The Hoya: Dec. 6, 2011

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 93, No. 24, © 2011

tuesDAY, december 6, 2011

SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR

This is our final print issue of 2011, but you can always visit thehoya.com and follow @thehoya on Twitter. We’ll be back on newsstands Jan. 20.

BUCKING BRONCS

No. 19 Georgetown needed a comeback to shake Rider Sunday afternoon.

SPORTS, A12

Legacies at Home on The Hilltop

DC Sees Drop in Violence

Adrianna Smith & Hiromi Oka

Violent crime in the Georgetown area declined 34 percent this year

Hoya Staff Writers

Ziad Saqr (NHS ’15) never wanted to go to school here. But when he was applying to colleges last fall, his older brother Eyad (SFS ’13) was a sophomore obsessed with all things Georgetown.

“He would tell me about all the basketball games and force me to watch the games on TV,” Ziad said.

Still, Ziad didn’t intend to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

“I went to high school with my two brothers my entire life,” he said. “I’ve never been to a school where one brother wasn’t there.”

But a year later, Ziad found himself on the Hilltop, just as enthusiastic about Georgetown as his older brother.

“I’m very happy about coming here,” he said. “Georgetown is my home.”

Hoyas From Birth In this year’s freshman class of 1,603 students, 159 have at least one parent who graduated from Georgetown. An additional 112 students have at least one sibling who has attended the university, and 25 are following both at least one parent and one sibling who have gone to school on the Hilltop.

For some children of alumni, the introduction to university culture begins at a young age.

“My dad, when he was my basketball coach growing up, always called our team the Lady Hoyas,” said Mia Von Gal (COL ’13), whose father, Tim, graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in See LEGACY, A5

Pavan Rajgopal Hoya Staff Writer

Hoya Staff Writer

The Department of Public Safety and the Metropolitan Police Department reported differing information on a break-in at a student residence at 1418 36th St. Friday night.

According to the description of the incident the victim gave to MPD, an unknown male entered

See DYSON, A5

See CRIME, A5

SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Professor Michael Eric Dyson has garnered both national acclaim and criticism this semester for his class, “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z.”

In the Limelight: Professing Jay-Z Margaret Viator Hoya Staff Writer

Positioned across from a CBS news reporter, with cameras, microphones and producers scattered around his office, professor Michael Eric Dyson continues his typical day at work.

Dyson’s class, “Sociology of Hip-Hop: Urban Theodicy of JayZ,” has become the focus of a media circus on campus in recent weeks, drawing attention from the Associated Press and Fox News as well as BET and Perez Hilton’s celebrity blog.

Just an hour before he sat down at his desk, Dyson was

pacing behind the podium of an Intercultural Center classroom and lecturing more than 140 students in what resembled spoken

“We are doing what we are doing regardless of whether there are reporters there or not.”

Michael eric dyson Professor of Sociology

word poetry.

Although interest in the class has spiked recently, Dyson has been teaching “Sociology of Hip

DPS, MPD Differ on Break-Ins Sarah Kaplan

Hop” since he arrived at Georgetown in 2007.

It was not until this year, however, that he decided to focus the course on Jay-Z. Dyson said the idea to teach a class centered on the seminal rapper had been in the back of his mind for several years.

“I was originally supposed to give a series of lectures at Harvard back in 2008 about the influence of Jay-Z. But the night before I was supposed to speak, a certain young, black man became president of the United States, so the lectures ended up being about

While total crime has increased marginally this year, violent crime in the District has dropped 13 percent since 2010, according to preliminary data from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Based on statistics comparing reported incidents between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, the violent crime rate fell considerably from 2010 to 2011, with drops in every category of violent crime.

In the 206th Police Service Area, which includes the Georgetown University campus, West Georgetown and Burleith, violent crime declined by more than 34 percent from last year.

However, total crime is up by 2 percent, due to a 6 percent spike in property crimes.

Property crimes, such as thefts and burglaries, have historically been more common than violent crimes in the area. The data from this past year followed this trend, with 32 armed robberies compared to 534 thefts between Dec. 4, 2010 and Dec. 4, 2011.

In light of the prevalence of property

the residence through a back door. When asked what he was doing there, the suspect claimed to be looking for a party and fled through the back door.

The incident was the first of two break-ins to occur that night. Less than an hour later, at 10:30 p.m., a student living at 3609 O St. reported that she went into a bedroom to investigate a noise and saw an unknown person. The student screamed

LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA

In their reports on Friday night’s break-in at a student residence at 1418 36th St., DPS and MPD differed on several key details.

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

and the intruder fled down the stairs and out the back door.

Though the DPS and MPD reports agreed on the basics of the first break-in, they contained several differences regarding the time and description of the incident.

While DPS reported that the suspect emerged from a closet while the student was sitting in her living room, the MPD report said that he entered the residence through an unlocked back door. DPS described the incident as a burglary, while MPD classified it as an unlawful entry.

The time of the incident reported

by DPS also differed from the time reported by MPD by 11 minutes.

According to DPS, the break-in occurred at 9:56 p.m., while MPD reported that it happened at 9:45 p.m.

This is the second time in the past week that DPS reports have differed from other descriptions of a crime.

In a public safety alert regarding a theft at Vital Vittles Thursday, DPS reported that $600 in cash was stolen from the store’s back office.

However, the actual amount stolen was closer to $300, according to The Corp’s Chief Operating Officer Brooke Heinichen (SFS ’12).

“We very specifically gave them the number that was the exact amount that was taken, but $600 was the number they reported and I’m not quite sure why,” Heinichen said.

According to Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, the $600 figure was a preliminary estimate.

“Initial estimates of the amount of cash stolen from Vital Vittles were broad,” she wrote in an email.

Pugh did not respond to questions about the source of the discrepancies between the DPS and MPD reports.

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

FRESHMEN SHINE IN WIN, HOYAS Move into Top 25

WEB LESLIE/THE HOYA

Freshman forward Mikael Hopkins scored 12 points in an 84-44 rout of NJIT Saturday, just before the Hoyas moved to No. 18 in Monday’s newest AP poll.

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

editorial

THE HOYA

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Serving the Greater Community

Demanding More of DPS It’s alarming to receive a public safety alert announcing the presence of strangers in fellow students’ residences.

But what’s more alarming is to receive that PSA nine hours after the fact.

That’s what happened Friday night after suspects were found in two separate off-campus student residences.

Although no one was harmed, the Department of Public Safety’s failure to promptly communicate this crucial information put students who were still out that evening at risk. DPS has a responsibility to communicate this and other PSA-worthy crimes efficiently and transparently to students and the greater Georgetown community.

While deterring and investigating crimes should be DPS’s first priority, the ongoing maintenance of community safety depends on an informed public. If students in West Georgetown Friday night had been made aware of the incidents immediately, they would have been able to take precautions for their own safety and to act as an asset to police in search of the suspects.

This is not the first time that DPS has issued a delayed PSA. In November, an alert about an armed robbery that took place at 9:10 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 19 — again, a time when many students were out around campus and the neighborhood — was not sent until Sunday at 2:36 p.m.

With a more effective notification system, DPS would better protect and equip the community to respond to safety risks.

While we recognize that DPS may require time to ensure that PSAs are accurate, it has misreported important details of crimes in the past even with several hours to draft an alert. In a PSA about a burglary at Vital Vittles Thursday, DPS reported that $600 was stolen when the actual amount was about $300 — and did so almost seven hours after the robbery.

With accuracy as such a concern, it is understandable that DPS would spend extra time to write accurate PSAs. But a preliminary warning email with basic information sent soon after a crime would benefit students who are out and about.

DPS should also include the Citizen Complaint Numbers for all incidents in its PSAs. These numbers, which allow individuals to obtain the Metropolitan Police Department record for a crime, would allow the community to track the progress and resolution of criminal investigations that occur in the area. Currently, it is almost impossible for students to determine whether cases have been solved and with what result. By pairing a faster basic alert system with increased access to police records, DPS could foster a safer community.

When it comes to notifications about crime, clarity and speed are essential.

An alert about a crime sent nine hours after it has been committed is not an alert at all.

Constructive Criticism Though less festive than The Corp’s holiday gala or Midnight Breakfast at O’Donovan Hall, end-of-semester course evaluations are a long-standing December tradition at Georgetown.

Though evaluations have the potential to generate valuable information for students and faculty, they are undermined by faulty administration methods. The most recent results of these evaluations are available online, but few students know they exist. And those who do reference the database can see that it is poorly maintained, as many classes listed there are no longer offered. It’s time for the university to update procedures that can make evaluations more comprehensive and useful.

As the university has recognized, distributing paper evaluations during class periods is an antiquated method; it is tedious, and many students feel rushed to complete the evaluations in class. Though it results in a large sampling of students, the paper process is an inefficient way to collect data. To address these issues, the university has planned to do away with paper evaluations completely by next fall in favor of an online system.

But the web assessments that will have entirely replaced their paper counterparts a year from now are not compulsory, causing them to develop the same cloud of sampling bias that hangs over Ratemyprofessors.com: Often, only the most impassioned students — whether

they have a positive or negative review to share — take the time to fill out an evaluation.

Another defect in the process is timing. Evaluations currently take place during the last two weeks of classes before final exams. This is premature, as the quality of a final exam is significant to a student’s overall experience in a course. However, conducting evaluations after finals are administered would also be problematic because of the difficulty in mandating that students review a course during the holiday break.

To address both of these concerns, we propose a two-stage evaluation procedure.

The first stage would consist of in-class, online questionnaires conducted during the last days of classes. This step would encourage more students to participate than the current online evaluations do. After finals but before grades become available, students could complete a voluntary, online follow-up evaluation to give constructive feedback with the full course — but not their final grades — in mind.

Students are hungry for peer advice about courses, as evidenced by the popularity of Ratemyprofessors.com. And no matter how much our professors already know, they appreciate constructive feedback. But if course evaluations are to serve their intended purpose, the flawed process behind them needs an upgrade.

Connor Gregoire, Editor-in-Chief Upasana Kaku, Executive Editor Suzanne Fonzi, Managing Editor Mariah Byrne, Campus News Editor Sarah Kaplan, City News Editor Pat Curran, Sports Editor Steven Piccione, Guide Editor Katherine Foley, Opinion Editor Chris Bien, Photography Editor Stephen Levy, Online Editor Remy Samuels, Layout Editor Samantha Randazzo, Copy Chief Fiona Hanly, Multimedia Editor Caitlin Mac Neal, Social Media Director

Editorial Board Katherine Foley, Chair Michael Clark, Laura Engshuber, Danny Funt, Alyssa Huberts, Brian Shaud

Matthew Strauss Rita Pearson Braden McDonald Evan Hollander Ashwin Wadekar Peter Brigham Alex Sanchez Bethany Imondi Martin Hussey Michelle Cassidy Christie Shely Zoe Bertrand Jessica Natinsky Emory Wellman Nikita Buley Emily Perkins

Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor

Contributing Editors Kavya Devarakonda, Kathryn DeVincenzo, Eddie Fearon, Lawson Ferguson, Meagan Kelly, Shakti Nochur, Eamon O’Connor, Michael Palmer, Glenn Russo, Lauren Weber

inent speakers and organize events that serve as platforms for hundreds of students to explore their shared interests together. Likewise, the numerous SAC cultural groups celebrate the wide-ranging diversity of Georgetown, which is most evident at the annual International Week in April.

While the editorial recognizes the importance of student group autonomy, it claims “community service should be an initiative that trumps the value of club independence.” There are institutional constraints on how SAC can support community service directly. A large portion of SAC’s budget comes from the Student Activities Fee, and this money cannot be used for

Last Friday’s Editorial “Season’s Givings” was well intentioned, but was based on a very narrow conception of service. Notably, it asserted that the Student Activities Commission “needs to mandate that all student groups that receive funding for events allocate a certain percentage to put on community service functions.”

Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice is among the best in the country, and we are fervent supporters of community service. At the same time, student groups play a fundamental role in fostering community on campus. Large SAC groups like the International Relations Club and the College Democrats bring in prom-

C

C C C C

Founded January 14, 1920

C

outright charitable donations or purchases.

Even if student groups are given the freedom to choose a designated cause, it may be a stretch for some groups to put on community service events that are closely related to their mission. As such, the editorial board’s proposed requirement unnecessarily curtails organic student programming and contains a value judgment that we are distinctly uncomfortable with.

When striving to be men and women for others, let us look to within the Hilltop as well.

Jack Appelbaum (COL ’14) Chair, Student Activities Commission Shuo Yan Tan (SFS ’12) Chair, Student Life Report Committee

THE VERDICT by The Editorial Board Not Quite the Burning Bush — Early Monday morning, Jesuits were startled awake by a fire alarm, but enjoyed their breakfast of donuts outside while they waited for the scene to be cleared.

Hogwarts on the Hilltop — O’Donovan Hall’s Midnight Breakfast, which will take place Thursday evening, has a Harry Potter theme this year.

Sketchy Circumstances — Last Thursday, the director of the University Counseling Center at The George Washington University abruptly resigned after facing allegations of inappropriate professional behavior.

Missed It by That Much — On Sunday, the Washington Redskins blew a late lead against the New York Jets, giving up three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Out in the Cold — The Metropolitan Council of Government’s annual survey found the number of homeless in D.C. has increased by about 200 people since last year.

Off the Web “Over $200 Stolen From Vital Vittles” Article published Nov. 30, 2011 Comment posted Dec. 2, 2011 Anonymous: Where was DPS during all this? If this happened in such a public area, how is anyone supposed to feel safe on this campus? Personally, I want to see DPS stop being enforcers for university policies and see them protecting students. We keep telling parents during tours that their kids will be safe here, but how can we say that when things like this are happening alongside sexual assaults and armed robberies?

