The Hoya: September 27, 2019

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 101, No. 4, © 2019

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

Cut From a Different Cloth

Learn how politicians use fashion as a clever way to advance their policies and highlight their backgrounds.

EDITORIAL Georgetown’s student guard system is inefficient and should be eliminated.

CANCELING CASHLESS Cashless businesses face scrutiny as local legislators mobilize against the practice.

OPINION, A2

FEATURE, A4

RHO Understaffing Violates 12 GUSA Senators Elected University Work Standards With 19.2% Voter Turnout KELLY ANDERSON Special to The Hoya

Chronic understaffing at the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Residence Hall Office has created conditions that have led to overworked staffers and violations of university rules.

Many student employees worked more than 20 hours per week and worked shifts alone, which violates university rules, according to an email from RHO employees to administrators obtained by The Hoya.

Julia Lo (MSB ’21) sent an email, signed by Arrupe RHO staff members, to university administrators Sept. 22 demanding a solution despite previously having expressed concerns to

their direct supervisor.

Arrupe RHO employees sent the message to Residential Services Coordinator Jessica Scibetti, Residential Education Executive Director Ed Gilhool, Director of Residential Services Bill Huff, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Stephanie Lynch, Assistant Director for Assignments Krista Haxton and the Student Employment Office.

Currently, the Arrupe RHO has 12 staff members, making it the least-staffed RHO despite receiving the most packages.

“The past month’s package statistics have shown that we have received a total of 23,695 packages across campus with Arrupe RHO processing 6,355 while East

Campus, Kennedy, New South, and VCW have received 3,599, 4,367, 4,200, and 5,173, respectively,” according to the students’ email.

The email included complaints about excessive working hours, long lines of students waiting to receive packages and frustrations with Office of Residential Living administrators.

“It is quite demoralizing to arrive at work to a line of impatient customers who claim we work too slowly,” the students wrote.

“The hours we are asked to work in order to have a semi-filled schedule are absolutely ridiculous and the way our concerns have See RHO, A6

FILE PHOTO: MAGGIE FOUBERG/THE HOYA

Students in the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Residence Hall Office have reported that understaffing in the office has caused students to take on longer shifts and work alone, in opposition to university labor standards.

HARRISON MCBRIDE Hoya Staff Writer

Students elected 12 senators to the Georgetown University Student Association senate Sept. 26 with platforms centered on improving facilities and providing more resources for survivors of sexual assault.

The election filled seven freshman seats and four atlarge seats, available for students from all years, as well as a seat left vacant for the Class of 2020 by the resignation of Matthew Buckwald (COL ’20) on Aug. 30 after his accumulation of three unexcused absences.

The new freshman senators include Leo Rassieur (COL ’23), Eric Bazail Eimil (SFS ’23), Zumanah Mahmud (MSB ’23), Eric Lipka (COL ’23), Zach Volpe (SFS ’23), Zahra Wakilzada (COL ’23) and Eddie Galvan (MSB ’23).

Alexandra Mucher (COL ’22), Henry Dai (SFS ’22), Chris Ziac (COL ’22) and Charlie Wang (SFS ’22) won the four at-large senate seats. Juliana Arias (SFS ’20) ran unopposed and won the vacant seat for the Class of 2020.

(Full disclosure: Dai previously served as a sports staff writer for The Hoya.)

The list of candidates released last week was mostly comprised of male students, but many women successful-

KASSIDY ANGELO FOR THE HOYA

Seven freshman seats, four at-large seats and one recently vacated senior seat were filled Wednesday in GUSA senate elections. ly petitioned to join the ballot late last week. Mahmud and Wakilzada both won seats representing the Class of 2023, a contrast to last year’s freshman senator class, which did not include any women.

Overall voter turnout for this year’s election was 19.2%, according to the GUSA election commission’s Twitter account. Turnout was low at the beginning of the polling period, with only 14%

participation at the halfway mark. As polls closed, turnout for the freshman class elections was 40.5%, 12.5% for the at-large seats and 8% for the senior seat, according to Justin Rich (SFS ’22), chair of the GUSA election commission.

Turnout for this year’s election marks a decrease in participation compared to last year’s fall senate election, which saw an overall See SENATE, A6

Semprevivo Gets 4 Months in Prison MYROSLAV DOBROSHYNSKYI Hoya Staff Writer

Stephen Semprevivo, who paid $400,000 to get his son admission to Georgetown University as a fake tennis recruit, was sentenced to four months in prison Sept. 26.

Semprevivo is the third parent to be sentenced this month in a Boston federal court and is among 15 parents who pleaded guilty for taking part in the college admissions bribery scandal. In addition to the four-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Semprevivo to two years of supervised release, 500 hours of community service and a $100,000 fine, according to the Department of Justice news release.

(Full disclosure: Semprevivo’s son, Adam Semprevivo, previously served as a cartoonist for The Hoya.)

In April 2016, Semprevivo, a California businessman, used a family trust to pay $400,000 to a charity run by William “Rick” Singer. Singer led the national college admissions scheme by using his company, Edge College & Career Network, as an intermediary between officials at prestigious universities and parents hoping to give their children an admissions advantage, according to court documents.

FEATURED

The Department of Justice brought charges against 50 defendants in total.

Semprevivo pleaded guilty in federal court in May 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Semprevivo’s actions are worthy of strong punishment despite his admission of guilt, according to a Sept.

19 memorandum filed in the U.S. Massachusetts District Court.

“Like the child who murders his parents and then pleads for mercy because he is an orphan, Semprevivo defrauded Georgetown, and then sought to hold Georgetown accountable (with damages) for not discovering his fraud,” assistant U.S. attorneys wrote in the memorandum.

“Semprevivo wants credit for contrition and acceptance of responsibility, but he exhibits neither.”

Talwani also sentenced actress Felicity Huffman to two weeks in prison for her role in the scandal Sept. 13 and businessman Devin Sloane

to four months in prison this Tuesday. Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in prison for paying Singer $15,000 to aid her daughter in cheating on standardized tests.

Sloane had pleaded guilty to paying $250,000 for his son’s admission to the University of Southern California as a fake water polo player, according to court documents.

Georgetown dismissed two students in May 2019 following a review process.

The university is also reviewing the records of former students who may be connected to the scandal, according to MEMORANDUM Assistant U.S. Attorneys a university spokesperson.

“Each student case was addressed individually and each student was given multiple opportunities to respond and provide information to the University,” the university spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Our review focused on whether students knowingly provided false information to the University during the admissions process.”

“Semprevivo wants credit for contrition and acceptance of responsibility, but he exhibits neither.”

The university holds the right to dismiss current students or revoke degrees of former students if a review finds a violation of Georgetown’s policies, according to a university spokesperson.

“If the University finds that an individual submitted inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information to the University, or if they engaged in improper activity during the admissions process, the University can take action, up to and including rescission of admission and revoking the degree granted from the University,” the university spokesperson wrote.

In May 2019, Adam Semprevivo filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block his dismissal from the university, arguing that he was unaware of the steps his father took to gain his admission in 2015 and 2016. Semprevivo said he had been a student at Georgetown in good standing with a 3.18 GPA and accused the university of denying him due process.

Semprevivo dropped his suit in July 2019, partially to focus on his academics moving forward.

While Stephen Semprevivo was sentenced to four months in prison, prosecutors had sought 13 months See SEMPREVIVO, A6

MAYA GANDHI/THE HOYA

Jackson Wagner (COL ’21) posted a comment in a Republican group chat referencing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Wagner Weighs Suit Against Immigrant Rights Student Club ASHLEY ZHAO Hoya Staff Writer

Jackson Wagner (COL ’21) is considering a civil suit against Hoyas for Immigrant Rights after the group issued a statement criticizing a message he had sent in the “Republican Hoyas Group” group chat conversation last Thursday, which referred to protesters at a Georgetown University College Republicans event.

During the GUCR event Sept.

19, dozens of students interrupted speakers in an organized protest. Later that night, a screenshot of the group chat featuring a com-

ment by Wagner began circulating around campus. Wagner’s message read, “Can we call ICE on them,” referring to the student protesters at the event, followed by “Maybe they’ll go out of their way,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The event, titled “Climate Forum: A Rebuttal,” was held last Thursday evening as a conservative response to the MSNBC’s Climate Forum 2020, which featured 12 presidential candidates’ perspectives on environmental policy across two days. Protesters See WAGNER, A6

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Social Media and Free Speech Journalists, lawyers and a Facebook representative discussed social media and the First Amendment Sept. 23.

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Rediscovering Faith Hasini Shyamsundar (SFS ’22) reflects on how the Hindu community at Georgetown lead her to a deeper understanding of her faith.

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Winning Streak Volleyball continued its winning streak to six victories over Morgan State, Binghamton and Florida International.

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NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Bye Bye Birdie Professor Peter Marra and seven other researchers found one in four North American bird species have disappeared since 1970.

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Reform GUPD GUPD must reform its practices to mitigate racial profiling and police brutality incidents on campus.

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Magnificent Seven Women’s soccer scored seven goals in shutout victory at home over Ohio, with six different scorers getting in on the action.

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Published Fridays

Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

THE VERDICT

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Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Eliminate Student Guards The student guard system at Georgetown University has been plagued with management and scheduling inefficiencies, a situation that has been exacerbated since the beginning of this school year. As a result, guards have been scheduled for longer and more inconsistent shifts.

The student guard system provides no substantial contribution to campus security. As such, Georgetown should eliminate student guards and provide students who receive federal work-study with alternative job opportunities, rather than reforming the badly broken system.

Currently, student guards are stationed at most residence halls, excluding apartment complexes, Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Hall and Ida Ryan and Isaac Hawkins Hall. The guards are tasked with checking IDs before permitting students to enter these spaces between 8 a.m. and midnight.

In an email to The Hoya, Georgetown Chief of Police Jay Gruber claims student guards add a layer of security and deterrence to residence halls. But ID scanning technology makes much of student guards’ jobs obsolete and student guards do not appear to make residence halls safer.

When entering most residence halls, students must swipe their GOCard to open the doors and swipe their card again to access the stairs or an elevator. And once they arrive on their floor, they still need their keys to access their room. Throughout the multiple checkpoints, the extra ID check between the entrance and elevator access by student guards do not provide extra security.

Moreover, the data prove that student guards are not an effective deterrent against crime on campus. Residential spaces unmanned by student guards, which include Village A, Alumni Square and Arrupe Hall, have lower rates of reported crimes such as break-ins, theft or vandalism. In fact, in 2017 and 2018, residences without student guards consistently had lower rates of reported

crime that occurred inside the building, according to the Georgetown University Police Department daily crime logs. Despite Gruber’s claims, student guards are not an effective deterrent to crime.

Existing GOCard scanners and door locks are sufficient to prevent crime; student guards do not positively contribute to campus security.

With insufficient student guard personnel, guards have been given longer, more inconsistent shifts, leading to posts being left empty. In the current state of mismanagement, the student guard system is not only ineffective, but also detrimental to its employees.

Students who work as guards through federal work-study do not sufficiently benefit from the job. While federal work-study jobs are vital to some students’ ability to afford Georgetown tuition, these jobs should negatively influence students’ Georgetown experiences.

Scheduling mismanagement by Department of Public Safety can cause students unnecessary stress in addition to their academic and extracurricular obligations, according to Taryn Wolfsohn (SFS ’21), a former student guard.

“While I had no qualms with the job overall, the inefficiency in scheduling often made it difficult to find someone to cover your shift,” Wolfsohn wrote to The Hoya.

Federal work-study jobs should bolster a student’s college experience, not detract from it. To provide students with better employment opportunities, Georgetown should eliminate student guard posts and use federal work-study grants for jobs that will better serve the campus community and student workers themselves.

The student guard system at Georgetown is broken: The jobs do not provide substantial benefits to the Georgetown community nor to the students who work the job. Georgetown does not need to fix the broken system; it needs to eliminate student guards.

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Primate Party — Redd the orangutan turned 3 years old this month at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The birthday boy is cited as being quite the socialite and an excellent climber.

Candy Kales — A novelty candy and toy company has released new kaleflavored candy canes. While they carry absolutely no nutritional value, the sweets allegedly imitate the “delicious flavor we’ve all come to love,” according to a company executive.

Hot Guac — An Israeli woman who mistook wasabi for avocado was diagnosed with “broken heart syndrome,” otherwise known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a temporary dysfunction of the heart’s normal pumping.

This is the first time food consumption alone has caused the condition.

A-corny Problem — The Virginia Department of Forestry is asking residents to gather up and donate acorns and nuts to help build the “forests of tomorrow.” This year, the nursery has specifically requested 12 kinds of acorns including black oak, chestnut oak and willow oak.

