversity W

hile walking across Copley Lawn and the other “homosexual persons.” It’s this week, one of us overheard a much harder to discriminate against an indiless-than-enlightened comment: vidual human who simply has a unique sexual “Georgetown students are so preppy. It’s like a orientation.

Vineyard Vines catalog around here, but with The same problem exists at Georgetown, more books and less sailing.” where there is a long history of treating sexual Although it is true that well-matched pastels minorities as a monolith. From the Gay Rights and boat shoes are definitely prominent in Coalition of Georgetown Law Center v. GeorgeGeorgetown classrooms, the population here town University Supreme Court case to the is far more diverse. lack of university recognition of hate crimes Whenever we talk about large groups of against queer students to the use of “Safe people — the Georgetown student body, for ex- Zones” and checkboxes, Georgetown either acample — it is easy to paint with a broad brush. tively discriminates against sexual minorities But these generalizations rarely match up to or handles discrimination with one-size-fits-all reality, and they alienate people in the process. panaceas.

This is especially true of the Catholic Discrimination is a fact of campus life: AcChurch’s approach to “homosexual persons,” cording to the 2009 Student Commission for a simplification that not Unity Final Report, 57.8 only distances the church’s percent of LGBTQ students teaching from the reality of strongly agree that they human sexuality but also face discrimination or conflicts with its stated alienation at Georgetown. mandate to avoid discrimiEven with the existence of nation against sexual mithe LGBTQ Resource Cennorities. ter, Georgetown students It is often easy to group who identify as being a sexual orientations togethsexual minority don’t feel er, ignoring the nuances of entirely welcome. individual experience and Georgetown, as well as Pat Gavin & Alex Honjiyo orientation. People often the Catholic Church that describe others as being its mission and Failing to recognize the animates “gay” or “straight” without operation, can disrupt the regard for gender, sex or nuances of sexuality is straight-gay binary that exwhatever other individual ists on campus and in Cathsimply inaccurate. variables may contribute to olic communities across each person’s experience. the world. We can strike Official church doctrine demonstrates a new path and be a leader among Catholic this flaw. The catechism, for instance, states: and Jesuit institutions of higher education. In“Homosexual persons are called to chastity.” stead of treating those who identify as lesbian, Earlier, it says, “Every sign of unjust discrimina- gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning as tion in their regard should be avoided. These a coherent, monolithic group, the university persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their must look into the whole person. The LGBTQ lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the Resource Center is a start. sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they The same goes for the church. Although it’s may encounter from their condition.” imperative to recognize humans’ shared traits To refer only to “homosexual persons” is and experiences, any account of human life — a crucial error. Surely, there are individuals and it is the church’s mission, after all, to prowhose sexual orientation can be described as vide such an account — that lacks the requisite exclusively homosexual. But what about oth- attention to nuance and individuality will be ers? What about those with more complex flawed from the beginning. sexual orientations?

Neither Georgetown nor the church can Failing to recognize the nuances of human achieve its goals without modifying its lansexuality is simply inaccurate. But this failure guage. Fortunately, our words, like our fashion also allows for the type of group-thinking and choices, are within our control. binary opposition on which discrimination and hate can be based. It’s easy to discriminate Pat Gavin and Alex Honjiyo are seniors in against a group or a “gay” or a “homosexual the College and School of Foreign Service, person” when the language assumes a sort of respectively. AGGIORNAMENTO appears evbinary opposition between “straight” people ery other Tuesday.

VIEWPOINT • Victor

Mr. Georgetown Takes a Bow

I

ran to Leo’s less than four hours before the Mr. Georgetown Pageant last Friday, and my dinner-table conversation quickly turned to the upcoming show. I told my friend I wasn’t too nervous because I didn’t really want to win — I just wanted to make the top six so that I could perform in the talent section.

I was lying. I was very nervous. I would have to be in a Speedo in front of hundreds of people and somehow charm an audience during the question portion. Maybe then I would qualify for the top six and get to sing “Home,” as performed originally by none other than the late Whitney Houston.

The chance to perform the song was the reason I entered Mr. Georgetown in the first place. But for weeks leading up to Friday, I was met with unanimous shock and horror when I told people I was performing a song by Whitney Houston, since hearing one of her songs makes listeners miss her even more.

Fortunately, “Home” didn’t appear on any of her albums, and most people wouldn’t be able to compare my performance to Houston’s if I sang the song in public.

During sound check at the pageant, I felt the pressure rising among the guys. We were

all nervous. When we entered Gaston Hall and prepared to step on stage, we all hugged and said good luck. I told myself to let go and ran onto the stage.

I did make it to the top six, and in the 30 minutes I had before going on stage to perform, I changed clothes, drank lots of tea and paced around backstage. I couldn’t listen to other people perform their talents — it made me too nervous.

I looked through my iPhone in search of the song I wanted to hear but couldn’t find it. This made me anxious, and I started to panic. I left the backstage area, and, before I knew it, I had left Healy through the Dahlgren entrance. I was so afraid of the song I had to sing in a matter of minutes.

I tried to calm my breath, and I looked through my phone one last time to see “One Moment in Time” by Houston flash on the screen of my phone — I knew it would be the perfect song. I pressed play, dried my eyes and listened.

I stepped out on the stage. The light was so bright that I could only see the dim outline of bodies in the front row of Gaston. It was like I was alone. This is not what I thought it’d be like.

I waited till the last moment, pressed my lips to the microphone and started. I could feel

myself thinking more than singing. “Sing through this phrase.”

“More vibrato.” “Straight tone through this.” “Go for it here.”

It was happening more naturally than I had expected, and the words were flowing like I was saying them for the first time. The high notes felt midrange and comfortable, and the low notes felt good. I held out the second-to-last phrase and opened my eyes before taking my final breath before the last belt.

Joy rushed to my head, through my fingertips and down to my knees. “One Moment in Time” described it perfectly. It’s about one moment when you can be the best you are, and if you let go and surpass your own potential when it matters, you’ll feel free — free of expectations and fear.

That night, I looked across the room from my bed and saw the robe draped against my chair, the roses near my mirror and the crown near my iron. I smiled, and I went to bed with a memory of that moment on stage, in front of my school — one moment I won’t forget.

STEFANE VICTOR is a senior in the College. He won the 2012 Mr. Georgetown Pageant, in which he represented the Black Student Alliance.

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THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

TUESDAYS ON THE TRAIL Professor E.J. Dionne Jr. sat down with THE HOYA to discuss the elections. See the full transcript at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

verbatim

POWER IN THE AIR

“

Areas all around us experience crime and we here at Georgetown are not immune.

”

CHIEF OF POLICE JAY GRUBER, on persistently high theft rates on campus.

See story on A5.

from

WDFW.WA.GOV

AMY LEE FOR THE HOYA

Moises Naim, chief international columnist for the Spanish newspaper El Pais, presented “The End of Power,” during Georgetown’s first independently organized TEDx conference in Lohrfink Auditorium Friday.

BEWARE OF OWLS Running through Rock Creek Park at night might be dangerous, but not for the reason you might think. blog.thehoya.com

Science Professor Named Interdisciplinary Chair MICHAEL DONNAY Special to The Hoya

As recently named interdisciplinary chair in science, physics professor Jeff Urbach said he hopes to build bridges between academic disciplines, scientific and beyond.

The honorary position recognizes interdisciplinary research and excellence in teaching and advising.

“Professor Urbach’s work is a wonderful example of interdisciplinary research that crosses the boundaries of physics and biology in particular,” said Allison Whitmer, senior associate dean for strategic planning and faculty development.

Urbach has worked in Georgetown’s physics department since 1996. He helped found the Program on Science in the Public Interest, which focuses on the intersection of science and society.

“I like the interdisciplinarity of it, the fact that in brings in a lot of different types of science,” Urbach said.

In addition, Urbach currently serves as director of the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology.

Chemistry professor Paul Roepe, who has collaborated with Urbach for several years studying malaria, lauded Urbach’s research skills.

“It can be a uniquely productive experience because his perspective is different than mine,” Roepe said.

“It’s eye opening.”

Urbach said that the recent opening of Regents Hall has been especially exciting because the building is designed to facilitate student collaboration across scientific disciplines.

“A big part of the design was putting the disciplines in close proximity so we could interact more,” he said. “I think that’s going to be very important in the long run.”

Urbach added that the undergraduate research opportunities promoted by the new building will teach students skills they cannot learn in lecture alone.

“I want them to develop this independence and work out their own solutions to a problem,” he said.

Brian Rost (COL ’13), a teaching assistant for Urbach’s intermediate mechanics class, praised the energy Urbach puts into developing his students’ abilities.

