The Hoya: Nov. 9, 2012

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Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 19, © 2012

friDAY, november 9, 2012

BASKETBALL PREVIEW

Otto Porter and Sugar Rodgers lead a pair of new-look Georgetown squads.

GUIDE GU tutors are on the front lines of efforts to improve D.C. public schools.

MAGAZINE AVAILABLE TODAY IN RED SQUARE

GUIDE, G8

EDITORIAL Don’t let past success overshadow the current men’s basketball team.

AIRPORTS The authority that runs local airports has been accused of corruption.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A6

Two Students Elected to ANC Tia Baheri

Special to The Hoya

GABRIELLA DOUCAS/THE HOYA

Seven university-owned townhouses are being outfitted with solar panels by December using $250,000 from the Student Activities Fee Endowment reform passed last year.

GU Re-Energized In Green Efforts Madison Ashley Special to The Hoya

After years of wearing gray and bleeding blue, Georgetown is implementing new efforts to think green.

Last Thursday, University President John J. DeGioia announced that a $20 million anonymous donation to the Georgetown’s capital campaign will be used to formally launch the Georgetown Environmental Initiative. The initiative, which will facilitate interdisciplinary environmental research by faculty at all three of Georgetown’s campuses and create an administrative center to expand environmental research, comes at a time when several environmentally oriented groups

on campus — led by both students and administrators — are also focusing on making Georgetown more sustainable.

The ongoing conversation about the environment at Georgetown is rooted in DeGioia’s 2008 pledge to reduce university greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent of their 2005 levels by 2020. Since the pledge, Georgetown has already seen improvement; Greenhouse gas emissions dropped by about 17.5 percent during the 2010-2011 school year alone.

Unlike many peer institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and The George Washington University, Georgetown has not issued a formal plan that lays out See SUSTAINABILITY, A6

Although Tuesday’s general election was marked by a surge in student voter turnout and two seats secured by students on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for the first time in 10 years, the remainder of the D.C. political landscape was left mostly unchanged.

Peter Prindiville (SFS ’14) and Craig Cassey (COL ’15) will fill two student seats on ANC 2E, which was expanded to include eight commissioners as a result of recent redistricting.

Prindiville, who ran unopposed in single-member district 2E08, will represent Nevils, Alumni Square, Copley Hall, Harbin Hall, Village C East and Henle Village, as well as the two blocks between 36th and 37th Streets and between Prospect and O Streets.

Cassey, who will represent Village C West, New South Hall, Southwest Quadrangle, Village A and the Jesuit Residence, also ran unopposed and won the seat for district 2E04.

Prindiville said he learned of his victory through a friend at about 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

“I found out that I won from a

ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

This year’s ANC election drew more Georgetown student voters than any See ELECTIONS, A5 since 2004. Many students took advantage of same-day registration.

Men Navigate Gender Divides Hiromi Oka

Hoya Staff Writer

Amid the excitement of Midnight Madness, Jai DeLoatch (COL ’14) stood out from the thousands of cheering fans. As the only male on the Georgetown cheerleading squad, DeLoatch occupies a unique spot both at basketball games and on campus.

Although Georgetown is considered an old boys’ club — historically, the leadership of student groups has been dominated by men — there are niches of campus life where male students are vastly outnumbered. The cheerleading team is an example, but it is not the only one.

In Groove Theory, a co-ed hip hop dance group, Jason Thompson (MSB

’14) is one of four male students among a group of 27 dancers. Thompson, the group’s creative director, said that the demographics of the group

“You find out who you are ... and you can be that person without judgment, without issue.”

Jai DeLoatch (COL ’14), Georgetown University Cheerleading member

made him initially hesitant to join.

“Before I was on the team, I thought, ‘Oh, I want to join, but I don’t want to do something that’s that far out of

my comfort zone and that’s quote unquote girly,’” he said. “And then when I joined the team, it was like, ‘There are a lot of girls, but I don’t have to do girly things.’”

DeLoatch also felt this stigma when he decided to join the cheerleading squad. He had cheered for his high school’s junior varsity team and knew he wanted to develop his skills, but he was also wary of how his decision to join the squad would be perceived.

“Going out and trying anything that isn’t a traditional male thing tends to compel other guys to make fun of you,” he said.

Male students in majority-female campus groups aren’t the only guys See MEN, A6

Corp Plans to Implement Customer Rewards Card

FOUR MORE YEARS

Penny Hung

Hoya Staff Writer

SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

College students and Obama supporters from across the District flocked to the White House early Wednesday morning to join in the revelry celebrating the president’s re-election.

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

Regulars at Corp locations could be earning loyalty points through a new customer rewards card as early as this spring.

The program, which will be called “Shareholder Card,” was developed

by Students of Georgetown, Inc. Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Vidur Khatri (MSB ’14).

Khatri put the plan in place soon after his term as CFO and treasurer began March 2012.

“We turn[ed] 40 in March, and other companies who have been around for 40 years usually give some sort of dividend to their shareholders,” he said.

“Since Georgetown students are our shareholders, this is our way of giving back, besides the $75,000 we traditionally give back to the community.”

Though the card is still in the early planning stages, Khatri said he expects that plans will solidify within the next two weeks.

“I envision this card to be something every student already has or can easily sign up for,” Khatri said. “Every student will be able to have one.”

The Corp established an internal committee comprising representatives from its information technology, marketing, finance and business development di-

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA

The rewards card, which could be released as early as next semester, would be usable at all Corp locations. visions to assist in the development of the program. The committee has met approximately 12 times since the fall semester began and is in the process of ironing out details.

“We’re trying to decide what kind of card we want to use, what kind of point See CORP, A6

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, November 9, 2012

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Nostalgia Stifles Hoya Hoops The men’s basketball program is struggling to emerge from its own shadow. A storied stretch of dominant seasons during the 1980s elevated the Hoyas to national prominence, but nostalgia for the glory days can distract from this generation’s high-achieving cast of Blue and Gray.

As the team prepares for its season opener tonight against Florida — to be played on, of all places, a naval ship off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla. — the program and its fan base should be excited for the future and proud of the immediate past. Georgetown has appeared in the top 10 of the national coaches’ poll each of the last six seasons and has reached the NCAA tournament in seven of the last 10. There have certainly been some postseason disappointments since Georgetown’s run to the Final Four in 2007, but the team has nonetheless been a consistent powerhouse.

Yet the Georgetown community is often more interested in glorifying past achievements than celebrating existing ones. It’s understandable to honor the accomplishments of John Thompson Jr. and his crew of all-time greats like Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson and Alonzo Mourning. Appreciating history, upholding tradition and honoring legacies are rightful hallmarks of the Georgetown basketball program. But even respect for former Georgetown teams can become excessive when it distracts from the accomplishments of current Hoyas, and such emphasis has been noticeable in recent seasons.

For example, the past two Midnight Madness themes have allowed past decades to steal the

spotlight. In 2011, the evening’s main event featured the return of alumni hoops legends like Ewing and recent stars such as Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert. This year the theme was “Kickin’ it Ol’ Skool,” which was highlighted by a performance by Doug E. Fresh, a beatboxer from the ’80s. The classic “We are Georgetown” shirts have been using slogans that follow this pattern — this year’s reads “Heroes are Remembered / Legends Never Die.” Too often, today’s players are overlooked as the Georgetown athletic department tries to capitalize on decades-old successes. The team unveiled new jerseys this season, which feature images of Thompson Jr. and “1984,” when the Hoyas won their only national title — the current players must now literally carry these memories on their backs.

Meanwhile, there has recently been an embarrassing emptiness in the student sections at Verizon Center for some home games. While we cannot draw a cause-and-effect relationship between this nostalgic attitude and game attendance, it’s safe to say that students have a tendency to compare current teams to those of the past. Instead of fixating on now versus then, the Hoya faithful should be encouraged to appreciate Georgetown’s recent run of high achievement.

The current men’s basketball team has the opportunity to make its own golden age, to remember legendary performances while setting its sights on the future. We believe the team can shake the chains of unrealistic comparisons and move on to the next iconic era of Hoya basketball, but the Georgetown fan base must be willing to let them.

C C C C

Hoyas on the Hill — Georgetown will now be 14 strong in the House of Representatives after five alumi were newly elected and nine were re-elected. That total includes Eleanor Holmes Norton, a delegate for the District and a professor at Georgetown Law Center.

Cashing in on Jan. 20 — Metro will charge an exorbitant $15 for commemorative SmarTrip cards in anticipation of crowds for the presidential inauguration next January. It has already ordered 100,000 cards.

Swipe to Cheer — Season ticketholders for the men’s basketball team received a swipe card this year instead of the traditional book of paper tickets.

Crime Keeps Coming — Campus crime remains active, as the Deptarment of Public Safety’s reported 35 incidents in the month of October. Five incidents related to theft occurred in Yates Field House.

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @N. Jax Nov. 6 Disgusting. @thehoya: Leo’s workers were not paid higher wages for working though Hurricane Sandy last week. @Autism Rights Watch Nov. 5 Adjuncts consider organizing: @Thehoya picks up an important development in fair wages for DC’s university professors.

1789 PROBLEMS by Arturo Altamirano

Holiday Ticket Turbulence As students start to salivate over Thanksgiving dinner and, more importantly, the chance to spend the holiday with their families, the cost of traveling home may leave some feeling sick. Roundtrip airfare this time of year can be exorbitant, and some courses’ uncompromising attendance policies leave families that face this financial burden feeling anything but grateful.

About 2.4 million Americans are expected to be flying the Sunday after Thanksgiving, making it the busiest travel day of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Plane tickets are subsequently much more expensive than usual, even for those who book seats months in advance. A USA Today report noted that a ticket for a flight on the Sunday after Thanksgiving costs an average of 20 percent more than the same ticket on Monday. For students flying coast to coast, that can add up to hundreds of dollars round trip.

The university should recognize this challenge and do what is necessary to accommodate students who are facing it. Instead, classes resume on Monday, Nov. 26, forcing students to decide between purchasing a more expensive plane ticket, not going home for the holiday or returning late and missing class.

Unfortunately, many courses penalize unexcused absences, and even those that provide a handful of unexcused absences per semester can put those who travel great distances at an unfair disadvantage.

The proper solution is to continue having class on Monday but mandate that courses designate the day liberal leave, meaning that students would have the option of missing class without facing consequences for their grades.

Those who are back in the District on time are not deprived extra class time, professors are not required to compress their curriculum into fewer days and students with long flights are not forced to shoulder avoidable expenses.

Many colleges resume classes the Monday after Thanksgiving, but Georgetown is in somewhat of a unique situation. It is a national university, and it often touts the fact that its student body hails from all 5ww0 states.

California, a six-hour flight from the District, is the second-most represented state on the Hilltop. It would be unreasonable to mandate a university-wide policy to accommodate a small number of students, but that is clearly not the case here. Instead, penalizing Monday absence puts extra pressure on many students who are faced with long flights and sensitive family finances.

It’s also wrong to ask these students to travel back to Georgetown on Saturday, which would give them about as much time on an airplane over the course of the break as with their families, or to leave the decision to excuse an absence to professor discretion, which puts faculty members in the awkward position of making case-by-case calls that can be arbitrary and time consuming. Sure, some students might exploit the liberal leave and use it simply as another day off when they lack legitimate reason to do so, but that should not outweigh the needs of those who have a genuine reason for missing class.

The absence policy for Thanksgiving break is undoubtedly a give and take, but establishing a protocol that takes into account the financial considerations of students is something for which we would all be thankful.

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, Samantha Randazzo, Ashwin Wadekar, Lauren Weber

Emma Hinchliffe Hiromi Oka Kelly Church Sam Rodman Arik Parnass Ryan Bacic Nicole Jarvis Sheena Karkal Emily Manbeck Shannon Reilly Jamie Slater Sean Sullivan Hanaa Khadraoui Chris Grivas Erica Wong 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 Guide Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography 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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Post-Election Camaraderie To the Editor: America just witnessed a harshly fought campaign featuring candidates, supporters and advertisements filled with a lack of civility. Arguments were driven by lies, inaccuracies and personal attacks. The re-elected president, his challenger and their supporters engaged in the promulgation of deceptive opinions.