Comment posted Dec. 2, 2011 Rational Thinker: @Anonymous: The police can’t be everywhere at once. As much as DPS stinks, you can’t blame them for this one.

Comment posted Dec. 2, 2011 Student: How do you leave a wad of cash sitting out in a room that a random person can walk into? If I left $200 on my desk and walked out of my room with the door open — even if it was really only for 30 seconds, as they say — nobody would feel bad when it got stolen.

“Last-Second Shot Pushes Hoyas Past Crimson Tide” Article published Dec. 1, 2011 Comment posted Dec. 2, 2011 Anonymous: I don’t know that this win altered the course of the season. A road non-conference win is great and will help if they are in the bubble in March, but there’s no guarantee this team will finish in the top half of the Big East.

And a point about Henry Sims: He played like a man, but the ESPN announcers’ comparisons to Hibbert and Monroe were off the mark. With his two misses around the basket in the last couple of minutes, Sims showed that he is not a reliable offensive weapon. He might average 10-12 points per game, but we can’t count on him to get a basket when we really need one.

“GU Defends Plan” Article published Nov. 17, 2011 Comment posted Nov. 19, 2011 AnonyMouse: How can it even be legal for D.C. to dictate to Georgetown where their students must live? Georgetown students are independent adults who have every right to live anywhere they can obtain a lease. If Georgetown students suddenly all stopped living off campus, not only would the problems the neighbors accuse them of (which are hugely overstated if not entirely made up) not disappear (since they don’t exist in reality), but landlords and property owners would start blaming Georgetown because there is no other market to support the outrageous rent prices they charge.

I understand that the Georgetown [administrators] want to foster good relations with these neighbors, but enough is enough. They buy houses next to a university and start clutching their pearls when they realize that universities are — gasp! — hotbeds of life for 18 to 22-yearolds. I don’t know how the ANC got so much power over the District’s number-one private employer, but it is time for Georgetown to stop playing nice and start advocating forcefully for the things that will improve the university. If the neighbors hate it so much, Kalorama and The Palisades are only a few blocks north.

Jonathan Rabar, General Manager Glenn Russo, Director of Corporate Development Kelly Connelly, Director of Finance Claire Willits, Director of Marketing Michael Grasso, Director of Personnel Bryn Hastings, Director of Sales Caroline Boerwinkle Catherine Hendren Evan Marks Sara Eshleman Kent Carlson Keeley Williams Mary Nancy Walter Jonah Joselow Ryan Smith

Alumni Relations Manager Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Human Resources Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Local Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Carolyn Shanahan, Chair Connor Gregoire, Web Leslie, Jonathan Rabar, Sam Schneider, Lauren Weber, Amanda Wynter

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 Upasana Kaku at (202) 687-3415 or email executive@ thehoya.com.

News Tips Campus News Editor Maraih Byrne: Call (202) 687-3415 or email campus@ thehoya.com.

City News Editor Sarah Kaplan: Call (202) 687-3415 or email city@thehoya. com.

Sports Editor Pat Curran: Call (202) 6873415 or email sports@thehoya.com.

General Information The Hoya is published twice each week during the academic year with the excep-

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.

Signed columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Hoya.

Unsigned essays that appear on the left side of the editorial page are the opinion of the majority of the editorial board.

Georgetown University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression for student editors.

The Hoya does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, national or ethnic origin. © 1920-2011. The Hoya, Georgetown University twice weekly. No part of this publication may be used without the permission of The Hoya Board of Editors. All rights reserved. The Hoya is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Additional copies are $1 each.

Editorial: (202) 687-3415 Advertising: (202) 687-3947 Business: (202) 687-8350 Facsimile: (202) 687-2741 Email: editor@thehoya.com Online at www.thehoya.com Circulation: 6,500.

COMMENTARY

tuesDAY, December 6, 2011

THE HOYA

A3

A Modest Proposal to A New Home for the Holidays Reduce Unemployment Margaret Delaney

Michael Meaney and Matthew Hoyt The State of Nature

I

t’s quite dreary to walk around McPherson Square these days. Looking at all those slothful souls who can’t help but “occupy” public space, you feel — what’s the word? — guilty. With their ragtag tents and cardboard cutouts, the protesters who set up camp there certainly do make a lamentable bunch.

It really is high time we did something about these irksome protesters. It is time for a modest proposal, one with everyone’s best intentions in mind. Just the other day we heard from a friend who’s abroad in China — our new model for all things economic and rational these days — about a great strategy to decrease the unemployment rate.

We don’t profess to have any one solution to clean the streets of all the stricken masses. We do, however, have a humble suggestion: Get rid of all liberal and fine arts courses taught at American universities.

This suggestion comes straight from the innovative minds of China’s Ministry of Education. What they’re doing will seem so simple that we’ll wish we had thought of it years ago. Alas, this is why we trust Chinese economists for insights, and not our own (who still can’t seem to decide between austerity and stimulus — pick already!).

The Chinese saw there were relatively high numbers of college graduates among their unemployed population.

Many of these unemployed college grads had earned their degrees in a select few majors, such as obscure languages (like Russian), social sciences and literature.

Clearly, no one cares about trivial things like neighborhood relations and books.

Troubled as they were, the Chinese never flinched. Not even for an instant.

“China’s Ministry of Education announced this week plans to phase out majors producing unemployable graduates,” reports a Wall Street Journal blog.

And just like that, the liberal arts are being eliminated.

The unemployment rate for students with college degrees in China has been increasing as the number of graduates goes up. Many of those graduates weren’t trained in the right skill sets for China’s economy, which relies heavily on laborers skilled in machinery and manufacturing.

It only makes sense, then, that the government intervened is doing something that would force the unemployed to train in more suitable fields of study.

Chinese universities will now slash entire majors if the employment rate for graduates in the field is less than 60 percent for two years in a row. Not to be outdone, America should set an unprecedent-

ed benchmark of 90 percent employment.

Some will undoubtedly complain — as those with no viable alternatives often do.

This simple solution, however, is the only rational way to approach the unemployment problem.

The liberal arts don’t seem to have any economic benefit. Most English majors master their obscure subject, leave school unemployed and end up on the streets as protesters within a few years. If we want to reduce the number of unemployed, then we need to reduce the number of English majors!

English isn’t the only major we should cut. Let’s turn to the other worst offenders — those majors that have been found to have a connection with the highest unemployment rates by The Wall Street Journal.

History, after English, can be the second to go. With 15.1 percent of history majors now unemployed, it’s clear that these graduates need a new way to apply their detail-oriented minds. In fact, they could work perfectly well as archivists for accounting firms. With so much data in the modern economy, someone needs to sort it all into folders.

And while we’re at it, let’s silence that racket coming from the musicians and erase those wasteful art programs. Fine arts majors, at 16.2 percent unemployed, need to use their creativity doing something more valuable. Computers are an important part of modern life — there’s no reason why we shouldn’t redirect fine arts majors toward computer coding.

Last (and, in this case, the least), psychology as a discipline should be scrapped.

With an unemployment rate of 19.5 percent for clinical psychology majors, psychologists seem to add no economic benefit to our economy whatsoever. Luckily for us, most would make great test tube washers for our hard scientists.

The benefits of cutting the liberal arts should at this point be obvious: First, it will help redirect students toward jobs; second, the better our students are trained, the more likely they’ll get job offers; and finally, college grads will be off the streets, shrinking the visual blight of “Occupy” protests.

It might be hard for a liberal arts-minded person to swallow this bitter pill, but tough sacrifices must be made. As Jonathan Swift once said of his own “Modest Proposal,” the advantages of a simple plan “are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance.” In the interest of the public good, the best option is always the most modest, most manageable one.

I Know This Much Is True

T

his time in the semester is always a delicate balance for me. First of all, Thanksgiving break is such a tease.

You’re home just long enough to get reacquainted with your couch, TV channels and home cooking, and to begin to ask yourself things like, “Why did I ever leave this place?” and “Graduating is for squares, am I right?”

You head back to campus reluctantly, torn from the cozy warmth of home and thrust into the ugly, sordid business of final exams. I weep silently to myself every year and bemoan the fact that I didn’t go to a college on the trimester or quarter system. Those lucky people get a six-week break from Thanksgiving to New Years. It just isn’t fair. (Granted, I sing to a different tune when May rolls around, and they’re staring down another solid month of coursework.)

If readjusting to campus life and starting to mentally (read: emotionally) prepare oneself for the marathon of finals isn’t bad enough, I find that the end of the fall semester is further complicated by the fact that outside of the confines of academia, it is the holidays. The rest of the world is gearing up for cheeriness and general merriment, while I am trying to remember which areas of Lau make me the least anxious. It’s cruel, really.

I remember being particularly concerned about this my freshman year. I wasn’t due to fly home until late in the exam

period, and I worried that I’d have to cram all of my Christmas festivities into the five days or so I’d have at home before the actual holiday. This stemmed from a broader belief I carried into college: That things like holidays, or even the changing of the seasons, would be somehow lessened because I was away from home. I figured that celebrating things at school would always feel slightly foreign and second-rate when compared to home.

But my first Christmas season at Georgetown quickly changed my mind. I owe a large part of this to my one of my best friends and now-housemate, Fiona.

Fiona hadn’t even flown home to Washington for Thanksgiving that year, but not even that could sully the anticipation of Christmas for her. Fiona lived next door to me in Darnall and that December, she created a huge Advent calendar on the wall between our dorm rooms.

She dubbed it Platform 326 ¾, and it was a masterpiece. There were 25 pockets — one for each day leading up to Christmas — crafted out of note cards and scotch tape, holding Hershey’s chocolate kisses and a personalized note for the person who had been assigned that day (she assigned dates to all of the people on our floor). It was incredibly creative, heartwarming and just generally awesome.

It sounds simple, but Fiona taught me that Christmas is not tethered to a location, or even to relatives. She also made me watch “Love Actually” for the first, so I owe her for that transformative experience as well.

She was the harbinger of holiday cheer for me that Christmas, and I’ll never forget it.

Three years later, I have learned that Fiona was really onto something. Her Advent calendar project was her way of making a new tradition for us.

When you’re away from home, separated from the larger context of hometown and family, it’s important to reclaim things that are important to you on your own terms. For me, rituals are the stuff of friendship, and I have had so much fun making up new ways of celebrating the holidays with my college friends. We’ve attended the tree lighting in Dahlgren Quadrangle together annually, participated in endless viewings of our favorite Christmas , made gingerbread men, cut out snowflakes, hung up lights and belted “All I Want for Christmas is You” more times than I care to count.

This year, my roommates decorated a small (but very real) tree in our living room and have plans to order Christmas cards to send out to family and friends. I know that we’re not unique in this respect, because in my time at Georgetown I’ve witnessed this campus come alive around the holidays in so many remarkable ways.

I know that it’s finals season and easy to be miserable, but I also know that few things make me feel at home as much as sitting around eating dinner (read: eggnog cupcakes) with my roommates (read: family). Having these people in my life is all I could ever want for Christmas.

Margaret Delaney is a senior in the College and a former member of The Hoya’s Board of Directors. This is the final appearance of I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE, which has run for four semesters.

THE DISCONCERTED DEMAGOGUE by Daniel Yang

Michael Meaney is a senior in the School of Foreign Service and Matthew Hoyt is a senior in the College. They are the president and director of communications of the Georgetown University Student Association, respectively. THE STATE OF NATURE appears every other Tuesday.

Martin Hussey

‘Tis the Season, but Not The Spirit on the Hilltop

I

’m not feeling much of the holiday spirit this year. Sure, I’ve admired the random star on top of Healy Hall, attended an ugly Christmas sweater party or two and hung up a measly strand of Christmas lights in my room, but somehow I’m just not in the mood.

The problem might be the inordinate amount of time I’ve spent in a study carrel on the second floor of Lauinger Library, staring blankly at the same mildly inappropriate note, or it could be that I still haven’t seen a single snowflake this holiday season and haven’t felt cold enough to ditch my usual iced chai for a hot peppermint latte.

Unlike everyone else, I’m not feeling the fuzzy warmth of the holidays. Hopefully, once I’m racing down a ski slope or decorating my driveway with luminarias — small, traditional Hispanic lanterns — in my native New Mexico, I’ll feel less like Mr. Scrooge. But for now, nothing, not even Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” can get me in the spirit.

Many of my Christmas-loving friends have attributed my lack of holiday cheer to my lack of religion. True, the fact that I didn’t have a religious upbringing and have never been to midnight mass (I’d rather look out for Santa), may make the holiday season less meaningful for me.

But there are many other reasons that I have always enjoyed the season.

For one, Christmas has become a holiday much like the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving. Christmas isn’t solely a religious holiday anymore; it’s an American one. Sure, it has religious significance and origin, but our culture has largely removed the religious roots of the holiday.

For many — myself included — Christmas is no longer about the birth of Christ, but rather about something we like to call “the spirit of giving.” This secular meaning of the holiday is not lost on me in the slightest.

Though I have no religious context for Christmas, the “spirit of giving” that characterizes the holiday and the preceding month usually fills me with joy. Furthermore, everyone can enjoy Christmas songs, decorations and food, no matter their religion. This season is a time when people of all religions are more likely to give to charities or volunteer their time.