Patriotic Cupcakes — The co-owner of Georgetown Cupcake, Katherine Kallinis Berman, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen this week. In celebration, she passed out free cupcakes to the other new citizens.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Advait Arun

Condemn Racist Remark On Sept. 19, Jackson Wagner (COL ’21) wrote “Can we call ICE on them” in the “Republican Hoyas Group” group chat in response to student protestors at a Georgetown University College Republicans event. Yet a full week later, GUCR still has not condemned the racist message.

Though the group chat is obviously not directly affiliated with GUCR, the organization nevertheless should take action as the largest club representing Republican students on campus. As the social building blocks on Georgetown’s campus, clubs have a responsibility to address such misconduct and educate their members in an effort to build an inclusive environment.

Screenshots of Wagner’s comment to “call ICE,” referring to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, circulated online last Friday. In response, Hoyas For Immigrant Rights condemned his message in a petition that has since collected signatures from nearly two dozen student groups and dozens more individual students. On Monday, Georgetown sent a universitywide email to “promote civility” and affirm its solidarity with students without documentation.

Meanwhile, GUCR has denied its association with the group chat, merely affirming that it will “continue to promote free expression on campus” in a statement to The Hoya. Instead of using this incident as an opportunity to educate its members and other students about inclusivity and respect for immigrant communities, GUCR has chosen not to acknowledge the racist nature of Wagner’s message.

At best, GUCR’s refusal to address the racist comment implies a tolerance of the ideas espoused in the statement; at worst, it endorses such a comment as appropriate.

By refusing to recognize the harmful nature of a threat to call ICE, students of GUCR have failed fellow Hoyas without documentation and those who come from a mixed-status family. The threat of ICE’s deportations

have real consequences for many students on Georgetown’s campus and their families. GUCR must condemn the message to acknowledge the harsh realities immigrant communities face.

However, the group’s action must extend beyond simple condemnation: GUCR should take further action to educate members within its community to prevent future missteps.

By initiating dialogue among Republican students, GUCR can send a message of inclusivity and civility that is more likely to resonate with those students. The club should make a genuine effort to understand the harm done through the comment and explain to students affiliated with the club how joking about calling ICE is offensive and threatening to immigrant communities.

While HFIR and other groups on campus have commendably raised awareness around Wagner’s comment and provided support for those affected, GUCR undeniably has a responsibility to the students most closely associated with GUCR; the club’s silence on this matter is deafening.

Racist comments that invoke a threat to students’ safety should never be tolerated on this campus. In light of the harmful comment made, GUCR — as a representative of many Republican students on campus — must condemn the comment and move forward with dialogue within their own community so their members can understand the problematic nature of the comment.

With its silence, GUCR is implicitly condoning the racism and xenophobia exemplified in Wagner’s comment; it is incumbent on all students, but especially those most closely affiliated with the “Republican Hoyas Group” group chat, to address the comment.

GUCR’s lack of condemnation after the racist statement is entirely inexcusable. The organization must condemn the comment and educate its members to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Maya Gandhi, Editor-in-Chief Madeline Charbonneau, Executive Editor Kiera Geraghty, Executive Editor Amber Gillette, Managing Editor Katrina Schmidt, News Editor Cady Stanton, News Editor Jake Wexelblatt, Sports Editor Timothy McNulty, Guide Editor Allan Navarro, Guide Editor Doris Zhang, Opinion Editor Will Cassou, Features Editor Meena Morar, Features Editor Subul Malik, Photography Editor Samuel Nelson, Design Editor Katherine DeMatteo, Copy Chief Sheel Patel, Social Media Editor Jenna Ryu, Blog Editor Hector Herrera, Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Doris Zhang, Chair

Faris Bseiso, Bianca Corgan, Joshua Levy, Joseph Yacovone, Grant Zangwill

Myroslav Dobroshynskyi Academics Desk Editor Amy Li Graduate Desk Editor Sana Rahman Campus Life Desk Editor Riley Rogerson Campus Life Desk Editor Connor Thomas City Desk Editor Joanna LaCoppola Deputy Sports Editor Steven Botsoe Deputy Guide Editor Michelle Brown Deputy Guide Editor Zain Sandhu Deputy Guide Editor Max Hamid Deputy Opinion Editor Rebecca Stekol Deputy Opinion Editor Karena Landler Deputy Features Editor Afua Nyantakyi Deputy Features Editor Yolanda Spura Deputy Features Editor Julia Alvey Deputy Photography Editor Margaret Fouberg Deputy Photography Editor Natalie Isé Deputy Photography Editor Kiki Schmalfuss Deputy Photography Editor Tarika Kumar Deputy Design Editor Mina Lee Deputy Design Editor Eloise Owen Deputy Design Editor Janis Park Deputy Design Editor Madeline Broderick King Deputy Copy Editor Chau Le Deputy Copy Editor Victoria Lei Deputy Copy Editor Nora Ma Deputy Copy Editor Grace Jaworski Deputy Social Media Editor Alexandra Matthews Deputy Social Media Editor Isabel Roemer Deputy Blog Editor

Contributing Editors

Susanna Blount, Will Cromarty, Erin Doherty, Harrison Hurt

HOYA HISTORY: Sept. 28, 1973

Grade Reform Report Studies Policy Changes The Interschool Committee’s Subcommittee for Grade Reform currently is considering a report recommending changes in Georgetown’s grading policy.

“I can’t see any radical changes in the next few years in Georgetown’s grading policy, however,” said Joe Farkas (SFS ’76), an author of the study.

After an extensive study of the reactions of major American colleges to nongraded systems, Farkas said that “it’s just not pragmatically possible to do away with grades.” If his proposals for reform are approved by the subcommittee, they will be sent to Acting Academic Vice President Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. The reform proposals include pass/fail grading for courses outside the student’s major concentration, professors not being able to know who is taking a course pass/fail to avoid prejudicial grading and professors submitting both grades and written evaluations to determine student

achievement.

Farkas sent questionnaires to 98 schools this summer. About 30% of the schools replied.

Undergraduate schools react against applicants with all or mostly pass/fail marks. “A student who presents many or all pass/fail courses is frequently at a disadvantage,” an official from Colgate University in New York wrote.

Universities depend more heavily on test scores and letters of recommendation to evaluate student achievement when pass/ fail marks are submitted. “We would have to rely more heavily on such test scores as the Graduate Record Examination and on letters of recommendation,” the University of California at Los Angeles wrote.

Graduate schools react strongly against pass/fail evaluations.

“If a student has had many or all pass/fail courses, the job of evaluation for admissions becomes almost impossible,” Wayne State

University wrote.

“Those who present no tradition grades normally are not accepted, unless they also can present extraordinary test scores and academic recommendations. This means that excellent students are not affected, but that students who are above average have difficulty,” the University of Texas wrote.

Despite negative reaction by graduate and undergraduate schools toward non-graded courses, Georgetown University Student Association President Doug Kellner (SFS ‘74) is committed to further exploration.

“I’ve been pushing really hard for grade reform,” said Kellner. Dean Peter Krogh has reportedly “become interested” in the question of grade reform.

Reforms might include abolition of the Quality Point Index or class rank.

Scott Wendelin Hoya Staff Writer

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Mitchell Taylor, General Manager Sarah Mihm, Director of Human Resources David Towell, Director of Sales Brian Yoffe, Director of Financial Operations Molly Evers, Treasury Manager

Board of Directors

Will Simon, Chair Dan Crosson, Maya Gandhi, Anna Kooken, Yasmine Salam, Mitchell Taylor, Hannah Urtz LETTER TO THE EDITOR AND 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.

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OPINION

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

A HOYA LOOKS BACK

THE HOYA

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INTERFAITH INSIGHTS

Raymond Dillon

Redefine America

W

hat it means to be an “American” was once a classic civics topic for elementary and high school students and often an essay question for those seeking citizenship awards or college scholarships.

Young Americans would submit responses generally containing platitudes about how we live in the “greatest country in the world” and famous quotations from supposedly heroic Patriots, such as ones from slaveholder Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. The Founding Fathers were acclaimed as demigods who achieved their apotheoses by securing our freedoms. The preeminence of a derivative culture from the British Isles — such as language, law, religion and mores — was a given.

Such attitudes were driven by unspoken assumptions regarding how an American looked and sounded. However, as America becomes an increasingly culturally diverse country, we must shed this narrow mindset and adopt a more mature and healthy conception of who we are as a people.

When I was growing up, the media, schools and my parents constantly bombarded me with images of the ideal American family. It was white, suburban and — presumptively — Christian. It was comprised of two heterosexual parents in a stable marriage, with a white-collar working husband and stay-athome mom. The children were all well-adjusted and only burdened with mundane concerns such as finding a prom date.

Crafting our lives in accordance with this model was the goal to which we were all expected to aspire.

Changing demographics means that the “Anglo” paradigm is now under siege. The real clash of cultures that we are facing is a struggle between who we were and who we are becoming — a nation that distills the best from many cultures, not just one. The increased diversity renders the rhetoric of conservative commentators who speak of the “real America” as if only those living in the heartland embody the authentic American nation all the more misleading.

We need only contemplate that the multiethnic and ra-

R

cially diverse population of the New York City metropolitan area is 21/2 times greater than Iowa’s to conclude that “America” resides in many places and has more than one complexion.

We are obliged to reexamine just what is meant by the term “American.” The legal definitions are only part of the picture. Being an “American” is also profoundly attitudinal.

In the 1980s, I was an American Citizen Services officer at a U.S. Embassy in Central America. During an interview with a Central America-born U.S. citizen who was requesting assistance, I was shocked when she casually referred to others as being “real Americans” in contrast to herself. Because she was born abroad and presented as a classic mestizo, a mixed race person, she felt inferior.

Despite my attempts to assure her that she was absolutely an American, she remained unconvinced.

Such perceptions are planted and nurtured by casually negative media depictions of other countries, peoples and races, among other factors. This culture molds the way immigrants are viewed and can poison their sense of self. Those who maintain their ties to their original non-white and non-Christian cultures and languages provoke suspicion regarding the extent of their loyalty to the U.S. because they have “failed to assimilate.”

While the U.S. Constitution states that someone becomes a citizen at birth or naturalization, perhaps simply wanting to emigrate to the United States triggers one’s “American-ness.”

This choice may make one more of an American than those who gained citizenship by accident of birth. The uncertainties and dangers of emigration require a conscious and strong commitment to this country. I wonder if many “native-borns” have the same mettle as immigrants.

Someone is an American because they choose to be one. It is time we recognized this new definition of American identity and view immigrants’ desires with awe, not fear. That is how we become Americans.

Raymond Dillon graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1977. A HOYA LOOKS BACK runs online every other Thursday.

Because I am a seeker, my spirituality is not clear-cut — I can’t turn to a single text to explain my faith, but I have the opportunity to find answers on my own. That is liberating.

Finding Authentic Hinduism on the Hilltop

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he first time someone asked me if I was a “Hindi,” I felt a heaviness in my chest. I felt it come back when I walked into a department store and saw T-shirts with “Namastay in Bed” and “Namaslay” printed on them That heaviness grew every time I saw Indian American characters portrayed on television laughing along as their friends poke fun at their cow-worshipping tendencies.

When I was younger, I understood my traditions to be less developed, less coherent and less applicable to real life. Despite growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of the country brimming with Indian American pride and friends from Hindu backgrounds, I rarely saw Hindu traditions portrayed positively in mass media or entertainment.

Since coming to Georgetown University, I’ve worked past the stereotypes and misconceptions.

I have found new sources of spirituality and the opportunity to explore them on my own terms. Now, I identify as Hindu without hesitation.

As a child, the rich history of Hindu traditions was distilled into simple mythological tales, each with their own black and white morality.

My high school teachers taught me “Hinduism” was one of the few polytheistic

religions still practiced today with a nonnegotiable belief in God. News articles tied Hindu traditions to strict, conservative attitudes and casteism, a system of social classification codified during the colonial period. There was no room for questioning or finding own path.

Historically, the legacies of Hindu traditions have been stripped of their Hindu identity. Some have monetized the ancient practice of yoga, marketing it as exercise and erasing its spiritual origins.

Meditation has been rebranded as “mindfulness” with its cultural roots blurred, people claiming to have found the cure for anxiety and depression.

As these legacies became increasingly separated from their Hindu past, I resigned to accepting my fate as a follower of a cow-worshipping, ritualistic tradition. I was so deeply disconnected from reality that I eventually abandoned identifying as Hindu altogether.

It wasn’t until I arrived at Georgetown that I realized my previous perceptions of Hindu traditions were actually misperceptions. When I sat down at my first Arati, a service of veneration through light, I learned nearly every aspect of Hindu traditions is open to discussion — including the nature and existence of God. When I

meditated for the first time at Georgetown in a setting that didn’t commercialize meditation, I finally learned to connect with my body in the way “mindfulness gurus” had always described.

When I sang “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” in unison with the dozens of other members of the Georgetown Hindu community, I felt my formerly empty chest fill with a warmth I had never felt before.

While the majority of my formerly Hindu-identifying friends from home are now staunch atheists, still holding that Hindu traditions are what the media portrays them to be, I have had the opportunity to make religious dialogue part of daily life.