I must disclose that I am guilty of this myself. Yet there is more to life than simply elections, campaigns and the public discourse — there is friendship, laughter, work, family and love, to name a few. These bonds must always come before partisan bickering because, in my opinion, a friend who disagrees with you is far more important than constantly surrounding yourself with people who always agree with you. I try to have a balance of friends who both agree and disagree

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 Esteban Garcia Michal Grabias Keeley Williams Suzanne Fonzi Michael Lindsay-Bayley Ryan Smith

Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Statements Manager Treasury Manager Marketing Research 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

with me; friends who will call me out when I deserve it.

Tuesday night, I split my time between friends who are Obama and Romney supporters. The most remarkable and refreshing part of election night for me had little to do with outcomes. It had to do with the welcoming arms of those who disagree with me politically. Being the known sole minority opinion in a room of 20 can be difficult on election night, yet in reality, it was not that way at all. At this moment, civility overtook politics and friendship overtook partisanship.

The realization that civility is not dead, despite the harsh campaign, was a humbling experience for me and renewed my appreciation for the Jesuit ideal of “community in diversity” that we strive for at Georgetown.

Christopher Cannataro (COL ’15)

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

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

Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-800 words.

Send all submissions to: opinion@ thehoya.com.

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

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

Corrections & Clarifications If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Sarah Kaplan at (917) 605-0509 or email executive@ thehoya.com.

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tion of holiday and exam periods. Address all correspondence to: The Hoya Georgetown University Box 571065 Washington, D.C. 20057-1065 The writing, articles, pictures, layout and format are the responsibility of The Hoya and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University.

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OPINION

FRIday, NOVEMber 9, 2012

THE HOYA

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AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT...

VIEWPOINT • Groves

Tech Tune-Ups Key The Virtue in Citizenship To Modern Campus G O

ne of the core values that shapes the work that takes place here at Georgetown is a commitment to doing more, being more and always looking for new ways to improve. The concept of magis informs the highest standards of academic excellence to which we hold ourselves as a community.

This constant pursuit of growth and self-improvement asks us to seek and consider new tools and opportunities to achieve stronger and better outcomes for our students. One such area to explore lies in the opportunities and challenges presented by rapidly evolving technologies.

At Georgetown, we have a long and proud tradition of fostering innovation in the classroom to improve the experience of teaching and learning.

For example, through the work of our Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, Georgetown has been recognized as a leader in integrating technology into its classrooms.

Soon, members of our community will come together for Georgetown Hackathon, where teams will work to design processes and tools to improve the Georgetown experience through their imagination and creativity. It’s my privilege to support their work and serve as a judge in the competition.

As the landscape of technology in higher education continues to evolve and new tools become available, we remain committed to seizing the opportunities before us in our work to find the most effective ways to enhance the learning experience of our students. A month ago in a university-wide email, I announced our Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning, which will support faculty who are interested in incorporating technology into the classroom. The grants made under this initiative — the first of which we will issue early next semester — will help faculty with innovative ideas ranging from introducing technology into single course elements to providing complete course and program redesign.

Our efforts to launch and execute this initiative have been supported and informed by two working groups, which both include faculty and staff

from across our campuses as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

The opinions of the members of our community involved with the ITEL working group have been instrumental in advancing our efforts.

It’s important to be clear about the aims of our work. Our primary objective, in the spirit of magis, is to strengthen the environment for teaching and for learning on the Hilltop.

We need to determine under what circumstances technology may allow us to free more in-class time for students and faculty to engage in deep dialogue leading to richer understanding of material. Through technology, we also can create more opportunities for self-paced student learning. These two examples represent a small portion of the opportunities before us to enhance teaching and learning by integrating technology more fully throughout our campuses. We must also learn the limits of technology in helping us do our work and identify which learning experiences don’t translate well to an online environment.

By sponsoring a set of pilot projects, we will also create new opportunities for assessment. We will evaluate which projects enhance learning and produce stronger student outcomes and which ones don’t work, and we will respond by setting higher standards and expectations for our curricula, ourselves and our students.

It’s important for members of our community to know that we are encouraging these innovations to enhance the experiences of students. No faculty will be forced to participate, and for some courses, adding technology may not be the right choice.

We are pursuing broad engagement throughout our community because wider participation will produce better opportunities to share lessons learned and best practices. We will jointly discover the optimal use of technological assistance for learning on the Hilltop to meet the challenge of magis.

This is an exciting time to be at Georgetown.

eorgetown students love politics. As a professor of government, this is a very good thing for me. It means that my classes are always full, students actually do the reading for my courses — at least most of the time — and there is always a group eager to debate current policies and political choices.

On Tuesday night, I invited a group of students to my Kennedy Hall apartment to watch election returns. Even amid differing viewpoints, it was a marvelous experience of students’ passion, energy and commitment to the political process. Some had worked on the elections; nearly all were voting for the first time. As results came, you could feel excitement — and in some cases, disappointment — surge through the room.

Much earlier than we expected, the election was decided, and some students went rushing out to run to the White House. Others soon left to do their homework. And faster than I would have thought possible, my apartment was empty and the long electoral process was over. Much like after a Super Bowl or World Series game, it felt like a long season had come to an end.

As I began cleaning up the chips, cookies and popcorn, I found my thoughts turning from this election and its outcome to the deeper tasks we are about here at Georgetown. Rather than an end or finish line, it strikes me that this election — at least for this generation — was a beginning. It was a first step in acquiring a virtue, the virtue of citizenship, which is at the heart of a Jesuit education.

Indeed, when the Jesuits founded their first college in Messina, Italy, in 1548, it was at the request of parents who wanted their children to be trained to be exemplary citizens.

They wanted to foster a generation of creative, visionary leaders who could make their city more dynamic and inclusive. It was with this in mind that the Jesuits chose to strike a new balance between two competing visions

of education in the Europe of their day.

On the one side stood the universities, which professionalized learning and scholarship and had, as their highest aim, the discovery and cultivation of truth. On the other side were the humanistic primary and secondary schools, which taught poetry, rhetoric, drama and history in an effort to foster virtue, both personal and civic. The Jesuits did something radical when they embraced both of these pursuits in their schools, coupling the highest levels of rational and scientific inquiry with a humanistic formation of conscientious citizenship.

Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J.

The Jesuits wanted to foster a generation of creative, visionary leaders.

Jesuit education was thus crafted to form citizens who would be high minded, far minded and practical.

Students would learn to be high minded enough to see above the ebb and flow of political victories and defeats in order to grapple with the perennial questions of justice, truth and freedom. Scholarship and learning were meant to beckon them to a relentless quest for a life of meaning and human achievement, marked by creativity, discovery and reverence.

And they were to be far minded,

able to dream of long-term goals of social, political and economic transformation. These citizens would have the vision to imagine what society could be like, and they would have the idealism and commitment to work toward its realization. They would recognize the need to step beyond their own self-interest and pour themselves into the lifelong quest of the common good, which is not just the additive total of individual goods but the good of society as a whole, in all its members — especially its weakest and most vulnerable.

And they were to be practical. This is a distinctly Jesuit addition to the classical tradition they inherited.

They recognized the importance of decisive action undertaken today, which can open the horizon to longterm goals and values. By fostering wisdom, decision, reflection and evaluation, they sought to habituate a kind of practiced practicality that would make each day’s steps lead toward their good purpose.

This week, especially as the heat and fervor from the election begin to fade, it seems to me that we at Georgetown are called to recommit ourselves to the same virtue of citizenship that the early Jesuits embraced. High minded, far minded and practical, we have work to do. Much of it will be done in quiet, at least for a while, in our study and research, in our service, in internships and especially in our reflection. But it is forming us for much, much more.

We are to be citizens for the long haul, especially between Election Days.

The work of the nation and the work of human society happens between elections. Our world needs citizens with the vision, the courage and the virtue to make good on its promise.

Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., is an assistant professor in the government department. He is one of the alternating writers for AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT ..., which appears every other Friday.

ALWAYS ON THE SUNNY SIDE by Sania Salman

ROBERT GROVES is the provost of Georgetown University.

EDITORIAL DISSENT • Carlson & Wagner

Liberal Leave Unfit For Thanksgiving W ith the stresses of midterms and general grind of college life, many students welcome the chance to return home for Thanksgiving. For some, that means traveling across the country to spend just a few days at home for the holiday. Today’s editorial, “Holiday Ticket Turbulence” argues that the university should change the fall semester schedule to make the Monday after Thanksgiving a liberal leave from class, giving students more time to travel and a chance to take advantage of lower airfare prices.

Yet instituting a mandatory liberal leave for the Monday after Thanksgiving is an impractical policy change. Liberal leave would be interpreted as another day off for students — those who are not forced to be present for class, especially after a long weekend, will certainly choose not to attend. This policy, which would be intended for use by those who need it to make less expensive travel arrangements, would inevitably be abused, and almost no one would return to campus on time.

This policy change would also disadvantage students who enroll in classes that span multiple semesters. Organic chemistry, for example, extends over two semesters.

Material covered in the first semester is extremely relevant to material covered in the second semester, and some professors already struggle to get through the material needed to prepare students for the next level.

By effectively eliminating one more class session, there is even more pressure to cover the necessary information in a limited span of time. If professors are forced to do the same amount of teaching with fewer sessions, there is even less flexibility to cancel class when the university is forced to by unexpected circumstances, like during a hurricane or snowstorm.

This policy also shows a disregard for the professor’s class and work.

Professors put in effort to construct a syllabus and curriculum for the semester and schedule as much infor-

mation as they can cover in a short semester. Eliminating more class for students’ convenience pressures professors to teach the same material in less time and disrespects the integrity of a carefully planned curriculum.

The majority of courses allow at least one unexcused absence during the semester. Thanksgiving break is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of this policy if students need to leave home later in order to buy cheaper tickets. This policy gives students flexibility with their schedules without effectively eliminating an extra day of classes. The curriculum would not be thrown off, and those who do not need to use the absence could spend it on a sick day or during midterm season. We encourage all professors to adopt this policy of forgiving a few unexcused absences per semester if they have not done so already.

Ultimately, students are electing to make this purchase. No one is forced to go home over the break.

University policy should not be forced to comply with the airline ticket market so that some students who make this choice can have their ticket be cheaper. The editorial mentions that the current schedule places unequal financial burden on those traveling greater distances.

Changing the break policy overcorrects for the problem, creating more conflicts and stress for professors.

Instead of forcing Georgetown to provide another day off, students looking for cheaper tickets could fly back Saturday night, which is cheaper than Sunday, the hectic day before many businesses and schools resume. Of course it is necessary to provide a Thanksgiving break from school. But Georgetown should not be obligated to take it a step further and fix all market inequalities for students when it comes at the expense of professors and their classes.

KENT CARLSON is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. LAURA WAGNER is a sophomore in the College. They are members of the Editorial Board of The Hoya.

CONTEMPLATION IN ACTION

Plentiful Chances for Career Prep

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s far as internships go, there are few things quite as thrilling as walking up the steps of the Capitol for your first day of work on the Hill. Yet even as a congressional intern, there is a point — somewhere around the 1000th sorted letter, the 100th angry caller and the fifth day when you wish you could have slept in — when the job can lose its glamour.

The internship opportunities available in the District are among the best in the country. I am by no means a connoisseur of all things professional, but I recommend securing at least one while on the Hilltop. The experience need not be miserable or come at the expense of academics. The key is finding the right internship for the right reasons.

All too often, college students seek positions — particularly unpaid ones — out of fear of competition. The Hoya underscored this fact in its feature on internships (“The New Normal,” G8, Aug. 31, 2012), quoting a student who explained, “I don’t know how I’ll compete ... That’s the main motivation.”

This line of thinking pits us in something of an arms race against our peers at Georgetown and at schools around the country. It means we are treating internships as potential additions to a resume rather than as enriching experiences in professional environments.

Georgetown’s alumni network and career services are excellent. What strikes me is the disconnect between what students think they should be doing and what professionals in the field are looking for. In most cases, the strength of Georgetown students going into the job market is their well roundedness and broad experience, yet students often pursue internships without keeping those attributes in mind.

The rise of unpaid labor is a boon to seemingly everyone except students and the young professionals who take

such positions. Topical interest has more than made up for that discrepancy in my experience, but all too often I hear of fellow Georgetown students making great sacrifices for a position they don’t even enjoy. Less flashy private entities can supply the same training and job skills as well as a much-needed paycheck. In addition, many student

Nate Tisa

Some collegiate elite fall into an academic versus career-oriented binary. organizations are growing their own network of alumni to mobilize in support of current students. These efforts can connect current students with people, organizations and companies that share their passions.