Second, even though Christmas is a religious holiday, the entire month preceding it is not, and is characterized by secular holiday celebrations like shopping, volunteering, decorating or baking. Even though we are ostensibly now in the holiday season with Christmas songs on the radio, decorations lining the streets and the smell of holiday cookies permeating hallways, these weeks maintain a cultural, rather than a religious, significance.

To enjoy the season, religion is not a prerequisite. All you need are some decorations, a mug of hot cocoa and an ugly sweater.

So assuming I’m not some sort of secular Grinch, why is my Christmas spirit disappearing? I’d argue that it’s my pre-final workload, filled with research papers, final presentations and catch-up work to wrap up the semester.

For some reason, three simultaneous projects about such cheerful topics as desertification and famine in Africa don’t stir up quite as much holiday cheer as you would think. Maybe once I leave the confines of this Lau study carrel, step outside, feel the crisp air and look up at the Healy star, I’ll feel a small glimmer, a tiny twinge of holiday cheer.

But for now, I’ll be moving onto the next article on JSTOR and trying to find a cozy spot in Lau, one without an inappropriate note carved into the desk.

Martin Hussey is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service and the deputy opinion editor for The Hoya.

Laura Kresse & Justin Pinn

A Third Party is the Charm For a 2012 Presidential Ticket

P

olitics make us cynical about the American government.

Politicians have long been placing party identities before real politics, leaving the United States in its most economically vulnerable state since the Great Depression.

Politicians cater more to party ideologies than to the people they serve — American citizens.

The extent to which the two-party system has failed the American people became especially apparent in the government’s response to a possible shutdown in August.

It was despicable to see how the issue of social security benefits for senior citizens was used as a political gambling chip.

Average Americans have a lot at stake, and they should not be used as means to the end of winning seats or popularity for either Democrats or Republicans.

Ideas are ideas, regardless of what side of the aisle they come from. If they help the American people, then they are needed innovations. A bipartisan approach to rebuilding our economy will not only be more representative of the American people at large, but will ensure that problems will be tackled head-on and not through party rhetoric.

Yet, the next presidential elections are shaping up just like the last ones: The endless GOP debates and accusations of Obama’s short-

comings give constituents little confidence for the possible candidates.

During this time of hyper-partisanship, the American people have a third option: an organization by the name of Americans Elect. Americans Elect plans to hold its national online primary election in June, open to any registered voter. This election is a process in which the American people get to choose who they want to vote for without a particular

During this time of hyper-partisanship, the American people have a third option. political affiliation. In addition, as long as an American meets the prerequisites to run for president outlined in the Constitution, they can run for office and have the opportunity to hash out issues with other candidates.

With an economy in crisis, there is no sole solution — just as there cannot simply be one approach to politics that could represent the political views of all Americans. The goal of Americans Elect is to have a presidential ticket that is outside of the normal party system. The candidate will have to choose a running mate

that is of the opposite political party as him or herself. This will ensure that the candidate is engaging the American people and not a political machine or party.

Americans Elect has an advisory board with prominent Republicans such as Mark McKinnon, who worked for the presidential campaigns of former President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, and Democrats such as Will Marshall, the president of the Progressive Policy Institute and Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen.

So far, former governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer has declared he will seek the Americans Elect nomination in his presidential campaign. However, better-known politicians should seek the Americans Elect nomination as well.

The great part about political action outside the realm of polarized parties is that it allows a registered American voter to help nominate any candidate, bringing together prominent minds of our time to find solutions for the American people. It sounds so simple. You would think our government would have caught on a long time ago.

Laura Kresse is a senior in the School of Foreign Service and Justin Pinn is a junior in the College. Both are Georgetown campus representatives for Americans Elect.

A4

news

THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

TUESDAY, december 6, 2011

YOUR NEWS, IN BRIEF

University Begins FROM THE WEB Provost Search STAY In THE KNOW Mariah Byrne Hoya Staff Writer

Aiming to begin screening candidates next month, administrators have drafted a description of an ideal candidate for a new university provost and will soon hold a town hall meeting to gather student input.

In a leadership statement, the committee of students, faculty and staff that is spearheading the search outlined the qualities they are seeking in a replacement for current Provost James O’Donnell, who announced his retirement in August. O’Donnell has been at the university since 2002 but will step down at the end of the academic year.

According to Committee Chair Wayne Davis, the search committee has determined that previous experience is the most important factor in choosing the next provost.

“Our main priority is an outstanding academic record,” said Davis, who is also chair of the philosophy department and president of the faculty senate.

Candidates’ administrative skills, previous published works and respect for [the] university’s Jesuit values are also important.

“We’re looking for someone to increase diversity and build the sense of community we’ve got,” Davis said. “Taken for granted … is personal integrity.

For as we know, sometimes presidents and provosts run amok. Fortunately, we haven’t had that happen.”

The committee will begin reviewing applications in early January and hopes to present three candidates to University

President John J. DeGioia by March, according to Davis.

The university has hired Witt/ Kieffer, a professional recruitment firm, to identify qualified candidates in academia.

Witt/Kieffer previously led the searches for the Dean of the School of Foreign Service-Qatar, the Dean of the McDonough School of Business and the President of the university.

Jeanne Lord, associate vice president for student affairs, will meet with a select group of students in the next week to further discuss what the university is looking for in O’Donnell’s replacement.

“We wanted to have some student input before we departed for the holiday,” Davis said.

The search committee, along with the Georgetown University Student Association, plans to hold a town hall for the student body early next semester. GUSA Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) is excited for the students to have an opportunity to share their input.

“We have a real opportunity to shape the next provost, because it’s someone that will be around for the next 10 years,” he said. “There’s a lot of [good] that the next provost can do in helping shape the curriculum and the way Georgetown functions, so I think it’s very important that we have someone who [pays] attention to detail and can also connect with students.

Because while they do serve all faculty, it’s very important that they learn about students’ progress.”

Hoya Staff Writer Sam Rodman contributed to this report.

Keep up with The Hoya’s basketball coverage and news on the Hilltop during during finals and winter break at thehoya.com.

SHARE YOUR VOICE Apply to be a columnist for Sports, Opinion or The Guide or a member of our Editorial Board.

Check out The Hoya’s Facebook page for the link.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE CUA will move foward with a plan to implement single-sex housing after the D.C. government ruled that the policy is not discriminatory.

verbatim

find out that “ You someone has

[AIDS], and it’s like a death sentence.

”

Grassroot Hoyas President Greg Germain (COL ’12), explaining the importance of his organization’s outreach programs to lessen the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS. See story on A6.

Hard Times as M St. Preps for Holidays ELIZABeth Garbitelli Hoya Staff Writer

Amid a still-stagnant economy, local businesses have begun aggressively preparing for the holiday shopping season.

In an effort to boost holiday spending around the area, the Georgetown Business Improvement District will sponsor 12 Days of Merriment Dec. 9-20.

The event will feature sales at participating stores, holiday events and reduced parking rates.

“I won’t kid you — it has been hard work these last few years,” said Bobbie Medlin, the owner of handmade accessories store Bobbie Medlin at 2900 M St. “It gets slow … [but] I’m proud to say I’ve kept the doors open.”

Medlin, who creates jewelry out of tribal antiquities, worked on produc-

ing a new line of accessories and just released the new collection this past weekend in time for the holiday season.

“If you have something wonderful to offer … that gives you a leg up,” she said.

But Medlin said that the economic climate is still grim.

“My sense is that most places are struggling,” she said.

Laura Weir, manager of Babette at 3307 Cady’s Alley, felt that her store was doing well, though she said that may be because it is relatively new. The San Francisco-based store opened its doors just off M Street in March.

“If anything we’ve seen an increase because we are so new,” Weir said.

For the holidays, Weir said she and her staff were focused on making the shop’s layout more accessible as well

as reaching out to top customers for a pre-sale event before an open sale on Dec. 15.

“People are always consuming,” Weir said.

Medlin said she thought that small businesses were more susceptible to economic strain than the national chains lining M Street and Wisconsin Avenue.

“Its hard for small business owners,” Medlin said. “We don’t have volume on our side.”

Nonetheless, she tries to remain positive.

“I’m always optimistic, you have to be. We’re climbing out of the recession. It’s a slow road out … [and] as a community we need to support small business because we always see them drop by the wayside,” Medlin said.

“Small businesses are an important part of our fabric.”

Community Colleges: The Road Less Travelled to the Hilltop Laura Engshuber Hoya Staff Writer

Jenniffer Torres Ortega (COL ’13) moved to the United States from Colombia three years ago without knowing a word of English. This fall, she enrolled at Georgetown, as one of a handful of students who transferred to the university from a community college.

Although the university does not keep records on the number of students who transfer from community colleges, Torres Ortega said that she sometimes feels almost alone in her experiences.

“I found it difficult to adapt to social life as a junior,” she said.

Like some community college transfers, Torres Ortega didn’t follow the usual path to college.

Since she lives in Arlington, Va. she has to commute every day and has had difficulty joining the social scene.

“Students don’t seem to really connect in classes, but more in their dorms or activities. Even when I do connect with someone in class, it’s difficult to keep that going outside of the classroom.”

According to Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Leah Thomas and Assistant Director of Admissions Colleen Miltenberg, some community college transfers have taken time away from school to work or serve in the military.

“Many times the community college students have taken a bit more of a non-traditional path to end up where they are,” they wrote in an email.

Torres Ortega, for example, began her university studies in her native Colombia. After moving to the United States to be with her future husband, she enrolled in English as a Second Language classes at Northern Virginia Community College. After a year, she began taking liberal arts classes and looked into transferring to another university to complete the psychology degree she had left unfinished in Colombia.

The transfer process was fairly smooth, she said.

For the past 25 years, Georgetown has partnered with 16 schools, including Northern Virginia, for the Community College

Preferred Consideration program.

Partner institutions are able to nominate two students for favored consideration by Georgetown, and it often pays off well.

In 2011, the acceptance rate for students nominated in the program was 60 percent, while in 2010 it was 44 percent, according to Thomas and Miltenberg. In contrast, Georgetown’s overall transfer acceptance rate for the 2011 admissions cycle was 10 percent.

Torres Ortega was able to transfer 60 credits, the maximum allowed by Georgetown, and she has almost finished her psychology major. Because transfer students are required to take classes at Georgetown for at least two years, she is continuing with the premed track, and she plans to add a minor to her course load next year.

While Georgetown is challenging, Torres Ortega said, professors and deans have been very under-

“Sometimes it’s still hard to believe that I’m here, that I’ve done it.”

Jenniffer torres ortega (COL ’13) Transfer from a community college

standing, and she has enjoyed the jump to a university. She is not alone in finding academic success at Georgetown.

Mark Svensson (COL ’12) transferred to Georgetown from Rockland Community College in 2010.

Svensson did not apply to college during high school. After graduation, however, he decided that he wanted to hit the books after all, so he enrolled in Rockland’s honors program.

“I knew after my freshman year that I wanted to transfer,” he said.

“While most students at Rockland don’t transfer to a 4-year college after completing their associate’s degree, 90 percent of those in the honors program do transfer to Ivy League or other Tier I schools.”

Svensson is now a government major at Georgetown.

“I always wanted to come to Georgetown because of the politics and international relations,”

he explained.

Emily Schuster (COL ’14), a Japanese major and transfer from Portland Community College, was waitlisted by Georgetown her senior year of high school.

Schuster decided to attend community college as an inexpensive alternative until she had another shot at her dream school. The second time around, she was accepted.

Unlike Svensson and Torres Ortega, Schuster had little support from her former school.

“Most students at Portland transfer to the state university afterwards. Applying to Georgetown was a fairly independent process.

Luckily, I had already done it once,” she said, laughing.

While Schuster has enjoyed her transition to the Hilltop, there have been some bumps along the way. Because she could not receive credit for many of her general education classes, Schuster will be taking 20 credits every semester until she graduates and does not have time for many extracurricular activities.

Other elements of the transition have gone more smoothly. She has found a core group of friends among transfer students, and she lives with three other transfers in a Village A apartment.

Svensson, too, said it was easy for him to transition to campus.

Shortly after he arrived on campus, he met then-Georgeotwn University Student Association President Calen Angert (MSB ’11).

Angert, he said, took him under his wing and introduced him to many of his current friends and encouraged him to join GUSA. While the transition was rockier for Torres Ortega, she said overall she is enjoying her campus experience and wants to apply to Georgetown Medical School.

“When I first moved to the [United States], I visited Georgetown’s campus with friends and told them that I would be going here.

They all laughed,” she reminisced.

“Sometimes it’s still hard to believe that I’m here, that I’ve done it. The first day that I bought a Georgetown sweater and put it on, [I] really felt like I belong[ed] here.

That’s a good memory.”

News

tuesDAY, December 6, 2011

THE HOYA

A5

Understanding the Intelligence That Jay-Z Has DYSON, from A1 him instead,” Dyson said.

This semester, Dyson decided to take the opportunity to examine societal norms through the lens of JayZ’s music. Because of his widespread recognition in the black community, Dyson has been able to bring many prominent guest speakers to class. Recent visitors have included Steve Stoute, marketing mogul and longtime friend of Jay-Z, and author Zack O’Malley Greenburg, who wrote the biography of Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z went from Street Corner to Corner Office,” which is one of the class’s assigned readings.

Beyond guest speakers and books, Dyson also brings his personal experiences with Jay-Z to the class. Dyson began his friendship with the rapper at a conference some years ago.

“Knowing the rapper personally doesn’t weigh the outcome of the class positively or negatively, but it definitely gives a more intimate familiarity with the class,” he said. “I will send him texts about the class,

and we definitely have his full support and interest. I’m still hoping we can get the chance to Skype him in or something before the end of the semester.”

