GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 46, © 2014
FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014
M STREET HISTORY
How the once-raucous M Street traded nightlife for Urban Outfitters.
EDITORIAL Cyberbullying should be banned in Georgetown’s harassment policy.
GUIDE, B1
DISABILITY AID ARC does not cover sign language interpreters for deaf students.
HOYAS LOSE DOMINGO Sophomore guard Stephen Domingo plans to transfer next year.
NEWS, A4
OPINION, A2
SPORTS, B10
The High Price Tag of Georgetown Day Housing
Rule Considered
Maddy Moore Hoya Staff Writer
A bottle of André costs $4.99, and a Georgetown tank from the campus bookstore costs $20. The total price tag for Georgetown Day this year, however, is slightly more expensive, coming in at around $51,000. The day of celebration on the last Friday of classes, this year April 25, generally involves students roaming the front lawn, but the Georgetown Day Planning Committee also prepares other activities to ensure all students can enjoy the day. The $50,000 budget includes approximately $11,000 for security, $8,000 for food, $7,000 for performers, $9,000 for sound equipment, $6,000 for inflatables, $4,000 for giveaways, $2,000 for venues, $2,000 for combined food, T-shirts and small gifts for volunteers, $1,000 in other equipment and $1,000 for non-volunteer labor. The high budget for security and other staff is generally necessary because of a low turnout in student volunteers. “At the end of the day, we have to hire a lot of help to run the day,” Georgetown Day Planning Committee Chair Andi DeBellis (MSB ’14) said. “Where we would normally rely on student volunteers, we have to rely on outside people and provide heavy incentives for students to volunteer. That is a large chunk of the cost.” Volunteer recruitment began
Chris Balthazard Hoya Staff Writer FILE PHOTOS: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA
Last year’s Georgetown Day featured inflatables and performances by campus dance and a cappella groups, as will this year’s event April 25. The total cost of entertainment and security for the day reaches $51,000.
GEORGETOWN DAY BY THE NUMBERS Security $11,000
Food $8,000
Sound $9,000
Total: $51,000 Inflatables $6,000
Performances $7,000
Other: Food, T-shirts and gifts for volunteers ($2,000); Venues ($2,000); Equipment ($1,000); Non-volunteer labor ($1,000)
Other $6,000
Giveaways $4,000
= $1,000
A six-semester on-campus housing requirement for all undergraduates is currently under consideration, with the university set to announce a decision by the end of the month. The policy change would require all juniors to live on campus. Currently, only sophomores and freshmen are required to live on campus, while juniors are free to move into the surrounding neighborhood, although relatively few choose to do so. The potential requirement is part of the university’s effort to meet the stipulations of the 2010 Campus Plan agreement, under which Georgetown must house an additional 385 students on campus by fall 2015. Construction of the Northeast Triangle Residence Hall, which is scheduled to open by fall 2016, and renovation of Ryan and Mulledy Halls, the former Jesuit residences, are also part of the university’s push for 385 additional beds. The two projects, however, still leave many of the 385 beds unaccounted for — a gap that a third-year housing requirement could help fill. The new Georgetown University Student Association leadership, led by GUSA President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15), has expressed fears that the
See GEORGETOWN, A6
See HOUSING, A6
Rare Local Liquor Licenses Up for Grabs Laura Owsiany Hoya Staff Writer
In a rare move, the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration released four liquor licenses designated for Georgetown on Thursday morning, leading to a scramble among area restaurants hoping to snatch up the rare permits. The four licenses included a single, coveted tavern license, one of only six in Georgetown, which became available when the ABRA approved a license change for El Centro D.F. Mexican restaurant, at 1218 Wisconsin Ave. NW, from a tavern license to a restaurant license in February. On Thursday afternoon, the tavern license was awarded to Smith Point, an exclusive area nightclub located at 1338 Wisconsin Ave. NW. According to ABRA restrictions enacted in 1989 as per request by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, there can be no more than 68 liquor licenses, including inactive licenses, in the Georgetown Moratorium Zone and Georgetown Historic District. This includes six nightclub or tavern licenses, the transfer of which is prohibited unless there are fewer than six such licensed establishments in
FILE PHOTO: EUGENE ANG/THE HOYA
Gyspy Sally’s claimed the last available tavern license in February.