In addition to these personal strategies, Georgetown should make it easier for students to engage the D.C. community through internships, social justice work and political activism.

As it stands, transportation off campus remains limited. Whereas students at The George Washington University need only walk a few blocks to reach most government buildings, Georgetown students are given few and cum-

bersome transportation options to reach distant destinations. Some of these options are expensive, meaning unpaid internships can bring a financial loss. A number of ZipCars have been made available to students over the age of 21, but these are limited, rendering them inaccessible as well as impractical for daily use. To help remedy the situation, the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle system should draw new routes that better address undergraduate student travel needs as well as those of staff, graduate students and neighborhood residents.

Second, unlike many peer institutions, Georgetown offers extremely limited recognition of extracurricular work on academic transcripts. Structured internship programs for upperclassmen would add an extra level of practical education without forcing students to choose between the academic and the professional. Teaching a foreign language, working for a government agency in a specialized field or interning at an art gallery deserve recognition on the basis of academic merit and skills gained. Georgetown should encourage students to collaborate with professors and mentors to maximize the personal and academic benefits extracted from such opportunities.

Education is holistic, but much of the collegiate elite seem to have fallen into an academic versus career-oriented binary. Undergraduate study is about education, not a resume. Yet when internship opportunities help a Georgetown student advance both of these considerations, the university should embrace the opportunities outside the front gates wholeheartedly.

Nate Tisa is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. He is speaker of the GUSA senate. CONTEMPLATION IN ACTION appears every other Friday.

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NEWS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE A panel discussed poverty, gender equality and social activism Thursday evening. See story online at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

verbatim

PILGRIMAGE PREP

“ Simply put,

we’re here to dance.

”

Davisson Han (MSB ’13), on Hoya Break Squad’s goal.

See story on A6.

from

FAUXSOCIETY.COM

OLIVIA HEWITT/THE HOYA

Fr. Patrick Rogers, S.J., shared anecdotes about his experience as a chaperone for the World Youth Day and Magis Immersion and Justice Program while recruiting students for this year’s trip Wednesday night. Read more at thehoya.com.

BRING BACK THE MOONBOUNCE Planning for Georgetown Day has already begun, and we have a few intriguing suggestions for this year. blog.thehoya.com

Project Promotes Cultural Exchange Georgetown Day

Planning Starts Early

CARLY CIANCI

Special to The Hoya

For the sixth graders at Jefferson Middle School, the world just got a little bigger thanks to a group of Georgetown students involved with the One World Youth Project.

The organization, founded by Jess Rimington (SFS ’09), matches college students with local elementary and middle school students to teach them about global issues and to foster respect for different cultures.

Project managers Brian Potochney (SFS ’15) and Asjed Hussain (SFS ’15) currently run Georgetown’s program.

The pair spent the week of July 9 in Kosovo for the OWYP annual Summer Training Conference this past summer learning how to manage and inspire a team of Georgetown students — reffered to as project ambassadors — as they took to the classroom.

“A big part of it was getting to know the people at the other hubs because when you’re working throughout the year over the computer, you don’t really get to have that face-to-face interaction,” Hussain said. “It really makes you invested in the organization.”

Once a week, eight Georgetown students travel to Jefferson Middle School to teach four classes of sixth grade students about local and global perspectives on the cultures of Kosovo, Turkey, Guyana and Pakistan.

Each OWYP lesson consists of two parts: a general lesson about different aspects of American traditions and an exchange activity, which usually includes a video made by the middle school students that portrays a specific aspect of the home country’s culture.

“Last time we did ‘what was your favorite artist or musician,’ so we picked some kids to sing some of it in front of the camera, and we are going to send it over to them [in Guyana],” project ambassador Nilesh Seshadri (COL ’15) said.

The goal of the exchange component is to demonstrate American culture to students at the partner school,and vice versa.

“One of the best things is that a lot of the people who are in these classes … they haven’t really been able to leave D.C., and if they have, it’s not been very far,” Seshadri said. “I think it’s really eye opening for them to see what another culture is like compared to what they actually view of

SHEEVA NESVA

“Ultimately, we hope the general interest meeting will catalyze the formation of a planning commitTen students began early plan- tee that includes as many interested ning this year’s Georgetown Day at a members as possible, who will make meeting Thursday night to avoid the Georgetown Day 2013 the best yet,” last-minute hiccups that plagued last Brody said. year’s event.

GUSA has also gotten involved in During the meeting, students organizing next spring’s Georgetown shared ideas about food, entertain- Day. ment and game choices for this year’s Adam Talbot (COL ’12), last year’s Georgetown Day. They also discussed GUSA senate speaker, proposed a bill a tentative timeline and stressed the to make Georgetown Day a GUSA importance of getting a head start on event. If the bill had passed, the orthe planning process. ganization would have used its funds “Part of this ongoing discussion is to pay for the event, and in return, how the planning process and struc- students would have been able to give ture might be improved from previ- input and share their preferences. ous years,” said Maeve Brody (COL The bill was unsuccessful because ’14), interim chair for Georgetown it was proposed late in the year, and Day 2013. there was no time to Nate Tisa (SFS gain support, accord’14), speaker “The senate’s priority is ing to Tisa. However, of the George- making sure that Tisa said he believes town Universithat GUSA will proty Student Asso- students have a say pose some form of ciation senate, similar legislation, reminded plan- over what happens on either at the end of ners of the ten- Georgetown Day.” this semester or early sions that arose in the spring. last April when “The senate’s priNATE TISA (SFS ’14), the university GUSA senate speaker ority is making sure announced that students have that barriers and checkpoints would a say over what happens on Georgebe set up on the front lawn to limit town Day. No matter what we have to disruptions from intoxicated stu- do to make that happen — whether dents. it’s a GUSA committee or a university Because of students’ negative reac- committee that GUSA helps modertions — anonymous students even cre- ate,” he said. ated an alternative event to avoid the The Student Activities Commisrestrictions — the university did not sion is also considering involvement implement the barriers. in Georgetown Day planning. Last Last year, the event also lacked ac- year, the commission reserved $2,000 tivities because the committee did from the ad-hoc fund to enable SAC not form until one month before the supported clubs to organize events event. According to Tisa, the commit- during the day, according to SAC Vice tee only had 40 days to plan the event. Chair Jennifer Chiang (SFS ’15).

“You have to reserve performers, “If they want [SAC] to get involved, face painting and slides in advance, we certainly welcome it and will defiand the earlier you do it, the cheap- nitely consider it as a commission,” er it is,” Tisa said. “Because it was so SAC Chair Jack Appelbaum (COL ’14) late, [the committee] couldn’t reserve said. them at a price they could afford.

Tisa said he believes that this adGUSA tried to supplement their fund- vanced planning will lead to a better ing at the very end, but that wasn’t Georgetown Day. enough.”

“I’m thrilled to see that the comBrody said Thursday’s meeting was mittee’s starting early, and I think the a crucial first step in the planning collaborative effort will produce the process. desired results,” Tisa said.

Special to The Hoya

COURTESY ASSJED HUSSAIN

The project managers for Georgetown’s branch of One World Youth Project traveled to a mountain village in Kosovo for an OWYP conference. this one city.”

But students’ insularity can sometimes slow down the teaching process.

“In the process of breaking [the material] down for the students, we have to go a little slower, so we don’t always follow the timeline that OWYP gives us,” Project Ambassador Camille Squires (COL ’15) said. “Getting them to understand that Turkey is halfway around the world and is a place — not a food dish — definitely takes time.”

Scheduling conflicts also arose this semester; the sixth grade teachers have to plan their lessons and simultaneously coordinate OWYP classes.

On the other hand, some Georgetown students had to leave the program. This semester alone, the program dropped from 15 to nine members because of commitment conflicts.

Stephanie Zhou (SFS ’15) became a project ambassador last spring but left the program this fall because it conflicted with other extracurriculars.

“I think it’s an excellent program, [but] in terms of curriculum, it is being ironed out,” Zhou said. “What’s unique about it is a lot of the curriculum; how it’s taught is based on how it’s interpreted by the individual peer project ambassadors. That’s really cool, but it also adds to the time commitment for the individuals projects.”

Hussain was not deterred by the decline in membership.

“We over-recruited because we knew that people would drop out,” Hussain said. “It is kind of a big commitment, and people don’t realize that originally.”

Georgetown’s OWYP branch aims to expand the program from six to 15 universities next year in order to begin a partnership with South Africa and India.

Hussain said he also hopes to expand Georgetown’s program to include seventh and eighth grade students. However, accomplishing this goal, will require additional committed project ambassadors.

“It would be like a three-year program. … It’s definitely a long-term goal,” he said.

News

friday, november 9, 2012

THE HOYA

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Incumbents Dominate GU Students Turn to Dance In Local Elections Caitlin Casey

Special to The Hoya

ELECTION, from A1 friend who texted me the final numbers from the printout tape with vote totals that the Board of Elections posts on the door of the polling place,” he said.

Cassey had to wait longer to hear about his election results and split his night between following the presidential race and checking on his own.

“I spent the first half of the night watching the national results in Sellinger Lounge with the College Democrats and [checking] on the website where they post the ANC results,” he said. “I kept refreshing the page.”

Though the elections were uncontested, voter turnout was higher than in previous years. Prindiville received 61 votes, a number that does not include provisional ballots from voters who registered on Election Day. The total number of votes Prindiville and Cassey received will not be known until the election results have been certified Monday.

Nonetheless, Prindiville’s 61 votes mark a dramatic increase over the nine votes that propelled outgoing student commissioner Jake Sticka (COL ’13), who also ran uncontested, to victory in 2010. Aaron Golds (COL ’11) won an uncontested election with 48 votes in 2008. The last student commissioner to receive as many as Prindiville was Brett Clements (COL ’07), who tallied 96 in 2004.

The increased turnout led to shortages in ballots at the local polling place, forcing many same-day registered voters to cast provisional ballots, according to Prindiville.

“So many voters came to register and vote in my district on Tuesday that the Board of Elections ran out of ballots on two separate occasions,” Prindiville said. “This shows that students care about local politics, and I’m happy that they had the chance to make their voices heard at the polls.”

Prindville attributed the high turnout in part to his own get-out-the vote efforts.

“I was in contact with every single registered voter in my district … sending e-mails, mailing letters and knocking on doors,” he said. “I also stood outside the polls for six hours greeting voters and asking for their support.”

Although Prindiville and Cassey’s elections mark a significant shift for student representation locally, the remainder of the D.C. government looks much the same as it did before Nov. 6.

Incumbent Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) retained the seat she has held in the United States House of Repre-

ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Strong student voter turnout Tuesday contributed to long lines at their polling place, Duke Ellington School of the Arts. sentatives since 1991, winning 89 percent of the vote. With a total of 206,664 votes, Norton defeated challenger Bruce Majors, who received only 6 percent of the vote.

However, Norton’s share of the popular vote was lower than in 2008, when she won with 92.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who has held his seat on the D.C. Council since 1991, ran unchallenged and garnered 97 percent of the vote. Evans’ ward includes Georgetown, and he emerged as a supporter of the university’s neighbors in the battle over the 2010 Campus Plan.

The biggest change in the make-up of the D.C. Council was the removal of independent Councilmember Michael A. Brown in favor of challenger David Grosso (LAW ’01), also an independent. Both ran in the at-large council race, in which the two candidates with the most votes gained seats. Grosso and Brown received 21 percent and 15 percent of the vote, respectively. Both independents fell far behind Democratic incumbent Vincent Orange, who carried 37 percent of the vote in the seven-person race.

From breakdancing on the Hoya Break Squad to performing a fusion of Irish and South Asian dance styles on the Irish Step team, there is no shortage of opportunities to dance at Georgetown.

“I love the people, the swag, the style,” Groove Theory member Nancy Hinojos (SFS ’15) said. “Both the dancers and the audience share in the energy, the hype, the adrenaline rush.”

Though the university has no academic programs for dance, it is home to a wide array of student-run dance companies.

Membership in some groups, like Groove Theory and the Georgetown University Dance Company, requires students to undergo a rigorous audition process. Kelly Kimball (NHS ’16) has been dancing for 16 years and was overjoyed to become a part of Groove Theory after more than a week of strenuous auditions “I absolutely love hip-hop dancing and have been dancing since I was 2, so dance has always been a huge part of my life,” Kimball said. “I knew that dance was something that I definitely wanted to continue in college.”