Dyson is known for his friends in high places, including Jesse Jackson, who introduced him to his wife, and recording artist Lupe Fiasco, who he brought to one of his lectures last fall.

A 53-year-old academic, author and television personality, Dyson peppers his lectures, for which he uses few notes, with lyrics by hip-hop superstars from Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. to Drake and Jay-Z. However, Dyson said that his enthrallment with Jay-Z’s words does not stem from a simple penchant for the music. Rather, his studies focus on exploring the implications of lyrics that can be both powerful and controversial. For this reason, he expects a high level of thinking from his students.

“In class, we don’t just sit around and say, ‘Wow, that’s dope!’ We use [Jay-Z’s] lyrics, and we connect them

to themes and theories within sociology that are relevant to today,” Dyson said. “We deal with every major issue that every sociology class should address: race, class, gender, the relationship between men and women, racial and sexual hierarchy.”

Though Dyson ties his lectures together with audio samples, they often wander off of the topic of hiphop to the civil rights movement, other aspects of popular culture and class relations.

For Janine Duffy (COL ’14), a sociology major, the class has widened her perceptions of the study of sociology.

“You can definitely look at the class with a broader lens. It isn’t just about Jay-Z. A lot is what you want to get out of the class,” she said.

Since the beginning of the semester, major media outlets such as MSNBC, CBS, the Associated Press and the Washington Post have descended on the classroom. While some students said they feel the revolving door of reporters has shaped class discussion, Dyson says he is unfazed.

“We are doing what we are doing regardless of whether there are re-

porters there or not,” he said. “I don’t conduct myself any differently, and I don’t think my students do either.”

Tate Tucker (COL ’14), a student musician who has gained prominence in the past year and met Lupe Fiasco through Dyson, said that he thinks the national attention is a sort of validation of Dyson’s academic concentration.

“In terms of the media attention, it’s nothing new with Professor Dyson anymore, and it’s become pretty customary at this point to feel as if our class is a documentary of sorts,” he said. “Not in a bad way, but it sort of legitimizes the subject matter in a very unorthodox way.”

Along with the media attention, however, has come a critique of the occasionally vulgar nature of the lyrics Dyson has explored in the class.

But the professor believes that Jay-Z’s word choice — even if offensive — is worthy of study.

“Yes, some of the songs that we study do use derogatory words for women. However, we shouldn’t obsess over the word but rather why he used the word,” he said.

“Today, there are many institutions that exclude women. I don’t see that as being any different.”

It is this desire to demonstrate how hip-hop reflects American societal norms that fuels Dyson’s lectures.

“It wasn’t until the ’70s that black literature was viewed as being worthy of critical interpretation,” he said. “We really are in good company. Hopefully in 20 years, we will be looked at as pioneers.”

Although he will not be teaching any classes next semester, Dyson said he will be around campus and continue to meet with students in the spring. It is likely that he will be back to teach this specific class again in the future with some tweaking of the course material, he said.

“I think I would really like to take a closer look at the neighborhood where Jay-Z came from and really investigate to see if we can’t learn more about that story,” he said.

He added that in the future he hopes to include the perspectives of other influential artists, such as Aretha Franklin and Kanye West, into his study of the sociology of hip-hop.

A Leg Up for Legacies in Applying, Adapting to GU LEGACY, from A1 1981.

Greg Kelly (CAS ’83) also didn’t wait to immerse his daughter, Kimberley (COL ‘15), in the tradition.

“Our children have been surrounded by Hoya alums their entire lives,” he wrote in an email.

Kelly’s wife, Lorraine (CAS ’83), and many of their closest friends are also alumni.

“That’s … evidence that the [Georgetown] community relationships are uniquely strong.”

According to Anne Noyes (SFS ’80), the university was also a frequent topic of conversation in her household.

“Growing up, my daughters heard stories about this cool, sophisticated place [where] I went to school, where Jeane Kirkpatrick and Henry Kissinger taught senior seminars, my Russian history teacher took us to parties at the Russian embassy [and] Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) was my commencement speaker,” she wrote in an email.

“Those discussions had a lasting impact on them.”

Both of her daughters, Allyson (NHS ’13) and Elena (COL ’15), now attend the university.

“To say I am thrilled that they are at [Georgetown] is an understatement,” she said.

But not all legacy students grew up with such a strong awareness. Jesse Colligan (SFS ’14) said that even though his father, Bud (SFS ’76), is an alumnus, he rarely brought up the university at home.

“My family didn’t really talk all that much about Georgetown at all when I was growing up,” he said. “It was only when my oldest brother was accepted to and decided to attend Georgetown that I first took notice of the fact that my dad went there.”

And when it came down to applying to and choosing a school, some students, like Alfonso Fernandez (COL ’14), felt a desire to separate themselves from their family history.

“I wanted to live something apart from my family, because I was scared that I’d follow their same footsteps. I wanted to create an identity apart from them,” he said. Fernandez’s father, Alfonso Fernandez, Jr. (SFS ’78), and sister, Maria (SFS ’10), both attended Georgetown.

Natalie Sergi (COL ’14) also wanted to forge a path independent of her parents and brother — all Georgetown alums — but she felt a connection to the university after visiting the campus during her junior year of high school.

“I feared my brother would be bothered by his little sister tagging along as he became a college kid. But he told me he would love to have me there, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to attend such a prestigious and well-rounded university,” she wrote in an email.

The “Tip Factor” This inherited connection can be a boon to alumni’s children who choose to apply to Georgetown.

The Office of Admissions breaks down the legacy category into two groups: an “immediate legacy” — an applicant whose parent or sibling attended the school — and a “Georgetown tie,” which designates those who have a relative, such as an aunt or uncle, who graduated from Georgetown.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charlie Deacon said that legacy is a potential advantage for students in the application process, with particular attention paid to parent involvement with the university after graduation.

The level of connection an alumnus has maintained with his alma mater creates a “tip factor” for his children when they apply.

“The university has a policy to look favorably on families who have

been active since graduating,” Deacon said. “The stronger the tie is, the more important it is to consider it.”

According to Deacon, the tip factor does not come into play for 90 percent of applicants with legacy.

“Legacy kids look virtually identical to the overall applicant pool,” he said.

About 6 percent of all applicants last year — 1,100 students out of a total of 19,000 — checked the legacy box on their applications. The admission rate for legacy applicants was 11 percent higher than for the overall pool, at 29 percent versus 18 percent.

Among students who chose to enroll in the class of 2015, 16 percent have a direct legacy and an additional 7 percent have a more distant relative who attended Georgetown.

The statistics for the current freshman class mirror the overall incidence of legacy students in the undergraduate student body. Senior Associate University Registrar Scott Campbell reported that almost 23 percent of traditional undergraduate students have a parent or other relative who graduated from or currently attends Georgetown.

According to Deacon, these numbers are relatively low compared to those at other universities.

“Every university favors alumni in some way,” he said. “Georgetown doesn’t favor legacy as much as other schools do. … Our goal is to be diverse. We want the best, most talented students.”

A Shared Experience For alums, sending their children to Georgetown has its own benefits.

“It is so much fun to visit them and to stroll down memory lane,” Noyes said of visiting her daughters.

Kelly agreed.

“When my wife Lorraine and I dropped Kimmy off this year, and when we came back for parents’ weekend, it was a great mixture of positive emotion — memories of our time as students, pride that our child gained admission and excited anticipation for what she would experience in the next four years.”

Legacy students agreed that the added exposure they gain to Georgetown through their relatives gives them an advantage in adapting to life on campus.

“Georgetown definitely felt like home to me before it did to others [in my class],” Fernandez said.

Von Gal lived with another legacy student her freshman year and said it was easier for both of them to adapt to their new environment.

“I feel like we had kind of a leg up, because we knew where things were on campus and had background information on how things worked,” she said.

But there is at least one downside to having legacy status.

“Sometimes I wonder if I was only accepted because I’m a legacy … which can be a disturbing thought,” Colligan said.

Other students also question whether legacy students really deserve their spots.

“It is unfair to an extent if you can just say, ‘My mom used to go here,’” London Finley (COL ’12) said. “I guess that’s just how the system is.”

Paige Larson (MSFS ’83), an alumni admissions interviewer of 28 years, said that her child’s positive experience at Georgetown helps to validate what she tells prospective students about her alma mater.

“Every spring when I talk to the new admits from my state, I can now avow with absolute sincerity that Georgetown is an exceptional experience for the child and for the parent,” Larson said. “Cura personalis is not just a motto, it is a pledge. I think that I took it for granted as a student, but I am so very, very grateful for this now and for Georgetown’s enduring commitment to its students.”

COURTESY KEVIN PRESKENIS

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich meets students during his visit to campus in April 2010. A handful of GU students have joined the growing national movement endorsing Gingrich for 2012 elections.

Fledgling Group Aims to Spark Student Support for Gingrich ELIZABeth Garbitelli Hoya Staff Writer

With the recent surge in support for Newt Gingrich in the GOP primary race, a chapter of the national Students for Newt organization is joining the ranks of candidate groups on campus.

Beginning their efforts with a publicity push today, the budding organization hopes to reach the same prominence as groups like Georgetown for Obama and Hoyas for Huntsman.

The chapter currently has three members, although Deputy Coalition Director Kevin Preskenis (COL ’12) said that involvement will increase as the group became more established.

“We’re very much in the organizing stage,” he said.

Preskenis also serves as the national youth coordinator for the nation-wide Students for Newt organization. While he assumed his positions in Students for Newt last week, he is also managing editor for Renewing American Leadership, a non-profit charity founded by Gingrich for which he has been working since 2009.

Students for Newt hopes to expand to 85 campuses across the country in the next few weeks, according to Preskenis.

The organization is currently focusing its efforts on colleges and universities in Iowa and South Carolina, states that are important in the first rounds of the upcoming Republican primary elections.

Angela Morabito (SFS ’13), a member of the Georgetown chapter of Students for Newt, began working as the national

movement’s communications director for the D.C. and Virginia area a week ago. A Georgia native, Morabito sees a personal connection with Gingrich.

“Newt used to be my neighbor, so I grew up knowing about him,” she said.

Morabito said she is optimistic about the group’s future, despite their slow start.

“I think we started at just the right time,” she said. “This is a good opportunity, because when you hear the words ‘student activism’ or ‘student campaigning’ you think of Students for Obama, you think of Occupy DC, you think of [groups] that are pretty far left. For people who share a different viewpoint, and there are many of us on campus, … this is really just a great chance to be a student leader.”

Violent Crime Falls Across DC, Murder Rate Hits Historic Low CRIME, from A1 crimes close to campus, Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh advised students to take necessary safety precautions.

“Everyone should practice security at home by not propping doors open, always keeping doors and windows locked, even when you are in residence, and not opening the door to strang-

ers,” she wrote in an email.

Across the District, certain types of crime saw double-digit decreases. The number of assaults with firearms and the number of homicides, for example, both dropped by 18 percent from 2010 to 2011. The number of armed robberies has dropped 35 percent from last year.

In MPD’s 7th District, which includes the historically violent

neighborhood of Anacostia, murders were down 54 percent.

The overall murder rate in D.C. is at its lowest point since 1964.

Pugh urged in her email that despite the citywide drop in violent crime, students must remain vigilant.

“While downward trends in crime rates are encouraging, the safety of our community is a top priority for us,” she wrote.

A6

news

THE HOYA

tuesDAY, decEMBER 6, 2011

GU Reaches Out Amid District AIDS Epidemic Sarah Amos Hoya Staff Writer

At an infection rate of 3.2 percent, HIV/ AIDS levels in the District exceed the World Health Organization’s classification of an epidemic and rival the rates found in developing countries. The Georgetown community is finding new ways to combat the incurable illness as well as the stigma that has made AIDS a four-letter word.

CHRIS GRIVAS FOR THE HOYA

Members of the Hilltop MicroFinance Initiative provide funds and education for D.C. entreprenuers who do not qualify for traditional loans. The group has gradually expanded its client base since its inception three years ago.

Small Scale Finance Aims Big Matthew Strauss Hoya Staff Writer

On a Thursday night in the Hariri Building, amongst breakout rooms filled with busy students, a D.C. entrepreneur is being taught business technology strategies by a team of undergraduates.

The students work with the Hilltop MicroFinance Initiative, a group of 12 who work to fund and educate small business owners in the District who do not otherwise qualify for loans and funding.

“Essentially what we look to do is target local D.C. area entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking to expand, but don’t have access to forms of credit from banks. So we provide them the financing to expand their small businesses,” Chief Financial Officer Craig Melcher (MSB ’13) said.

The group was started three years ago as part of the Georgetown University Social Entrepreneurship Competition. Eventually, securing funding from the Rotary Club of Bethesda, HMFI has been gradually building and developing.

The group has a two-pronged approach to their mission. As potential loan recipients work through the application, they are required to attend a series of tailored lessons designed to increase their knowledge about the business world.

Bernardo Figueroa, the first recipient of an HMFI loan, operated a Salvadorian food truck before he was referred to the group.

Figueroa, who has received three successive loans of $3,000, $6,000 and $7,000, is now the owner of Lalo’s Market, a grocery store in Columbia Heights.

“I’d rather work with [HMFI] than a bank any day,” Figueroa said. “They gave me a lot of information on how to run a business, make a balance sheet and make sure I don’t spend more money than I’m bringing in.”

The burst of the housing bubble crippled Kipp Martin’s work as a realtor. Because Martin, who also works part time as a truck driver, lacked the skills and capital to embrace social media marketing, he turned to HMFI to revamp his business.