The openness of the Hindu community at Georgetown offered me a space to reflect on my faith, and, since then, I have served Campus Ministry as one of the student workers for Dharmic Life and Women in Faith, Georgetown’s only interreligious group for women. I hope to offer students a chance to share that space.

Over time, I have learned that Hindu traditions are not less developed nor inconsistent — the complexities have been masked by centuries of oppression.

Any contradictions that exist within different Hindu scriptures are the

result of years of debate.

Hindus traditions are both monotheistic and nontheistic, spiritual and philosophical.

And they are certainly applicable to real life. Indeed, Eastern traditions do advocate for constant questioning of the status quo and the application of the scientific method to the realm of spirituality. Hindu traditions do not cultivate believers — they cultivate seekers.

Today, I consider myself one of the seekers. That means looking to the past to understand the present, realizing that translators of Hindu texts have frequently mistaken respect and consecration for worship, and that caste and inequality were impositions rather than features of the practice.

Seeking means working to shape a better future, taking courses like “Religion in Modern South Asia” and engaging in interreligious dialogue with my peers.

Because I am a seeker, my spirituality is not clear-cut — I can’t turn to a single text to explain my faith, but I have the opportunity to find answers on my own. That is liberating.

Hasini Shyamsundar is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. INTERFAITH INSIGHTS appear online every other Wednesday.

VIEWPOINT • MENON

VIEWPOINT • DEYOUNG

Reform GUPD Practices

Lead Activism on Climate Crisis

eporter Kurt Bardella works for Our Daily Planet, is a former Republican turned Democrat and also hosts a country music website called the Morning Hangover. However, that’s not why I know Kurt Bardella.

I know him as the reporter who was accosted by the Georgetown University Police Department on the first day of the Climate Forum 2020, Sept.

19.

My friend and I received press passes to attend the climate change forum and arrived at Healy Hall by 7:30 a.m. to get them. Doors did not open until 8:30 a.m., though, so we waited on the stairs outside Gaston Hall.

At the time of the incident, I knew him as an Our Daily Planet reporter and later described him to my friends as a person of color who was wearing jeans and a “Friend of Our Daily Planet” T-shirt. I only learned his name after he tweeted about the traumatic incident that I and others witnessed.

While we were waiting, we saw Bardella jog up the stairs without a press or staff badge, not noticing the four to five GUPD officers trailing him. As Bardella attempted to explain that he was staffing the event, an officer grabbed his arm and Bardella broke free. Chaos ensued.

We saw the officers pin Bardella to the floor, knocking his glasses off while yelling at him to stop resisting. They put him in handcuffs and only asked if he required medical attention afterwardsr the fact. Although someone from MSNBC vouched for him, he was still arrested for assaulting

an officer. He was eventually released from custody, but whether or not he will face charges is still unclear.

In that moment, I felt the urge to run away, vomit or both. I felt helpless because not only was I paralyzed by fear, but also if I intervened, I would likely get caught in the crossfire.

GUPD’s action of pinning down an unarmed man feels grossly disproportionate to what was a misunderstanding.

Maybe Bardella could have been more cooperative in complying with their requests, but nothing he did warranted such a harsh and violent response.

Police aggression and brutality may be a harsh reality that many live in, but that does not mean we should tolerate it. Reading stories of police brutality will always painful, and witnessing them is always traumatizing.

GUPD has a history of racial profiling and police brutality — in the past, several students of color have reported that they have been stopped to prove their university status while on campus. This is why when, a little over a year ago, someone had suggested arming GUPD, people of color across campus became worried for their lives.

These incidents of police brutality and harassment at Georgetown are not isolated, but rather symptomatic of the larger systemic racism that exists within America. When I was growing up, I was always taught to be wary of police officers and to comply with their requests, even when it seemed excessive. For people of color like myself, this was the only way we could protect

ourselves. I carried this lesson with me when I came to Georgetown to avoid any tense confrontation that could lead to my arrest.

While the Georgetown administration cannot do much to mitigate police brutality incidents across the United States, it can retrain GUPD in conflict resolution. In a university that values people for others and a community in diversity, we must do better to make all people of color feel safe on this campus. Visitors and students alike should be able to be on campus without having to worry about being stopped arbitrarily by GUPD. Bardella’s tweets about the incident have since gone viral, and I am now working on a witness statement to help him pursue legal action. Although the incident was and continues to be a source of pain for me, I am writing this article in hopes that it will help Bardella gain closure.

Before we talk about arming police officers on a campus where that has never been warranted, we should tackle the real issues of unnecessary agression and racial discrimination that exist within GUPD. We must promote strong security on campus while improving the physical and mental safety of students who currently feel unsafe in their presence.

Unfortunately, Bardella is not the first to have had such an unpleasant interaction with GUPD. However, if constructive institutional reforms about conflict management are made, he can be the last.

VARSHA MENON is a junior in the School of Foreign Service.

Y

oung people continue to be catalysts for change, this time on the issue of climate.

In the 1960s, students were conducting sit-ins to protest segregation and marching to speak out against the Vietnam War. Young people took it upon themselves to tell older generations they weren’t okay with the status quo and demanded action. Today, young people are telling that same activist generation that our generation is not okay with the status quo and demands action.

It’s our turn to tackle the most pressing issue of our time: the climate crisis. Students at Georgetown University have the privilege of attending school the nation’s capital where we are afforded the opportunity to make our voices heard. Living just a few miles from Congress, it doesn’t take much to be a part of what’s going on. While young people across the country have already proven that ours is a generation of activists, students at Georgetown should make a greater effort to make our voices heard on climate change Last week, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg joined hundreds of young people in rallies and lobbying efforts across Washington, D.C. If Thunberg can sail across the Atlantic Ocean to speak with American politicians rather than taking an emission-intensive airplane, Georgetown students can walk across campus to do the same. Distinguished figures grace Gaston Hall almost weekly, and the conversation could be brought to each and every one of them.

It’s not surprising that climate change has become the most prominent issue among young people across the country. In the past year, major studies on

climate change have been published with overwhelmingly negative findings. The United Nations-commissioned Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that if we don’t keep global temperatures under a 1.5 degree Celsius increase, the ramifications will be devastating. The report goes on to state that CO2 emissions need to be reduced by 45% before 2030 in order to keep global temperatures under a 1.5 degree increase — only 10 years away.

Even the skeptical President Donald Trump administration released the Fourth National Climate Assessment last November, which listed the effects of climate change that are already being seen and those to come. The assessment stated that “While mitigation and adaptation efforts have expanded substantially in the last four years, they do not yet approach the scale considered necessary to avoid substantial damages to the economy, environment, and human health over the coming decades.”

Thankfully, young people aren’t standing idly by in the face of grave circumstances. Young people are leading the charge for change, as they did last century.

Youth-led groups like the Sunrise Movement and Students for Carbon Dividends have emerged, and students across the globe are taking part in school strikes as well as marching in the streets demanding action. An inspiring group of 21 youth plaintiffs are spreading hope across the country with their court case Juliana v.

U.S., a lawsuit asserting that “the government’s affirmative actions that cause climate change [have] violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.”

Calls for action on the climate

crisis aren’t just coming from leftleaning young people. Prominent Republican pollster Frank Luntz conducted a study earlier this year that found 58% of Republicans under the age of 40 are more concerned about climate change now than they were just one year ago. It is becoming more apparent that climate change is becoming a bipartisan issue requiring bipartisan solutions.

The overwhelming evidence on climate change and growing support for action begs the question of whether Georgetown students will take advantage of the unique opportunities presented to us. We all have the responsibility to keep the conversation going. Bring the conversation to your classes or in one of the 15 environmental groups on campus. Bring the conversation to the GUPolitics fellows or to any of our many esteemed guest speakers throughout the school year. Bring the conversation home to your friends and your family, because this is an issue that includes everyone.

Only time will tell if the current generation of activists will see success with legislation as our predecessors did with the Civil Rights Act 1964.

Even so, though, if history has taught us anything, it is that even after legislation passes, the fight is not over. Like civil rights, a healthy climate is something that we can never give up on or stop working toward. I trust our generation will carry the torch of activism so that future generations are given the same chances as generations past, and we can start by bringing our voice to the Climate Forum 2020.

ADELINE DEYOUNG is a graduate student in the McCourt School of Public Policy.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE At a screening of the film “Roll Red Roll,” panelists discussed sexual assault prevention and toxic masculinity.

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IN FOCUS JACK THE BUFF BULLDOG verbatim

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I hope every American will Ask About Austin Tice until he’s safely home.”

Executive Director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute Julie Moos on continuing efforts to find Austin Tice.

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WANT TO SEE WHO WON CLUB CULTURE? Check out The Fourth Edition to meet its newest bloggers and its top-three finals season Spongebob gifs, top-three true crime podcasts and top-three ways to get around campus. blog.thehoya.com SUBUL MALIK/THE HOYA

A new Jack the Bulldog statue is located outside the Healey Family Student Center. The statue comes after Jack, an 8-monthold puppy, arrived to campus July 24 to replace the current, retiring 6-year-old Jack the Bulldog mascot.

Future of Cashless Model at Risk Amid Classism Critiques CASEY FERRANTE Hoya Staff Writer

In 2017, Visa offered tens of thousands of dollars in assistance to any business willing to partake in its Cashless Challenge and begin refusing to accept cash. This initiative fit broadly into the company’s vision of a Cashless World. As credit card companies, tech moguls, small businesses and even the entire country of Sweden move toward this proclaimed hyperefficient future without cash, some have begun to question just how inclusive this cashless world really is and what its effects on disadvantaged communities in Washington, D.C., will be.

As more businesses begin refusing cash transactions, residents of D.C. find themselves unable to purchase goods from many local shops.

Over the last two years, many businesses throughout Georgetown and the District have transitioned entirely to cashless practices, including Students of Georgetown, Inc., commonly referred to as The Corp. Other retailers like Sweetgreen, Barcelona Wine Bar, South Block’s Georgetown location, Surfside in Dupont Circle and Menchie’s on U Street have also cut out cash.

Despite lowering costs for small- and mediumsized businesses, however, operating with exclusively cashless transactions disproportionately disadvantages low-income families, people of color and immigrants without documentation.

These historically marginalized groups nationwide go without bank accounts at higher rates, leaving them unable to participate fully in an increasingly cashless economy.

As a result, city and state legislatures, local activists and even the executive branch of the Georgetown University Student Association have begun to push back against the increasingly common cashless practice to ensure all customers are able to live sustainably, regardless of their access to bank accounts.

INCREASING INACCESSIBILITY

Critics from across the District have found cashless processes to be discriminatory to low-income individuals and families without access to a credit card. More establishments have begun turning away customers without forms of credit in the District, but students at Georgetown have also felt the effects of these practices on campus.

The Corp adopted a cashless model Feb. 1, 2018. Though The Corp’s storefronts still accept Flex dollars, transferring money onto a GOCard still requires the use of a bank account. Students without either a credit or debit card or a meal plan find themselves unable to purchase from any of The Corp’s seven on-campus storefronts.

As a result, cashless practices make life more difficult for students without credit cards, according to GUSA President Norman Francis Jr. (COL ’20).

“It is an elitist practice that prevents a lot of students, especially low-income students, from living properly on campus by making basic life necessities such as food or cleaning supplies inaccessible,” Francis wrote. “Cashless is classist, plain and simple.”

Cashless businesses should return to accepting cash for the sake of students who cannot or prefer not to use credit cards, Francis wrote on behalf of the GUSA executive.

“Not accepting cash is a direct attack on low income consumers, and we hope cashless businesses reconsider that business practice,” Francis wrote.

Cashless practices not only disproportionately affect lowincome students, but also present new obstacles for students without documentation. Certain providers of financial services may be reluctant to serve those without social security numbers, and compounded with difficulties of obtaining government approved IDs, many immigrants without documentation in the United States operate without credit cards.

In the face of these difficulties, the Center for Multicul-

tural Equity and Access’s Undocumented Student Services has identified steps that could enable immigrants without documentation to adjust the changing commercial landscape, according to Arelis Palacios, associate director for Undocumented Student Services for the CMEA.

“Not accepting cash is a direct attack on low income consumers...”

NORMAN FRANCIS JR. (COL ’20) President, Georgetown University Student Association

“Some undocumented students and families may not be eligible for bank accounts in certain states,” Palacios wrote in an email to The Hoya. “But we have located a few local/national bank branches that provide these crucial services to undocumented communities.”

A LEGISLATIVE PUSHBACK

To address public concern surrounding the growth of cashless retailers, many states and cities are seeking legislative solutions.

Just this year, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) signed the state’s cashless prohibition into law March 18, and Mayor James Kenney (D-Pa.) signed the city’s bill Feb. 27 — only a few among the growing list of places to require brick-andmortar storefronts to accept cash. Massachusetts has even had a cashless ban on the books since 1978.