the historic district. “The purpose of the Georgetown Moratorium Zone is to place limits on the number of alcoholic beverage licenses that exist in Georgetown,” ABRA spokeswoman Jessie Cornelius said. A tavern license differentiates from a liquor license in that it waves the requirement that an establishment must generate at least 45 percent of its revenues from food sales alone. “The original purpose of the moratorium was to strike a balance between bars, restaurants and retail,” ANC2E Commissioner Bill Starrels said. However, the limited number of licenses has forced businesses who want to open new restaurants in Georgetown to purchase inactive licenses from restaurants that no longer want them on the secondary market at highly inflated prices, sometimes up to tens of thousands of dollars. “They’re not supposed to be commodities,” said Starrels, whose district includes the entire Waterfront area and M Street up to 31st Street. “In other words, they’re supposed to be gotten from the city at a nonexpensive price. They should not be selling for tens of thousands of dollars to people — that’s wrong.” In May 2010, ABRA attempted to combat the problem by releasing seven licenses that had been in safekeeping for a modest filing fee. However, of the seven businesses that attained the licenses, which were available on a first-come, first-served basis, three of the venues never opened. Of the other three, Puro Cafe at 1529 Wisconsin Ave. NW, has since closed, Zenobia Lounge at 1025 31st St. NW, shifted its license to an inactive status to avoid the restrictions that came with it, and Tackle Box, 3245 M St. NW, is facing eviction. Plans are in the works for restrictions on releasing licenses to the first in line at ABRA’s 14th Street offices but are still in progress. “Everybody wants to have these licenses put to work. We do not want a repeat of what just happened,” Starrels said.
Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947
See LICENSES, A6
PHIL HUMNICKY/GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C., addressed attendees at the first events for Georgetown’s incarnation of the Vatican’s Courtyard of the Gentiles at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday night.
Courtyard of the Gentiles Reaches DC Kshithij Shrinath Hoya Staff Writer
Born from the ideas of Vatican II, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture established the Courtyard of the Gentiles in 2010 to facilitate interaction between Catholics and non-Catholics on a variety of topics, including science and art. Having already held conferences across the world, the initiative has come to the United States for the first time; this week’s “Faith, Culture and the Common Good” is running at Georgetown from April 9 to 11. The conference includes panels constructed by the Office of the President in conjunction with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. It includes professors from University of California, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pitzer College and Harvard University. The conference is the result of a partnership between Georgetown, through the Office of the President, and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, through the Published Tuesdays and Fridays
Washington Archdiocese. Previous installments include a February conference in Budapest called “Morality, Economics, Secular Society in the 21st Century” and Berlin’s “Freedom Experiences With and Without God.” “The event will provide a context for participants to engage in meaningful dialogue and to strengthen our collective commitment to the common good. The dialogue among people is an essential component of this gathering,” Georgetown University Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh wrote in an email. Pugh emphasized how civic life can be ameliorated if people of different faith traditions or no religious affiliations combine. “In addition to fascinating discussions on how people of different faith traditions, as well as those who claim no religious affiliation, can work together to enrich civic life in America, we are exploring culture through performance,” Pugh wrote. Thursday’s Gaston Hall panels, “Realizing the Common Good” and
“Faith, Culture and Community,” focused on this question of civic life. The day featured opening remarks from University President John J. DeGioia, Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Cokie Roberts, of ABC News and NPR, moderated the first plenary session, while Paul Elie of the Berkley Center moderated the second. The day featured breakout sessions interspersed between panels on Copley Lawn, in “Tents of Dialogue.” A performance of Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” by theater troupe Compagnia de’ Colombari followed in the evening. Kicking off the conference, Talib Kweli and five other hip-hop artists of various faiths performed Wednesday at the Kennedy Center, followed by a panel discussion about the influence of faith in hiphop music. The concert, which was entitled “Faith, Hip-Hop and the Common See COURTYARD, A6
Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com