“Not only did we give him the capital to purchase a smart phone, a digital camera and set up a website, but we gave him important skills,” said HMFI Chief Operating Officer Alissa Orlando (SFS ’13). “We said, ‘Here, this is how you use Facebook, here is how you use QR codes on all of your door hangers to bring people to your website and here’s how you use LinkedIn and Twitter to find new clients.”

Chief Executive Officer Alex Honjiyo (SFS ’13) said the fact that the lenders are college students sometimes creates awkwardness initially, but the discomfort quickly dissipates.

“The whole process of dealing with awkwardness is offset by the kind of personal relationship we build with the client, which is the most important part of the process,” he said. “So, the relationship really does change from the first meeting where the client realizes that these kids are 19, 20 years old, and still in college. But over time, we build these personal relationships, we meet the families, we visit their stores and it really does change the relationship.”

HMFI’s loan structure centers around year-long loans paid back in 12 equal install-

ments. Though they charge 10 percent interest — somewhat higher than market standards of around eight to nine percent — the group seeks to serve business owners too risky to qualify for big-bank financing.

“It’s a hand up, not a handout,” Orlando said. “I want to give a hand up to industrious, ambitious individuals who have the talent and will to improve their lives, but don’t have the financial resources.”

While most lending corporations ensure adequate collateral before the approval of a loan, HMFI relies more upon the lasting relationships formed with its clients to ensure payback. To date, the organization has retained a 100 percent repayment rate.

“Having loaned out over $18,000, with no real mechanism of collecting if they don’t pay back, [the perfect repayment rate] is pretty awesome,” Orlando said.

The group hopes to expand their number of clients from two to 10 by spring 2013 and also add services such as credit reporting.

According to members, while microfinance organizations at other universities often employ alumni to manage the day-today operations, HMFI only allows graduates to serve on their Board of Directors.

“I think the idea of having college students run the organization is really important,” Honjiyo said. “There is something about having college students run this that not only provides a really good experience, but it allows us to get off the Hilltop, work in the community and bring about real, tangible change in the District of Columbia.”

ASB Program to Sponsor Two New Urban Trips Annie Chen

Hoya Staff Writer

The Alternative Spring Break program will offer two new trips this spring, delving into changing social issues with one trip to New York and Washington, D.C., and another to Detroit.

The two trips, which bring the total number of ASB options to 17, will explore issues of education and race, respectively.

The “Urban Education Immersion” trip will visit a variety of public, parochial and charter schools in the District and New York City in order to introduce students to a variety of education approaches.

Colleen Gravens (COL ’14), one of the trip’s leaders, hopes that the week can allow students who do not participate in educationbased service throughout the academic year to get hands-on experience in the area.

“You can tell from the participation in DC Reads and DC Schools that there is a large interest in education at Georgetown,” she said.

“This trip will be a great opportunity [for] students who don’t have time for that commitment to meet different students, teachers [and] educational leaders and hear their thoughts on how to provide better education in urban areas.”

Arianna Pattek (SFS ’12), training chair for the ASB planning board, said the trip is important for the university, especially as its new education minor continues to grow and develop.

“The program will foster dialogues about the challenges of urban education,” she said.

One of the goals of the trip is to translate

the week’s experiences into continued service work when students return to the District, according Sasha Panaram (COL ’13), the other student leader for the trip.

“We hope to invite students to think about innovative approaches used to combat the achievement gap and inspire them to take what they learn and determine how best to share and apply that knowledge with the D.C. community,” she wrote in an email.

The “Race, Dialogue, Renewal: Detroit” trip will explore the history of racial tensions and shifting demographics in the city.

“ASB trips have rarely traveled to places north of D.C.,” said trip co-leader Eileen McFarland (COL ’12). “Detroit would be an interesting city to explore because of the revival going on after its economic struggles and population [loss].”

McFarland added that she hopes to foster a comfortable environment to discuss how racial identity affects society and to engage participants in community service.

According to trip co-leader Kevin Flannery (COL ’12), the students will partner with Detroit’s Jesuit Volunteer Corps during their time in the city.

“We want to explore the challenges Detroit is facing,” Flannery said. “The city has a rich history with its automobile industry, racial separation and significant Jesuit presence.”

Both trips are designed to complement the other 15 ASB options.

“We share the same objective as other ASBs,” Flannery said. “We strive to look in-depth [at] social justice and give the participants the opportunity to reflect and rejuvenate through the trip.”

Treating an Epidemic, Creating a Community Mary Young, assistant professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division of the Medical Center, serves as the principal investigator of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. The Georgetown chapter is one of six national sites that together treat over 3,700 infected women.

The program works closely with local women, providing them semi-annual physical exams, questionnaires and blood work.

Since forming in 1993, WIHS has cared for nearly 400 women in D.C., most of whom continue to check in with Young every six months.

“We have women who’ve never missed a visit in 18 years,” Young said.

Another program on the Hilltop focuses on infected children and their families. Affiliated with Georgetown University Hospital, the Pediatric AIDS/HIV Clinic works with 40 local families with children infected with the virus. The clinic provides medical examination, education and aroundthe-clock care.

“We are very hands-on. We take care of them,” said Charlotte Barbey-Morel, chief of pediatric infectious diseases.

Through the program, physicians often develop a close relationship with the kids they treat.

“Some of the patients, I have known them since they were born,” Barbey-Morel said. “We really are a family.”

The families gather with doctors, social workers and staff members during the summer and at an annual Christmas party.

“We try to make it a fun place for them rather than just a place for them to get blood tests,” Barbey-Morel said.

A vast majority of patients were infected with HIV at the time of birth, and growing up with this disease poses innumerable challenges. Barbey-Morel said a big part of care is simply providing a place for these children to discuss the virus openly and learn ways to cope.

“None of them talk about HIV to their friends,” Barbey-Morel said. “[In] some families not even the brother and sister know.”

She added that the stigma these children face is in some ways as bad as the disease.

Overturning the “Death Sentence” “In certain communities in D.C., you find out that someone has [AIDS] and it’s like a death sentence. No one wants to associate with you,” Greg Germain (COL ’12), president of Grassroot Hoyas, said.

Founded by Georgetown alumni, the Grassroot Project recruits student-athletes at local universities to teach awareness, prevention and community leadership to local middle school students. In conjunction with Grassroot chapters at The George Washington University, American University and Howard University, the project serves 18 area middle schools, focusing attention on students ages 12 to 14 years old — the age at which many at-risk youths become sexually active.

CLASSIFIEDS

INDEX MISCELLANEOUS

“Our philosophy is to get at the root of the problem,” Germain said. “Hopefully that will teach them at a very young age about the risks that they are taking, so they can be responsible.”

Last Thursday marked World AIDS Day and the middle school students’ graduation from the Grassroot program at the Kennedy Recreation Center. In addition to reviewing the core skills taught in the program, the kids also played on a moon bounce and in an obstacle course.

But Grassroot’s primary educational goal is to foster a more open dialogue.

“We need people to talk about it more, that’s why it’s such a problem. Because of the stigmas attached to it, you don’t tell anyone,” Germain said.

At the beginning of the nine-week program, participants sign a contract that promotes a respectful sharing environment.

Germain said that it takes time for the kids to feel comfortable enough to come forward with more personal stories.

“We’ve had a few kids come forward saying, ‘My mom has AIDS,’ or ‘My sister died of AIDS,’” he said. “You’re happy that they opened up, but it’s sad at the same time.”

Germain said that overcoming this stigma is the project’s most powerful tool against the spread of AIDS. According to Dominique Hall (COL ’12), president of Georgetown AIDS Coalition, the District-wide stigma attached to HIVinfected individuals is present even on the Hilltop.

“The more people that [Georgetown students] meet affected by it, the more we can make progress on the issue,” she said.

To commemorate World AIDS Day, the coalition handed out fliers informing the campus community about the virus’ presence in the District. The coalition also sponsored a forum, “The HIV/AIDS Experience,” led by Maryanne Lachat, professor of “HIV/ AIDS: The Impact of the Epidemic,” a class in the School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Overall, Georgetown AIDS Coalition seeks to promote awareness and advocacy for HIV not solely as a global epidemic, but primarily as a local one.

“We’re an international school, so obviously we have a lot of people who are passionate about [the international fight against AIDS],” Hall said. “But when I first joined the group, I thought there needed to be a lot more emphasis on D.C.” The coalition has teamed up with the medical school’s own coalition to make Georgetown students more aware of the disease in their own backyard. The group works with local non-profit Food and Friends to deliver fresh meals to homebound patients. Last January the group presented “Unity Live,” an annual concert featuring undergrad a cappella and dance groups, raising over $1,500 for Miriam’s House, a shelter for HIV-positive women.

“That’s the time that campus is the most united. Everyone has a common goal and understanding. It’s the only time where we set aside time for the campus to observe the issue,” Hall said.

Although antiretroviral drugs have made the disease manageable and the media attention that demonized victims of the virus in the 1980s and ’90s has faded, HIV/AIDS still continues to strike at an epidemic rate in the District.

“Today you see people out and living with AIDS, so people think, ‘Oh it’s not really a big deal anymore,’” Hall said. “But for people who are affected, it’s a big deal.”

800

ADOPT: A dream is a wish your heart makes. Our wish is a child to love. 1-877-742-6556. www. richandmyriam.com Rosslyn Condo for Sale Fully Renovated $264,900 rosslyncondoforsale@yahoo.com 1 male and 1 female 5 months old English Bulldogs for free to a good home due to relocation,please contact: anthonycook1961@gmail.com if interested or for more information.

Seeking for a caring Nanny/Child Jetty A very kindly and someone that love kids I will pay $710 per week and get you 1 car The Boy is friendly and playful with anyone Contact: ros23101@gmail.com Affordable Rooms for Rent 2 cozy, clean rooms for rent in quaint but cluttered, G’town home.(across from park). Lg rm $525/mo: Sm rm $325/mo utls. incl.; sep bathroom; shr kitch and laundry room. Med/Law/Grad/Profess student preferred. For more information call 202-3332427..leave phone # twice.

The Hoya Classifieds Line Ad Rates Regular line classified ads are $0.50 per word.

Optional Extras Bold words: $1.00 per issue. Make individual words or an entire ad stand out.

Large headline: $1.50 per issue. One line of 16-point bold, centered and capitalized.

Two-line large headline: $2.50 per issue.

Boxed ad: $2.00 per issue. Add a onepoint box around your ad.

Deadlines & Payment Copy and payment must be received by 12 noon, one business day before publication. All classified ads must be paid in full at the time of placement.

Visa, Mastercard, cash or personal checks are accepted. Cancelled ads may be removed from the paper if notification is made before deadline. No refunds will be given, but the unused portion of the payment will be held as a credit.

For more information, please email classifiedads@thehoya.com

news

tuesDAY, december 6, 2011

2009 Compensation for University Presidents Base Pay

Additional Compensation

THE HOYA

GU to Hold IR Conference Carly Graf

$1,800,000

Hoya Staff Writer

$1,600,000 $1,400,000 $1,200,000 $1,000,000 $800,000 $600,000 $400,000

lic Cath o

Brow n

e Da m Notre

Harv ard

wn G e or ge to

GWU

UPen n

Colu m

Yale

$0

bia

$200,000

According to data released by The Chronicle of Higher Education this week, University President John J. DeGioia received the 44th highest salary among private U.S. college presidents in 2009. His salary, which is 0.08 percent of the university’s budget, did not change from 2008. The data used to calculate the comparisons was taken from federal tax returns.

DATA: THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, KAVYA DEVARAKONDA/THE HOYA

A7

Next semester a new intercollegiate conference at Georgetown will channel D.C.’s cultural focus on international relations and politics.

The Walsh Exchange, which is being spearheaded by Georgetown students, will provide undergraduates with an opportunity to discuss and promote the most recent research in foreign policy. Jon Askonas (SFS ’13) developed the idea for the conference about a year ago in order to foster a stronger intellectual community at the university and establish a forum through which undergraduates can present their own research.

Since then, the Walsh Exchange Steering Committee, comprised of two co-chairs, Askonas and Colleen Wood (SFS ’14), and seven coordinators, have organized the conference, which will be held April 13-15. Shuo Yan Tan (SFS ’12), long-term development chair of the Carroll Round, and Lucas Stratman (SFS ’12), president of the SFS Academic Council, as well as the International Relations Club, have been instrumental in the planning process.

Wood is excited about what the Walsh Exchange means for Georgetown and its reputation as a hallmark institution in the world of foreign affairs.

“It only makes sense that the university with one of the top-ranked international relations programs in the country would host a research conference where undergradu-

ates can engage with new ideas and new research in the field,” she said.

The format of the Walsh Exchange closely resembles that of the Carroll Round, an international economics and political economy roundtable conference held annually at Georgetown. Its purpose and content, however, are very different.

“International relations, at its core, is very different from international economics, and our conference structure will reflect that with more active dialogue and exchange of abstract ideas, backed up with research,” Wood said.

The conference will feature a keynote speaker, to be announced at a future date, to reinforce the messages of the conference and demonstrate what a career in international relations entails.

Students are invited to play an active and participatory role in the Walsh Exchange through the submission of research papers, which can include works in progress or complete senior thesis projects.

Even for those students who do not participate directly, the Walsh Exchange hopes to be a resource based on the nature of the dialogue it will bring to campus and the long-term research that it hopes to inspire, according to Wood.

“I firmly believe that all students at Georgetown can benefit from this conference and the ideas it promotes,” she said.