But not all groups require such dance expertise. Jacob Arber (SFS ’14) had never danced before coming to the Hilltop and joined the Georgetown University Ballroom Dance Team on a whim. Now, he’s the group’s president.

“I first became involved because I thought ballroom would be a fun and unique activity to try out,” he said. “I’d never danced before and wanted to learn how since I think it’s a useful skill” Members’ reasons for joining dance groups are as diverse as their backgrounds.

“Many of the members in the Hoya Break Squad join because they want to explore a uniquely dynamic culture that is a blend of physical skill, musicality and individuality,” Hoya Break Squad member

Davisson Han (MSB ’13) said.

“Others come to hang out with their friends and learn cool moves to show off at parties.

Whatever the reason, our end goal is to have a good time doing what we do.”

Although some members are involved in competitions, Han said that the squad, which is composed of nine performing members, promotes breakdancing culture in a welcoming environment.

“Simply put, we’re here to dance,” Han said.

Black Movements Dance Theatre has a similar attitude toward recruitment, with a focus on dedication and passion.

“We move with our bodies but dance with our souls,” said Bernadette Nelson (SFS ’14), codirector and publicity coordinator for BMDT. “We want to find members whose passion for dance is reflected by how they move.”

BMDT is a noncompetitive group that seeks to portray the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Georgetown community by expressing black traditions, values and experiences, according to Nelson. The group incorporates performances by spoken-word artists Vivian Ojo (SFS ’14) and Toby Campion (COL ’13).

While BMDT has had a strong presence at Georgetown for over 30 years, new dance groups have emerged on campus in recent years. Currently in its third semester, Dynami, the Greek dance troupe, has showcased the talents of its 16 members. The group was featured in an episode of D.C. Cupcakes on The Learning Channel and has performed at the French and Greek embassies.

Dynami member Andrew Theodotou (MSB ’14) said that the group has doubled its membership this year and has benefited from funding secured by the Student Activities Commission.

“Initially, we only had eight members and no funding or costumes,” he said. “SAC has been very accommodating to fund our costume purchases and travel expenses. It’s

opened up some excellent opportunities for us since we can perform for free.”

But Dynami still lacks the resources to participate in competitions — a problem that Theodotou said puts a damper on growth.

“We don’t have the resources to achieve such authenticity as would be required to be successful at competitions,” Theodotou said. “But our group is far more motivated by camaraderie and personal expression than just the idea of winning a competition.”

Theodotou added that increasing practice space availability would help smaller groups expand their on-campus presence.

Irish Step Team member Catherine Razeto (COL ’13) agreed.

“Irish dancing is supposed to be done on hardwood floors, but that is not available to us on campus,” Razeto said.

The team currently shares space with other dance groups at Riverside Lounge, which houses dance practice areas.

Rangila, an annual cultural show and fundraiser for the Asha Kendra Hope Center in India, is perhaps the university’s biggest showcase of campus talent. More than 400 dancers appeared in Rangila last year, and participating groups ranged from the Irish Step Team to GU Jawani.

Theodotou said he sees room to expand on events like Rangila.

“We should have a single event dedicated entirely to cultural performing groups of all varieties,” Theodotou said. “An event like this would give yearround groups the opportunity to perform side by side.”

But for members of the Hoya Break Squad, raising awareness is a simple matter of holding practices in public.

“For Georgetown as a community, I believe that the best way to promote a group is to show what it’s about when people aren’t expecting it. When something spontaneous happens, people might discover they’re interested,” Han said.

Speechwriting Group Takes Off Ted Murphy

Hoya Staff Writer

Max Harris (COL ’15) returned to campus this fall hoping to find an internship as a speechwriter in the D.C. area.

But when he never got a job offer, he decided to create one of his own, partnering with six other students to form the Georgetown Speechwriting Advisory Group.

GSWAG is a student organization dedicated to writing speeches for university administrators, local politicians and think tanks. Formally founded this October, the club has expanded to include a sevenmember executive board and 26 regular members.

The members of the group meet every two weeks. They receive speechwriting requests through the club’s website and the marketing and communications team.

This semester, the club leaders aim to increase awareness about and involvement in the group.

“We just want people to know who we are, what we do, what we can offer,” Harris said.

Harris said GSWAG aims to form partnerships with a wide range of individuals and institutions in the Georgetown and D.C. area. The group does not charge for its services, and GSWAG members are required to sign a confidentiality agreement that says members will not reveal their employers or the content of their speeches.

“We work to ensure that our work and our clients are kept confidential,” Harris said.

“Confidentiality is a critical component to our club’s success, so we take it very seriously.”

Although these agreements prevent members from discussing the specifics of their work, Harris said that the group has already written at least one introductory remark for a university administrator and is currently working on another similar project.

According to GSWAG Vice

President Will Simons (COL ’16), the group aims to shift its attention beyond the university’s gates soon.

“Off campus is really going to be the main focus going forward,” Simons said. “We really want to target small nonprofits, lobbying firms, countylevel politicians and city-level politicians.”

Simons said he is confident that local institutions will be more interested in working with the organization, though none of the members have much formal experience with speechwriting.

“People are interested in using college students,” he said.

“We think of it more as a collaboration process than them hiring us. … It’s a learning process throughout while we are working with our clients.

We want our clients to receive high-quality work, but we are also going to be learning while we do it.”

Christian Chung (SFS ’15), GSWAG’s director of speechwriting, is one of the few members who can boast formal experience in the field: He interned for Caerus Associates, an international development company, from May 2011 to May 2012 and wrote the CEO’s keynote address for a business conference.

“The first keynote address was challenging and a bit complicated because of the topic and the sensitive nature of characteristics within it, but after working through the drafting process and learning the elements of speechwriting — like writing in the voice of the principal with the audience in mind as opposed to just composing a speech of facts — and after the help of my coworkers in editing, I enjoyed it and continued to work with the CEO to draft remarks and other written products during the rest of my time there,” Chung said.

In order to develop members’ speechwriting abilities, the club is in the process of organizing workshops that will be led by professional speech-

writers. According to Harris, the first guest speaker is a speechwriter from the Obama Administration whose name cannot be released because of the confidentiality agreement.

“Guest speakers are a way for our club members to hear about professionals’ past experiences and receive career advice,” Harris wrote in an email.

“Writing workshops are more geared toward honing in on specific writing skills and improving our writers’ abilities.

Writing workshops and guest speaker events are open to club members only.

Through the workshops, the club will begin to accomplish its goal of establishing working relationships with Georgetown administrators and off-campus organizations.

“One of the pulls for me, personally, is getting to make all these cool connections,” Simons said.

In addition, Simons indicated that he hoped the Georgetown University Student Association will take advantage of GSWAG’s services.

“We’ve contacted GUSA, and we’re going to try and develop a relationship with them,” Simons said. “We’re hoping that we can write debate prep for them, speeches [and] talking points for senate meetings.”

Simons said that the GUSA members he spoke to about this collaboration were receptive to the idea.

“In terms of speeches, on the rare occasions when anyone in GUSA gives one, they are handled internally,” Jake Sticka (COL ’13), GUSA chief of staff, wrote in an email. “That said, the GUSA executive would be happy to work with GSWAG just as it is with any other new and developing group.”

However, former GUSA Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Stoller (COL ’08) disagreed.

“The day a GUSA presidential candidate or senator enlists a speechwriter for help is the day I burn all my ‘West Wing’ DVDs and cry silently in a corner somewhere,” he said.

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THE HOYA

friday, november 9, 2012

Male Students Fight Stereotypes MEN, from A1 facing this social burden. At the School of Nursing and Health Studies, where only 117 of the 602 students are male, men often feel the need to refute the notion that they are less masculine than their counterparts in other schools.

“All of my friends and my brother, who’s in the NHS, call me a nurse,” Aziz Saqr (NHS ’16) said. “It has a feminine connotation, and it shouldn’t.”

Dale Batoon (NHS ’13), who is one of two male nursing majors in his class, said that he also combats assumptions about his sexuality.

“There’s also a stereotype, not nursing students in particular, but in male nurses, that a male nurse is going to be gay. I don’t know where people have gotten that,” he said.

DeLoatch rejects the idea that cheerleading is exclusively the realm of women and gay men.

Though DeLoatch is gay, he said that most male cheerleaders tend not to be.

“In general when it comes to cheer, the guys [who] are in cheer are not gay,” he said. “I think the reason … is because of what you’re doing. You’re literally touching girls all day. ... There’s nothing gay about being a cheerleader at all.”

Thompson added that a lot of stereotypes about men in major-

ity-female activities are outdated.

“If you watch TV shows like ‘America’s Best Dance Crew,’ there [are] definitely way more guys than girls,” he said. “It’s becoming more natural for guys to actually dance.”

Many men have found the university to be a supportive environment where they can pursue their interests, regardless of whether they fit into gender stereotypes.

“People often have a difficult time when they go off to college fitting in and finding their niche,” DeLoatch said. “The thing that I love about Georgetown and being a Georgetown student is that it’s literally the place where you come to be yourself. You find out who you are at Georgetown, and you can be that person without judgment, without issue.”

DeLoatch said that his status as the only male cheerleader has granted him a level of recognition on campus and that students from different backgrounds have encouraged him.

“I’ve even met guys who are vets, who are the macho of the macho-est, and I tell them that I’m a cheerleader, and they think it’s awesome,” he said.

Thompson said he has had similar feedback from Georgetown students, although his athletic experience in high school has impacted how his friends perceive him.

“Some of my friends back home joke about it because

they know me as someone who ran track or someone who did sports,” he said. “Here, most of the time a lot of people think it’s really cool.”

Although he feels comfortable on Groove Theory, Thompson said there are drawbacks that come with his situation.

“I feel like I’m the punching bag on the team, but not in a mean way — in a joking way,” Thompson said, smiling.

According to DeLoatch, being Georgetown’s lone male cheerleader carries with it a mixed bag of consequences.

“I like it because I get to do things differently. I don’t have to worry about matching up with another guy and doing the same things that the other guys do.

I have more independence,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t like it because there are times when you want to bro out and you don’t have any other guys on the team.”

DeLoatch believes that being a male cheerleader or a male member of a predominantly female organization is a matter of finding the courage to pursue one’s interests.

“Don’t be so defined by what it is that you think that you should be doing because of your sex. Do what you want to do and be happy and have a good time.”

Special to The Hoya Tia Baheri contributed to this report.

Airport Authority Investigated Abbey McNaughton Hoya Staff Writer

The authority that manages Washington, D.C., airports was condemned for corrupt contracting and hiring practices in a report released Nov. 1 by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to the report, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has awarded a disproportionately high number of contacts in an uncompetitive fashion in recent years.

The authority failed to facilitate appropriate competition for almost two-thirds of high-value contracts for legal, financial and other services it awarded between January 2009 and June 2011. The inspector general’s report said that these practices lack accountability and are in violation of MWAA’s own Airports Act, which mandates a series of best practices for contracting and hiring processes.

“While the criticisms and issues raised have been unpleasant to hear — and will require hard work to address — we appreciate their interest and guidance, and we know they share our goal of making the airports authority a better organization,” Michael Curto, MWAA chairman, stated at a Nov. 1 news conference.

The MWAA operates both Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, as well as the Dulles Toll Road that links the airport to the city.

In addition, the inspector general’s office found that many new employees did not have appropriate background

checks, allowing employees with known criminal offenses to work in management positions for over a year.

The report further criticized the authority for hiring nonstudent employees as student interns to bypass required screening. Additionally, MWAA Vice President of Human Resources Arl B. Williams was found to have secured top positions for his relatives, including one who failed an MWAA background check.

The report also claims that George R. Ellis, MWAA vice president for information and telecommunications systems, and his staff have received 46 gifts worth a total of $12,000.

The report also showed that contractors started working before their contracts were approved at least 17 times in the same period of investigation.

The infractions cited in the report, however, are not new problems for the MWAA. A federal report in March 2002 and an interim report in May 2012 also cited issues with hiring and contracting in the authority.

In addition, The Washington Post reported Oct. 25 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe into the authority’s practices related to its oversight of the $5.6 billion Dulles Corridor Rail Project, an addition to the D.C. Metro Network intended to link the airport with the District by 2016.

While the November report acknowledged that MWAA has begun to make progress on the malpractice identified in the May interim report, it stressed that several problems remain outstanding.