“I worked for him all summer and am now doing my thesis this semester with him. He really knows his stuff and is … a great resource for me in my project,” he said.

Helen Decelles-Zwerneman (COL ’14) also conducted research with Urbach.

“Doing summer research with professor Urbach was one of the very best experiences I’ve had at Georgetown,” she said. “He was very eager to help me in the application process and clearly has an interest in seeing

LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA

Jeff Urbach, a physics professor who was recently appointed interdisciplinary chair in science, watches as Dan Stokes (COL ’13) uses an optical trap in the lab. young scientists get the valuable research experience they need.”

Urbach said that his favorite part of working at the university is hav-

ing the opportunity to interact with students.

“I really like the diversity of things we get to be involved in,” he said.

“It’s a privilege to come to work every day and help students advance their knowledge and understanding.”

Medical Center Develops New Cancer Treatment PENNY HUNG

Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have identified a therapy for a rare type of lung tumor using a new cell technology that allows scientists to test different treatments on individual patients’ cell cultures stored in labs.

The finding, which was published in the Sept. 27 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, marks the first viable treatment for human papillomavirus-positive recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a rare lung tumor.

According to the study’s official press release, RRP is the most com-

monly found tumor in the larynx and is passed from mother to child at birth through an HPV-infected birth canal. Under normal circumstances, tumors would be surgically removed to clear the airway, but this treatment is not always effective, and the disease can become fatal if it spreads to the lungs.

Researchers at GUMC established live cultures of a case patient’s tumor and normal cells utilizing a new cell technology, called conditional reprogramming, that uses the Rho kinase inhibitor and fibroblast feeder cells. They were then able to study and screen various procedures in the lab before administering the treatments to the patient.

According to Richard Schlegel, chair of the Department of Pathology at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior investigator for the project, one of the drugs tested, vorinostat, was able to treat tumor cells without harming normal ones. After three months, the tumor cells treated with vorinostat shrank and no new tumors formed. The patient then took the drug for a year, during which time the tumors stabilized.

According to Schlegel, the ability to test out the drug on a sample cell using conditional reprogramming was critical to their research.

“Normal cells usually die in the lab after dividing only a few times,

and many common cancers will not grow, unaltered, outside the body,” Schlegel said. “But now, from a small biopsy of someone, we can rapidly grow cells out of that biopsy and expand it within a week so that we can do … testing as well as look at different drugs that preferentially kill tumor cells rather than normal cells.”

Schlegel added that the personalization of cancer treatment is a significant outcome of the research findings.

“Because every tumor is unique, this advance could make it possible for an oncologist to find the right [therapy] that both kills a patient’s cancer and spares nor-

mal cells from the treatment’s toxic side effects,” Schlegel said.

“We have shown for a specific lung tumor that our approach was successful in identifying an appropriate therapy for a single patient. We now need to do this for hundreds of other cancer patients who have different types of cancers.”

Despite the advances heralded in the study, the press release cautioned that the treatment must undergo much further scrutiny before it can become widespread.

“It could be years before validation studies [for this new technology] are completed and regulatory approval [is] received for its broader use,” it said.

News

Tuesday, october 2, 2012

THE HOYA

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Campus Crime Spikes 57 Percent in September Lily Westergaard Hoya Staff Writer

Campus crime increased 57 percent between August and September this year, with theft, which more than doubled between the two months, accounting for over half the incidents.

Theft shot up from 14 cases in August of this year to 29 cases in September. The frequency of theft also increased 26 percent from September 2011, when 23 incidents were reported.

However, overall crime declined when compared with the same month last year — 44 total incidents were reported this September, compared with 47 incidents reported in

September 2011.

According to Jay Gruber, the university’s chief of police and director of the Department of Public Safety, theft continues to be a pressing problem for the Georgetown community.

“This is an area [where] the Department of Public Safety needs that assistance [from] our … community,” he said.

“Many … enjoy being in ‘The Georgetown Bubble’ but they fail to realize that this bubble exists in the middle of a major metropolitan area. Areas all around us experience crime and we here at Georgetown are not immune.”

Gruber urged students to take steps to prevent theft, including locking doors, not leaving personal property un-

attended and being aware of surroundings at all times.

After theft, the most commonly reported incidents were alcohol violations and assaults.

Four cases of each type of incident were reported in September, while three assaults and no alcohol violations occurred in August.

Gruber also urged students to take precautions against assault and robbery when walking at night.

“Walking alone at night with earbuds in your ears is a recipe for being a victim of crime,” Gruber said.

The only crime rate that decreased last month was unlawful entry, of which five incidents occurred in August and one in September.

AMY LEE FOR THE HOYA

Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, shown here with his interpreter, was one of several speakers at Georgetown’s first officially licensed TEDx conference in Lohrfink Auditorium Friday.

Student to Fundraise for Vets First Georgetown TEDx Andrew Wilson Special to the Hoya

Although it only started as a simple assignment for a business class, Lance Strahl’s (MSB ’13) plan to raise money for injured servicemen and -women has escalated into a $10,000 fundraiser carnival.

Strahl’s fundraiser, which is set to be held on Copley Lawn on Nov. 17, will feature live bands, rides and opportunities to donate to Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that provides resources and aid to injured servicemen and -women, Plans for the fundraiser began as part of a project for “Leadership,” a class taught by professor Brooks Holtom.

Though the guidelines for the assignment were basic —

create an impactful project for a nonprofit — Strahl said his project took on a life of its own.

“My idea with this was to do the biggest thing possible,” he said. “The scale of the project got a little bit bigger than I thought it would.”

The event was also inspired by Strahl’s personal connections to the issue.

“Every generation of my family going back to the Civil War has fought for our country, and some of them have come back great, [but] others have had problems,” he said. “I thought the best thing to do would be to help soldiers who had given their all.”

Strahl is in the process of recruiting Hoyas for Veterans, Zeta Psi Fraternity, the

Georgetown Lecture Fund and student performers from professor Joseph McCarthy’s “Guild of Bands” class to contribute to the event.

“Right now we’re giving them logistical and managing support,” Vice Chair of External Affairs for GULF Anika Patel (SFS ’13) said.

“Co-sponsoring depends on what financial assistance we give. ... It’s early for us to say what our involvement will be.”

Though still in its planning stages, Strahl said that the project is going well.

“I thought I’d find some small way to help Wounded Warrior, and over the last three weeks it’s evolved,” Strahl said. “I’ve been very blessed that so many people have a heart for this.”

Event Examines Power Minali Aggarwal & Madison Ashley Special to The Hoya

Power was in the air during Georgetown’s first officially licensed TEDx conference, held Friday afternoon in Lohrfink Auditorium.

The event, which invited participants to speak on the topic of “Power 2020,” was modeled after the popular TED talks, a global set of conferences first organized in 1984 to disseminate ideas about technology, entertainment and design. The Georgetown event was designated TEDx because it was organized independently from the TED company.

The conference was separated into four sections with approximately four to five speakers in each. In total, 16 speakers, three of whom were Georgetown students, explored the theme of power in a variety of contexts.

Kendall Ciesemier (COL ’15) was excited to present “Finding Power in Powerlessness.”

“I had always wanted to speak at a TED-affiliated event,” Ciesemier said. “I thought it was very cool to have the opportunity to do so. I go here, and it was cool to share my story with other students.”

Ciesemier focused on how she learned to grow up with a chronic illness that required her to undergo two liver transplants as well as the non-profit organization she started, Kids Caring 4 Kids, which raises money for children in Africa.

“The premise was that in times of powerlessness, we can find power in service to others and we can be powerful for others,” she said.

Another student speaker, Chase Meachum (COL ’14), focused on the power of communication. He related his experience producing a play in which half the cast spoke in sign language and the other half in words.

“Look at the conversation that we’ve started,” Meachum said of the production. “It’s all around us and it’s silent.”

The final Georgetown speaker, Caspian Tavallali (SFS ’14) discussed a transparent, open forum that he invented where students can communicate investment ideas and become involved in the market buzz.

“Finance has lost the human element, and this is where social media comes in,” he said.

“It fills in the holes created by the current financial system.”

Georgetown professors also spoke at the event.

David Blair, a professor in the department of physics, approached the topic through a scientific lens with a demonstration on “oobleck,” a combination of cornstarch and water. His presentation, “Squishy Power,” described the difference between hard and soft power. He engaged the audience by giving everyone a piece of paper and then asking them to crunch it up and pull it back to its original shape, emphasizing that changing the paper made it stronger.

Guest speakers also engaged the audience.

Local bartender Derek Brown had a unique approach to the topic: He focused on society’s use of alcohol in his presentation, “Power

Drinking.”