“All students wishing to work on research projects and all students wishing to engage in intellectual life on campus can benefit from what the Walsh Exchange has to offer.”

Metro Fares May Rise by Over Five Percent Referendum Hiromi Oka

Hoya Staff Writer

Students who use the D.C. Metro may see their wallets shrink as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority debates a 5.7 percent fare increase to address budget shortfalls.

Along with the fare hike — which would cover about $50 million of next year’s projected $124 million shortfall — WMATA is considering rounding bus cash fares to the dollar and eliminating the peak-hour fare system.

A Dec. 1 press release from WMATA cited growing wage, health and pension costs, including $11 million in court-mandated wage increases and $9 million increases in pensions for workers, as accounting for nearly half the deficit. The remainder is due to projects such as $20 million in preparation costs for the Metrorail expansion to Dulles Airport and $8 million for escalator maintenance.

Some students are unsatisfied with the current fare system and upset at the prospect of further

price increases.

“I think it’s frustrating already because you have to pay for distance whereas in Boston on the T you only pay once,” Kristen Trivelli (NHS ’14) said.

But students said the possibility of a fare hike would have little impact on their use of the system due to the limited number of alternatives in the District.

“I honestly don’t think that it would impact my metro riding at all because I would have to take the metro regardless, and taxis are still more expensive in general,”

Brad Hilson (COL ’12) said.

WMATA last raised fares in 2010 with a general 10-cent increase across all modes of transportation.

Later that year, the transit authority enacted a rate system based on peak commute hours that further increased Metrorail fare. That increase was designed to mitigate a $40 million budget shortfall.

“It’s not going to change the fact that people don’t want to have to drive through the traffic in the city,” Hilson said about future rate increases. “People are just going to have to deal with it.”

CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

The four winners of the competition were chosen for the way in which they related their faith and service work to their time at Georgetown.

Winners of Interfaith Essay Contest Announced Mariah Byrne & Rita Pearson Hoya Staff Writers

Four students were recognized as winners of the Interfaith Dialogue and Service Video and Essay contest Friday.

The contest, which is a part of the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Challenge, selected students who addressed ways the university’s Jesuit values affect their respective faith backgrounds and community involvement in their submissions.

Grand prize winner Kieran Halloran (SFS ’14) reflected on losing his father, a firefighter, in the September 11, 2011 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Halloran’s essay, which was selected for its honesty and its emphasis on dialogue, focused on how he was inspired by those who chose to live as men and women for others.

“While this experience fostered the greatest amount of anger and hatred that I have ever felt in my life, it has also, through a roundabout way, fostered the greatest motivation to love and serve others that I have,” he wrote

in his essay.

Halloran was inspired to enter the competition by his involvement with the President’s Challenge initiative.

“The initiative has really helped me to look at my faith and other peoples’ faiths in a whole different way,” he wrote in an email.

Stephen Patrick (COL ’13), the second place winner, along with Colleen Tapen (NHS ’13) and Vivian Ojo (SFS ’14), who tied for third place, wrote about how their faiths, community service work, international travel and future goals have influenced their Georgetown experiences.

“I really liked [the essays] because they show the diversity of what Georgetown is,” said Melody Fox Ahmed, a member of the judging committee, which was comprised of students, faculty and staff.

Ahmed, who serves as assistant director for programs and operations at the Berkley Center, said submissions by students who did not have a real faith tradition or who primarily reflected on their community service work still reflected the university’s Jesuit ideals.

“The work is the same. The humanity is the same. Being a man and woman for others is still the same,” she said.

Tapen, whose essay is entitled “A Non-Believer Making a Difference,” said that while she has not attended official interfaith events, her roommate, who is deeply involved with interreligious dialogue, motivated her to apply.

“Through my essay, I wanted to convey that a Hoya need not be religious to make a difference in the world. That all Hoyas, regardless of creed, can be men and women for others,” Tapen wrote in an email.

Patrick, who only recently began attending interfaith events on campus, enjoyed reading the other winning essays.

“The other winning essays were really good and I learned something from all of them,” he wrote in an email. “I think the contest was really successful as an exchange of ideas and experiences.”

Winning essays are available on the Berkley Center’s website.

The essay contest is one of several activities intended to address the

university’s chosen theme for the President’s Challenge — combating domestic poverty and improving educational opportunities. The first-place winner received $500, while the second-place winner and two third-place winners received $350 and $150, respectively.

The university will continue to plan interfaith and service-based programming as part of its year-long commitment to the initiative. Programs are being organized by Campus Ministry, the Center for Social Justice and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

The national challenge, which the university accepted in September, is supported by the Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The schools deemed the most successful will be recognized by the White House in spring 2012.

Because there were no video submissions by the initial deadline, that portion of the contest will be continued in the spring semester. The White House has asked the university to send the video winners to be featured in the national initiative.

Set for SAFE Proposals

Annie Chen

Hoya Staff Writer

The GUSA senate voted unanimously Sunday to send a proposal on how to spend the $3.4 million Student Activities Fee Endowment to a student body-wide referendum.

The proposal, which was finalized by the Georgetown University Student Association senate’s Finance and Appropriations Committee last week, allocates funds to finance the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund, a Georgetown Energy initiative and the New South Student Center renovation effort.

Fin/App allocated $1.25 million to the SIPS Fund, $250,000 to Georgetown Energy’s initiative to install solar panels on the roofs of university townhouses and $1.6 million to the construction of an outdoor terrace on the south side of the New South Student Center.

Students will vote on the three proposals from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26. Each item must receive at least 2,000 votes, a majority being for the proposal, for it to pass. Proposals receiving less than 2,000 student votes, either for or against, will not be considered ratified by the referendum.

According to Senate Speaker Adam Talbot (COL ’12), the three proposals will be voted upon separately.

“Each proposal [is] created and worded in a way that will not affect each other if any of them fails to pass,” he said.

Talbot added that the passing of the proposals is a momentous step for GUSA. “We have an enviable responsibility to allocate $3.5 million dollars of student money,” he said. “The proposal will be the largest student investment in solar energy in the country. It will show that Georgetown believes strongly in service and entrepreneurship, and that we are doing something for student space on campus that will last the next 20 or 30 years.”

GUSA President Michael Meaney (SFS ’12) also spoke in favor of the proposals. “[This] is a process that has been happening for a decade since the Student Activities Fee Endowment was created,” he said. “I emphatically and unequivocally endorse the final proposal.”

Some senators expressed concerns, however, about feasibility, particularly for the New South Student Center proposal. The plan was allocated just over $2 million of the $2.4 million requested by its proponents.

Fin/App Chair Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) said that although each proposal asked for more money than was allocated, the earnings from interest rates and fundraising efforts can fill the gaps.

GUSA senator Clara Gustafason (SFS ’13), one of the backers of the SIPS fund, said she didn’t think the fund’s operation would be severely affected, although the proposal received only $1.25 million of the requested $1.5 million.

“Under the worst case scenarios with no fundraising at all, the SIPS fund will still last until 2028, but I am tentatively optimistic about fundraising [efforts],” she said.

Tyler Eldridge (COL ’13) and Evan Abrams (SFS ’12) dropped their claim that Georgetown Energy has plagiarized their idea for a revolving sustainability loan fund.

According to Malkerson, all of the proposals should have long-term benefits on the Hilltop.

“Every proposal is phenomenal and will impact the community in very positive ways,” he said. “The bill we see before us today keeps the interest of students in mind and will be the best allocation of student money.”

Sports

tuesday, decEMBER 6, 2011

THE HOYA

A9

Commentary

Men’s Basketball Analysis

Second-Half Defense Keys Win Pujols and Fielder Battle

As Top Free Agent Prizes

MEN’S BASKETBALL, from A12 night’s road slugfest, and all the rotation players looked smooth in the early going. Senior center Henry Sims continued his recent trend of excellence, stuffing the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks in only 16 minutes.

“I’m confident in this group,” Thompson III said. “Have been probably since the fourth or fifth day of practice, preparing to go to China.”

NJIT didn’t roll over completely. A three-pointer from junior guard Ryan Woods, who led his team with 16 points, narrowed the gap to nine points late in the first half. The Hoyas kept their composure, however, and a layup from freshman forward Mikael Hopkins sent them into halftime with a 42-26 advantage.

The Georgetown defense locked down in the second half, holding the Highlanders to 17.2 percent shooting from the field.

The predictably unbalanced game turned into an opportunity for Thompson III to showcase the freshmen who haven’t seen much court time this year, namely Hopkins, guard Jabril Trawick and forward Tyler Adams.

“It was just that our guys picked up our communication,” Thompson III said of his team’s second-half defense. “We weren’t communicating well with each other in the first half. ... They got too many open looks just because of our lack of communication.”

Even considering the questionable quality of opposition, the freshmen put together a fairly impressive performance. Hopkins — whose total of 12 points was second only to Thompson’s 20 — showed off a variety of jump hooks and even hit a floater with the shot clock expiring late in the game. Trawick was aggressive attacking the basket and ran the

Preston Barclay

Turning Two in the 202 In a free-agent market filled with potential impact players, first basemen Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder are the two most coveted. The pair share several traits, most notably as two power bats that can hit at the heart of any team’s order for years to come.

They have been consistent performers ever since reaching the majors, eclipsing the 30 -home run plateau in virtually every season.

On the other hand, Pujols and Fielder also differ in many more subtle ways that could cause teams to prefer one to the other. Although Pujols has been arguably the best player in the game over the last decade, teams do not necessarily value him over Fielder. Each comes with his own set of pros and cons, and in due time we will see who will sign the bigger contract.

WEB LESLIE/THE HOYA

Freshman forward Tyler Adams tallied season-highs in minutes (11), points (8), rebounds (6) and blocks (3) in the Hoyas’ 84-44 win.

point effectively for much of the second half. Adams, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound Mississippi native, bullied his way to eight points, six rebounds and three of the Hoyas’ 13 blocks in his 11 minutes.

“Today was productive because we were able to get some extended minutes for some guys that we hadn’t been able to get extended minutes for,” Thompson III said.

“Big Tyler just showed a little flash — he’s not 100 percent, but the big fella showed a little flash of what we’re going to see. It’s important to get those guys game reps.”

The freshmen did go through some predictable growing pains, and the second half featured more missed layups and errant passes than Thompson III prob-

ably would have liked. All in all, though, the newcomers showed enough flashes of brilliance to give Hoya fans hope for the future — and built a big enough lead to earn minutes for sophomore guard and fan favorite John Caprio, who scored once and blocked two shots.

On a warm Saturday afternoon in December, the Georgetown faithful are undoubtedly pretty happy with a 40-point win and a leap into the national rankings. But according to to senior guard Jason Clark, the best is yet to come.

“I think this team has the ability to be one of the best teams in the country if we keep playing hard, if we keep doing what we’re supposed to do,” Clark said.

The Case for Pujols The reasons to pursue Pujols are seemingly endless. In his 11-year career, Pujols has been an all-star nine times, won three MVPs, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and, most importantly, two World Series championships.

Among active players, he has the best career batting average (.328), slugging percentage (.617) and OPS (1.037). Simply put, he is the best hitter in the game and has certainly earned the distinction as ESPN’s player of the decade for the 2000s.

Several cons, however, present themselves: his age and price tag. At 31, Pujols has more or less passed his prime, and although he still hit 37 home runs this year, he failed to drive in more than 100 runs — earning 99 RBIs for the first time in his career — and hit .299. This marked the first year he hit less than .300.

Despite the down year, Pujols has already reportedly received a nine-year offer north of $200 million from the Cardinals. Most teams willing to spend that kind of cash already have first basemen entrenched — the Red Sox have Adrian Gonzalez, the Yankees

have Mark Teixeira and the Phillies have Ryan Howard. Likewise, if Pujols were to leave his “hometown” Cardinals, he would likely have to receive an offer substantially higher than St. Louis’s current offer.

The Case for Fielder In his brief career, Fielder has averaged nearly 40 home runs per year while also developing into a complete hitter who can hit for average, batting a robust .299 in 2011 as well as walking over 100 times.

Unlike Pujols, Fielder has also demonstrated major slugging power, clubbing 50 bombs in 2007 — a feat Pujols has never accomplished. His age (27) also suggests that the best has yet to come for Fielder, and agent Scott Boras has marketed him as the only young power bat that will be available in free agency until the Marlins’ Mike Stanton reaches it in four years (if he doesn’t sign an extension before then, of course).

Even though a case could be made for Fielder to receive an offer similar to Pujols’, the expectation is that Fielder will cost less in money and years.

But the reasons for a potentially weaker offer correspond to the long-term projection of Fielder’s position. Despite his desire to remain a first baseman, it is assumed that Fielder will have to serve primarily as a designated hitter as he ages. At 5-foot-11 and nearly 300 pounds, it’s hard to imagine that Fielder will remain athletic and mobile enough to perform an adequate job on the diamond. Pujols, on the other hand, remains a quality fielder who has also clocked hours at third base as well as in left and right field.

There will be no shortage of suitors for Pujols’ and Fielder’s services, but teams may prefer one to the other based primarily on consistency, longevity and price. For a smaller market club looking to make a splash, Fielder may be the more reasonable target, but Pujols remains the crown jewel of the free agent class.

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

A10

sports

THE HOYA

SWIMMING & DIVING

tuesDAY, decEMBER 6, 2011

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

GU Starts Big East Play at Pitt Beno Picciano Hoya Staff Writer

CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Senior Brad Crist was on two relay teams that finished second in the 200 freestyle and the 200 medley, respectively, during Saturday’s Senior Day meet against Catholic.