Kimberly Gibbs, MWAA assistant media relations manager, emphasized the company’s focus on the current violations rather than how past violations have affected the company.

“We’re focused on the current report and implementing its recommendations,” she said.

Curto added in the press conference that the organization has already begun to address the problems identified in the May interim report.

According to Gibbs, the new initiatives include changes to MWAA’s bylaws, freedom of information policy, travel policy and code of ethics.

“The new policy bars directors and members of their families from being employed by, or having contracts with, the authority during their terms and for two years thereafter.

In addition, it expands the financial disclosures to be made annually by directors and employees, strengthens the rules against nepotism, tightens the rules relating to the solicitation and acceptance of gifts and defines the obligations of directors and employees when faced with conflicts of interests,” a Nov. 1 WMAA press release stated.

Gibbs also recognized the impact of the report on public opinion of the authority.

“We will use this report as a tool in expanding and enhancing our work to increase transparency, strengthen governance and build renewed public trust,” she said. “We take all the issues and concerns cited in the report very seriously and will respond to all of the report’s recommendations.”

Corp Reviewing Card Options CORP, from A1 structure we want and how to have the appropriate rewards program that will be compatible with both grocery and coffee,” Khatri said. “There are just some great ideas that are being hotly contested right now.”

The Corp researched other companies’ customer loyalty cards during the development process and will convene two blind test groups next week to examine the merits of a variety of options under consideration.

“Some have club pricing, point rewards programs. We’re really looking to combine a lot of different things into something that will work best for our campus,” Khatri said. “We want to test brand awareness, usability and our own IT systems. … Especially on the IT side, we want to know exactly how much is possible.”

Khatri added that the new card system will allow The

Corp to collect individual consumer data.

“With the card, we can track individual trends. For example, if one customer only shops at Vittles, why doesn’t he go to our coffee locations? Should we increase our promotions to raise awareness that our coffee shops sell things besides just coffee?” he said. “And we can also better serve our students and tailor our promotions and advertisements to them, such as providing more coupons so that Darnall Hall residents will go to Hoya Snaxa.”

Khatri added that students will be offered flexibility in how they can use the benefits attached to their cards.

“Ideally, you can accumulate points and you can either keep the rewards or you can donate the reward points to philanthropy or various organizations,” he said.

Students were receptive to the possibility of a customer

loyalty card.

“I really like the idea of a loyalty reward card or a discount card at Corp locations,” Christina Wing (MSB ’16) said.

“It’s definitely an incentive to choose Corp locations over other places, since many of the other coffee shops do not have loyalty reward cards.”

Alex Barnes (SFS ’16) also recognized the rationale for the card but said it would not increase his expenditures at Corp locations.

“I think it’s a great idea for the students because The Corp will become a more attractive option for basic grocery shopping,” he said. “I don’t know how much it’ll help The Corp, though, because I don’t intend to spend any more than my $100 Flex Dollars [on Corp products] this semester. … I wouldn’t spend any more money at The Corp under any loyalty card program, but I can see why other students might.”

GABRIELLA DOUCAS/THE HOYA

The solar panel installation was only one of several initiatives undertaken by the university and student groups to reduce Georgetown’s carbon footprint.

Upping Sustainability A Campus-Wide Effort SUSTAINABILITY, from A1 concrete strategies and goals for sustainability initiatives.

Instead, the university is following recommendations outlined in last year’s Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown study, which looked into the ways the university could become more sustainable in the immediate and long-term future.

The study, prepared for a Hoya Roundtable on sustainability in spring 2012, was conceived at the Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown workshop last fall, in which 50 Georgetown students and administrators met in small focus groups to discuss possible solutions to Georgetown’s sustainability issues.

Many of the solutions recommended by the study have already been implemented.

The recommendation to reduce the amount of Grab ’n’ Go packaging resulted in the new “baggie” system and the provision of reusable water bottles by the dining hall for all students on a meal plan.

Additionally, water bottle fill stations have been added to high-traffic areas of campus, such as Sellinger Lounge and the third floor of Lauinger Library.

The majority of New Student Orientation announcements have also gone paperless, and Georgetown University Transportation Shuttles now run on biodiesel fuel.

Student groups have been pivotal to the success of many of these initiatives.

Georgetown University Student Association employed its own subcommittee on sustainability, in addition to working closely with other student groups, including EcoAction, Students of Georgetown Inc., GU Farmer’s Market, Outdoor Education and Georgetown Energy, to move its environmental agenda forward.

Georgetown Energy, a student-run nonprofit group independent of the university, worked with GUSA last year on Student Activities Fee Endowment reform, part of which provided $250,000 for the installation of solar panels on 43 off-campus townhouses.

The panels, the installment of which was delayed due to legal complications, will debut in early December on the roofs of seven off-campus townhouses.

“There were contract details with the university and [supplier] SolarCity that had to be resolved,” Dan Mathis (SFS ’13), executive board member of Georgetown Energy, said. “We were negotiating minute details regarding rights to the panels and to the rooftops. … SolarCity is publicly traded, so any changes have to be approved by all of their traders, and we were trying to be compliant with what the university wants. It was a back-and-forth.”

Meanwhile, construction of panels on 36 additional townhouses has been delayed indefinitely by the university, partly because of the structure of the houses.

“The way the solar panels fitting works, there is a new clamp that fits on the seams of the roof. This only works with certain types of roofs. The houses we are outfitting had those types of roofs. If you don’t have that type, you must drill into the roof for a mount. The other houses either had older roofs where drilling would cause major damage, the roofs couldn’t bear the load or the data wasn’t known on the roof material,” Mathis said.

Instead, the $200,000 set aside for the remaining 36 townhouses will be channeled into the newly created Green Revolving Loan Fund, operated by the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund, to give grants to students with environmentally conscious ideas.

Mathis considers the installation of solar panels on buildings across campus a long-term goal.

“Because Georgetown is such a huge consumer of power, we get a reduced rate from our energy supplier, Pepco. Unfortunately, this reduced rate is still lower than the rate provided by solar energy, so that’s definitely something we’re working on,” Mathis said.

GUSA recently collaborated with EcoAction, an environmental awareness group on campus, to conduct an audit of the uni-

versity’s recycling processes.

“As we suspected, there is significant lack of labeling for recycling receptacles across campus. However, many of the issues are pretty simple to be fixed and changes are likely to be made,” said Erin Auel (COL ’14), GUSA’s secretary of sustainability.

EcoAction also worked with the Georgetown Conservation Corps to hold their annual recycling drive last weekend.

Meanwhile, Students of Georgetown, Inc.’s Green Team — a committee that aims to improve the university’s sustainability through environmental, social and economic avenues — released its first sustainability report last year. Chief among the report’s recommendations were that The Corp incorporate environmental awareness in employee training, award contracts to vendors based on their environmental record and review its recycling mechanisms.

Since then, both Uncommon Grounds and More Uncommon Grounds have implemented soda siphons for carbonated water, saving about 400 pounds of plastic annually. The Corp is also working to make its payroll system paperless and has begun incorporating sustainability into its training workshops.

According to Green Team Director Katie Courtin (SFS ’13), The Corp is also working on more inventive sustainability initiatives, such as donating coffee grounds to an alum to be composted and used as fertilizer.

“We did trial runs of this last semester and hope to continue the program and implement it fully this year,” she said.

Across the board, environmental groups stressed the need for engaging the Georgetown campus in the importance of sustainability.

“Students are the ones that can drive the administration,” Park said. “If we succeed in cultivating more environmental awareness and activism, I believe that this fervor and persistence will have a greater impact in activating the [administration] and pushing them to make change faster.”

Courtin sees the little changes — like granting a 25-cent discount to customers for bringing in their own mug at Corp coffee locations — as central to creating a more sustainable campus.

“Given that The Corp is so central to campus life, efforts like these become very visible, and I would like to believe they therefore encourage Georgetown students that it’s cool to be environmentally friendly,” Courtin said.

Biology professor Matthew Hamilton, who will be heading up the Georgetown Environmental Initiative, lauded student involvement in sustainability efforts but stressed that faculty have an important role as well.

“I think that students have been leading the charge [for sustainability] through some of the environmental student groups on campus,” Hamilton said. “We as the faculty are looking for ways to engage in some of those same themes and ideas. We … want to develop a curriculum that lets students study in different fields that are relevant to the environment.”

Hamilton added that the initiative has a strategic plan in place to support student scholarships, curriculum development and new majors and minors related to environmental sustainability.

Auel expressed optimism that the $20 million influx will bring a culture of substantive change for environmental issues on campus.

“We hope to work with the administration to identify priority projects that will allow us to move forward on bringing Georgetown up to speed with peer institutions,” she said.

Hamilton added that an environmentally conscious curriculum is of particular importance to Georgetown, as an institution with Jesuit values.

“When we think about environment and sustainability, [they] go hand in hand with Jesuit ideals,” he said. “[They] have us stop and put into context our own lifestyles and choices, how we consume energy and interact with out environment. It’s part of an ethic.”

SPORTS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

SWIMMING & DIVING

THE HOYA

A7

THE BLEACHER SEATS

GU Heads to Jersey Jags Owner Blazes New Trail After Cancelled Meet I CALVIN AUBREY

Special to The Hoya

The Georgetown men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will square off against Lehigh, The College of New Jersey and Princeton in a quad meet today and tomorrow in the team’s first competition since its Oct. 20 meet against Towson.

The Big East quad meet against Connecticut, Villanova and Rutgers, which was supposed to occur last weekend, was cancelled because of inclement weather caused by Hurricane Sandy.

While the Towson meet resulted in losses on both the men’s and women’s sides, Head Coach Jamie Holder still felt that the team put up a strong performance.

“I thought [the Towson meet] was good,” Holder said. “I thought we swam pretty well — better than the week before — and that’s what we were looking for.”

The team looks to continue its trajectory of improvement in the upcoming quad meet because a good performance will be needed to compete with a tough Princeton team.

The hurricane gave the Blue and Gray a little extra time to prepare for this big meet, which Holder sees as an advantage.

“We lost an opportunity to race, but it was more of a blessing in disguise,” he said. “Three weeks in a row of having meets is a lot. We were able to stay here and train a little bit [and] got some good races in during practice.”

The team looks to be strongest in the longer events, such as the 200-yard backstroke, 1000-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle for the men’s team and the 500 free and 200 back on the women’s side.

Sophomore Michael Ng and freshman Jack Meuhlhueser took first and second, respectively, in the 200 back during the Towson meet, and both

posted times faster than those of both Lehigh’s and TCNJ’s best backstrokers in their last meets. For the women, freshman Erin Timochenko finished second in the same event against Towson with a time that will closely contest the top backstroker from Lehigh.

For the 500 free, senior Paul Qunicy and freshman Austin Evenson placed second and fourth in the Towson meet with times of 4:40.94 and 4:47.72, respectively. Quincy’s time handily beats the 4:47.22 that Lehigh’s best freestyler swam in the last meet. Evenson, on the other hand, is set to face some close competition in this race; both Quincy and Evenson have TCNJ’s best swimmer — who finished in 4:53.62 in his last meet — beat in this event.

On the women’s side, freshman Nicole Tronolone and freshman Shannon McNulty took third and fourth in the 500 free with times of 5:11.41 and 5:17.46, respectively. Both look to compete against Lehigh’s top 500-yard freestyler, who posted a 5:10.71 in her last meet. The women and men are hoping for repeat wins in the 200-yard medley relay, as both sides took down the top Towson relay teams in this event and swam faster times than either Lehigh or TCNJ in their last meets.

Evenly matched with Lehigh and with a slight edge on TCNJ, the Hoyas come into the meet with high hopes for their strongest events. The team also hopes to compete in as many events as possible against Princeton, a team that is “a little bit ahead of us in terms of talent,” according to Holder.

Summing up his expectations for the meet, he said, “I think we should do pretty well in the distance events, and I think our mid-distance should be pretty strong as well, but overall, I’m just looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

The meet will begin at 6 p.m. today at Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool and will continue all day tomorrow.

n Tuesday’s issue of THE HOYA, columnist Matt Bell argued that the St. Louis Rams should move to London. If the Rams were to move anywhere, though, it is likely that owner Stan Kroenke would instead choose Los Angeles, as Kroenke has previously tried to buy baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and appears positioned to move his sports empire to L.A. However, another NFL owner — Shahid Khan — is fighting a tough battle to succeed in Jacksonville and is indeed looking overseas for an innovative solution.