Two separate bills that would ban cashless retailers have also been introduced in the House of Representatives, both of which still await hearing. New York City and Connecticut also have cashless bans that await approval from local legislatures.

As action against cashless practices picks up nationwide, Washington, D.C. Councilmember David Grosso is attempting to finish an effort he started in early 2018. Grosso introduced the Cashless Retailers Prohibition Act of 2019 in February as a follow up to his earlier attempt, the Cashless Retailers Prohibition Act of 2018.

The act expands on its predecessor to prohibit all retailers, not just those retailers selling food, from discriminating against cash by refusing to accept cash as a form of payment, posting signage that claims cash will not be accepted and charging customers different prices depending on their payment method.

Going cashless disproportionately affects younger and low-income consumers because they are less likely to have the means to pay without cash, as well as customers that use cash for accounting and safety purposes, according to Grosso.

“By denying patrons the ability to use cash as a form of payment, businesses are effectively telling lowerincome and young patrons that they are not welcome,” Grosso said in a press release.

“Through this bill, we can ensure that all DC residents and visitors can continue to patronize the businesses they choose, while avoiding the potential embarrassment of being denied service simply because they lack a credit card.”

Residents of the District have either no access to bank accounts or significantly limited access to financial services at higher rates than the national average. Of all households in the District, 29.4% had significantly limited access and 8% had no access, according to a 2017 survey from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

In total, over one-third of the Washington, D.C. population have either limited or no access to a bank account and depend on cash transactions, signifying that nearly 40% of D.C. still depend heavily on cash transactions.

Despite the large portion of

District residents who rely on cash, Grosso’s bill has been sitting in committee since its introduction in February.

Grosso’s previous bill also sat in committee awaiting hearing for over 10 months until the end of the legislative period, causing it to fail.

Gross was unavailable for comment at the time of print.

Though its passage remains uncertain, Francis praised Grosso’s bill, saying it would be beneficial for the Georgetown community.

“If all businesses accepted cash, that would be ideal and it should be the standard,” Francis wrote in an email to The Hoya.

THE FUTURE OF CASHLESS BUSINESSES

Despite the obstacles cashless businesses can present to students at Georgetown or consumers in the District, the practice has grown more common because it can help small businesses stay afloat.

Small- and medium-sized businesses nationwide previously have reported paying billions of dollars each year in costs associated with transporting and handling cash, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Cashless models eliminate the need to physically transport money to and from the bank and the need to pay employees to count balances through the day.

South Block’s Georgetown location accepted cash as a payment method until 2018.

However, as the business opened more storefronts, fewer customers paid in cash, according to founder and CEO Amir Mostafavi. Cash sales plummeted from 40% of all sales in 2011 to 6% before the decision to become cashless.

Cashless transactions have also diminished the likelihood that businesses like South Block will experience robberies, given the reduced amount of cash held in storefronts each day. This factor was a major consideration when the business went cashless, according to Mostafavi.

“We also felt that carry-

ing cash and the safety risks around it were no longer justified due to low cash transactions,” Mostafavi wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The Corp began refusing cash transactions to minimize costs associated with accepting cash, according to CEO and President Seo Young Lee (COL ’21).

Cashless businesses have different plans for handling legislation barring the practice. South Block will not be engaging in any political activity to oppose the bill, according to Mostafavi.

“We always adhere to any requirements that the state, city, county has on businesses, so we will monitor and make adjustments if need be,” Mostafavi wrote.

Corp leadership knows about Grosso’s legislation and the discriminatory implications of refusing to accept cash, but plans to continue its current practices, according to Lee. “We are cognizant of the limitations to accessibility that our current payment methods pose,” Lee wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “Regardless of the Cashless Retailers Prohibition Act, The Corp’s ability to serve any and all customers on campus is at the forefront of our planning, and it will continue to remain as a priority in our considerations until all limitations are resolved.”

Businesses like Amazon and Sweetgreen, however, in response to the growing backlash against cashless businesses, have reversed course and begun accepting cash again at certain brickand-mortar stores, preempting legal requirements.

Francis has been in contact with high-ranking members of The Corp on whether its cashless practices fulfill its mission.

“The Corp has a history of working to provide scholarships and many other philanthropic endeavors to the Georgetown community,” Francis wrote. “We are curious to see what the future holds and we hope the Corp continues to be open to moving towards accepting cash again.”

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

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University Installs Filters Protests Promote Democracy, To Mitigate Lead Levels Hong Kong Activist Says MOIRA RITTER Hoya Staff Writer

After follow-up lead testing conducted by a third party consultant found elevated lead levels in three water sources in Georgetown University buildings, the university installed water filters in three White-Gravenor Hall sinks.

After graduate students discovered concentrations of lead in multiple water sources earlier this month, the Office of Environmental Health & Safety contracted with an unspecified third party consultant to collect and test water samples in dozens of locations inside five campus buildings, according to university spokesperson Rachel Pugh. The university did not specify which buildings beyond White-Gravenor were tested.

Three sinks on campus tested above detection limits, according to Pugh. The detection limit of lead designates the minimum measured concentration of a substance that can be confidently reported as distinguishable from blank results, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Following the discovery of these elevated levels, the university installed filters in one sink on the fourth floor and two sinks on the fifth floor of White-Gravenor, according to Pugh. Besides these sinks, other locations tested by EH&S yielded undetectable lead concentrations, Pugh said.

“All other locations tested, including locations previously tested by graduate students, and all water fountains tested, showed levels that were below detection limits,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya.

EH&S will continue water

testing in other buildings as appropriate, according to Pugh.

Earlier this month three second year masters students, Julie Oh, Tianze Pan and Misti Persaud, conducted a lead study under the advisement of Professor YuYe Tong. The students are a part of Georgetown’s environmental metrology and policy program, which focuses on measurements science of environmental toxic chemicals resulting policymaking.

The graduate team tested water from 11 buildings on campus: White-Gravenor Hall, Lauinger Library, O’Donovan Hall, the New South Hall facilities office, Reiss Science Building, the Intercultural Center, Copley Hall, the Car Barn and Regents Hall. Around 75% of the water sources tested yielded lead counts below 1 parts per billion, which is below the EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. However, several of the water sources tested in the study, specifically water sources in Reiss, the New South facilities office and White-Gravenor, showed lead counts near the suggested EPA action level, and one tested above the action level.

While water filters may or may not effectively control the lead quantity without further study, they would presumptively lower the concentration levels, according to Tong.

“As to whether such filters are enough to reduce the concentration of lead and keep it at lower than the EPA’s action level, only a scientific measurement can tell,” he wrote in an email to The Hoya.

In the original study, one sink on the fifth floor of White-Gravenor concluded a lead concentration of 18.02 ppb in sample one, a num-

ber above the 15 ppb action level, and 12.72 ppb in sample two. Elevated levels, but not levels that exceeded the action level set by the EPA, were also found within the Office of Planning and Facilities Management, located on the lower level of New South, with samples that yielded a lead concentration of 13.67 ppb.

The university did not work directly with Tong, and he has not seen the results of the measurements taken

by EH&S, Tong wrote in an email to The Hoya. However, the graduate student study did prompt EH&S’ follow up testing, according to Tong.

“I knew for a fact that the Office of Environmental Health and Safety was informed of Misti et al’s results (not by me) which led them to conduct some additional water quality measurements around the campus,” wrote Dr. Tong in an email to The Hoya.

To resolve the lead problem, the university should replace lead piping on campus and be transparent with students and faculty about the potential contamination, Persaud, one of the graduate students who worked on the original study, wrote in an email to The Hoya earlier this month.

Despite the lead study’s findings, the original team will not proceed with more lead research this semester following the first study, according to Persaud.

“As of now we are not concentrated on the lead study for this semester,” Persaud wrote in an email to The Hoya this week. “However we are hoping that in the future the program continues this study to evaluate water levels of buildings with high lead levels and/or test new buildings.”

Bird Species Disappearing, Georgetown Professor Finds LUKE DIMARTINO Special to The Hoya

More than one in four North American birds have disappeared since 1970, signaling the development of potentially deeper ecological problems in the region, according to a new study co-authored by director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative Peter Marra.

The study, published in Science magazine on Sept. 19, tracked populations of more than 500 bird species across multiple ecosystems and found that there has been a decline of 2.9 billion breeding adult birds in North America in the last 49 years.

The combination of citizen and professional scientists participating in bird-watching, in addition to more than 10 years of data from NEXRAD, a network of weather radars operated by the National Weather Service, paints a clear and bleak picture, according to Marra, who is also a professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy.

“Just in the last 10 years, we are seeing this decline,” Marra said in an interview with The Hoya. “By incorporating all of these different types of data, it made us depressingly confident in the results.”

Birds are an indicator species, meaning they reflect the overall health of an ecosystem and can serve as a warning sign for larger ecological problems in the future, according to Marra.

“When something is going wrong with them, that means something below them in that complex food web is also going awry,” Marra said. “That means that there is something unraveling in the ecosystem.”

Marra’s research included one of the largest surveys of bird populations to date, as the analysis incorporated data from citizen scientists, professional surveys and weather radar to track migration patterns. The study was authored by Marra and researchers at seven North American institutions, including Cornell University, the American Bird Conservancy and the National Wildlife Research Centre.

Many co-authors of the study, including Marra, are advocating for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2019, a bill that allocates $1.4 billion for state and territory developed conservation strategies. The bill is sponsored

by Rep. Deborah Dingell (DMich., SFS ’75, GRD ’98) and was introduced in the House of Representatives in July 2019.

“We need bold solutions that will put forward state-based conservation efforts and safeguard wildlife from further decline.

RAWA is that bold solution,” Dingell wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Supported by more than 100 Members of Congress, this bipartisan legislation will provide financial resources for state agencies so those in the field can do everything possible to protect species most at risk.”

Conservation requires infrastructure changes in addition to policy action, according to Michael Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy and co-author of the study.

“Among other priorities, we’ve got to manage our public lands better for nature, restore laws that protect birds, and massively increase support for habitat conservation outside the U.S. to protect tropical forests where many of our birds winter,” Parr said in a Sept. 20 news release.

The most devastating finding in the study is the decline in common birds, which are integral to their ecosystems, according to Marra.

“We all made this commitment to keep common birds

common. What this report says, unfortunately, is that it’s now the common birds that have declined the most,” Marra said.

“These species have now declined significantly, suggesting that there are these broad-scale things that are eating away at the avifauna.”

While the study did not examine causality explicitly, it is important to consider the role of climate change in habitat destruction as a major factor in the population decline, according to Marra.

“Drying patterns in the Caribbean are totally changing when birds leave,” Marra said. “Birds that are migrating farther distances are leaving the wintering grounds in poorer condition, and there’s higher mortality on those birds.”

Marra noted the importance of conservation efforts in everyday life in supporting the bird population, emphasizing the potential for conservation on Georgetown University’s campus.

“We need to minimize these general threats that are impacting birds and other organisms,” Marra said. “Even in humandominated landscapes like the Georgetown campus, making sure that we are doing things here that are environmentally friendly.”

COURTESY SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE

Director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative Peter Marra published the study, which tracked populations of more than 500 bird species.

JAIME MOORE-CARRILLO Hoya Staff Writer

During ongoing political turmoil in Hong Kong, continued public demonstrations are necessary to emphasize democratic values, activist Jeffrey Ngo said in an event Sept. 25.

The event, titled “History Before Your Eyes: Chronicling Hong Kong’s Summer of Discontent,” was part of the Asia in Depth Series hosted by the department of history. Ngo, a Hong Kong native and second year Ph.D. student in the department of history, discussed his own experience as a protester in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, introduced legislation in February that would allow the extradition of criminal suspects from Hong Kong to mainland China, which ignited large scale protests across the city as well as discourse about the topic on Georgetown’s campus. Lam has since withdrawn the bill, but protestors have issued broader demands for institutional reforms in Hong Kong, such as addressing police brutality and increasing democratic freedom.

Hong Kong fell back under Chinese rule in 1997 after more than 150 years of British colonial rule, and currently functions under a “one country, two systems” policy that allows the region a significant level of autonomy. The extradition bill concerned Hong Kong citizens because of the Chinese government’s history of political encroachment in the region, according to Ngo. “Hong Kong’s autonomy being eroded by Chinese interference has been on the back of Hong Kongers’ minds for some time now, so when the extradition bill was proposed, Hong Kongers were worried,” Ngo said.

After recognizing the ineffectiveness of peaceful protests, demonstrators turned to more drastic tactics, including throwing bricks and petrol bombs at police, Ngo said. Escalated tactics, adopted after Lam suspended the extradition bill without fully withdrawing it, have been more effective, according to Ngo. “For so long, the protests in Hong Kong have been known for being peaceful. Not a single piece of glass would be broken, nor would a car be burned,” Ngo said. “If you stick with peaceful protests, the government won’t listen.