“When we come together and drink, we become equals,” Brown said.

Many of the speakers worked to actively engage the audience in their presentations.

Andrew Yang, founder of Venture for America, a firm that matches start-up companies with job-searching students, questioned the audience’s assumptions about powerful careers. “[There’s this idea that] you must become a baller before you come back and change the world,” Yang said.

Globalization also featured prominently in the talks. Chief Digital Officer for Forbes Media Mike Smith lectured on the power of media in an increasingly globalized world.

“In the U.S., there are 16 billion searches in Google every month. The way these searches are sold are through auctions to advertisers who then target individuals who have the potential to be interested in their ads,” Smith said.

Maureen Orth, an award-winning journalist and special correspondent for Vanity Fair, addressed globalization’s impact in Latin America.

Orth became a Peace Corps volunteer at age 21 and traveled to Medellin, Colombia, where she built three schools that now support over 1,200 students.

“It is very exciting to see how fast Latin America is developing,” Orth said. “The town I worked in actually became the first Wi-Fi village in Colombia, and I hope that the U.S. and other nations will recognize Latin America’s growing impact.”

Students said they appreciated the talks throughout the day, especially ones that fit their specific interests.

“I really liked Maureen Orth,” Katie Farrell (COL ’16) said. “I found her even more inspiring because I’m interested in Latin American affairs.”

Wei Jingsheng, a Chinese dissident who was imprisoned for 18 years, Bobby Ghosh, editorat-large for TIME Magazine, Moises Naim, chief international columnist for El País, No Malice, a Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist, Mike Smith, president and chief digital officer of Forbes’ internet publishing division, Misty Copeland, the first African American soloist for the American Ballet Theatre, Cynthia Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow with the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at Brookings, Tai Murray, an award-winning violinist, Ann Pendleton Jullian, the director of the Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State University, and Amy Zalman, an expert on the role of narrative in policy, business and communication, also presented.

TEDx Chair Jamie Sharp (MSB ’15) said he was happy with the outcome of the event but will make alterations next time, including enforcing a stricter speaker time limit.

“We were happy with the response,” he said.

“Next time, we’d like to provide catering for the audience and perhaps introduce more speakers from Georgetown.”

DC Reinstates Breathalyzer Tests After Two-Year Hiatus Abbey McNaughton Special to The Hoya

The D.C. Breath Alcohol Testing Program resumed Friday after a two-year suspension.

The program is being reinstated after inaccurately calibrated equipment was discovered in 2010, raising doubt on the accuracy of hundreds of drunk-driving convictions.

According to a Sept. 25 press release from Mayor Vincent Gray’s office, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided a $150,000 grant to help the program resume, replacing the urine tests that were used while the inaccurate breathalyzer equipment was out of commission.

The reinstatement of breathalyzer tests is concurrent with the Comprehensive Impaired Driving Act of 2012. The law, ratified in August,

put into effect stricter penalties for first-time drunk drivers, repeat offenders and drivers with very elevated blood alcohol levels. The new law also mandates stricter punishments for vehicles for hire, commercial drivers and those who drive intoxicated with children in the vehicle.

The Metropolitan Police Department worked with the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to develop the instruments used to conduct the tests and to ensure the procedures are in accordance with the new legislation.

When processing an arrest, a trained MPD officer will conduct breathalyzer tests to measure blood alcohol content, but police will also continue to use other types of sobriety tests at the scene.

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NEWS

THE HOYA

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

Possible Video of Missing Alum Surfaces KELLY CHURCH Hoya Staff Writer

A video appearing to show missing freelance journalist Austin Tice (SFS ’02, LAW ’13) alive and in the custody of masked gunmen has surfaced on YouTube, though experts have cast doubt on the video’s authenticity.

Tice had been reporting in Syria for several news outlets, including The Washington Post, when he disappeared in midAugust. Although Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Post, said that the paper was conducting an investigation into Tice’s whereabouts, there had been no news of his condition or location for seven weeks prior to the video’s release.

The 47-second video was uploaded to a newly created YouTube account on Sept.

26, but the footage itself is undated. The clip, entitled “Austin Tice still alive,” shows a long-haired man with a scruffy beard who resembles Tice being led into the desert blindfolded and accompanied by armed men. The masked men chant “Allahu al-Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great” — and the man resembling Tice recites a phrase in broken Arabic. At the end of the video, the blindfolded man cries out, “Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus,” in English.

Tice’s parents released a statement confirming their belief that the man in the clip is their son.

“Knowing Austin is alive and well is comforting to our family,” the statement

began. “Though it is difficult to see our eldest son in such a setting and situation as that depicted in the video, it is reassuring that he appears to be unharmed.”

Although the video indicates that Tice is alive and being held by Islamic extremists, experts have expressed skepticism about the legitimacy of the footage. Joseph Holliday, a senior research analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War who specializes in the study of the ongoing crisis in Syria, told The Washington Post that the video appears to have been staged.

“It’s like a caricature of a jihadi group,” he told The Post. “My gut instinct is that regime security guys dressed up like a bunch of wahoos and dragged him around and released the video to scare the [United States] and others about the danger of al-Qaeda extremists in Syria. It would fit their narrative perfectly.”

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told The Post that she could not affirm the video’s validity, though she did say that the State Department believes Tice is in the custody of the Syrian government. Meanwhile, the Syrian government has denied any knowledge of Tice’s whereabouts.

The Syrian civil war is among the most violent of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and presents a particular danger for members of the media. Twenty-one journalists have been killed in the country since November 2011, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Student Tocqueville Group Seeks SAC Funding TOCQUEVILLE, from A1 other student groups, including campus publications and the Philodemic Society.

One of the group’s first projects will be implementing a program called “Great Encounters,” in which faculty members will invite 20 students to discuss books that have affected their lives.

The faculty-led Tocqueville Forum, under the leadership of Interim Director Joshua Mitchell, will continue to sponsor lectures and endow prizes and fellowships. The funding for these programs comes mainly from five active alumni donors.

“We’re always looking for more donors. The size of the program is contingent upon the money that we have,” Mitchell said. “We’re running a very tight ship this year with much less money than last year, but I think it’ll be a fully adequate program.”

The future of the forum came into question after Deneen’s departure.

“I’m not sure [Deneen] is really replace-

able,” student fellow Helen DeCelles-Zwerneman (COL ’14) told THE HOYA in January. “I hope that the forum can continue without him, but I can’t see how it will be as great a group and … resource.”

Six months later, Mitchell said he is confident about the program’s outlook.

“I tend not to be worried because I see [the forum] as Georgetown’s sweet spot.

Here, we’re committed to developing the whole person. That means more than intellectual work,” he said. “We’re concerned with the formation of citizens to deal with national and international issues.”

Dean Chester Gillis agreed that the Tocqueville Forum is a significant component of the Georgetown community.

“If the forum … continues to bring voices together, which may be dissonant voices and have differing opinions, to have civil discourse about important matters in our culture and our society and in our church and in our world and in our university, that’s a huge benefit to the world,” Gillis said. “We hope that the forum will be here for years to come.”

DIMENSIONS: 5.7585 x 6.9365

THE SEVENTH GUSA SENATE

Freshman North (Darnall and Harbin)

Billy Bowers (COL ’16) Shweta Wahal (SFS ’16) Tim Rosenberger (COL ’16) Henle Ben Weiss (COL ’15) Copley Elizabeth Oh (SFS ’15) VCE Robert Shepherd (MSB ’15) Townhouses Sheila Walsh (COL ’14) Nevils and Alumni Square Jay Factor (COL ’14) Vetone Ivezaj (COL ’13)

Freshman South (VCW and New South) Seamus Guerin (COL ’16) Chandini Jha (COL ’16) Abby Cooner (SFS ’16) Southwest Quadrangle Nolan DiConti (COL ’15) Jemm Della Cruz (SFS ’16) Sam Greco (SFS ’15)

LXR Zach Singer (SFS ’15) Village A Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) Lawrence Slusky (COL ’14)

Off-Campus Pat Spagnuolo (SFS ’14) Sam Buckley (COL ’14) Aziz Saqr (NHS ’16) Ben Mishkin (SFS ’13) Tiffany Hsueh (SFS ’13)

At-Large George Spyropuluos (COL ’14) Nick Fedyk (SFS ’14) Shavonnia Corbin Johnson (SFS ’14) Cannon Warren (SFS ’14) Map illustration google.com/maps NIKITA BULEY/THE HOYA

Twenty-six new members were sworn in at the GUSA senate’s inauguration ceremony Sunday. One seat representing Henle Village remains unfilled.

EUGENE ANG FOR THE HOYA

ANC officials lauded a new era of cooperation between GU and the neighborhood Monday.