When Shahid Khan came to America from Pakistan at the age of 16, he had no idea the path his life would take. He initially immigrated to study engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and subsequently worked his way onto Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest Americans by using his unrivaled work ethic and determination. After achieving success in business, he turned to a new venture: owning an NFL franchise.

In 2010, Khan attempted to purchase the St. Louis Rams — of all teams — but he was denied when Kroenke refused the move. Last year, he secured the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that never really caught on in its market and was struggling to find an identity after replacing its owner, head coach and quarterback before the 2012 season.

To say that Khan bought his way into a gigantic mess is an understatement. On the day the deal to bring professional football to Jacksonville was announced in 1993, The New York Times headline read “N.F.L. Expansion Surprise.”

The Jaguars have consistently struggled in their small market, with the management forced to cover up 10,000 seats in the stadium with a tarp in 2005 in order to make attendance appear more favorable.

Recently, the team signed on to play a regular season game in each of the

next four seasons in London, a city with almost eight times the population of Jacksonville.

Through eight games this year, the Jaguars sit at 1-7 and are unsurprisingly toward the bottom of the league in attendance figures.

After failed bids for Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning last summer, the Jags were forced to once again start Blaine Gabbert, an utterly forgettable quarterback who is untouched

Corey Blaine

Khan’s first job when he came to the United States was washing dishes. in over 95 percent of ESPN’s fantasy football leagues. Even their star player — running back Maurice Jones-Drew — is starting to see his performance diminish in his seventh season.

Against this backdrop, Khan is looking at creative ways to derive success with his franchise. The young owner has realized the NFL made a mistake in awarding Jacksonville a team in the ’90s when attractive markets like Portland and Los Angeles reamin without a team.

However, Khan knew this when he purchased the team and saw an opportunity amidst the struggles. A shrewd businessman, he undoubtedly recognizes that he either must improve within his current market or move to another.

In the team’s nearly 20-year histo-

ry, they have failed to find success in northeastern Florida. Another way to increase the Jags success — purchasing highly priced free agents to attract fans — would likely be a financial mistake, as large contracts often fail to pan out. Rather than working within the market to draw in more fans or to splurge on highpriced free agents, Khan is thinking outside the box to create a lasting presence in London with his team’s four-game contract.

Even if the Jaguars eventually stay in Florida, contracting to play overseas for four consecutive seasons has at least opened a new market.

Rather than fans saying, “The NFL is back this week,” they may be saying, “The Jags are back,” and they are hopefully even cheering for the team when it plays in Jacksonville as well. For a team that ranks poorly in website visits, adding fans from another country is a great idea.

Khan’s first job when he came to the United States was washing dishes for $1.20 an hour. Now, he sees a great opportunity to spread his fan base across two continents with the Jaguars where many saw only a failed NFL franchise. The transformation from making that tiny wage to operating a professional football team on two continents is certainly a story you’d think only Hollywood could make up.

Considering the logistical nightmares of flying teams not located in New York across the Atlantic, moving an NFL franchise to London would be nearly impossible. If Khan plays his cards right, however, he could still expand his fan base overseas.

The Jags are currently a failure in Jacksonville, but the next few seasons could turn them into a rare success story in sports ownership.

Corey Blaine is a senior in the McDonough School of Business. THE BLEACHER SEATS appears every Friday.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Hoyas Look to Contain Boynton, Gators in Season Opener GATORS, from A10 in San Diego last November in the inaugural “battleship game,” which was attended by President Obama and considered a resounding success.

Playing outdoors and at sea presents some unique challenges, though, as the Spartans and Tar Heels discovered when condensation on court decals caused several players to slip. While that particular issue will likely be addressed this year, chilly air — the Weather Channel is projecting a low of 42 degrees in mainland Jacksonville — and slight wind will still likely play a factor in tonight’s game.

Apparently, it takes more than a little cold to scare Thompson III and the Hoyas.

“It could be chilly,” Thompson III said.

“They’re kids. They’re used to it.”

Junior point guard Markel Starks agreed.

“I play outside a lot during the offseason, so it’s going to be more of a homecoming for me,” he said.

Despite their high ranking, the Gators are limping into the much-hyped showdown. Head Coach Billy Donovan indefinitely suspended starting junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin yesterday for undisclosed reasons, and junior swingman Casey Prather is out with a concussion sustained earlier this week. Add in last month’s departure of troubled forward Cody Larson, and Donovan is looking at a thin roster.

“This throws a wrench [into our plans],” Donovan told ESPN. “We’ve got to do some things in practice to make some adjustments going into this game. You’ve taken three veterans players off of our team. Instead of having eight guys, you’re really down to five. Our freshmen are going to get a chance to play.”

Still, Florida is not to be taken lightly, as the senior duo of 6-foot-9 center Patric Young and 6-foot-10 forward Erik Murphy are likely to pose problems in the frontcourt. Young is a force of nature on the low block, and Murphy can stretch the floor with his agility and smooth jumper.

“We hope the elements get to him,” Thompson III joked when asked about Young. “He’s terrific,

and they do a great job of spacing so that it’s hard to crowd him, hard to double.”

That’s a lot to ask of a young and undersized frontline, but the Hoyas are more prepared than most teams.

Sophomore Mikael Hopkins, who will make his first start at center, played against Young at USA Basketball tryouts, while junior power forward Nate Lubick and Murphy were high school teammates.

“He’s a real physical guy, a big kid,” Hopkins said of Young. “But I’m ready to go against him.”

Experience can only go so far, though, in the face of superior offensive talent. Look for Thompson III to employ more of the 2-3 zone defense that frustrated so many teams last

do. I’m going to go out there and have to defend, and he’ll have to do the same.”

Starks will run the show once again in Thompson III’s Princeton offense. But according to the thirdyear floor general, fans shouldn’t expect to see a strictly halfcourt offense.

“Especially when we get it off rebounds, we can push,” Starks said.

“The coaches emphasize to me every day, ‘You don’t have to necessarily get the ball in transition. You just run.’”

Both Starks and Thompson III refused to give a straight answer when asked about the starting five. Starks did mention that it featured “a lot of size, a lot of length,” which suggests that 6-foot-8 sophomore Greg Whittington has earned the starting two-guard spot. Sophomore guard Jabril Trawick will likely see heavy minutes off the bench as well, lending even more raw athleticism to an already dangerous full-court attack.

At the end of the day, Georgetown’s biggest Achilles’ heel — as perceived by fans and analysts, at least — is its lack of a dominant scorer. All eyes are on sophomore forward and offensive rebound vacuum Otto Porter to take on this role against a Florida team that struggled at times on the defensive glass.

“He was so good last year, and he’s improved in every area of the game, which is pretty important for us,” Lubick said.

“He’s going to be somebody who puts the ball in the hoop a lot for us.”

The Hoyas are undeniably focused on the matchup at hand — they’ve been preparing for Florida for a week and a half, according to Lubick — but Thompson III emphasized the importance of putting on a show for the U.S. troops in the stands.

“A game’s a game. You put all your energy into a game, and you try to block everything else out. But this is different,” he said. “Once the ball goes up in the air, we’re going to be as prepared as ever. ... But to have the opportunity to perform in front of our servicemen, in front of our sailors, [that is] something that we’re extremely honored to have.”

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. and the Junior point guard Markel Starks will have his hands full on defense game will be televised on the NBC covering Florida’s Kenny Boynton.

Sports Network.

Georgetown vs. Florida Where: USS Bataan, off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla. When: Tonight, 9 p.m.

TV arrangements: NBC Sports Network, with Tom Hammond on play by play, Stan Van Gundy providing color and Carolyn Manno on the sideline year in an effort to neutralize the Gators’ dangerous starting frontcourt.

Florida also returns its leading scorer in senior guard Kenny Boynton, a 6-foot-2 speedster who shot better than 40 percent from long range last season. Boynton will be asked to move over to the point in Wilbekin’s absence, and Georgetown returns more defensive experience on the perimeter than it does inside — both factors that should make an offensive explosion from the veteran unlikely. But if Boynton does manage to catch fire, the Hoyas could find themselves in over their heads quickly.

In any case, Starks isn’t intimidated.

“He’s just a player,” he said. “Do I think he can play? Yeah, absolutely.

But he puts his pants on just like I

A8

Sports

THE HOYA

women’s soccer

friday, november 9, 2012

women’s basketball

Balance Key Against Hokies Brown Looks to Begin

GU Tenure With Victory

HOKIES, from A10 a game, while only allowing 0.60 goals a games, marks that ranks 23rd and 15th in the country, respectively.

On offense, the Hoyas are led by standout sophomore midfielder Daphne Corboz and junior forward Kaitlin Brenn. Corboz, the 2012 Big East offensive player of the year, has had a record-setting sophomore year in posting 41 points — eighth-most in the country — including a school-record 17 goals and in Big East play a leagueleading 27 points. Corboz is complemented in the team’s potent offense by Brenn, who was named to the all-Big East second team by tallying 27 points and leading the team with nine assists.

In recent games, though, junior midfielder Colleen Dinn has keyed the attack, scoring the lone goal against DePaul in the quarterfinals.

Nolan noted that she is sure to be an important factor in the coming games, as well.

“I can always count on [Dinn] — even when she is having a bad day, she doesn’t hide. She always wants the ball and is always trying to make something positive happen, and that is key,” Nolan said. “You get a lot of players who, in big games, don’t want the responsibility when they are playing poorly, but Colleen never hides.”

WNIT, from A10

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Senior defender Claire Magiola (10) has been a stalwart along the back line, starting 20 of Georgetown’s 21 games in 2012.

Georgetown’s defense, meanwhile, is equally as dominant as its offense.

Junior defender Emily Menges and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Emma Newins are vital parts of a Hoya defense that has posted a school-record thirteen shutouts. Menges, a leader on the back line, was recently named to the all-Big East first team and all-tournament team.

She is backed up by Newins, who’s been a steady force in goal all year and was recently voted to the all-Big

East second team. This season, Newins has posted a 0.58 goals-against average. More of the same will be needed on Sunday to keep the Hokies off the board.

“They have a very good attacking midfielder and two older senior forwards. The strength of their team is that they really are a team. They don’t have any weaknesses — goalkeeper all the way up,” Nolan said.

Georgetown will take on Virginia Tech Sunday in Blacksburg, Va. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

volleyball

Hoyas Drop Home Finale Will Edman

Hoya Staff Writer

Of the many words that can describe the Georgetown volleyball team this season, “clutch” is not one of them.

The Hoyas (7-20, 1-13 Big East) once again faded in a pressure situation Wednesday, dropping their final home match to Connecticut (18-11, 9-5 Big East) in four sets, 25-19, 27-29, 24-26, 19-25.

The game was a rematch for the Blue and Gray, who first lost to the Huskies in five sets in September. Despite that loss, Head Coach Arlisa Williams hoped before the match that a crack at Connecticut at home would provide a chance for Georgetown to grab its second biggest win.

But the Hoyas imploded in the third set, leading to another defeat.

“It was the same old story on a different day,” Williams said. “We played low-error volleyball in set one, but we didn’t do it in sets two, three and four, and it makes it really difficult because you give the other team confidence when you’re giving away points.”

Williams’ team spotted the Huskies an 11-5 lead in the first set but came roaring back due to several Connecticut errors.

The second set was tight and included 16 tie scores, but despite fending off three opposing set points, the Hoyas could not capitalize on their own and dropped the set, 29-27.

“We had set point in the second set, and we couldn’t win,” Williams said. “Everybody just thought, ‘Here we go again.’

That’s what it felt like when I went into the locker room.”

Despite the momentum shift, Georgetown coasted at the beginning of the third set, taking an 8-0 lead that Williams attributed to energy-boosting lineup changes.

The largest beneficiary of this change was freshman outside hitter Lauren Saar, who recorded all six of her kills and five of her 12 digs in the third set.

After the Hoyas took the early lead, the Huskies slowly closed the gap, but Georgetown still reached set point with a 24-21 lead. Right on cue, though, the Blue and Gray fell apart: they would lose four of the next five points on hitting errors — two each by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Elizabeth Riggins and redshirt junior right-side hitter Annalee Abell.

Georgetown then could not keep up in the fourth, as UCo-

“So we just spent two hours working on offense and what we’re doing. That’s probably the biggest adjustment.”

Tonight, the Blue and Gray play their opening-round game in the preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament — the first time it has participated in the event since 2001. The tournament features some of the best teams in the country, and Georgetown jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it.