Seniors Lead Near Sweep Michael Liu

Special to The Hoya

The Georgetown swimming and diving team handed Catholic University two losses on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Pool, as both the men’s and women’s teams trounced their District rivals.

Georgetown swept virtually every event in a solid team win. The Hoyas earned firstplace finishes in 21 out of 22 contested events.

It was the last home meet for the Hoyas this season, and nine seniors were honored prior to the meet.

Head Coach Jamie Holder also paid tribute to the seniors during the meet, putting together two all-senior squads for the men’s 200-yard freestyle and medley relay events.

“I thought it was a great meet because the energy was ridiculously high. We were going to celebrate our seniors against a team we felt really confident against,” junior Paul Quincy said.

Seniors Greg Germain, Chris Finnegan, Robert Gokey and Brad Crist finished in second place in the 200 freestyle

relay with a time of 1:29.94.

The seniors finished just a quarter of a second behind the young group of freshman Michael Henze, sophomore Matthew Mandel, freshman William Lawler and freshman Michael Young.

Another relay team, comprised of senior captain Kyle Chow, Crist, Gokey and fellow senior Trevor Kosmo, competed in the 200 medley and finished, as the other other group of seniors did, in second place — this time in 1:38.32. Freshman Michael Ng, sophomore Christian Kilgore, Germain and Mandel earned top honors with a time of 1:37.75.

The revamped lineups also meant that some swimmers, like Quincy, were put in events that are not part of their usual repertoire.

“I personally got to swim some events I hadn’t gotten to compete in for years. It’s always a good benchmark as an athlete to get to race [against] old times from a few seasons ago and see that you’re improving, even if that’s not a particularly good event for you,” Quincy said. “Everyone had a lot of fun at the meet; it

was good to send the seniors off with a W.” Freshman Zoey Krulick and junior Brian McCallister will join their fellow divers in the Big East Diving Championships in Pittsburgh, as they both made Big East cuts in the 1-meter diving event. Krulick scored a 216.60 and McCallister received a 254.85.

For the women’s team, Holder included all three seniors in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay groups.

Senior captains Kathryn Berg and Kelly Donlin and senior Kristen Pratt all swam both relay events together, finishing second in the 200 medley with a time of 1:56.44, and placing third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.87.

The Hoyas have three more meets before the Big East championships in February.

The Big East diving championships start Feb. 10 and the swimming championships will begin on Feb. 15.

The squad will also have time to recover and prepare for their next meet on Jan. 14.

The Hoyas will face off against James Madison, VMI and American in Harrisburg, Va., to kick off the spring semester.

Indoor Track

Hoyas Open Season With Strong Showing at Bucknell Ashwin Wadekar Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown’s track and field team kicked off the indoor season this past weekend at the Bucknell Bison Opener and the Navy Invitational, earning a handful of qualifying times for the Big East Indoor Championship in February.

In the only event before the end of the semester, the Blue and Gray wanted to test their off-season training at the Bison Opener.

“The main thing now is just to get an opportunity for [less experienced runners] to get some competing in,” Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Patrick Henner said.

The Hoyas’ training schedule aims to have the team peak in February for the Big East and national championships. But since most indoor track athletes compete in the spring for the outdoor season as well, Henner knows that the squad should try to avoid burning out over the winter.

“The training [regimen] is mainly trying to get them very fit, but a fitness that will last all the way to summer,” Henner said.

Georgetown is no stranger to the Bucknell event, having opened its season there each year for the past decade. While the competition is generally not Big East caliber, the meet serves as a good start for the Hoyas’ indoor season.

“The competition was good enough for what we

wanted to accomplish,” Henner said. “We mostly just wanted to get the rust off.”

Junior Tenille Stoudenmire, who missed all of last year with an injury, recorded the fastest time in the 200-meter dash but just missed the Big East qualifying mark. In her first open 400m run ever, junior Amanda Kimbers easily qualified for the Big East championship with her time of 57.14 seconds.

The marquee race, however, was senior London Finley’s 300m dash in 39.69 seconds, one of the fastest in school history.

“I’m very happy with London’s run,” Henner said. “It was the performance of the meet for Georgetown.”

Coming off of a stellar freshman year, sophomore Chelsea Cox broke Bucknell’s record in the 1000m run with a time of 2:53.22.

Following Cox was senior teammate Lauren Borduin.

The two took the top spots in the event.

“Chelsea’s training this fall has been very good,” Henner said. “She’s very versatile, and she can run a full range of distances. If you’re fit, you’re fit, and your talent allows you to run that type of range. And Chelsea’s talented.”

Proving her versatility, Cox also competed in the 4x400m relay with freshmen Natalie Englese and Finley, as well as senior Chela Green.

The squad came in second overall with a time of 3:54.51.

“The leadoff carries were very good,” Henner said.

“Both London and Chela did a really good job, and I was pretty happy with [their performance].”

Junior Justin Crawford and sophomore Eghosa Aghayere joined the women’s track runners to compete in the men’s events.

Crawford, whose performance in the 60m hurdles earned him a spot in the Big East championship, has big shoes to fill with the departure of Chris Kinney, one of the top hurdlers in the school’s history.

“The first thing is that Justin has got to get in good shape,” Henner said. “He’s a very talented athlete, but he’s a long way from doing anything [like Kinney].”

Aghayere competed in the triple jump and recorded the best result of any collegiate athlete in Saturday’s event with a distance of 14.24m.

While field events have typically been Georgetown’s weakness, Henner is hopeful that Aghayere will prove to be vital in putting up much-needed points in that category for the Hoyas.

“If we can come out of the field events with some points on the board, that can do nothing but help us,” Henner said. “And I think if Eghosa keeps improving, he can put some points on the board for the Big East [championship].”

The track and field team will not see action until next semester, when the squad travels to Fairfax, Va., for the Father Diamond Invitational on Jan. 7.

Winners of six straight contests, the No. 19/20 Georgetown women’s basketball team (7-2) opens Big East conference play this Wednesday night with a visit to Pittsburgh (4-4).

The Hoyas defeated the Panthers, 67-57, in last season’s meeting and are favored once again in the matchup. But after a narrow 58-51 home win over Rider on Sunday, which saw the Blue and Gray scramble back from a 12-point deficit in the second half, Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy is intent on getting her team to play to its potential.

“What we have to do is get back to playing defense. We’re fouling way too much. We’re a much better defensive team than that,” she said after Sunday’s game.

Georgetown holds its opponents to just over 50 points per game, forces 21.6 turnovers per contest, and has allowed over 60 points just once this season. With a focus on disrupting the opposition’s offensive rhythm, creating takeaways and pushing the tempo of play transition, the Hoyas can be difficult to handle. Just ask Georgia — the No. 10 Bulldogs were upset 64-56 by the Blue and Gray on Nov. 26, and UNLV’s previously unblemished record was marred by a 64-45 home dismantling at Georgetown’s hands.

However, the Hoyas have been far from consistent this season: The highly-touted veteran squad dropped its first two meetings against ranked opponents, including a 19-point defeat at local rival Maryland and had trouble in home meetings with Monmouth and Rider.

However, it is noteworthy that Georgetown’s star junior guard and leading scorer Sugar Rodgers is coming off an ankle injury that hampered her until late November, while senior forward Tia Magee — an emerging scoring threat this season with her 12.1 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game — is expected to return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s contest because of a knee injury.

“We’ll have Tia Magee back up at the top of the press, and that calms things down a bit up there,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Despite the Hoyas’ inconsistent nonconference play, however, a weak Pittsburgh squad should be

FILE PHOTO: SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Senior forward Tia Magee sat out wins over Coppin State and Rider but will return against Pitt.

no trouble. The Panthers were routed by 49 points in a 92-43 contest to No. 7 Duke and surrendered 82 points in a loss to Big South foe High Point.

The Blue and Gray will look to start quickly against the Panthers, likely attempting to use their speed to kick-start the offense from the defensive end and exploit Pittsburgh on the fast break.

“We need to start the game better early and play better defense,” senior guard Alexa Roche said.

While Georgetown was plagued in its early season setbacks by poor shooting and an inability to respond to cold spells, the Hoyas will look to maintain control of the game even in the event of a slump.

“We run in transition and we play defense.

That’s our style of play,” Williams-Flournoy said.

“As long as we are running in transition and hitting those shots, we can do that. When we aren’t hitting those shots, we have to play smarter basketball.”

Rodgers leads the Hoyas with 14.9 points per game, while freshman guard Brianna Kiessel leads the Panthers with 13.6 points per game.

The contest will be held at Petersen Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Wednesday night.

Indoor track

Georgetown Snags Bids at Navy Leonard Olsen Hoya Staff Writer

This past weekend, the Georgetown track and field team traveled to Annapolis, Md. to compete in the Navy Invitational. The event kicked off the indoor season for the Hoyas, who performed very well and set automatic Big East championship qualifying times in multiple events.

Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Patrick Henner was very happy with his team’s performance, particularly with sophomores Michael Reher and Hansel Akers’ strong early-season statements.

“I felt like [Akers and Reher] stepped up and showed they will be big contributors this year,” Henner said.

“If [Akers] comes out running like he did on Saturday, he is going to make a huge jump. [And] I think big things are in store for [Rehrer].”

Akers finished fourth overall in the men’s 400 meter with a Big East qualifying time of 48.92 seconds.

Reher, meanwhile, won the men’s mile with his time of 4:13.67. This performance set a new personal record for Reher and automatically qualified him for the Big East championship.

Graduate student Toby Ulm joined Akers in the 400m and picked up right where he left off last spring with a very strong performance. Ulm clocked in at 48.54 seconds, which was good for third in the event and fast enough to qualify for the Big East championship as well.

Senior Brian Manning and freshman Miles Schoedler joined Reher in the mile. Both posted strong performances and qualified for the Big East championships as well, with Manning coming in

second with a time of 4:14.14 and Schoedler finishing fifth with a time of 4:15.52.

“Toby got out a little slow, but finished well,” Henner said. “I thought Brian ran a good competitive race.”

The Blue and Gray also had a strong showing in the men’s 800m, as Georgetown runners grabbed three of the top six spots. Senior Theon O’Connor won the race with a time of 1:52.11, sophomore Billy Ledder came in right behind in second with a time of 1:52.40, and freshman Omar Kaddurah clocked in at sixth at 1:54.74. All three qualified for Big East with their times.

“Billy did a great job setting a fast pace, and Theon got banged up early in the race but had a great finish,” Henner said.

The Hoyas posted more Big East qualifying times in the men’s 200m as junior Christian Tobias and senior Austin Perron finished with identical 11th-place times of 22.52 seconds.

In the men’s 3000m run, junior Bobby Peavey joined the Big East qualifiers by placing second with his time of 8:23.84. Junior Dylan Sorenson finished third in the event with a time of 8:27.18, and sophomore Max Darrah came in fourth at 8:27.21.

Finally, Akers, O’Connor, Ledder and Ulm teamed up to win the men’s 4x400m in a time of 3:15.59 and capped a successful weekend for the Blue and Gray.

“Bobby got a little down with the pacing but had a really strong finish [in the 3000m],” Henner said.

“We’re going to have some depth [in the 4x400m].

I’m very glad about what they can do.”

Georgetown will rest for the remainder of 2011, returning to action on Jan. 7 at George Mason’s Father Diamond Invitational in Fairfax, Va.

SPORTS

tuesDAY, December 6, 2011

women’s basketball ANALYSIS

Hoya Staff Writer

The No. 19 Georgetown women’s basketball team got past Rider Sunday afternoon at McDonough Arena, but their 58-51 win flashed even more warning signs about the Hoyas’ vulnerabilities.

The opening minutes of their games have not been the Blue and Gray’s forte this season, but the Hoyas seemed to come out of the gate even more flatfooted than usual.

The malaise lingered for most of the first half, with Georgetown shooting a miserable 29.4 percent from the floor.

The Hoyas were equally poor on defense, letting the Broncs sink 11 of their 22 first-half field goal attempts.

Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy blamed the first-half struggles on early foul trouble for two of Georgetown’s best players, senior guard Rubylee Wright and junior guard Sugar Rodgers.

“We weren’t playing defense the way we typically would in the first half. We had a majority of our starters on the bench with fouls, so we had to rely on the bench to play minutes they weren’t used to playing,” Williams-Flournoy said. “So then you have other people on the floor, getting out of our normal swing. Continuity is not there.”

With Wright and Rodgers on the bench, Georgetown required more production from its reserves. Seven different Hoyas scored in the first half.

Overconfidence may also have played a part in the Blue and Gray’s slow start.

The players probably didn’t expect much of a challenge from Rider, which has struggled so far this year.

“We came in thinking we were going to knock their head off, and that wasn’t it,” Rodgers said.

The Blue and Gray broke down on defense, fouling excessively and not grabbing boards. The referees charged Georgetown with nine first-half fouls, against only two on Rider.

“We can’t foul and put them on the free-throw line. … We’re going down and giving them open shots,” WilliamsFlournoy said. “Rider continued to fight all the way through the game. That’s something our guys need to learn how to do.”

The open shots weren’t the only problems the Hoyas faced. They were outrebounded, 23-15, in the first half, grabbing a mere six defensive boards over that span.

“Usually if we aren’t making shots, we are getting back on defense,” Rodg-

ers said. “But we were failing. That was what we were having problems with.”

Georgetown trailed 29-24 at the half and seemed only marginally livelier in the opening minutes of the second half. They let Rider extend their lead from four points at the break to 11 points with 17:48 to go.

Despite their struggles, the Hoyas had the talent to overcome the deficit.