MPD Lieutenant Warns of Increased Theft in Area ANC, from A1 together and agree on anything.

I would like to say that our progress this year shows that we actually can,” Birch said.

Peter Prindiville (SFS ’14), who is running uncontested to represent SMD 2E08 in the same election, will attend the next meeting on Oct. 29 for a formal introduction.

Later at Monday’s meeting, Commissioners Ron Lewis and Jake Sticka (SFS ’13) commend-

ed the early completion of the rehabilitation of O and P Streets on Sept. 18, three months before the intended date in December. According to Lewis, neighborhood reviews have been positive thus far.

John Hedgecock, lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department’s police service area 206, which includes Georgetown, said that assault and property crimes have declined in the past year. Robbery and aggravated assaults dropped

37 percent, and incidents involving firearms declined by 40 percent. Traffic incidents remain the most common form of crime in the area.

Nonetheless, Hedgecock said that there is an increase in theft around the university and business districts, as pickpockets have begun to target restaurants, bars, hotels and public transportation.

“There is still a lot of suspicious activity in the District,” Hedgecock said.

news

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

THE HOYA

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GU Allows for Grade Appeals Research Initiative Guthrie Angeles Special to The Hoya

For students who are unsatisfied with their final grades, Georgetown offers a more productive alternative to writing an angry post on RateMyProfessors.com.

The university’s grade appeal system allows students to dispute a questionable grade within 30 calendar days of the first semester after the grade was assigned.

To appeal a grade, a student must first reach out to his professor to check for miscalculations. If the issue is not resolved after this initial conversation, a student can make a formal appeal by sending a letter to the chair of the professor’s department explaining the discrepancy. If the department chair is unable to resolve the issue informally between the professor and the student, the chair, at the request of the student, can create an appeals committee of three faculty members who make a final decision.

“Normally, [the chair] appoints a committee of professors competent in the field who may have taught the same course [and] certainly know how to make an adjudication as to whether this was a fair grade,” Dean of the College Chester Gillis said.

The dean only becomes a part of the process if the department chair does not report the committee’s decision within 74 days after the start of the following semester.

Chair of the department of philosophy Wayne Davis said the committee step ensures the appeal process remains unbiased.

“When you have a committee, it is a group of faculty members that review the students’ work,” Davis said.

“Committee review is a generally accepted way of resolving issues because they have general impartiality.”

But Michael Nemirovsky

(COL ’15), who attempted to appeal a theology grade last year, said that the design of the appeals process makes it difficult for students to prove their case.

“Throughout the process I felt like I was being continuously discouraged,” he said.

“It would most likely be impossible [to win the appeal] just because of the way the appeal process was structured.”

Although Gillis declined to comment on the number of grades that are appealed every year, he said that most grades ultimately remain unchanged.

“In the cases I had, they upheld the professor’s judgment every time,” he said.

According to Georgetown’s Undergraduate Bulletin for the 2012-2013 academic year, which addresses the grading policies for all undergraduate students regardless of the school, grading errors can serve as the basis for an appeal, but most claims focus on syllabus content.

“The [university] gives a fairly strict definition of the process for a grade appeal,” Steven Singer, chair of the biology department, said.

“The grounds for an appeal [are] that the professor is not following the terms of the syllabus as opposed to the professor [marking] a question wrong that [the student] knows is right.”

Nancy Hinojos (SFS ’15), a student who is currently appealing a grade in the department of theology, based her appeal on a syllabus’ failure to describe the grading policy thoroughly.

“There was a lot of ambiguity in the syllabus in terms of how we were going to be graded,” Hinojos said. “It was very unclear as to how our grades would be distributed in terms of assignments, what we did in class, the weight, the type of distribution and the point system we were going to be graded on.”

Students who appeal grades must prove that a professor did not grade according to the syllabus, but this can be a difficult feat when a professor’s syllabus is sparse or unclear.

Nemirovsky had similar problems.

“The only basis you can appeal a grade on is when [you can say], ‘My teacher said I will be graded this way, and yet my grade was calculated a different way,’” Nemirovsky said. “[Those are] the only grounds you can appeal it on.

If that’s not your problem, then you’re out of luck.”

According to Davis, the process is designed to compel students and professors to hash out their disagreements in person.

“It requires the student and faculty member to talk and get a resolution, which is good, since that interaction is really where the conflict should be resolved,” Davis said.

But Hinojos expressed frustration with the fact that formal appeals are emailed to department chairs, not presented in person.

“It’s so impersonal, and the whole discussion is really done virtually through the [appeal] letter,” Hinojos said. “I think it would be a lot more effective if all of us sat down and talked about it.”

Despite their criticisms, both Hinojos and Nemirovsky said they are glad the university offers the appeal process as an option.

“The process was very clearly sketched out,” Nemirovsky said. “There really are no surprises if you read the handbook and look at the process.

It’s exactly what it says it’s going to be.”

Hinojos echoed Nemirovsky.

“I like how you get another shot for other people to look at it,” Hinojos said. “When you have more people thinking about it and looking at it with different perspectives, there’s a little more fairness.”

Offers Fellowship Meghan Patzer Hoya Staff Writer

Despite fluctuating participation rates, members’ enthusiasm for the Carroll Fellows Initiative is strong.

The program was created in 1997 after a survey from the early ’90s showed that Georgetown students identified themselves as partying harder and studying less than students at comparable universities. Administrators rushed to find a solution, prompting professor John Glavin (COL ’64) and Elaine Romanelli, a senior associate dean in the McDonough School of Business, to establish a program to foster an intellectual community for self-motivated students. The result was the John Carroll Scholars Program, now called the Carroll Fellows Initiative.

Now in its 15th year, the CFI is a co-curricular research program that allows students to explore academic interests both individually and in groups. In 2003, the “Carroll Clusters” — groups of about 10 students who share a common research interest — were added to the program to facilitate the development and sharing of ideas.

Carroll Fellow Jose Madrid (COL ’14) said the program has added considerably to his Georgetown experience.

“Georgetown is academically challenging in and of itself, but I felt the program would help me turn my education into a meaningful contribution to society,” he said. “I wanted to not only challenge myself academically, [but] I also wanted to find a way to channel my academic abilities into a way to solve difficult questions for myself and others.”

Since its inception, the program has acquired a considerable degree of prestige.

Participation levels fluctuate in each class of Carroll Fellows. Five years ago, 72 members of the class of 2008 graduated from the program, compared with the 32 members of the class of 2013 who are now fellows. The classes of 2014 and 2015 are also smaller than in previous years, with 30 and 41 fellows, respectively.

VP Dao (SFS ’15), said the fluctuation is a result of students’ changing priorities and commitments throughout their four years at Georgetown and in the Carroll Fellows program.

“It is an extra class that’s not a requirement and doesn’t count toward a major. … Some people can’t devote as much time as they’d like to the program.”

Admission to the program is highly selective. Students can only apply to the CFI at the end of the first semester of their freshman

year or as sophomore transfer students during the summer before matriculating.

Madrid characterized his application experience as intimidating.

“All present and past scholars have always been very passionate and driven individuals who are extremely involved around campus,” he said. “I knew applying was going to be a challenge because the process basically asks that you prove to be a driven and academically successful student after completing only two-thirds of your freshman year.”

The initiative requires students to participate in a two-semester forum spanning second semester freshman year and first semester sophomore year worth two credits total.

According to Madrid, all participants must also conduct research, write a thesis and serve as mentors to incoming members.

All new members of the initiative must conduct a First Year Independent Research Project, which requires extensive research on a topic of choice. According to Dao, who is researching the Battle of the Paracel Islands, the project is unique because fellows must do more than just find sources to support their point. “[Professor Glavin] wants us to form a hypothesis and then try to prove ourselves wrong, so it’s not just finding evidence to support ourselves,” he said. “[The project] is teaching me how to do better research.”

Dao’s class meets every Friday afternoon for two hours and is largely discussion based.

During his first semester, the class focused largely on how to prioritize activities and commitments.

But the program is not purely about academics. In the past few years, fellows have gone on scavenger hunts around D.C. and staged a reading of the Harry Potter books in front of Marvelous Market on Wisconsin Avenue.

According to members, one of the biggest draws of the program is the ability to meet other highly motivated students.

“I wanted to get experience applying my education outside of the traditional setting,” Zachary Singer (SFS ’15) said of his reasons for joining the program. “Now, in doing so, I’ve gotten to interact with a group of 50 interesting people I probably otherwise wouldn’t have met.”

Sonia Vora (SFS ’15), another Carroll Fellow, also commented on the program’s community aspect.

“It has definitely helped me make a group of friends whom I have a lot in common with, and it has made me a better writer and a more effective student,” she said.