OLIVIA CHUANG FOR THE HOYA

Jeffrey Ngo, a Hong Kong native and second-year doctoral student in the history department, discussed his activism at an event Sept. 25.

If you’re willing to take further steps, then that’s what is going to change the government’s mind.”

The 2019 Hong Kong protests were preceded by numerous pro-democracy demonstrations in earlier years. In 2014, a three month demonstration dubbed the “Umbrella Revolution” included thousands of civilians who clogged major roadways to protest a candidate pre-screening policy for the region’s 2017 chief executive election introduced by the Chinese government.

Earlier this month, Ngo authored a series of back-andforth chalk messages left in Red Square surrounding the Hong Kong protest. The messages helped bring awareness of the protests in Hong Kong to campus, according to Ngo. The lack of hierarchy in the organization of the Hong Kong demonstrations has also contributed to their effectiveness, Ngo said.

“This is going to be a movement not based on hierarchies, but based on networks,” Ngo told the audience. “You can do whatever you want, and I’m not going to criticize you and vice versa because we can all pursue the same goal with different methods as long as we

know what we have in mind and as long as we support each other in that way.”

On Wednesday, hours before Ngo spoke, the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees approved the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would impose sanctions on Chinese officials accused of debasing Hong Kong autonomy. Ngo collaborated with legislators on the bill.

The original movement has evolved into a broader petition for structural reform in Hong Kong, Ngo said.

“The movement has moved so far beyond just one person, hence no one calling for her resignation now, and is so much more than the extradition bill, hence no one really caring whether the bill is dropped now but about structural change in Hong Kong,” according to Ngo. Hong Kong citizens have a responsibility to shed light on the authoritarian practices of the Chinese government due to the region’s relative autonomy, Ngo said.

“Hong Kongers must use our relative freedom to other places that are under repression of the Chinese authorities to show the world what is happening,” Ngo said.

DeGioia Shows Support For DC Statehood Act CONNOR BRANDI Special to The Hoya

In the first congressional hearing on Washington, D.C. statehood in 26 years, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform heard testimony about H.R. 51, the D.C. Admission Act, on Sept. 19.

Members of the House heard testimony from both D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) in favor of the bill. Norton introduced the legislation earlier this year and garnered a record 155 original cosponsors, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and set the record for cosponsors on a bill introduced on the first day of Congress. Next, the bill will be marked up and go to the House floor for the first time since 1993. The House turned down the proposal for statehood that year by an overwhelming majority, according to The Washington Post.

Regardless of the demographics or political views of D.C. residents, the District’s statehood should be a matter of bipartisan agreement, Bowser said at the hearing.

“Yes, it is true that we are more brown and more liberal than some of you,” she said. “It should not matter what your politics are.”

H.R. 51 calls for D.C. to be admitted as the 51st state of the union, referred to as the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, after abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass.

The commonwealth would be composed of the entire district, except for federal land like the White House, the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court Building. If passed, the bill would grant the District voting

representation in Congress.

University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) added his name to the list of H.R. 51 supporters in a Sept. 9 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.), who head the House Oversight Committee.

The university, alongside the city of Washington, would benefit from a voting representative if H.R. 51 passes, according to DeGioia.

“While we as a nation are engaged in promoting the strengthening of democracy around the world, the full democratic rights of the residents of the District of Columbia have not been provided,” he wrote.

“Ironically, nations around the world who have modeled their own systems of government on our U.S. Constitution have provided voting representation in their national legislative bodies for residents of their capital cities.”

With just over 700,000 residents, D.C. is more populous than two current U.S. states, Wyoming and Vermont. The current lack of representation for District residents is an unjust and dated phenomenon that should be updated, according to university spokesperson Meghan Dubyak.

“Many of our students and alumni who have lived in the nation’s capital believe the lack of voting representation for more than 700,000 residents is a long-standing injustice that should be remedied,” Dubyak wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Many nations around the world who have modeled their own systems on the U.S. Constitution have provided voting representation in their legislative bodies for the residents of their capital cities.”

The hearing dispelled con-

cerns about the constitutionality of statehood, according to Norton.

“The testimony presented today from District officials and expert witnesses leaves no doubt that the Washington, D.C. Admission Act is constitutional and that the state would meet all of its financial, economic and other obligations,” Norton said in a news release.

“The next step is again historic – H.R. 51 will be marked up to move to the House floor.”

Proponents of statehood use the rallying cry “taxation without representation,” which references how District residents are subject to federal taxes like any other American citizen, but lack the same voting representation in the House and Senate. Voting representation affects D.C.’s influence over representatives in Congress and in cases like the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice or declaration of war.

The act has been met with opposition from some Republicans, and a Republican-controlled Senate and a President Donald Trump administration will make passing any legislation difficult, according to The Washington Post.

Students should take interest in issues facing their neighbors in D.C., according to Gracey Owen (MSB ’22), vice president of the National Committee of the Rotaract Club of Georgetown, which engages in community service locally, nationally and sometimes internationally.

“I support statehood because D.C. is being federally taxed without congressional representation,” Owen wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I look forward to working on more projects that empower D.C. residents in the future.”

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THE HOYA

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

Father in Admissions Student May Pursue Civil Suit Against HFIR Scandal Receives 4-Month Sentence WAGNER, from A1

12 applicants to Georgetown as tennis recruits.

Singer has pleaded guilty to in prison, as well as a year of supervised release, a $95,000 racketeering conspiracy and fine and a restitution payment other crimes and is cooperating with federal to Georgeinvestigators, town of over while Ernst $100,000 to has pleaded cover the uninot guilty. versity’s legal Elizabeth fees, accordand Manuel ing to the DOJ Henriquez press release. were also Semprevivo’s implicated legal counsel in the colasked Talwani lege admisfor a sentence sions scam, of probation having paid and commua fraudulent nity service. proctor to Sempresit alongside vivo’s laweach of their yers did not daughters respond to a UNIVERSITY SPOKESPERSON as they took request for their college comment. entrance exW h e n ams, accordauthorities ing to court announced documents. the college admissions scandal in March The parents also bribed Ernst 2019, they charged former to designate their older daughGeorgetown tennis coach Gor- ter, Isabelle Henriquez (COL don Ernst with racketeering ’20), as a tennis recruit, accordconspiracy. Federal prosecutors ing to federal attorneys. The alleged that Singer paid Ernst Henriquez parents chose not to more than $2.7 million in enter a plea at an initial appearbribes over several years in ex- ance in a Boston federal court change for Ernst designating in April.

SEMPREVIVO, from A1

“Our review focused on whether students knowingly provided false information to the University during the admissions process.”

disrupted the GUCR response event with loud comments and noise, criticizing its speakers for their denial of the existence of climate change. The demonstrations resulted in the Georgetown University Police Department stopping and restarting the event.

Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, a student group dedicated to advocating for immigrant students on and off campus, released a “Statement in Support of Our Undocumented Students and Mixed Status Families and Against Hateful Rhetoric” on Sept. 20 to address Wagner’s comment.

“HFIR strongly condemns any hateful rhetoric towards immigrant communities on or off campus,” the statement read. “[Wagner’s] words are embedded in racism and white supremacy and has ultimately created an unsafe environment for students at Georgetown University.”

Wagner has since decided to begin pursuing legal action against HFIR for its statement against him, according to a Sunday email to The Hoya.

“My counsel has advised me not to make further statements at this time,” Wagner wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We are exploring all routes to right this injustice including, but not limited to, a civil suit against HFIR.” The HFIR statement had been signed by 317 students, faculty and staff and 20 student groups at the time of publication.

Wagner’s comments stoked

fear for many students, especially those who have experienced anxiety around ICE raids personally, according to HFIR President Arisaid Gonzalez Porras (COL ’21).

“As a student that lives with this fear, I do take his joke seriously. I will always rather be safe than sorry with these types of comments,” Gonzalez Porras wrote in an email to The Hoya. “As he lives with the privilege of never knowing this feeling, he will never understand how much his words impacted my well-being and those of my peers.”

The Georgetown University Student Association released its own statement in support of HFIR. The GUSA statement has been signed by 136 individuals at the time of publication.

Wagner’s message and his consideration of filing a civil suit against HFIR became the subject of multiple posts in the popular Facebook group “georgetown memes for non-comforming jesuit teens” after this article was published online Tuesday.

Wagner released his own statement via Facebook on Saturday — which has since been taken down — explaining his GroupMe message and clarifying that his comment was intended to poke fun at the fact that the protesters seemed to lack diversity.

“I even followed up my comment immediately with ‘maybe they (ICE) will go out of their way’ clearly implying that no one there - regardless of skin color - is actually supposed to be de-

ported,” his post said. “The joke was in poor taste, I admit that - but in no way was this a threat.”

HFIR continues to stand by its demand that the university holds Wagner accountable for his comment, as such behavior can no longer be tolerated on campus, according to Porras and HFIR Vice President Anahi Figueroa-Flores (COL ’21).

“We are not looking for an apology, we want him to face the consequences because these instances cannot continue to happen,” Gonzalez Porras and Figueroa-Flores wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We want students to live in a campus environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all students regardless of their citizenship status.”

GUCR does not oversee or have ownership over the “Republican Hoyas” GroupMe and stands in opposition to the criticism of Wagner’s character following his comment, according to the group.

“GUCR condemns the unreasonable character assassination and online harrassment undertaken by established organizations, such as GUSA, against a fellow Hoya,” the group wrote in an email to The Hoya. “GUCR will continue to promote free expression on campus.”

The group also identified that the protesters at the GUCR event committed five violations of the Code of Student Conduct, including Disorderly Conduct, Disruption of Official University Functions, Failure to Comply with University Official or Law En-

forcement Officer, the ID Cards Policy and Incivility.

“We condemn in the strongest terms those protesters who violated the Student Code of Conduct and the law by intolerantly disrupting our event and attempting to shut it down,” the group wrote in wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Other student groups, including Georgetown University Fossil Free, which had protesters at Thursday’s event, disapproved of Wagner’s comments alongside HFIR, according to an email that GUFF President Juliette Leader (SFS ’19) wrote The Hoya. (Full disclosure: Leader is a former member of The Hoya’s editorial board).

“GU Fossil Free strongly condemns the racist rhetoric of Jack Wagner’s comment,” Leader wrote. “Threatening to endanger not only the presence of fellow students on campus, but also their safety and potentially their lives, should not be tolerated.”

GUCR’s failure to condemn Wagner’s inappropriate comment is hypocritical considering the group’s message of rejecting incivility on the part of the protesters, according to La Casa Latina Financial Coordinator Ty Padilla (COL ’21).

“We believe that GUCR should be more focused on demanding accountability from its own members and should be more proactive in denouncing racist and xenophobic comments and jokes than concerning themselves with the actions of the protesters,” Padilla wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Arrupe RHO Workers Voice Staffing Concerns RHO, from A1 been dismissed is unacceptable.”

Lexi Tiemann (SFS ’21), Maya Hambrick (COL ’22), Caroline Hyer (SFS ’20), Gabriela Cura (COL ’21), Caroline Connor (COL ’20), Cassidy Pregil (COL ’20), Allan Navarro (SFS ’22), Arrey Salyards (NHS ’20), Alexis Stapleton (COL ’20), Claudia Canales (MSB ’22), Cassidy Palmer (COL ’21), Cailin Brady (COL ’20) and Lo signed the email.

(Full disclosure: Navarro serves as co-senior editor of The Guide, The Hoya’s arts and culture section.)

Changes in hiring procedures and unexpected rejections of job offers caused delays in hiring new staff members, according to Huff.

In spring 2019, Residential Living took on most of the responsibility of screening and selecting applicants. Previously, RHO managers led the hiring process.

The updated procedures and consequently slower process led to the Arrupe RHO to begin the year with only 11 staff members and two managers, compared to the typical 18 to 22 staff members, according to Brady, the Arrupe RHO manager. Staff members and managers have separate responsibilities, and staff members assist with sorting and distributing students’ packages.

A 12th staff member began working at the Arrupe RHO this week, despite being hired at the beginning of the semester, according to Navarro.

“This year there’s a new process going on with the hiring and different committees and how the applications are being evaluated,” Brady said. “The applications have been moving through the process much more slowly.”

The reduced workforce has forced more than half of the RHO staff members to work over 20 hours per week, interfering with employees’ responsibilities, and negatively impacted the RHO’s package processing efficiency, according to an Arrupe RHO employee who requested to remain

anonymous for fear of employer retribution.

The SEO recommends that students not work more than 20 hours a week during the academic year.

“I worked 23 1/2 hours two weeks ago, and I just don’t have time for that. It’s getting to the point where Cailin [Brady, Arrupe RHO student manager] can’t keep putting people into the schedule because they have other jobs, they have papers, they have class,” the employee said in an interview with The Hoya. “Some people are single-staffed at the RHO and when you have like four carts, that’s 300 packages coming in and a line of students in from Darnall.”