“Because we play in the Big East, we wanted to make sure we continued playing very good teams in the WNIT so we could be prepared for Big East play,” Brown said. “So that was a major reason why we got in. It’s a prestigious tournament, and they asked us, so they consider us one of the more prestigious schools.”

Tonight, the Hoyas take on Sacred Heart, a team that coincidentally also fell prey to Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament — one round before the Blue and Gray were dispatched. Unlike in the tournament, Georgetown will be playing at home, where it was 10-4 last season.

“I feel really good about playing at home, especially your first game as a head coach and of the season,” Brown said. “I think they’re going to be a challenge to us. But if we defend, rebound and share the ball, I think we’ll be fine.”

After losing seven seniors to graduation and returning only two starters — senior center Sydney Wilson and preseason all-Big East senior guard Sugar Rodgers — most coaches would consider this a rebuilding season, but Brown expects to see execution from the opening tip.

“There’s two things that our team is probably known for,” Brown said. “We’re extremely organized, and we’re in shape. Because if we’re not organized, we’re going to run, so we’re going to get in shape. So those two things walk hand in hand, and if we can do those two things, I think we’ll be fine.”

Brown plans to run with an experienced starting lineup against the Pioneers, featuring Wilson and Rodgers, as well as junior guard Samisha Powell, junior forward Andrea White and sophomore forward Brittany Horne.

“But that’s always subject to change,” Brown said. “Like when I wake up in the morning.”

With seven departing players and only four incoming freshmen — though only three are

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior center Syndney Wilson (13) spent the summer improving her post moves and looks to step forward this season. available, considering that freshman guard Katie McCormick will miss the season with a knee injury — Brown will only have 10 players to choose from for the opener. He has experience with substitutions, however, as he managed the bench prior to this season under former Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy, now at Auburn.

“I’ve always kind of done it on gut feeling.

It’s not a set rotation,” Brown said. “Today might be your day, so I give everybody an opportunity.”

Brown will need some underclassmen to step up in order to give Rodgers some rest.

Even on last season’s deeper squad, the threetime All-American averaged 31 minutes per game, already a tough workload.

“One of the things about Sugar that’s great is that Sugar doesn’t want to come out anyway. She always wants to play, but we know it’s a long season,” Brown said. “We’re going to limit her minutes when we can. In games that we can’t, of course, she’s going to play 100[percent].”

A win tonight for the Hoyas would mean a second-round game Sunday, either playing host to Sam Houston State or visiting Delaware. The Blue and Gray are unranked to start the season but received votes in the AP poll.

Georgetown takes on Sacred Heart at McDonough Arena tonight at 7 p.m.

Basketball Preview 2012-2013 available TODAY.

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Georgetown’s lone senior, Lindsay Wise (13), will be playing her last collegiate game Sunday against USF. nn took an early lead and rode it to victory.

Sophomore middle blocker Dani White converted 16 kills to lead the Hoyas, while sophomore libero MacKenzie Simpson recorded 20 digs and junior setter Haley Lowrance added 40 assists.

The self-destruction at the end of the third set seemed like deja vu for the Hoyas, who once dropped five straight set points during one frame against Rutgers in September.

Williams recognized that the Hoyas must improve their play in pressure situations in order to win more games next season.

“It will come with experience, but we get to have spring training, which is an awesome time to work on those areas that we’re going to be deficient in,” Williams said. “We need to be mentally stronger so we can push through when we get really close in the end. And we’re going do some things with conditioning and lifting and training that are going [to] stress us mentally and allow us to be more proficient in that area.”

Before thinking about next season, however, the Blue and Gray must focus on its final match at South Florida Sunday. Due to Big East scheduling intricacies, Georgetown will have to travel to Tampa, Fla., to

play the Bulls for the second time this season.

On Oct. 14, the first time the two teams met, the Hoyas took the Bulls to five sets but could not pull out a victory.

Sunday also marks senior middle blocker Lindsay Wise’s final match. In her last home match on Wednesday, Wise recorded four kills and four blocks.

“Lindsay’s been a great blocker for us throughout her career,” Williams said. “She’s just a nurturing, good, workhard kind of person who’s extremely responsible and takes care of everything she needs to on and off the floor, and that example that she sets for us is one that will be missed.”

To give Wise a proper sendoff, the Hoyas hope that they can end their season on a good note. While wins have been hard to come by this season, Georgetown has proved that they can give a competitive match to any team, and USF is no exception.

“I think we just need to come out and believe in ourselves one last time because we’ve got all the skills we need to be successful,” Williams said. “We just need to come out and put it together one point at a time, from one to done. And if we can do that, that will be the difference between us winning and losing.”

sports

Friday, november 9, 2012

fresh out of philly

men’s soccer

Rematch With Golden Eagles Stands in Way of Finals MARQUETTE, from A10 Brotherly Love also presents a shorter trip for the Hoyas, who constitute something of a de facto home team considering the number of Philadelphia-area players on their roster.

Potential advantages notwithstanding, Head Coach Brian Wiese was pleased with the conference’s ability to reschedule so effectively in such a short amount of time.

“The Big East has done a very impressive job.

The fact that we get told we’re not able to play at Red Bull less than a week before the tournament starts and now we’re playing at PPL Park — that’s a tribute to the Big East offices,” Wiese said. “Where the league is prioritizing soccer as one of its marquee sports is great.”

With the league taking care of the details, No. 4 Georgetown (16-2-1, 6-2-0 Big East) will be free to focus on its semifinal matchup today with No. 10 Marquette (16-2-1, 5-2-1). Each of the remaining teams hails from the Blue Division, but the Golden Eagles — coming off of a 3-0 thrashing of Cincinnati and a 2-1 win at No. 16 Louisville — are the only one of the four that had to play two games to reach the semis.

Shortly after back-to-back losses to fellow semifinalists UConn and Notre Dame, the Hoyas previously defeated then-No. 4 Marquette at North Kehoe Field on Oct. 13 to get themselves back on track. Junior forward Steve Neumann supplied an assist and the game-winning goal in that game to give his side a resume-boosting and confidence-restoring win.

The challenge now will be repeating that feat on a neutral site.

“I think we’ve done our homework,” freshman right back and Philadelphia Union Academy product Keegan Rosenberry said. “All we can do [now] is control the things that we can handle, and hopefully doing all that stuff is going to help us get as prepared as possible going into the game.”

A like-minded Wiese explained that he doesn’t foresee many surprises out of the quartet of top-10 squads in action at PPL this weekend.

“All four teams are hugely successful, so you’re not going to get a team that’s trying to reinvent itself,” he said. “All of the teams are doing stuff that’s working, so the first night, the teams will [say], ‘Well, we’re going to line up and do what we do.’ And the other team’s going to line up and do what they do, and you

just hope that you’re better on the day and you can minimize the strengths of the other team.”

Having beaten No. 17 St. John’s, 2-1, in a gutsy performance at home its last time out, the Blue and Gray should not be lacking in confidence. With the remaining teams boasting a combined 34 -1-2 out-of-conference record, however, Georgetown is sure to have a tough assignment.

“We expect [Marquette] to be a hard-nosed, physical team, and we expect them to give us a good game,” Riemer said. “But I think we can take them.”

When asked what they’d been emphasizing in practice before departing yesterday, he continued, “We’ve been really working on playing fast. They’re a quick team, an athletic team, and we’ve just been working on our speed of play to try to get the ball in and around their defense quicker.”

With Marquette tied for second in the Big East with 0.74 goals allowed per game, the Hoyas’ ability to unlock that stout defense will be key to Friday’s game.

At the same time, though, Rosenberry and the rest of the defense will have to keep an eye on senior forward Andy Huftalin, who is fourth in the Big East in goals, with 10 on the season. As a team, the Golden Eagles lead the conference in points and assists, and centerbacks Tommy Muller, a senior, and Cole Seiler, a freshman, will once again be called upon to step up to keep them out of the net.

If it can do that, Georgetown will get a chance to add its first-ever Big East tournament title to this year’s regular-season crown.

“For us, it’s just going to be about doing what we can do to make program history,” Rosenberry said. “Obviously, we want to strive to do the best we can and hopefully come out with the right result.”

No matter how that result turns out, though, Wiese said that the three hotly contested and high-quality contests are guaranteed to provide a spectacle.

“It’s a great advert for college soccer. I think this whole weekend is going to be special.”

Kickoff between Georgetown and Marquette is slated for 5 p.m. tonight, while Notre Dame-Connecticut will follow at 7:30 p.m.

Both games will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.

The championship game is set for Sunday at noon.

A9

football

Falcons Likely to Remain Unbeaten But Falter Late T

At this point in the season, 8-0 means nothhe Atlanta Falcons muscled out a 19-13 win over the reeling Dallas Cowboys on ing, and, in a couple weeks, 10-0 won’t mean Sunday night to remain the NFL’s only much more. At 12-0, a first-round playoff bye is undefeated team at 8-0. Atlanta’s unblemished all but certain, and anything after that elicits record at the halfway point of the season marks the “rest players vs. chase history” dilemma.

Barring a perfect record and the off chance the best start in franchise history, and the Falcons are expected to clinch a division crown not that he keeps up in the MVP race, 2012 will be just another year for Matt Ryan: He’ll have added too long after the Thanksgiving turkey is cut.

The question is whether or not Atlanta will nothing to his resume but 30 touchdown passes, be able to replicate its success in the first half 4,000-plus yards and a few more Tony Gonzalez of the season and become just the third team chest bumps. Ryan’s track record already inin the Super Bowl era to complete a perfect 16-0 cludes a 13-3 finish, the team’s first divisional title (2010) in six years and a trio of January campaign.

There are a couple of unspoken rules in sports flameouts. With a win Sunday in New Orleans, that deal with the subject of perfection. In base- he’ll clinch his fifth straight winning season — a ball, you wait until the sixth inning before utter- franchise best — and be one week closer to that ing the words “no-hitter” or “perfect game.” In highly anticipated first playoff game.

Five is the magic number for the Atlanta Falfootball, you generally wait until late November cons to reach the elite company (or at least until the biggest hurof 13-0 teams in recent history. dle is cleared) before discussing This is the sixth time in the last the possibility of a perfect season. eight years that an NFL team has That being said, Atlanta cerat least made a legitimate run tainly deserves some considat perfection, as the 2005 Colts, eration, especially keeping in 2007 Patriots, 2009 Colts, 2009 mind the fact that it will play Saints and 2011 Packers all startjust one team with a winning ed 13-0. Four of those six teams record the rest of the year — a made it to the Super Bowl, but Week 15 clash with the 6-3 New only the 2009 Saints were able York Giants — and their remainMatt Bell to claim the title of champion. ing opponents’ records total an Atlanta needs to keep being unintimidating 30-36.

Five is the magic “very good” against the subpar There’s no arguing with the it will face the rest of the fact that the Falcons are a very number for the teams year and then find another gear good team. Quarterback Matt likely opponents Green Ryan is enjoying the finest season Atlanta Falcons. against Bay and New York, which are coof his career, emerging alongside incidentally the teams that have the usual suspects (Rodgers, Peyeliminated it from the playoffs ton Manning, Brady) as a league MVP candidate. Wideouts Roddy White and Ju- the past two years.

As we get closer and closer to the playoffs, lio Jones are drawing comparisons to the famed Randy Moss-Chris Carter duo of the late ’90s, and we’ll start hearing Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and a tailback Michael Turner is on pace for the quiet- host of other commentators use a common football idiom — “This team is built for the playoffs.” est 1,000-yard rushing season in NFL history.

Then how — or better yet, why — is it that The expression generally refers to a team that the Falcons are not seen as the best team in is capable of playing lock-down defense, consisthe league, or even the best team in their con- tently wins the field-position battle and is at its ference? In my eyes, it’s due to the fact that, if best when the stakes are high. Judging by the you’ll excuse the cliche, the Falcons do every- generous sample size displayed since 2008, the thing very well but do nothing spectacularly Falcons are not one of these teams.