KAYLA NOGUCHI FOR THE HOYA

James Pettifer presented his new book on the Kosovo Liberation Army Monday.

Balkan Historian Recalls Years Reporting on Conflict Matt Walters Special to the Hoya

Oxford University professor James Pettifer spoke about his experience covering the Balkan War for The London Times during a lecture on his book “The Kosovo Liberation Army: Underground War to Balkan Insurgency, 1948-2001” Monday.

The event, titled “Book Talk: Kosovo — Towards Contemporary History,” was sponsored by the School of Foreign Service’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies.

In his speech, Pettifer discussed the challenging aspect of writing contemporary history.

“The issue of the KLA and its heritage is not going to go away ... not because of what happened in 1999 but also because of what [has] happened since — or what hasn’t happened since.”

Pettifer explained that Kosovo lacks a strong enough standing military force to prevent crises, which contributed to the severity of the war in the late 1990s.

As a foreigner in the region, Pettifer said he had

a unique perspective during the years of conflict.

“I remember being told by a [Serbian] hunting club in Kosovo, ‘We’re not hunting bear or fox anymore; we’re going to hunt Albanians now,’” Pettifer said.

While in Kosovo, Pettifer combined his academic interests with reporting.

“There is nothing wrong with bearing witness to historical events,” he said.

Students said the combination of Pettifer’s experience in Kosovo and his career as a contemporary historian made the lecture interesting.

“I’m doing a research project on youth initiatives in Kosovo, so for me it was really cool to talk about contemporary issues even though he is also historian,” Jaime Cordes, a graduate student in CERES, said.

According to Pettifer, the conflict in Kosovo is as relevant today as it was during the ’90s.

“I hope people will read the book ... as living history because the issue is in the history,” he said. “I hope my book will help the understanding of [the issues], and I hope it won’t be put in a ghetto of obscure Balkan studies.”

A8

Sports

THE HOYA

more than a game

men’s soccer

Media Personalities Drive ESPN Culture W

What a terribly exciting story. e make them, bet on them, switch them and What could possibly be more worswear by them. The Gi- thy of on-the-scene coverage than a ants will upset the Patriots. The Na- bunch of grown-up football players tionals will win the World Series. performing a soap opera?

But it indicates a truth fans must The world will end in 2012. Some predictions are reasonable, some face: We are addicted to 24-hour sports coverage. The question is, are risky and some are obvious.

We try to act smart and confi- why do we keep coming back?

Perhaps it is not the stories themdent, but let’s be honest: We have no idea what is really going to hap- selves that are appealing. In many ways, the “ESPN culture” is appealpen.

We can analyze all the statistics, ing in its own right. We know all read all the history, invent genius of the analysts by name: Stephen A. mathematical formulas — but in Smith, Stuart Scott and Chris Berman on television, the end it still won’t Mike & Mike and mean much. We live Colin Cowherd on in a world of chaos, the radio and Rick and once the players Reilly, Matthew Berhit the field, everyry and Bill Simmons thing is up for grabs. online. Their outYou never know sized personalities when someone is gocan even outshine ing to get hurt, fumtheir subjects. ble the ball or make They are giants, a bad call — which Nick Fedyk but it is not their happens more often genius that keeps us than not these days.

The three hours of coming back. They Yet we remain not analyzing transfixed by the on-the-field action are anything we can“experts.” It’s amazing how much time are stretched into a not understand for ourselves, not prewe spend watching week-long event. dicting anything we analysts talk about cannot predict for the game and how ourselves. Sports are little we spend actually watching it. For every football not that complicated — we watch game on Sunday, there are six days the games and react instinctively. of reviews of what happened and ESPN is more emotion than reapreviews of what is going to hap- son, more opinion than fact.

It must be the egos, witty compen. The three hours of on-the-field action are stretched into a week- ments, creative sound effects and oversized ties that keep us translong event.

The entire season feels like a fixed by the touted “experts.” No seven-month marathon, extend- matter what sport is being covered, ing from training camp in July to fans grab the remote or computer the Super Bowl in early February. and tune in to ESPN. It is a habit During the five months in be- instilled in our daily routine, one tween, reporters make up stories that holds true 100 percent of the and controversies just to inject the time for the ultimate sports fan. airwaves with our weekly dose of It is our morning coffee, our halfhour lunch break, our 3 p.m. pickfootball.

Take Tim Tebow, for example. me-up and our late-night study disThis summer, hundreds of analysts traction.

It is enough to keep us enterpredicted where Tebow would be traded. They predicted what role he tained for six days a week. When would play, how he would respond Sunday finally arrives, we shift to the media, what questions they our attention from the desk to the would ask and how he would re- field and hardly notice whether all spond to those questions. They those prognosticators and analysts predicted whether Tebow would turned out wrong.

And after the late game, when ever start, how poorly the starter would have to play in order for this Monday rolls around, we hop back to happen and when we could offi- on the hamster wheel. cially start calling it “Tebow Time.”

SportsCenter even set up shop at Nick Fedyk is a junior in the School the Jets’ training camp facility for of Foreign Service. MORE THAN A GAME appears every Tuesday. continuous coverage.

cross country

Dennin First Across Finish at Paul Short LEHIGH, from A10 24:29 — good for 13th and 16th place, respectively — followed Dennin across the line.

Next to finish for the Hoyas was sophomore Collin Leibold, who took 34th with a time of 24:43. Junior Brian King was the final finisher for the Blue and Gray, closing in 41st place with a time of 24:51.

“A lot of the guys got pretty excited coming off the line and they started off a little fast, which made the race harder than they expected,” Bonsey said. “But they still ran tough races with pretty good times.”

The men’s team scored 101 points, one behind second-place finisher William and Mary, but 32 points behind champion Villanova. Despite Dennin’s victory, Villanova had a total team gap of only 24 seconds, allowing the Wildcats to register such a low score.

“We’ve been doing pretty hard workouts, so our guys were by no means rested going into the race,” Bonsey said. “You have to train through early season meets, which means racing on tired legs. … It is still early in the season, so we’re just looking to keep getting better and keep running tough, and let the results come in the postseason.”

Meanwhile, the women’s team made a significant improvement from their first meet. The Hoyas took third place out of 40 teams, even without the help of key contributors sophomore Annamarie Maag and senior Emily Jones, who did not run for training purposes.

“The team is in the middle of pretty heavy training right now, it being September, so they had to just go out there and position themselves and run hard,” Women’s Head Coach

Michael Smith said. “They were not going to feel that sharp, but that is one of the things that you sacrifice in September so you can have results in November.”

Georgetown was led by junior Madeline Chambers, who took 10th place overall with a time of 20:37 in the 6000m. She was closely followed by senior Kirsten Kasper who placed 12th with a time of 20:42.

Senior Rachel Schneider was next up for the Hoyas, in16th with a time of 20:53.

“We sent out Rachel, Kirsten, and Madeline together for the first half of the race, and then they got competitive with the field the second half,” Smith said. “Fitness-wise they are so close together that any of them could be the number one runner on any given day. They operate at such a high level that the finish order does not really matter.”

The Georgetown score was rounded out by the sophomore pair of Hannah Neczypor and Katrina Coogan, who took 31st and 37th places with times of 21:04 and 21:10, respectively.

The women scored a total of 106 points, only narrowly beaten out of second place by William and Mary’s 102. The champions, Cornell, scored 55.

“We had a great start at Paul Short, not even running our ‘A’ squad, and [we are] still in a tough training cycle. Once the bigger meets at the end of the season come and we line up our full team, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Smith said.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action Oct. 13 at NCAA Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky.

tuesDAY, october 2, 2012

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Junior forward Steve Neumann, shown here against Rutgers, had a goal and two assists against Pitt.

No. 2 Huskies Next for Hoyas CONNECTICUT, from A10 The second half largely had a different feel to it, as the hosts came out of the locker room with some serious vigor. And while this added aggresson did force junior goalkeeper Keon Parsa into his first real action of the night, it also led to five second-half yellow cards against Pittsburgh.

Wiese was proud of his team’s level-headedness in refusing to retaliate.

“We didn’t get caught up into us getting yellow cards back. There’s a lot of physical stuff, and there’s a lot of situations where guys were getting hit — nothing malicious, but it was a very aggressive second half — and I thought our guys handled themselves really well,” he said.

Another Neumann-to-Allen combo further helped the Blue and Gray’s mindset. In the 68th minute, Neumann found Allen after a scramble in front of the net off of a corner kick, and the freshman made no mistake en route to putting his side up 2-0.

That second goal, his eighth of the season, put the rookie alone atop the

Big East scoring table.