Although they fought hard, the Broncs also committed a series of forced and unforced errors that let Rodgers and her teammates get back in front.

“During halftime [the coaches] emphasized that the middle was wide open,” senior guard Alexa Roche said.

“Their 2-3 [zone] was extended way too wide. That gave us a chance to get shots in the middle.”

Improved rebounding also contributed to Georgetown’s turnaround, and a strong second half allowed the team to outrebound Rider for the game.

“They were shooting a lot of shots, but that weak-side rebounding let us push the ball up the floor to our guys,” Roche said.

A powerful run by Rodgers, who had 21 points and eight rebounds on the afternoon, carried the Hoyas to a lead with 8:43 to go in the game. And although Rider played tough until the final buzzer, Georgetown never looked back.

Senior forward Tommacina McBride and junior center Sydney Wilson also made big contributions, scoring 10 and eight points, respectively. However, the Hoyas missed senior forward Tia Magee, who sat out her second straight game with a knee injury.

“We’ve been resting her knee. She hurt it in the game against Georgia, and she fought through to help us get the wins [in Las Vegas],” WilliamsFlournoy said. “It was time to rest her a little bit. But she’ll be back against Pitt.

But we miss her.”

Overall, the Hoyas showed that they have the class to beat back tough challenges. But Rider is no Notre Dame or Connecticut, and the Big East powerhouses would have pounced on Georgetown’s early struggles to build an insurmountable lead.

On Wednesday, the team will face Pittsburgh — hardly a league powerhouse, but a strong foe nonetheless. The Hoyas will need to clamp down on defense if they hope to stifle the Panthers.

“What we have to do is get back to playing defense. We’re fouling way too much. Way too much. We’re a much better defensive team than that,” Williams-Flournoy said.

SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Junior guard Sugar Rodgers sparked a second-half run that propelled the Hoyas to a 58-51 win over visiting Rider Sunday afternoon. Rodgers finished with a team-high 21 points in the victory.

Rodgers Leads Georgetown to Win WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, from A12 Rodgers’ layup with 8:53 left gave the Hoyas a 40-39 lead, their first of the half. A free throw gave Rider an opportunity to tie the game at 40, but with just over eight minutes to play, Georgetown took the advantage for good.

The Hoyas increased their lead with back-to-back jumpers from McBride, and Rodgers nailed two free throws to give the Hoyas their biggest advantage of the game at 14.

Rider managed to cut the hosts’ lead to seven with just under 30

men’s basketball RECAP

seconds left to play, but the Hoyas quickly forced a turnover with 16 seconds left to secure the 58-51 victory.

“Rider didn’t just play hard because they were playing Georgetown, they played hard because they always play that way,” said Williams-Flournoy. “I think our team can learn something from that. … We have to work on always playing to level of our competitors.”

Rodgers led the Hoyas in scoring with 21 points, while McBride chipped in with 10. Wilson managed 10 rebounds to lead the

The Year in Sports: 2011’s Take-Homes

WEB LESLIE/THE HOYA

Seldom-used sophomore guard John Caprio entered Saturday’s blowout win six minutes remaining, provoking cheers from a crowd of 8,700. Caprio finished with two points, two rebounds and two blocks in the Hoyas’ 84-44 victory.

GU Rolls to Fifth Straight Victory rebounds in the blowout, and Hopkins, a freshman forward, scored 12 points and added three rebounds.

“We’re a better team than them. But no matter what the score was, those guys played hard for 40 minutes, they made us work hard for 40 minutes,” Thompson III said.

Georgetown shot 50 percent for the game and held NJIT to a 27.3 percent clip, including a 5-of-24 mark from three-point range. The Hoyas doubled the Highlanders’ rebounding effort 4823 and had a season-high 13 blocks as a team.

NJIT played an aggressive first half, scoring 28 points against a Georgetown defense who had limited Alabama to just 16 on Thursday night. However, the Hoyas came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Highlanders 42-16 and limiting NJIT to 17 percent shooting.

After Thursday night’s victory against Alabama, it’s likely Georgetown will see itself in the top-25 rankings for the seventh season in a row. Thompson III and his more experienced players shrugged off the excitement of the national recognition.

“For a team that’s young like this, I think they would love to see their name pop up, but at the end of the day, you

squad, which outrebounded the Broncs by just one board. Georgetown forced 24 turnovers while Rider only managed 12.

The Hoyas will face off against Pittsburgh on the road Wednesday evening in their first Big East conference game of the season.

The Panthers are currently 4-4 on the season, with two of their losses coming at home. Georgetown is 21-27 overall against Pitt but downed the Panthers, 67-57, last year at McDonough Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Petersen Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa.

commentary

FEDYK, from A12

MEN’S BASKETBALL, from A12

A11

women’s basketbaLL RECAP

Hoyas Struggle With Defense, Rebounding Evan Hollander

THE HOYA

have to play the games. Right now, we’re just focusing on, ‘can we get better.’”

The Hoyas now have a break for finals, with just two games in the next 14 days, compared to the six they’ve played in the last 13.

“This is a big week for us in terms of school, so we get a little bit of a break to focus in on school right now,” Thompson III said.

One of the most memorable events of the day was Clark being honored for scoring his 1,000th point in a Georgetown uniform. He is the 42nd Hoya to achieve the feat, reaching the milestone Monday night during the Hoyas’ victory against IUPUI.

It was reminiscent of the eggheads on Capitol Hill. So while we’re sitting on our couches and cheering in the stands, don’t forget that there’s more at stake than just a number in the win column. Massive amounts of money are changing hands.

7. Money is poison. When you’re not getting paid, you are motivated to get paid. When you are getting paid, that spark seems to disappear. This year, Michael Vick, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Chris Johnson all signed big contract extensions. All three have also flopped on the field. Although Johnson has been steadily improving, Fitzpatrick has led the Bills to a 5-8 record after starting the season 5-2. And Vick — need I say more?

6. The college kids are taking over. With the NBA taking an extended leave of absence, college basketball has the spotlight all to itself, and it has hardly disappointed. Does anyone even watch the NBA regular season?

At least it’s now official.

5. The “Freshman 15” has been redefined. It’s now the “Freshman 20,” and it’s not caused by Chicken Finger Thursday. Instead, it’s the number of points that our Hoya freshmen are averaging on the basketball court. When ESPN ranked our recruiting class as the 14th-best in the nation, they weren’t kidding. Led by forward Otto Porter, our young guns have become a sensation on campus.

4. Don’t be fooled by expectations. Early in the semester,

things were looking grim for Hoya basketball, and I personally wrote several scathing, critical articles. How quickly things have changed. We are now standing at 7-1 and are ranked No. 18 in the country.

Big thanks to senior center Henry Sims for his high level of play.

3. Speaking of expectations, how about Tim Tebow? Denver’s approach may be unorthodox, but it’s certainly working, and Tebowmania is sweeping the nation. He doesn’t throw, but he can run. And he can pray. Enough said.

2. Except for Tebow, who probably doesn’t even swear, we’ve all got some baggage.

And as hard as we try to forget it or cover it up, it’s going to come back to bite us. Unfortunately for Joe Paterno, the truth got the best of him. It’s a shame that such a legendary program and beloved coach ended his career on such shocking and embarrassing terms. Mistakes can define a career for eternity.

1. Character matters. It’s why JoePa walked out with his tail between his legs. It’s why we hate stompers like Ndamukong Suh. It’s why we love Tim Tebow. You’ll get noticed for your touchdowns and threepointers, but you’ll be remembered for something much more intangible. In the end, it’s not what you did, but how you did it. You never want to be stuck on Santa’s naughty list.

Nick Fedyk is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service.

DOUBLE NICKTWIST appears every Tuesday.

Sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL No. 18 Hoyas (7-1) vs. Howard (2-5) Saturday, 1 p.m.

Verizon Center

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

s

Recent Scores: big east WOmen’s basketball

WHAT’S INSIDE: Evan Hollander analyzes the women’s basketball team’s narrow win over Rider Sunday afternoon.

Ark.-Pine Bluff 36 Marquette 84

Providence Brown

57 70

Rutgers Miami

81 92

Upcoming Games: big east women’s basketball Texas A&M at UConn Tonight, 7 p.m.

St. John’s at DePaul Tomorrow, 1 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Georgetown Tomorrow, 7 p.m.

“We came in thinking we were going to knock their heads off, and that wasn’t it.”

Junior guard Sugar Rodgers on Rider

Commentary

men’s Basketball

Lessons Learned in 2011 Sports Nick Fedyk

Double NickTwist

I

t’s already the end of the semester — the BCS bowl season has arrived, the NFL playoff picture is becoming clearer and the Hoyas are defying expectations on the hardwood. When you forget about final exams, it’s definitely the most wonderful time of the year.

Now is also a great time to reflect on the lessons we have learned over the past few months. Not the lessons in the classroom, but the ones we witnessed on TV and in the arena. Here are the top 10 things we have discovered this semester in the world of sports.

10. The BCS system will always be controversial. We knew all along that LSU was the best team in the nation, but the question remains: Who is the secondbest? The computers and voters have decided it’s Alabama, but that doesn’t really answer the question. In fact, we’ll never really know the answer, although many of us are clamoring to see Oklahoma State battle LSU in what would have been a high-scoring affair. Instead, we’re stuck with a defensive struggle that should come down to field goals. It’s deja vu all over again.

9. Coaches are only as good as their players. See Caldwell, Jim. He can’t muster a single win without his star quarterback, Peyton Manning. There’s no question about who’s really running the show in Indianapolis. Maybe the same could be said about Belichick and Brady or McCarthy and Rodgers. Do they win all those games without clutch performances by their field generals? You can draw up a brilliant game plan, but without the right players to execute it, the strategy fails.

8. Professional sports are all about the money. Both the NBA and NFL lockouts can attest to that. For months, there was a constant flow of players and owners walking in and out of fancy hotel conference rooms, with both parties being stubborn and unwilling to compromise.

See FEDYK, A11

WEB LESLIE/THE HOYA

Senior center Henry Sims scored eight points in only 16 minutes in the Hoyas’ 84-44 win over NJIT Saturday afternoon.

Analysis

Recap

Georgetown Smokes Freshmen Impress Overmatched NJIT In Hoyas’ Blowout Michael Palmer Hoya Staff Writer

In another mismatched rout, No. 18 Georgetown saw 11 players score as the Hoyas (7-1) defeated the NJIT Highlanders (3-4), 84-44, at Verizon Center Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach John Thompson III gave his younger players a lot of time on the court, focusing on getting the freshman class ready for conference play.

“We’re going to need Mikael Hopkins to be out there, to be comfortable [and] Jabril [Trawick]

to be at a high level. Big Tyler [Adams] just showed a little flash — he’s still not 100 percent of what we’re going to see,” Thompson III said.

Junior forward Hollis Thompson hit a career-high six threepointers in seven attempts, and f inished NJIT 44 7 - o f - 1 0 overall Georgetown 84 for the game with 20 points and three assists. Senior guard Jason Clark chipped in 10 points and five See MEN’S BASKETBAL, A11

Pat Curran

Hoya Staff Writer

Hollis Thompson picked up Saturday right where he left off Thursday.

The junior forward, fresh off hitting a cold-blooded three to give Georgetown a 57-55 victory over Alabama Thursday night, scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Hoyas in their 84-44 rout of NJIT Saturday afternoon.

The Blue and Gray wasted no time in taking advantage of the obviously overmatched Highlanders, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in

the opening three minutes of the game. Thompson nailed three of his career-high six three-pointers in the first five minutes before Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III pulled most of his starters.

“My teammates caught me open and I knocked down the shots,” Thompson said.

Thompson wasn’t the only one playing well, either. The overall level of offensive execution was impressive considering the quick turnaround from Thursday See MEN’S BASKETBALL, A9

Women’s Basketball Recap

District’s divers compete at mccarthy

GU Survives Scare, Extends Streak Maggie Law

Hoya Staff Writer

CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA

Sophomore diver Jen Purks competes at the Hoyas’ final home meet of the year, a win over Catholic, Saturday afternoon. See story on A9.

The No. 19 Georgetown women’s basketball team (7-2) captured its sixth consecutive victory Sunday afternoon with a 58-51 win over Rider (3-3). The Hoyas fell behind late in the first half but fired back with an explosive 11-0 run to take command of the game in the second.

Rider jumped out to a strong start in the first half and the two teams battled back RIDER 51 and forth for the lead. The Georgetown 58 game featured five ties and seven lead changes in total.

A foul by senior guard Rubylee Wright gave the Broncs a chance to take a five-point lead with four minutes left to play in the half, but a threepointer from rookie forward Brittany Horne brought Georgetown within two. Another foul with four seconds left put Rider up, 29-24, at the break.

“We weren’t playing defense the way we typically would in the first half,” Head Coach Terri WilliamsFlournoy said. “We had a majority of our starters on the bench with fouls, so we had to rely on the bench to play

SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Senior forward Tommacina McBride scored 10 points in the Hoyas’ win.

minutes they weren’t used to playing.”

The Broncs carried over their momentum, opening the second half with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes. The offensive explosion gave them their biggest lead of the game.

Trailing by 12 with plenty of time remaining, Georgetown climbed back to within one point with 10:42 left to play. Junior guard Sugar Rodgers ig-

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

nited the comeback by sinking a free throw at 17:06, and junior center Sydney Wilson added a layup.

Rodgers posted four points in the run while Wilson managed three.

Wright and senior forward Tommacina McBride each added a basket to bring the Hoyas within one.

See WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, A11