When Huff received the students’ email, it was the first time he was contacted about any scheduling issues, he wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“While I was aware the Arrupe RHO team has several vacancies, I first heard from team members about the negative impact scheduling was having on their work experience via an email on Sep. 22,” Huff wrote.

Employees began vocalizing complaints at the beginning of the academic year and reached out to Scibetti, according to Brady and the anonymous Arrupe RHO employee. Scibetti is the direct supervisor of RHO student employees.

“I think we started directly tagging Jessica in our GroupMe like two or three weeks ago, like ‘When are we going to start getting more new hires, we have other things we need to be doing,’ and she was like, ‘We’re working on it. Bill is hiring people,’” the Arrupe RHO employee said.

When contacted for comment, Scibetti referred inquiries to Huff.

Huff met with the student who sent the original email, as well as one of the Arrupe RHO managers, the day he received the message, Huff wrote in an email to The Hoya. Huff also informed the RHO staff members that offers to fill the vacant positions in all

FILE PHOTO: MAGGIE FOUBERG/THE HOYA

Student workers employed in the Arrupe RHO began the year with only two managers and 11 staff members, affecting office efficiency.

RHOs were sent to applicants on Sept. 24.

“They shared their experiences and I shared updates on current hiring process,” Huff wrote. “I offered to reach out to other RHO Assistants in Arrupe but the concerned team member who emailed me and the RHO Manager stated they would pass along the updates.”

The staffing issues are not isolated to the Arrupe RHO, according to a Kennedy Hall RHO employee who requested to remain anonymous for fear of employer retribution.

“It’s something we’ve been dealing with across campus this semester,” the Kennedy RHO employee in an interview with The Hoya. “Arrupe just happens to be the hardest hit with it.”

The RHO is not the only campus office struggling with filling positions. A lack of university communication and inconsistent shift times this semester led to frequently unmanned student guard posts.

Delayed RHO hiring could be caused in part by a new video application component, according to the Kennedy RHO employee.

Students who applied to work in any RHO had to submit a video component as a part of

the new hiring process, as opposed to holding face-to-face interviews, according to the RHO application. However, the application incorrectly stated that students should put their video as “unlisted” rather than “private” on YouTube. This error has since been corrected.

Students who set their videos as unlisted, however, were at a hiring disadvantage when their videos were unviewable by the hiring committee.

“The video portion represented 33% of the total score for each applicant, so those whose videos were unviewable were at a severe disadvantage,” the Kennedy RHO employee wrote in a message to The Hoya.

To the employees knowledge, candidates who used unlisted videos were not contacted to correct the error.

All RHO managers have weekly meetings with Scibetti, their direct supervisor, according to the Kennedy RHO employee. Like staff in Arrupe, the Kennedy RHO employee conveyed their concerns without receiving immediate solutions.

“It’s been one of those things they’ve said they’ve been dealing with and they haven’t been,” the Kennedy RHO employee said.

MAGGIE FOUBERG/THEHOYA

Students elected seven freshman senators, four at-large senators, and one senior senator in GUSA elections held Wednesday.

GUSA Senate Election Exhibits Sustained Decrease in Turnout SENATE, from A1 turnout of 21%. The turnout percentage continues a downward trend in turnout since the fall 2017 elections, during which turnout reached a historic high of 30%.

As senator, Eimil hopes to focus on improving sustainable infrastructure, enhancing disability access and increasing resources for sexual assault survivors, he wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The diversity of the freshman class of senators this year will allow the legislative body to better serve the student body, according to newly elected Eimil.

“We have one of the most diverse slates of senators in history, representing so many communities on campus and so many perspectives,” Eimil wrote. “I hope this enables us to advance real progressive changes.”

Wang, one of the newly elected at-large senators, is optimistic that important conversations from the campaign will continue in the senate, he wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“I ran on the platform of initiating more dialogues between organizations and groups with different opinions, and I hope GUSA senate will be the platform and the initiator for more dialogues and conversations,” Wang wrote. “I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve the student body. I will not let the student body down, and I will

fight for making their lives better on and off campus.”

The election process ran was easy to navigate according to many senators, including Ziac, who is aiming to improve facilities and federal work study programs with his at-large senate seat.

“Throughout the whole campaign I felt the process was very smooth and accessible,” he wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Wednesday’s election comes after a candidate town hall Monday, at which 26 of the 28 prospective senators shared their vision for the Georgetown community and took questions from voters.

Lipka, one of the new freshman senators, expressed wariness over the senate’s ability to enact significant measures for the student body amid low trust in GUSA but emphasized the possibility to overcome that wariness through cooperation.

“It’s clear that GUSA is flawed to say the least, but I believe through cooperation and diligence, we can move forward and improve our Georgetown community one small step at a time,” Lipka wrote in an email to The Hoya, “I look forward to working with the current administration to advance the rights of all members of our community and hopefully restore trust in our governing institutions here on campus.”

Hoya Staff Writer Riley Rogerson contributed to this reporting.

NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

THE HOYA

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Supporters Advocate for GU Religious Studies Professor Student Austin Tice at Capitol Gerard Mannion Dies at 48 HARRISON MCBRIDE Hoya Staff Writer

Family members and supporters of Austin Tice (SFS ’02) led an advocacy campaign at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23 as a part of the new “Ask About Austin Tice” campaign launched this August.

After completing his second year at Georgetown University Law Center, Tice was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 while traveling in the country to report on the escalating civil war between the Syrian government and rebel forces.

Tice is believed to be a captive of an affiliate of the Syrian government. Five weeks after he was scheduled to return home, a video posted online titled “Austin Tice is Alive” showed Tice alive and surrounded by unidentified armed men, according to The Family of Austin Tice website. Tice is the only American journalist currently being held overseas, according to the National Press Club Journalism Institute, an international free press advocacy organization.

Increased public awareness of Tice’s situation would help encourage members of Congress to take action to secure Tice’s safe release and return, according to Julie Moos, executive director of the NPCJI. “When our elected representatives know that their communities care, it’s even more impactful,” Moos wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I hope every American will Ask About Austin until he’s safely home.”

The “Ask About Austin Tice” campaign was launched this past August on the seven-year

anniversary of Tice’s disappearance. Last Monday, campaign volunteers visited every congressional office on Capitol Hill to ensure that members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are aware of Tice’s situation, according to the NPCJI website.

Dean of the School of Foreign Service Joel Hellman encouraged students to attend the campaign visit to the Capitol and reiterated Georgetown University’s support of Tice and his family in a Sept. 19 email to SFS students.

The university remains hopeful that Tice will return to Georgetown, Hellman wrote.

“Over the last seven years, Georgetown has stood with Austin’s family pressing for his release and return. Those efforts continue,” Hellman wrote.

“We look forward to welcoming Austin back for his final year at Georgetown Law and celebrating his commitment to raising the world’s awareness of the human costs of war in the true spirit of SFS and Georgetown.”

The #FreeAustinTice movement gained significant traction on Georgetown’s campus in recent years. In 2015, the movement featured a social media challenge for individuals to post pictures of themselves wearing blindfolds stating “Free Austin Tice” and challenging others to post the same message.

In 2016, students and individuals associated with Reporters Without Borders, an international nonprofit organization that aims to protect journalists and that has been working with Tice’s family since September 2012, gathered outside

the White House and walked around holding signs and wearing blindfolds that said “Free Austin Tice.”

Ann Oldenburg, assistant director of the journalism program at Georgetown, reiterated the need to continue to advocate and spread awareness of Tice and his situation.

“Every day that goes by without Austin coming home is heartbreaking.” Oldenburg wrote in an email to The Hoya, “It’s important that we all remain vigilant in helping the Tice family to maintain the awareness and importance of ensuring his safe return.”

Negotiations for Tice’s release reportedly took place in 2015 with an American diplomat, a Czech diplomat and the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister in Damascus, Syria. However, State Department officials did not release information surrounding the negotiations at the time.

The Reporters Without Borders North America Bureau, a partner in the Ask About Austin campaign, was present at the Sept. 23 visit to the Capitol.

Tice’s situation is representative of how risky international journalism can be in today’s world, according to Dokhi Fassihian, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders North America Bureau.

“This is a dangerous time to be a journalist, both in the United States and abroad,” Fassihian wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Our organization is more committed than ever before to ensure journalists can work safely and independently, and that those who attempt to silence them are held to account.”

RILEY ROGERSON Hoya Staff Writer

Gerard Mannion, 48, a Georgetown University theology and religious studies professor and senior research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs died of a heart attack Sept. 21.

Mannion taught at Georgetown as the Joseph and Winifred Amaturo Chair in Catholic Studies in the department of theology and religious studies and co-founded the university’s Global Irish Studies Initiative alongside fellow Georgetown professors Coilin Parsons and Irene Jillson.

Mannion’s personable, engaging and hardworking personality made him an excellent teacher and peer, Parsons said.

“I had no idea what a generous colleague he was and how much he was doing because he was humble, soft-spoken, very selfdeprecating and yet an absolute machine, incredibly generous to all of his colleagues,” Parsons said in a phone interview with The Hoya.

As the founding and network chair of the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network, Mannion organized an international on-campus conference in 2015 entitled: “Vatican II: Remembering the Future” which featured prominent Catholic cardinals and bishops, according to an email Provost Robert Groves sent to the Georgetown community Sept. 25.

Parsons fondly remembers Mannion arranging conference planning meetings over dinner and drinks with coworkers. The intimate environment Mannion fostered allowed peers to get to know each other and share vibrant intellectual conversation, according to Parsons.

“He was a great one for a party, I think everyone would agree with that, but it is also just a sign he is a confluent host and beyond generous, a great conversationalist, always willing to bring people into the conversation,” Parsons said.

Mannion was the president of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology from 2017 to 2019. In this position, Mannion worked to keep the Catholic Church accountable, calling in 2015 for the institution to reform the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank, according to a Berkley Center news release. In a 2018 TIME Magazine article, Mannion also criticized the actions of American bishops in the wake of the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report documenting clerical sexual abuse.

Mannion took the time to take interest in his coworkers’ personal lives and connect with them during gatherings, according to the Berkley Center’s Associate Director for Programs and Outreach Claudia Winkler (GRD ’13).

“He kind of made it a point to come and spend some more time with the staff just as people and was just always really jovial and friendly and personable and had personal conversations with people,” Winkler said in a phone interview with The Hoya.

Mannion published books on ecclesiology, ethics, public theology and other fields of systematic theology and philosophy, and was a huge rugby fan in his free time, according to Parsons.

Mannion was looking forward to watching Ireland play in this weekend’s Rugby World Cup, Parsons said.

Immensely proud of his Irish heritage, Mannion’s Irish his-

tory and theology classes were always popular, according to Parsons and Jillson, who both guest lectured in one of Mannion’s classes.

“The class was wildly oversubscribed,” Parsons said. “I met his students and I was so impressed with how engaged they were, not only with the material itself but with the scholarly and intellectual arguments about the materials. They were embedded in a conversation and that, for me, is the sign of the best kind of teaching.”

Before coming to Georgetown in 2014, Mannion was the director of the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture and a theology professor at the University of San Diego, according to Groves’ email. He also worked at the University of Oxford, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He held a BA from King’s College Cambridge, followed by an MSt and a DPhil, British graduate degrees, from New College at Oxford.

Although Mannion was a fundamental member of the Irish Global Studies Initiative, the organization will continue to educate students while honoring Mannion’s legacy, Jillson said in a phone interview with The Hoya.

“He would really want us to persevere so one of the things that we are going to do, Coilin and I, are going to continue discussions about how we commemorate his role in some very specific ways,” Jillson said. “It is really important that people know that Gerard played such a vital role — that is essentially an understatement — in the realization of this dream.”

Hoya Staff Writer Myroslav Dobroshynskyi contributed to this reporting.

Regulation of Social Media Is Inevitable, Panelists Say Woodstock College Exhibit Celebrates 150 Years

RILEY ROGERSON Hoya Staff Writer

The U.S. federal government will inevitably regulate social media companies, but the extent of this regulation is still up for debate, technology journalists, lawyers and a Facebook representative said at a panel event Sept. 23.

The Georgetown University Free Speech Project hosted the event in Gaston Hall Monday.

The Free Speech Project is a nonpartisan, independent initiative that assesses the condition of free speech in American education, civil society and government. The Knight First Amendment Foundation at Columbia University, which aims to defend freedom of speech and press through litigation, research and public education, co-sponsored the event.

Social media companies are analogous to cities without effective regulation, which poses a problem for user safety, according to Kara Swisher (SFS ’84), a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and founder of Recode, a technologyfocused publication.

“Everybody thinks that these companies, that Twitter, is a public square or Facebook is a public square, or Reddit or any of these sites,” Swisher said. “The fact of the matter is that most of them are public squares owned by and to the benefit of billionaires so it is not a public square. So what we do is we extend them the rights of a public square, but they aren’t taking the responsibilities

of a public square.”

Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, Sarah Jeong, the lead technology writer for The New York Times’ editorial board, Jeff Kosseff, an assistant professor of cyber security law in the U.S. Naval Academy’s cyber science department, and Lori Moylan, a member of Facebook’s external affairs team for public policy, also participated in the panel discussion. Free Speech Project Director Sanford Ungar, moderated the event.

As the 2020 presidential campaign season ensues, Democratic candidates including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have called for the federal government to break up big technology companies.

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also supports antitrust legislation because he feels that many big technology companies stifle conservative speech.

Much of Monday’s panel discussion pivoted around the antitrust debate and whether Google, Facebook and Amazon should be regulated.

Although every panelist agreed that the federal government will eventually regulate big technology companies through antitrust or privacy legislation, big technology’s acquisition of smaller companies can also be valuable, according to Moylan.

When Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, it catapulted the smaller social media company to an improved profit model and user experience.

“When Facebook acquired In-

stagram, it literally didn’t have a business plan to monetize. It didn’t have spam filters,” Moylan said. “While yes, we are proud that it is an incredible, lucrative company that many, many, many people around the world enjoy, we feel that it is the synergies with Facebook and the systems that we’re able to incorporate into the app that has turned it into the success story that it is today.”

Alternatively, breaking up big technology companies would enable the smaller companies to explore new problem-solving routes, according to Swisher.

“I think the point of antitrust from my particular side and the people I interview — and I interview a lot of people on this topic — is to break them up to allow more companies to thrive,” Swisher said. “The concept is if you break them up, you create much more innovation and so the day you pull, say you pull YouTube off of Google, maybe YouTube will go: ‘Maybe we should bill ourselves as a safe place for people to be.’”

Looking ahead, citizens concerned about their privacy should contact their government representatives and express their anxieties because the time to enact privacy legislation might be limited, according to Jeong.

“I think that the moment for privacy legislation might be slipping away,” Jeong said. “But a lot of the stuff that we’re talking about derives from corrupt financial incentives that have really poisoned our democracy.”

AARON GREENSTEIN FOR THE HOYA

From left to right: Panelists Lori Moylan, Sarah Jeong, Jeff Kosseff, Katie Fallow and Kara Swisher (SFS ’84) discussed breaking up big technology companies and the future of social media Sept. 23.

SARAH DONOFRIO Hoya Staff Writer

The Woodstock Theological Library is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Woodstock College, the first Jesuit seminary in the United States, with an exhibit showcasing various artifacts of the college’s history and legacy.

The exhibit will be housed in the Woodstock Theological Library, located in the lower level of Lauinger Library, until December, but there may be some exhibits on display in Wolfington Hall, according to Fr. Leon Hooper, S.J., director of the Woodstock Library. The exhibit will include historical documents, photos and theological publications.

The 150th-anniversary exhibit celebrates the Jesuits educated at Woodstock College, which became an important site for Catholic scholarship, according to Adrian Vaagenes, the Woodstock Theological Library’s archivist and librarian. Woodstock College was located in Woodstock, Md., about an hour north of Washington, D.C. The exhibit will celebrate the legacy of Woodstock College by displaying selected items from its rare book collection and the Woodstock archives related to the college’s history, according to Vaagenes.

“The aim is to honor the lives of those who called Woodstock College home, and to educate students on the history and influence of the college, an impact which continues to be felt today through the library and the scholarship it fosters,” Vaagenes wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Woodstock College, established in 1869, faced financial trouble and ceased operations in 1974. Its collections, because of their historical and cultural value, were transferred to the lower level of Lau and formed the foundation for the Woodstock Theological Library. Many of the collections were used and expanded by fellows of the Woodstock Theological Center.

The Woodstock Theological Center was a Jesuit-run research institution housed on Georgetown’s campus from 1975 to 2013. Over the several decades it was housed on campus, three priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct worked at Woodstock Theological Center and all three lived in the Woodstock Theological Residence, two blocks away from the university’s front gates.

Woodstock Theological Library, used by both Georgetown students and the Washington Theological Consortium, an or-

FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

The exhibit will be housed in the Woodstock Theological Library, located on the lower level of Lauinger Library. ganization of regional universities and interfaith institutions, is a valuable resource with a rich history, according to Vaagenes.

“Much of the collection was left intact, though its purposes and collections expanded, as a resource for Georgetown students and faculty, for other theological programs in the Central Atlantic region, and the fellows of the Woodstock Theological Center,” Vaagenes wrote.

Before Woodstock College’s formal closure, the school was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States, and its collections were considered invaluable, according to Vaagenes.

“The Library also became a repository for the many rare books and manuscripts that had been scattered throughout the Maryland and New York Provinces since the 17th century,” Vaaganes wrote.

Jesuit leaders believed Georgetown’s location in D.C. and its relationship with neighboring institutions would allow the library to engage with public policy and religion and serve as a resource for theological scholarship. Today, Woodstock Theological Library maintains a strong relationship with the Washington Theological Consortium.

“One of the major reasons to bring the collections down here [to D.C.], is to have a workable research collection belonging to

the consortium,” Hooper said in an interview with The Hoya.

The center developed in the lower level of Lau, adopting the name Woodstock Theological Library. The library is owned by the Maryland and New York provinces of the Jesuits and is a resource containing 190,000 circulating volumes, 700 periodicals and a reference collection, according to the library’s website.

The legacy of the college continues through the resources offered at the current library, according to Vaagenes.

“When the college closed, a number of institutions (Yale, Fordham, and NY Stony Brook) vied for the collection due to its rare and research holdings, with Georgetown finally selected as the new location,” Vaagenes wrote.

Woodstock College educated many notable theologians, such as John Courtney Murray and Gustave Weigel, and left a lasting legacy in the form of Woodstock Theological Library, according to Vaagenes.

“The library is honoring the 150th anniversary of Woodstock’s educating young Jesuits, and more generally, honoring Jesuit scholarship in America,” Vaagenes wrote. “The influence of Woodstock College continues to be felt today in the lives of its former students and in the scholarship it fostered.”

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NEWS

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

Dialogue Necessary To Address DC Council Approves Medical Marijuana Use in Public Schools Rape Culture, Panelists Say CADY STANTON

HANSEN LIAN

Addressing the pervasive role of rape culture and toxic masculinity through facilitated dialogue is the best way to prevent sexual assault and violence, panelists agreed at a screening and discussion of the film “Roll Red Roll” on Sept. 26.

The event was hosted by the Georgetown University Gender+ Justice Initiative alongside Men Can Stop Rape, an organization that mobilizes men to create cultures free from violence against women.

Following a screening of the film, Nancy Schwartzman, the documentary’s director and producer, was joined in conversation with Jeremy Hardy, training and technical assistant coordinator for Men Can Stop Rape and Karla Lozano Medina, advocate for healthy relationships and recent high school graduate.

“Roll Red Roll” tells the story of the high-profile sexual assault of a young woman at Steubenville High School in Ohio by members of the school’s football team. The film demonstrates the influence of rape culture on the reactions of students, parents and coaches in Steubenville to the case, as well as their subsequent treatment of the perpetrators and the victim.

The film takes a new approach to talking about rape culture and sexual assault that recenters the focus of the story on how a larger community is affected by a sexual assault case, according to Schwartzman.

“I wanted to explore the issue of sexual assault but make a film that really looked at perpetrators and bystanders. So often the narrative around rape hinges on the victim,” Schwartzman said. “If we want to shift the culture — which I do, and I’m sure people in this room want to — I think we need to look at rape culture in general.”

Men Can Stop Rape was founded in 1997 by a group of men who intended to reshape conversations about gender violence prevention to shift the responsibility away from women. The organization takes a public health approach to violence prevention in its workshops and programming, with a three-part framework focusing on public education, technical assistance training and development, Hardy said.

Documentaries like “Roll Red Roll” can be constructive

The Council of the District of Columbia passed emergency legislation allowing public school students with medical marijuana licenses to be treated with the substance on campus grounds Sept. 17.

Twelve of the 13 Washington, D.C. councilmembers approved the Student Medical Marijuana Patient Fairness Emergency Amendment Act, with one remaining neutral and voting “present.” Unlike ordinary D.C. legislation, which requires congressional review, the bill will immediately go into effect because of its emergency status once it is signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who has expressed her intent to sign it.

The bill was introduced by Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) (LAW ’01) due to confusion over schools’ policies on medical marijuana.

Because minors with conditions such as epilepsy can be effectively treated with marijuana, Grosso proposed the legislation to ensure students with such needs could feel safe in schools, according to The Washington Post.

Students in the D.C. medical marijuana program were being denied on-site medication at school because medical marijuana use had previously been limited by law to medical treatment facilities, according to Grosso. Different schools were unclear about the law, according to The Washington Post, and the legislation aims to eliminate the confusion.

“That is the reason for this emergency legislation, which would clarify the law to allow

Hoya Staff Writer

Special to The Hoya

WILL HOUSTON FOR THE HOYA

From left to right: Jeremy Hardy, Nancy Schwartzman and Karla Lozano Medina facilitated discussion on the movie “Roll Red Roll.” tools for promoting conversations about toxic masculinity, according to Hardy.

“A film like this, and all the great work that Nancy and her team have done, is contributing to the resources that we as an organization use, really, in changing social norms, which is our main goal,” Hardy said.

Georgetown’s inaugural 2016 Sexual Assault and Misconduct Climate Survey showed that 31% of female undergraduates reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact on campus. The university administered its most recent climate survey this year from Feb. 1 through March 15 and intends to release the results in fall 2019, according to the university website.

Sexual assault prevention organizations should work towards providing education to members of all communities in order to make progress, Hardy said.

“It really feels like it takes a certain kind of personality to choose to confront violence as a way of living,” Hardy said.

“And yet, at the same time, I wish that we all had the skill set to that. It’s one of those things that we have to teach on an ongoing basis in order to really significantly decrease violence in any given community.”

Exposing and fighting taboos around rape culture is also key to preventing sexual assault, according to Schwartzman.

“When you show it writ large, as ugly as it is, it doesn’t have to be inevitable,” Schwartzman said. “We’re just learning now it doesn’t have to, we can change it and dismantle it.”

Lozano Medina, who graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in Northwest Washington, D.C., in spring 2019, is a sexual assault survivor and activist who has worked with groups including Break the Cycle, a group that works to educate young people about healthy relationships and abuse prevention, and Men Can Stop Rape.

Sharing stories of resilience can inspire and bring people together through common experiences and struggles, Lozano Medina said.

“Being able to express my story and just see how people resonate with that, it gives me hope, and it gives me a reason to continue to do what I do,” Lozano Medina said. “I say this from the heart: as a survivor of sexual assault and a witness of domestic violence, no one should ever feel left out.

It is in unity that we find our strength.”

LSAT Exam Shifts to Digital Platform, Incorporates Tablets SOPHIE HABER

Special to The Hoya

The Law School Admissions Test transitioned to a fully digital platform starting last Saturday, as part of an initiative to increase the exam’s security and accessibility.

From Sept. 21 and onward, every student taking the exam will use a LSAC-provided tablet. The transition is the biggest change in decades to the LSAT, the most widely taken law school admissions exam, according to a Sept. 12 news release by Kaplan Test Prep, a major provider of standardized test preparation services.

The switch comes after a successful test run in July, when about half of the test takers took the exam on a tablet and half on paper, according to the news release.

The switch to a digital platform will allow the Law School Admissions Council to administer more tests per year and return LSAT scores faster than they were able to with the previous pencil and paper version of the exam, according to LSAT instructor and Senior Manager for Instructional Design at Kaplan Glen Stohr. There will be nine or more exams per year with the digital exam, compared to the previous four times per year.

The increased availability of the test could contribute to an increase in law school applications this season, Stohr said.

“I think the additional number of [exam dates] makes it easier for students to take the test and makes it easier for any student to

find the right time to take the test,” Stohr said in an interview with The Hoya. “That might make for a few more people sending in applications.”

Students took the LSAT on Saturday using tablets with features including an onscreen timer, software to flag questions and single-click answer selection, Law School Admissions Council Senior Vice President of Technology Products, Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer Troy Lowry wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The helpful new features made aspects of testing easier than the paper version, according to Jacob MaimanStadtmauer (COL ’20), who took the digital exam on Saturday.

“It allows you to constantly be aware of how much time you have left,” MaimanStadtmauer said. “Also it’s nice to not have to worry about mis-bubbling.”

On the paper and pencil LSAT, test takers could circle or cross out answers in the test booklet, but they did not get credit for an answer unless the answer was accurately bubbled on the answer grid. Users of the digital interface only have to click on the correct answer.

The LSAT is the last of the graduate level standardized tests to transition to a digital platform. Unlike other graduate exams like the GRE and Medical College Admission Test, however, the LSAT did not make any changes to the content of the exam when transitioning to digital, according to Peterson’s, an educational services company.

The LSAT’s later transition allowed the test designers time to focus more on implementing measures to prevent cheating, Lowry wrote.