After the Panthers got one back just over four minutes later, Neumann secured the win once and for all with a top-shelf effort from inside the box after a pass from junior striker Gabe Padilla.

Senior centerback Tommy Muller was back in the lineup for Georgetown after sitting out against James Madison, helping to limit Pitt to just six shots on goal in the contest.

Parsa — who currently leads the league in both save percentage and goals-against average — had five saves on the game, continuing his strong performance between the pipes as sophomore Tomas Gomez recovers from a shoulder injury.

It is not just Neumann then who will be riding high as the Huskies come to town on Wednesday. These days, in fact, with the team undefeated through its first 11 games, everyone on this Blue and Gray squad is confident.

“We’re not scared of anybody,” Wiese said. “If we do things right and play well, we’re going to be in any

game we play. I don’t care who it is.”

Much more than just confidence will be needed against Connecticut (9-0-1, 2-0-0 Big East), but looking at the recent history of the matchup, an upset certainly would be nothing new.

In 2010 at North Kehoe Field, the unranked Hoyas defeated the No. 6 Huskies, 1-0, to claim the Big East Blue Division title. The game-winner in that game came off a combination between then-sophomore Ian Christianson and then-freshman Neumann.

Both will be on the pitch on Wednesday, memories of that momentous win — along with last season’s 0-0 draw against top-ranked UConn in Storrs — still in their minds.

“We’re confident. We’re on quite a streak here without losing,” Neumann said. “We know that it’s going to take some work to beat the No. 2 team in the country, but it’s an exciting opportunity for us and something we’re looking forward to.”

Kickoff for this top-five clash is slated for 3 p.m. at North Kehoe.

football

Blocked Punt Seals Humbling Loss BROWN, from A10 Brown jumped out to a lead right away, pouncing on good field position off of a short punt from junior Matt MacZura. The Bears drove 41 yards down the field from there, eventually reaching the end zone on a 7-yard play-action touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead just over four minutes in.

More of the same was to follow as Brown drove back inside the red zone following another short Blue and Gray offensive series. This time, the Georgetown defense was able to force a field goal, but the team still trailed 10-0.

Saturday was not the first instance of the Hoyas getting off to a slow start; they trailed 14-3 against the Tigers last week before bouncing back, and Kelly explained that the problem is one that must be addressed going forward.

“That’s something I talked to the team about before the ballgame,” he said. “We’ve got to start fast and

finish strong, and we didn’t do that.”

Nonetheless, Georgetown has repeatedly shown the ability to come back from early deficits, and Saturday was no different.

On its next possession, the Blue and Gray used a 24-yard completion to senior receiver Max Waizenegger and a 10-yard run by junior running back Nick Campanella to set up first and goal at Brown’s 1-yard line. The home side could not capitalize on three straight rushes, however, and had to settle for an 18-yard MacZura field goal, cutting the lead to 10-3.

The Hoyas’ failure to break the plane was largely reflective of the performance of the offensive line, which had trouble creating lanes for tailbacks and giving Skon enough time to find receivers downfield.

“We obviously didn’t get the push at the line of scrimmage. We didn’t cross the goal line,” Kelly said.

“That’s frustrating when you’re on the 1-yard line and you can’t score.”

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Special teams troubles bedeviled Georgetown Saturday, including when junior Matt MacZura’s punt was blocked and recovered by Brown.

Georgetown got the ball back, though, after forcing a quick threeand-out, and this time it would find the end zone. In what would prove to be a rare highlight of the day, Skon escaped pressure and rolled to his right, finding junior wide receiver Zack Wilke for a 23-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 10-10.

While the Blue and Gray appeared to have the momentum, both sides faltered on the following possessions. It was Brown, then, that marched downfield and regained the lead, as senior tailback Spiro Theodhosi waltzed untouched into the end zone on an 18-yard run with six minutes left in the opening half.

The touchdown run was not the only time that Theodhosi found open space against the Hoya defense.

Although its unit is usually strong against the run, Georgetown gave up 173 yards on the ground against the Bears.

“We have done a good job against the run, [but Brown] did an excellent job,” Kelly said. “When they rush for 173 yards, that’s not good.”

At the end of the half, the Bears were able to turn Skon’s second interception into a 35-yard field goal, putting the Hoyas in a 20-10 hole.

Coming out of halftime, Georgetown knew that it had to change the complexion of the game but could not find any rhythm on either side of the ball. A second play-action touchdown pass gave Brown a 27-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

From then on, things only got worse for the hosts. Skon continued to take hits, and, with 12:42 remaining in the game, MacZura botched the snap on a punt. As a result, his late kick was blocked and recovered by the Bears for the game’s final touchdown.

“They didn’t block the punt. [MacZura] dropped it,” Kelly said. “He bobbled a couple balls, and obviously he dropped this one — good things don’t happen when that occurs.”

A garbage time field goal brought the game to its final score, a 37-10 Bears victory.

The Hoyas now have a lot to improve upon as they get set to take on Fordham (3-2) for their first Patriot League game of the season.

Kickoff for their matchup with the Rams is scheduled for next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Brooklyn, N.Y.

sports

tuesDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

field hockey

THE HOYA

A9

volleyball

Despite More Losses, Hard-Luck Hoyas Fall Twice Georgetown Hopeful Will Edman

Special to the Hoya

Celee Belmonte Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown field hockey team (2-10, 0-2 Big East) ran its losing streak to eight this weekend by falling, 3-1, to Monmouth Saturday and dropping a 2-1 decision to Lock Haven on Sunday in a pair of home games.

In their first game of the weekend, the Hoyas built a 1-0 lead against the Hawks (2-10, 0-0 Northeast) when senior midfielder Claire Mittermiller scored her second goal of the season within the game’s first 10 minutes.

Mittermiller’s score came after junior forward Katie Dempsey rocketed a shot from the left corner that, despite being saved by Monmouth’s goalkeeper, rebounded to Mittermiller in perfect position at the front of the goal.

The Hawks quickly shifted the game’s momentum in their favor, however, firing two shots at Georgetown senior goalkeeper Briana Pereira in the next four minutes before successfully netting their third attempt to tie the score.

After scoring with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Monmouth took a 2-1 lead into the break. Georgetown’s offense produced nine shots in the second half but was unable to convert any to points.

Although Pereira finished with nine saves on the afternoon, she allowed another Hawk goal in the second half, sealing a 3-1 defeat for the Blue and Gray.

Head Coach Tiffany Marsh, looking for upsides from the loss, cited Georgetown’s performance in creating opportunities.

“We had 12 corners,” Marsh said.

“If we can have that many set pieces, we need to finish.”

Finishing was something that troubled Georgetown again Sunday when it met Lock Haven (9-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10) in another close battle.

Although the Eagles scored in the first half and carried a 1-0 lead into the intermission, the Blue and Gray did not roll over. Senior forward Annie Wilson fought back, tying the game at 1-1 eight minutes into the second half.

Down 2-1, the Hoyas fought hard in the final minutes of the game and appeared to tie the match when senior forward Catherine Shugrue appeared to have scored. A penalty call, however, wiped the Hoyas of the goal.

“That goal was definitely a judgment call on the officials’ part,” Marsh said. “The ball on a shot can’t be over 18 inches high, but it was right there. It was really hard to see from our bench.”

With the goal taken back, the score remained 2-1 until the final whistle. But as with the loss the day before, Marsh was able to detect some signs of progress from her team.

“Sunday was a huge step forward,” Marsh said. “It was a really close game. We have improved parts of our game -- especially since last weekend. We have gotten much better at creating opportunities to score.”

There are seven games left on Georgetown’s schedule, and with a 2-10 record, it is now impossible for the Hoyas to secure a winning season. That means that 2012 will be the 10th straight year the team has finished below .500.

However, Georgetown still has a chance to improve on last year’s total of three wins. After a week of practice, which Marsh says will be devoted to finishing games, the Hoyas will play host to Rutgers and Cornell this weekend.

candid canadian

Video Games Offer MLS Publicity Coup T

here was an article published aren’t nearly as promising, perhaps recently on ESPN.com that due to the league’s relatively inferior recounted how hip-hop star quality, especially in FIFA gameplay.

Snoop Dogg (now Snoop Lion) be- Last season’s MLS Championship came a soccer fan. While traveling Game — played on a Saturday night in Europe a decade ago, the rapper’s — drew a 0.8 rating, comparable to “Madden” disk was scratched, and, the performance of a tape-delayed when he couldn’t find another copy Chelsea-Liverpool matchup going up of the game in local stores, he bought against NFL football the following af“FIFA” as a stopgap until he found a ternoon.

Therefore, if one buys the idea that copy of the American football game.