They have individual players like Asante well. They rank in the top half of the NFL in just one major defensive category, placing fourth in Samuel with proven playoff prowess, but, as a scoring defense, while their supposedly high- collective unit, they’ve lacked the three aforeoctane offense ranks outside the top seven in ev- mentioned qualities of a “playoff-built” team. ery relevant offensive statistic. And yet, despite Because of this, Atlanta has disappointed every this, they’ve yet to lose a game. Head Coach year in the Matt Ryan era. I have no reason to beMike Smith’s strategy of tempo control and lieve this year’s team is any different. near-flawless special teams execution has won out every time so far, but questions arise as to Matt Bell is a freshman in the McDonough whether such a style will be sustainable come School of Business. FRESH OUT OF PHILLY playoff time. appears every Friday.

THE HOYA

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Junior running back Dalen Claytor (23) is second on the team in rushing, averaging 5.0 yards per carry on 57 attempts.

GU Guns to Reach .500 BISON, from A10 who has gone over 100 yards receiving in both of Nolan’s first two starts.

“Kevin’s an excellent receiver, and Kyle understands that,” Kelly said. “Kevin’s got great speed, and Kyle knows when he throws the football that Kevin is probably going to go up and get it.”

The Blue and Gray will need Macari to catch a few deep balls in Saturday’s matchup against the Bison, a team that has long been a thorn in the Hoyas’ side. Bucknell has won the last four head-to-head contests between the two, and Kelly has been quick to tell all his players, especially the seniors, that they have never defeated the Bison.

“I just told the seniors that, right now, they are 0-3 against Bucknell,” Kelly said. “That’s the only record that matters.”

Last season’s loss to the Bison was particularly brutal for Georgetown. Bucknell scored the first 28 points of the game in a 35-18 blowout that was the Blue and Gray’s first conference loss of the season.

“Last year, on both sides of

the ball, they physically dominated us,” Kelly said. “We were embarrassed, we got behind early and we should be physically ready for this year’s football game.”

One area in which the Hoyas must improve from last year’s thrashing is defense.

Led by senior linebacker Robert McCabe and senior cornerback Jeremy Moore, it has been the team’s strength most of the year but has appeared largely overmatched in several Georgetown losses.

In a 37-10 defeat to Brown, the Hoyas struggled in all phases, with the red zone defense unable to slow the Bears’ offense. More recently, Georgetown was gouged for 707 yards and 57 points in a loss against the potent Colgate offensive attack.

Now, the question becomes whether the defense that shows up on Saturday will be the one that has been consistently dominant, or the one that has been seemingly nonexistent.

Making matters more interesting for the defense is the recent return of Bucknell running back Tyler Smith. The

senior, who has dealt with injuries this season, rushed for 179 yards in last week’s victory over Fordham and is a key cog in the Bison offense when healthy.

Last year, Smith ran for 114 yards against Georgetown, and Kelly thinks the key to slowing down Bucknell’s offense is containing the dangerous running back. “[Bucknell] has a tailback offense and [Smith] is a scrappy, tough back that has given us fits forever,” Kelly said. “He is a talented football player, and he is a guy that we have to stop.”

Although there are many pregame storylines — the revenge factor, Nolan’s third start and the pressure on the defense to perform — Kelly says that none of that matters when the teams take the field on Saturday.

“Anybody can beat anybody in this league. We cannot overlook anybody, regardless of what the records are,” Kelly said. “The game’s 60 minutes, and the score right now is 0-0.”

Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at MultiSport Facility.

cross country

Bar Set High for Regionals Patrick Musgrave Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown cross country teams are ready to roll at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional today in State College, Pa., after two very strong performances at the Big East Championships and a couple of weeks of solid training.

The two top-finishing teams at Regionals receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Championship in Louisville, Ky. If a team finishes third or fourth, it still has a chance at making the national meet based on points accrued against ranked opponents during the regular season.

Women’s Head Coach Michael Smith is confident that his Big East-champion Hoyas have gotten even better since the conference meet.

“We’re right on schedule — our training has been perfect,” he said. “The athletes are rested now and sharper with the training, … so we’re going to go out looking to win this meet.”

Seniors Kirsten Kasper, Rachel Schneider and Emily Jones, junior Madeline Chambers, sophomores Annamarie Maag and Katrina Coogan and freshman Samantha Nadel will all race for the Hoyas.

“Emily Jones, Maddie Chambers and Katrina Coogan are really coming on right now. They will have the best race of their season so

far at this race, and then they will have an even better race eight days later at Nationals,” Smith said.

Pack running will be essential to victory today, as has been the case throughout the season for the women’s side.

The Blue and Gray will need to keep team gap times low — which they have succeeded with all season — and stay composed in the early stages of the race, when runners are likely to make rash moves to push the pace.

Most of the competition for Georgetown will come from Villanova, whom the Hoyas have already defeated this season, while Penn State and Princeton will also bring competitive squads.

“We’re right where we want to be. We don’t try to be the best team in the country in September. We want to be the best team in the country come November 17,” Smith said. “Some other teams right now are hanging on for dear life, hoping that they will feel fresh again for Nationals. We don’t have to think like that, because we’re just coming up, so it’s really exciting.”

The men’s side brings equally promising prospects, with a progression in training that indicates a high fitness level going into the home stretch.

“Our training this whole fall has been as good and as consistent as any Georgetown team I can remember,” men’s Head Coach Brandon Bonsey

said. “Our guys are really fit right now, so I’m pleased with where we’re heading.”

Adding to the team’s prospects is the return of AllAmerican graduate student Mark Dennin, who had been sidelined as a cautionary measure in recent weeks with a slight Achilles tendon injury. He will be joined by fellow graduate student Alayew Taye, who, now likewise healthy, will be racing for the first time this season.

With an individual first-place finish at the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Regional, Taye brings a wealth of experience to the table.

Also competing for Georgetown will be seniors Andrew Springer and Ben Furcht, sophomores Miles Schoedler and Colin Leibold and freshman Darren Fahy.

The keys for the men in this race are to shorten their team gap from the Big East Championships and keep tabs on Princeton’s and Villanova’s movements, as each will be making strong cases for a NCAA Championship berth.

Division I men move up from an 8k race to a 10k race in the postseason, which favors the Hoyas’ training scheme.

“We’re going to make sure that our intensity level is highest at the end of the race, and our training has reflected that. We’ve made tactical adjustments to stay relaxed at the beginning of the race, so they should be ready to go,” Smith said.

SPORTS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Hoyas vs. Sacred Heart Tonight, 7 p.m.

McDonough Arena

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

WHAT’S INSIDE The Georgetown volleyball team dropped its final home game Wednesday.

See A8

TALKING POINTS He puts his pants on just like I do.

“

WOMEN’S SOCCER

NUMBERS GAME

0 ”

Junior guard Markel Starks

Seniors on the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s roster.

The team has only four juniors.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Gators a Threat on USS Bataan PAT CURRAN

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Junior defender Alexa St. Martin (20) has been on the field for 1750 minutes this season, good for third on the team.

Georgetown Primed For NCAA Tourney CAROLYN MAGUIRE

reached the Elite Eight before being knocked out by Ohio State.

The Blue and Gray will begin It’s now do or die for the No. 14 their run against the Hokies, a forGeorgetown women’s soccer team. midable opponent from the perenThere are no more second chances nially strong Atlantic Coast Conferor next games. ence, which most recently handed Coming off of a heartbreaking No. 10 Wake Forest a 3-0 thrashing. loss in the final minutes of the Big “The ACC is so competitive that East tournament finals against No. even though [Virginia Tech] didn’t 12 Marquette, Georgetown will finish in the top eight [of the conhave to rebound quickly in the first ference] or make the ACC tournaround of the NCAA tournament in ment, their RPI had them for most order to extend its season. George- of the season in the top 20. That town (15-3-3, 9-2-2 Big East) will face speaks volumes for how competioff against No. tive the ACC con25 Virginia Tech ference is,” Nolan (13-5-1, 4-5-1 “For the caliber of said.

ACC) Sunday in both of our teams, this Unlike GeorgeBlacksburg, Va. town — whose “It is probably should be a second- or most recent a game neither third-round game.” game was Sunof us would day — Virginia have wanted in Tech has not DAVE NOLAN played since Oct. the first round,” Women’s soccer head coach Head Coach 24. That layoff, Dave Nolan Nolan explained, said. “For the caliber of both of our could play a role in Sunday’s game. teams, this should be a second- or “I think they will be well restthird-round game. They are a very ed, but they also have to get their good team.” game legs back,” he said. “It is so As opposed to last year, the Hoyas different to have that amount of — who had a dominant conference time off.” campaign en route to the National With each game potentially its Division title — received an at-large last, it is more important than bid for the 64-team competition. ever that Georgetown maintain its This is Georgetown’s third appear- balanced attack. This season, the ance in the tournament, and it will Hoyas have averaged 2.19 goals a look to replicate the run it made in the 2010 tournament, when it See HOKIES, A8

Hoya Staff Writer

It’s Christmas Day for basketball fans across the country, and the Georgetown faithful have an extraspecial present under the tree.

The Hoyas kick off their season tonight against No. 10 Florida, a matchup analysts will watch closely for an indication as to whether John Thompson III’s squad can exceed preseason expectations once again.

But the real story, for once, lies in the venue rather than the matchup.

The game will be played under the lights of the U.S.S. Bataan, an aircraft carrier stationed off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla. The game is just one of three showdowns at sea this weekend — Marquette and Ohio State will face off tonight in Charleston, S.C., while Syracuse and San Diego State play Sunday in San Diego.

Michigan State and North Carolina played on the U.S.S. Carl Vinson See GATORS, A7

FILE PHOTO: WEB LESLIE/THE HOYA

Small forward Otto Porter (22) will be relied on to carry the offensive scoring load in his sophomore campaign.

MEN’S SOCCER

Relocated Big East No Obstacle for GU RYAN BACIC

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Center midfielder Ian Christianson (6) and the rest of the senior class have set their sights on the program’s first Big East tournament title.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

So much for the men’s soccer team’s season-long goal of getting to Red Bull Arena: Amid all the election fervor, the Big East Conference announced Tuesday that, due to weather reasons, the tournament semifinals and final will be moved from New Jersey to PPL Park in Chester, Pa., home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.

Georgetown’s regular chant of “Red Bull” after every practice and game may have been all for naught, then, but senior midfielder Andy Riemer made clear that the venue shift won’t affect the team’s approach.

“It’s still an MLS field, a great field,” he said. “Red Bull was really just a symbol for us, as a goal to make the semifinals and the final of the Big East tournament. And we did that, so it doesn’t really change our mentality.”

In fact, there’s actually a lot to like about PPL Park if you’re the Blue and Gray. Not only will the conditions be better than in Hurricane Sandystricken New Jersey, but the City of See MARQUETTE, A9

FOOTBALL

Hoyas Open in Preseason WNIT Seniors Aim for First

Victory Over Bucknell

ARIK PARNASS Hoya Staff Writer

He may have an office to himself and a few more interviews to endure, but new women’s basketball Head Coach Keith Brown hasn’t been overwhelmed by the transition from assistant coach — at least not so far.

Georgetown, which lost to Georgia Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, opens its nonconference schedule tonight at home against Sacred Heart. And since Midnight Madness, Brown has been working to help his squad adjust.

“The main adjustment we’ve made is just getting the kids acclimated to everything that we want to get done because we changed most of our offense,” Brown said.

See WNIT, A8

JOSH SIMMONS

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior shooting guard Sugar Rodgers, projected to be a WNBA lottery pick, will be the team’s go-to player again this year.

Coming off of a much-needed bye week, the Georgetown football team (4-5, 1-3 Patriot League) hopes to crawl to .500 against Bucknell (2-7, 1-4 Patriot League) in its second-tolast game of the year.

The Hoyas — who will be playing at home for the first time since Oct. 13 — will have to contend with a Bison squad hoping to retain momentum after its best victory this season.

Last week, Bucknell scored 20 unanswered points in the second half against Fordham to narrowly prevail, 27-24.

Having watched that win over a team that defeated Georgetown, Head Coach Kevin Kelly believes Bucknell is better than its losing record suggests.

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

“[Bucknell] is a football team that right now is struggling record wise, but when you look at statistics, we are about even,” Kelly said. “We are anticipating a close, tight-knit, typical Patriot League football game on Saturday.”

At quarterback, the banged-up Hoyas will once again turn to freshman Kyle Nolan, who will make his third consecutive start. Nolan, the team’s fourth-string option, showed poise and accuracy leading the Blue and Gray to a win over Lafayette and earning Patriot League rookie of the week honors despite losing to Colgate.

Much of the gunslinger’s early success is rooted in his rapport with sophomore wide receiver Kevin Macari, See BISON, A9