As the story goes, Snoop Dogg never the FIFA franchise is significantly inneeded another copy: He became at- creasing North American interest in tached to the “FIFA” franchise and soccer, but that MLS is unable to reap started to watch soccer on television the benefits, then it is clear that a maras a result. He is now one of the series’ keting change in the league is needed.

I propose a more official spokesmen. formal EA Sports and This year’s game, MLS partnership, “FIFA 13,” has generwhich would result in ated record sales. Acthe following product: cording to official re“FIFA 13: Major League cords, 353,000 copies Soccer Edition.” were sold in the first This new game, 48 hours of its Amerreleased annually in ican release — a 42 March — rather than percent increase Arik Parnass September — to corover last year’s numrespond with the bebers — and nearly A marketing change ginning of the MLS 1.4 million online would be siggames were played is needed. I propose a season, nificantly cheaper (in in the U.S. in its first 24 hours of avail- more formal EA Sports the $20 to $30 range), in part because it ability, 35 percent and MLS partnership. would be subsidized more than was the

by MLS, and in part case last year. because the game But beyond the itself would feature numbers, it can’t be understated how important the Elec- only minor improvements over its Septronic Arts franchise has been to the tember counterpart. The game would rise in popularity of soccer this side of feature exclusively MLS teams, but the the Atlantic. The narrative is often the player ratings would be boosted so same. Somebody begins by playing a that playing with D.C. United, for exsoccer video game with a friend and ample, wouldn’t feel like playing with finds he likes it. Once he purchases a high school J.V. team.

In theory, this game — essentially a his own game, he must find out who the best players are to be successful, patch — would force gamers to learn which then leads to watching those more about their local league, teams players in real life. Because of this, and players, and attendance and TV the popularity of the sport, especially ratings would be driven up as casual that of top leagues like the English interest increased. It’s doubtful that Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, soccer will ever be the top sport in North America, but with continued has risen.

The problem, however, lies in help from the video game world, it the popularity of North America’s could become closer than was ever own league, Major League Soccer. thought possible. Eventually, maybe There are positives: For example, the Snoop Lion — and a generation of league’s attendance surpassed that of young Americans — will be looking the NHL and NBA last season and now up to Chris Wondolowski and Darren ranks eighth-highest of any soccer Mattocks rather than Ronaldo and league in the world, although much Messi. of that is derived from the nearly 43,000 fans that pack Seattle’s Cen- Arik Parnass is a sophomore in the turyLink Field for Sounders games. College. CANDID CANADIAN appears However, the television numbers every Tuesday.

The Georgetown volleyball team (6-11, 0-4 Big East) just cannot catch a break. Despite improved play, two agonizing four-set defeats to Seton Hall (15-2, 3-1 Big East) and Rutgers (15-4, 1-3 Big East) this weekend stretched the Hoyas’ losing streak to 10 games. “[The pieces] are all there,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “We just have to focus on putting them together on the court at the same time.”

In Friday’s match against the Pirates — the first conference game at McDonough Arena this year — the Blue and Gray fell in four frames, 1725, 25-23, 22-25, 18-25.

Georgetown started the game flat, and Seton Hall raced out to an 8-2 lead. As the set progressed, however, the Hoyas began to cut down on errors but could not not prevent the visitors from taking the opening set.

The Hoyas showed more energy in the second set and a change in momentum was quickly apparent.

Sophomore middle blocker Dani White, who ended the game with 15 kills, put on a dazzling display with several authoritative spikes and blocks.

“Dani did a great job of protecting the net, both defensively with her blocks and offensively,” Williams said.

But the Blue and Gray could not maintain their momentum through the final two sets, despite a strong effort from sophomore libero MacKenzie Simpson, who finished with a team-leading 20 digs.

Although the third set was competitive, Seton Hall dominated the fourth — albeit with some help from Georgetown — and ended the match comfortably.

“We didn’t pass [in the fourth set],” Williams said. “If you don’t pass, you can’t play the game.”

Despite the loss, Williams saw improvement from key players, such as sophomore outside hitter Alex Johnson, who finished with 12 kills and 12 digs, and junior setter Haley Lowrance, who dished out 40 assists. “[Johnson] committed fewer errors than she has before, and [Lowrance] did a good job of getting our hitters in one-on-one situations,” Williams said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t always terminate those sets that she gave us.”

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore hitter Alex Johnson had 12 kills against Seton Hall.

Georgetown regrouped Sunday to face Rutgers, a team that had previously been winless in the Big East but one that Williams said brought “swagger” to the match. The Hoyas played spiritedly but could not close out two tight sets, leading to a heartbreaking 23-25, 16-25, 25-18, 24-26 defeat.

Johnson again led the Hoyas in defeat with 12 kills and 15 digs, while Lowrance added 38 assists and Simpson contributed 16 digs.

The Hoyas began the match with strong passing and defense, maintaining a lead throughout the first set. Despite a 22-18 lead, Georgetown committed a series of untimely errors that allowed Rutgers to sneak away with the win.

The second set was even harder for Georgetown, as the Scarlet Knights used several tipped balls to catch the Blue and Gray’s back line out of position.

Down 2-0, Wiliams used the break between the second and third sets to urge her players to stick to the original defensive game plan.

“We needed them to remember to be disciplined on defense and run those [tipped] balls down,” Williams said. “We came out in the third set and were really disciplined. We played some good volleyball.”

Led by Simpson’s and Johnson’s solid defense, Georgetown outplayed Rutgers en route to the 25-18 set win,

one that seemed to put all the momentum with the Hoyas.

The Scarlet Knights were not discouraged, though, and raced to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set, but the Hoyas fought back and eventually tied the set at 18-18.

From there, the Hoyas’ stars took over. Three straight kills by Johnson and Lowrance’s two consecutive service aces gave Georgetown a 24-19 lead that seemingly assured a decisive fifth set. Despite having five set points, however, the Hoyas could not convert several efforts by senior middle blocker Lindsay Wise.

“We knew that [Wise] was having a whole lot of success, but they had a double block in front of her,” Williams said. “We just could not finish.”

The Scarlet Knights won seven consecutive points, and the 24-26 score left Georgetown still searching for a much-needed Big East win after a bitterly disappointing finish.

Despite the frustrating weekend, there were certainly flashes of excellent play. Williams cited one that came in the Rutgers game, when Simpson overshot a pass to Lowrance, who reached over the net and provided an astounding one-handed set to White, who pounded the ball to the floor.

“There are moments that have been really good,” Williams said. “We have been seeing improvement. It’s just not enough.”

football

Dismal Second Half Sinks GU ANALYSIS, from A10 the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. But that was the high point for the reeling Georgetown offense.

Their performance was stagnant in the second half, when the Blue and Gray gained just 18 total yards and failed to notch a single first down. This was in part because of the flashes of inexperience Skon showed throughout the game.

He threw into double and triple coverage, resulting in three interceptions, and was sacked five times — a result of both the offensive line’s poor pass protection and the quarterback holding onto the ball for too long.

The Bears’ defense, however, turned in a stellar performance.

Brown was always a step ahead, continually in position to stop the

Hoyas’ slow-developing screen passes, and the Bears packed the line of scrimmage, preventing Georgetown from successfully running the ball.

“They had the right game plan.

They packed the box and brought a lot of pressure and played man coverage,” Kelly said. “That’s what you expect when you see a young quarterback. My hat’s off to Brown — they did a nice job, and we couldn’t execute.”

Whereas the Hoyas were dismal with the ball, the Bears were effective. Brown ran and threw the ball well, amassing 361 yards of total offense. The visitors picked apart the Blue and Gray defense, exposing holes in the Hoya secondary after effectively establishing their running game.

Brown rushed for 173 yards, 94 in the third quarter alone, which

made Georgetown’s defense susceptible to play-action; Bears quarterback Patrick Donnelly capitalized by throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

The Hoyas also struggled on special teams, continually giving the Bears good field position.

But the biggest special teams blunder came with 12 minutes and 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter, when junior punter Matt MacZura bobbled the snap, resulting in a blocked punt that was recovered

by Brown in the end zone for a touchdown.

That botched play was a microcosm of Georgetown’s afternoon and a sign of all that the Blue and Gray must do to improve as they begin Patriot League play Saturday with a trip to New York to face Fordham.

women’s soccer

Defense on Form in Ninth Shutout PITTSBURGH, from A10

FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE XU FOR THE HOYA

Senior defender Claire Magliola stepped up in the win over Pittsburgh.

often left their coach shaking his head in disbelief.

“I think they’re telepathic. I call them the dynamic duo,” Nolan said.

“They see the game the same way.

They both come from the same club a year apart, so they’ve known each other [and] they’ve played with each other during the summer. They’ve just really clicked.”

With injuries to some key contributors, several less experienced players were also called upon to step up.

“We needed maybe 5 percent extra from the players who don’t normally get the accolades, like [defenders] Christina O’Tousa, Claire Magliola, and Mary Kroening. It was defensively where we were missing pieces of the puzzle,” Nolan said. “Those players stepped up and provided the platform for our attacking players to then go on and do their thing.”

More important than setting re-

cords and keeping the win streak alive, however, was notching another road win, which is difficult in Big East, among the toughest leagues in the country.

“It was definitely a great team effort, because I think the kids knew that whenever you get a win on the road in the Big East, it’s a big deal,” he said.

Georgetown’s last loss was more than three weeks ago — on Sept.

9 — and the team is hoping to keep its current streak alive into October.

Nolan plans to do whatever he can to keep his team on a roll while stopping the Hoyas from becoming complacent.

“One of the jobs of a coach has always been to keep the team on an even keel,” Nolan said. “They are a pretty focused group. They take it one game at a time.”

The Hoyas take the field again next weekend, visiting Cincinnati on Friday and Louisville on Sunday.

SPORTS

MEN’S SOCCER Hoyas (10-0-1) vs. UConn (9-0-1) Tomorrow, 3 p.m.

North Kehoe Field

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012

WHAT’S INSIDE Georgetown’s volleyball team dropped two weekend games, extending its skid to 10 losses.

See A9

CROSS COUNTRY

TALKING POINTS We’re not scared of anybody.

“

NUMBERS GAME

0 ”

Men’s Soccer Head Coach Brian Wiese

Georgetown first downs in the second half of the Hoyas’ 37-10 loss to Brown Saturday

FOOTBALL

Bears Maul Hoyas at Homecoming

GU Third In Lehigh Meet

Sophomore quarterback Stephen Skon struggles as Brown steamrolls Georgetown, 37-10

PATRICK MUSGRAVE

JOSH SIMMONS

Special to The Hoya

Special to the Hoya

The Georgetown cross country program had a promising day on the course Friday, with both the men’s and women’s teams taking third place at Lehigh’s Paul Short Invitational.

All-American graduate student Mark Dennin took first place, leading the men’s team to a third-place finish out of 37 teams.

Dennin hung with the front pack for the first 2000 meters of the race, made sure he kept good position until the 6000-meter mark and then began to increase the tempo for the last 2000 meters.

With 400 meters left, he dropped the hammer and outdistanced USC Upstate’s Gilbert Kemboi to break the tape in a time of 23:57.

“Mark is a very talented runner, and he spent the summer living at altitude, which really helped him out,” Men’s Distance Coach Brandon Bonsey said. “He ran the race like a fifth-year, like an experienced veteran, finishing really well and even maybe having another gear if he needed it. We were really happy with his race.”

Seniors Andrew Springer and Ben Furcht, who clocked times of 24:26 and See LEHIGH, A8

LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA

In a packed MultiSport Facility on Homecoming weekend, the Hoya faithful were hoping to see the Georgetown football team (3-2) blow out its opponent, Brown (2-1).

At least they saw a blowout.

Coming off a nationally televised 2120 win over Princeton, the Blue and Gray struggled against the Bears, who scored the final 27 points in a lopsided 37-10 affair. Georgetown’s offense was beyond lackluster, gaining only 18 total yards in the second half and failing to pick up a single first down after the break. “[The Bears] physically took it to us in the second half. Their defense did a great job,” Head Coach Kevin Kelly said. “They kicked our tails, plain and simple.”

Sophomore quarterback Stephen Skon, the Hoyas’ third-stringer, showed signs of inexperience in his first collegiate start.

The New York native threw three interceptions and was sacked five times by a relentless Brown defense.

“They had the right game plan,” Kelly said. “They packed the box and brought a lot of pressure and played man coverage.

That’s what you expect when you see a young quarterback.”

Georgetown was dealt another tough break in the fourth quarter when junior punter Matt MacZura was blocked at the 1-yard line, which was recovered for a Brown touchdown.

See BROWN, A8

Tough Defeat Renews Questions About Offense CAROLYN MAGUIRE Special to the Hoya

COURTESY GEORGETOWN SPORTS INFORMATION

Graduate student Mark Dennin won the Paul Short Invitational.

With twenty-seven seconds left in the fourth quarter, Brown quarterback Pat Donnelly took a knee, ending the 37-10 dismantling of the Hoyas in front of what was left of a once sold-out homecoming crowd. Georgetown (3-2) was outmatched by Brown (2-1) in essentially every statistical category and was defeated for the second time in the last three games.

The Hoyas’ offense turned in a lackluster performance, managing just 153 yards of total of-

fense. Georgetown, led by sophomore quarterback Stephen Skon — making his first career start after both senior Isaiah Kempf and junior Aaron Aiken were injured in recent weeks — struggled, chalking up three turnovers and being sacked five times. “[Skon] is disappointed, and it’s going to be a learning experience for him,” Head Coach Kevin Kelly said. “Last week, he came in as a backup, [and] this week he was a starter.”

Throughout the game, Georgetown’s offense was unable to successfully run against the Brown defense, rushing for

a net 12 yards. This was perhaps best demonstrated in the first quarter: The Blue and Gray had a first and goal from the Brown 1-yard line but could not punch it in and had to settle for a field goal.

“We obviously didn’t get the push at the line of scrimmage.

We didn’t cross the goal line.

That’s frustrating when you’re at the 1-yard line and you can’t score,” Kelly said.

Skon had one shining moment when he found open junior wide receiver Zack Wilke in See ANALYSIS, A9

WOMEN’S SOCCER

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore quarterback Stephen Skon was sacked five times Saturday.

MEN’S SOCCER

Corboz Sets Two Records in Win Georgetown Triumphs In Pittsburgh Slugfest TIM ELDRIDGE

Special to the Hoya

The Georgetown women’s soccer team (11-1-1, 5-0) won its fifth straight game Sunday, defeating Pittsburgh (5-9-1, 0-5-1), 8-0, courtesy of a record-breaking performance by sophomore midfielder Daphne Corboz.

The Hoyas weren’t even at full strength, either, playing the game with a shuffled lineup.

“We had to replace a couple of players as a precautionary measure because of injuries, including both our center backs,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “It made it a little bit more difficult for us because we had to pull players from different positions and change our personnel.”

But the new-look squad didn’t miss a beat, as the Blue and Gray had 16 shots compared to just two

by Pittsburgh and took six corner kicks to the Panthers’ one. Although it had performed well so far this season, Nolan believed that Pittsburgh might have been exhausted from its Friday game.

“It wasn’t like they were a walk-

RYAN BACIC

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore Daphne Corboz had five goals and one assist Sunday. over team. We played really well on the day. We had the benefit that [Pittsburgh] had played a game on Friday night and we hadn’t. I think that was crucial, because we were definitely fresher,” Nolan said.

Corboz, who racked up five goals and one assist in the win, set a new Georgetown record for goals in a

conference game as well as the Big East record for points in a game. Her performance was complemented by two goals and two assists by junior forward Kaitlin Brenn.

Brenn and Corboz have developed a rapport in the midfield that has See PITTSBURGH, A9

Junior forward Steve Neumann’s performance this season was always going to go a long way in determining the Hoyas’ success. Being able to go into their big matchup against second-ranked UConn on Wednesday with Neumann on a hot streak, then, was especially key.

After its 3-1 win at Pittsburgh (6-32, 0-2-0 Big East) on Saturday, the No. 5 Georgetown men’s soccer team (10-0-1, 2-0-0 Big East) will now have just that.

The Pennsylvania native — named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List prior to this season — had a tremendous outing against the Panthers, feeding freshman striker Brandon Allen for two goals and icing the contest with a tally of his own in the 82nd minute.

“He’s a confident player, he’s a confident kid and he’s an important player for us,” Head Coach Brian Wi-

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

ese said of Neumann. “He’s around a lot of the good things we do. Hopefully, that’s the start of a lot of goals that go in for him.”

According to Wiese, the crowd at Pittsburgh’s Ambrose Urbanic Field was likely the biggest the Panthers had drawn at home all season. It didn’t take long for Neumann and Allen to put the rowdy fans back in their seats.

The upperclassman started the sequence by finding his strike partner on a breakaway, at which point Allen worked the ball onto his preferred left foot and lashed one into the back of the net.

“At the beginning of the game, we were moving the ball around pretty well, and there were gaps opening up in front of their back four, and I was able to slip Brandon in a few times,” Neumann said. “Credit to him in the first half, he finished that one off.”

See CONNECTICUT, A8