“For the past several years, we’ve been evaluating various pathways to deliver the LSAT digitally, with the goal of increasing security, accessibility and the student experience. Most standardized tests have already switched to computer delivery, but the existing methods for ensuring the security and integrity of our test weren’t up to our standards,” Lowry wrote.

“That’s why we patented a new system for delivering the LSAT digitally, through the use of tablets.”

The new exam platform increased security, so it will be harder for test takers to bring questions from a tablet out of the exam room than with the paper format of the exam, according to Stohr.

In March, the U.S. Department of Justice brought charges against 50 defendants in the largest indictment concerning fraud in the college application process. Among the individuals indicted, including four parents of Georgetown University students, were parents who paid a fraudulent test proctor to supervise the SAT, according to the charges.

Ensuring the fairness and integrity of the LSAT is especially important after the recent college admissions scandal, according to Lowry.

“The recent scandal involving college admissions is a good reminder that our continued vigilance around the security and integrity of the test is very important,” Lowry wrote.

students who are participating in the medical marijuana program to receive their medication at school,” Grosso said in his introductory statement Sept. 17.

D.C. Public Schools will comply with the legislation, according to DCPS Deputy Press Secretary Ashlynn Profit.

“Students who qualify for medical marijuana can be administered medical marijuana from a health professional in a school health suite,” Profit wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Implementing procedures appropriately limiting medical marijuana exposure and protecting school communities is critical as the policy goes into effect, according to Profit.

“A parent or guardian would have to go through proper protocols with a school to allow for administration to occur,” Profit wrote. “Protocols for protecting students, families, and staff from exposure must be in place so that the health, safety, or welfare of others is not adversely affected.”

The emergency legislation amended medical marijuana policies passed in 1998 and 2007 by mandating that medical marijuana is permissible to administer in schools for individuals whose ability to fully participate in school would be affected without treatment.

Bowser announced through a spokesperson her intention to sign the bill, which would take effect for 90 days before it must go through standard legislative procedure, according to WAMU. The amendment authorizes schools to allow students to be treated with marijuana only in nonsmokable forms and it permits the federal government to influence schools to

disallow medical marijuana on their campuses.

“A public school or charter school could cease to authorize the administration of medical marijuana on its campus if the federal government indicates that it will withhold federal funding from the District or the school if the school continues to authorize the administration of medical marijuana,” according to the bill.

As the possession of any marijuana is prohibited under federal law, the policy of the District — which legalized medical marijuana in 2011 and decriminalized recreational marijuana in 2014 — often conflicts with federal authority.

Despite the passing of the emergency legislation, Georgetown University confirmed it would not change the Code of Student Conduct because it receives federal funding, according to Director of Student Conduct Judy Johnson.

“As a recipient of federal grants and funding, Georgetown is subject to the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act,” Johnson wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“While the District of Columbia has changed marijuana laws in recent years, possession of marijuana, including marijuana, remains illegal under federal law.”

Georgetown continues to have a zero tolerance policy for marijuana on campus due to federal regulations. The university’s Code of Student Conduct stipulates that the “possession, use, manufacture, or distribution of marijuana, including medical marijuana, is prohibited.”

Georgetown Students March In DC Global Climate Strike ANNA FERRAZZI Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University students and campus sustainability organizations joined thousands of young activists protesting the effects of climate change in the Washington, D.C. iteration of the first ever Global Climate Strike last Friday, Sept. 20.

The D.C. Global Climate Strike included protests outside the Capitol building, with protestors holding signs to bring attention to the severity of the climate crisis. Around 50 Georgetown students attended the strike on Friday, according to Georgetown Renewable Energy and Environmental Network’s Environmental Justice Team co-leader Lucy Chatfield (COL ’22). GREEN and GU Fossil Free advertised the event to the Georgetown community by collaborating to create posters for the rally prior to the event.

Mass demonstrations such as the Global Climate Strikes help show how millions of people are passionate about addressing climate change, according to Chatfield.

“The climate crisis is so daunting, and it’s so easy to feel, as an individual, that there’s nothing you can do about it,” Chatfield wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Participating in mass mobilizations like these is how I stay optimistic, because I know there are millions of others fighting alongside me.”

Given the long-lasting impacts of climate change, attending the strike helped emphasize how much advocacy and action is needed to properly address the

climate crisis, according to GUFF core member Juliette Leader (SFS ’20). (Full disclosure: Leader is a former member of The Hoya’s editorial board).

“Climate change is an issue that will be irrevocably intertwined with our lives for decades to come and will touch on every aspect of our lives,” Leader wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It was a reinvigorating experience that reminded me of how justified we are in demanding climate action now and how important our work is.”

The Global Climate Strike occurred in the midst of the Climate Forum 2020 hosted at Georgetown featuring 12 presidential candidates on Sept. 19 and 20. The two-day forum provided candidates with the opportunity to hear student concerns about the climate crisis while proposing their own climate change policies.

Both the Climate Forum 2020 event and the Global Climate Strike brought awareness and urgency to the climate crisis, according to Citizens’ Climate Lobby President Laura Rockefeller (SFS ’22).

“The forum and the protests are both so important in making climate a visible, visceral issue,” Rockefeller wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The Global Climate Strike included participants, largely students and other young people, in more than 150 countries who protested to demand more governmental action on the climate crisis. The strike on Friday was the first of many protests happening throughout this week in light of the United Nations Cli-

mate Action Summit meeting in New York City on Sept. 23.

The D.C. Global Climate Strike included multiple youth speakers highlighting their concerns with the climate crisis. Hearing young voices talk about the negative consequences of climate change on their futures resonated with Georgetown students, according to GREEN’s Environmental Justice Team member Grace Katz (COL ’23).

“My favorite part was when they had the speakers,” Katz said.

“They had one little boy who was a part of the movement suing the government for the air quality in their city, and this 12-year-old boy spoke about how he wants to have a future and that really hit me hard.”

As a part of the series of climate change protests this week, demonstrators in the Capitol Hill area of the District blocked traffic on Sept. 24, shutting down several road intersections as a part of the “Shut Down D.C.” initiative.

The event led to the police arresting 26 protesters, according to The Washington Post.

The attention that large protests like the Global Climate Strikes draw highlight the younger generation’s responsibility to bring awareness to resolving urgent climate change problems, strike attendee Trey Di Bona (SFS ’23) said.

“I hope it convinces people of the immediacy of the problem,” Di Bona said. “It’s something we’ve been putting off for half a century now, and it’s not something we can put off any longer, and I think it sends a pretty strong message that it’s our generation’s duty to fix it.”

COURTESY MIKAIL HUSAIN

Student organizations GREEN and GU Fossil Free co-hosted an event where Georgetown students collaborated to create posters for the rally before the Global Climate Strike.

NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

THE HOYA

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Taste of Georgetown Festival GU Votes Registers Students Showcases Local Flavors In 4th-Annual Drive

JULIA GIGANTE FOR THE HOYA

Over 30 Georgetown restaurants participated the in 26th-annual food festival on K Street hosted by Washingtonian magazine.

CONNOR THOMAS Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown food and drink vendors offering samples of their in-house menus filled K Street for the 26th Taste of Georgetown food festival Sept. 22.

This was the fourth year that Washingtonian, a regional lifestyle magazine, hosted the selfdescribed “epicurean festival,” which was sponsored by Infiniti. Previously, the Georgetown Business Improvement District, an organization of community business owners, organized the event. Over 30 Georgetown restaurants participated this year.

Admission to the festival was free, but patrons were able to purchase individual taste tickets to redeem for one food sample and beer or wine pour at a booth of their choice.

Washingtonian expected about 8,000 to 10,000 visitors, and the sunny weather seemed to have brought them out, Washingtonian Events and Marketing intern Maya Ettleson said.

“It looks like it’s doing really well. Last year it was rainy, so they didn’t have a huge turnout,” Ettleson said in an interview with The Hoya. “In comparison to that, we’re doing a lot better.”

Planning Taste of Georgetown entails inviting every restaurant in Georgetown to participate, collecting the names of those who responded and getting the necessary permits from the city, according to Ettleson. The festival requires permits because vendors served food and alcohol and the event closed down K Street.

Proceeds from the festival benefited Georgetown Ministry Center, a local nonprofit organization providing shelter and services to people experiencing homelessness. Former Grace Episcopal Church Rector David Bird and church member Robert Egger founded Taste of Georgetown. Together, they went on to found D.C. Central Kitchen, a nonprofit fighting hunger and unemployment in at-risk communities.

Washington, D.C. resident Monet Williams appreciated the festival’s outreach efforts and engagement with the community.

“I like it whenever Georgetown does something that’s community-oriented, [like] outreach to the homeless,” Dunn said in an interview with The Hoya.

Taste of Georgetown allowed patrons to interact more closely with vendors than the larger H Street Festival, which D.C. resi-

dent Kevon Dunn had visited the day before.

“I actually had never done the event before,” Dunn said in an interview with The Hoya. “It was intimate — more intimate than H Street. It’s just a beautiful vibe, and D.C. is beautiful.”

Food and drink vendors like The Sovereign, a Wisconsin Avenue bar and restaurant, jumped at the chance to participate and engage with the community, according to The Sovereign’s manager Dylan Pitcher.

“We are a neighborhood restaurant,” he said in an interview with The Hoya. “It’s very important to us that we make an impact and we give as much back as the community gives to us, and we think being a part of Taste of Georgetown is a part of that.”

The Sovereign brought their best food and drink samples and drew plenty of visitors, Pitcher said.

“The crowd’s been great.

We’ve been serving our classic Belgian-style waffles. We do a classic dessert waffle,” he said. “The other thing that we like to do is we like to point out some of the unique beers we have to our guests that come up here.”

Dunn also enjoyed his visit but noted that the event could benefit from expanding its offerings.

“I’ve been here maybe twice before, but it’s been a while since I’ve been back. It’s Georgetown, I like the ambiance, so why not?” he said. “I just wish it was bigger. H Street Festival was yesterday — this isn’t on the scale of it, but for what it is — I really do like it.”

The next neighborhood for D.C.-area foodies to explore is Bethesda. Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc., will hold “Taste of Bethesda,” which promises to attract 60 restaurants and 40,000 attendees, Oct. 5.

CLARA GRUDBERG Special to The Hoya

Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service’s GU Votes initiative held its fourth-annual “Storm the Dorms” voter registration drive on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 24.

For seven hours, 50 volunteers staffed tables in the four first-year residential communities and the Leavey Center registering students to vote. GU Votes Ambassador Andrew Straky (COL ’20) estimates that hundreds of students registered to vote.

The registration drive helps students be proactive about voter registration for local elections this year, as well as primaries in early 2020, according to Straky.

Students interested in voting in primaries in their home state will need to request absentee ballots sooner than they might realize, he said.

“There are state elections in five states, but I think most people are looking ahead toward the primaries,” he said.

“Those are going to come up quicker than people think, so we’re trying to get the first step done right away.”

Motivating students to register in a year without a national election is more challenging, but crucial to GU Votes’ mission, Straky said.

“It’s small little quirks that either intentionally or unintentionally create huge barriers for students to vote, so you want to get people thinking about it as early as possible,” he said.

GU Votes’ cause resonated in a bipartisan manner with members of Georgetown University College Democrats, Georgetown University College Republicans and other nonpolitical campus organizations volunteering to register their peers to vote.

“Storm the Dorms” is important because it helps students participate in politics, according to GUCD Chair Rebecca Hollister (COL ’21).

“Even though it is 2019 and not a major election year, this is an essential and ongoing project,” Hollister wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We need to make sure that even while not at home, every college student has the opportunity to have their voice heard.”

Voter registration is essential for fair and democratic elections, said GUCR President Hayley Grande (COL ’21).

COURTESY ANDREW STRAKY

This year’s “Storm the Dorms” event, sponsored by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, registered hundreds of students.

“We believe that voting is integral to the strength of American democracy,” Grande wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It’s especially important that Georgetown students are registered to have a voice in government.”

Before the first “Storm the Dorms” event in 2016, GU Votes worked with the Office of Residential Living on an exemption to a ban on tabling in residential communities. Georgetown University’s Speech and Expression Policy ordinarily prohibits tabling in residential communities due to concerns about noise and ease of access.

Making this exception for voter registration helps GU Votes reach first-year students, who are most likely to be unregistered to vote, according to Straky.

“We have a new class of firstyear students every year, and obviously they just turned 18 for the most part and are the least likely to be registered to vote,” Straky said. “So we’re trying to capture these students nonstop, so that’s why we strategically choose to table directly in the first-year communities.”

This strategy paid off in the case of Aaron Greenstein (SFS ’23), who came across a GU Votes table in Darnall Hall and decided to register.

“I was walking to my room and there was a table outside in the hallway, asking if I had registered to vote,” Greenstein said in a conversation with The Hoya. “I wanted to vote but I didn’t know I had to register. I thought it was very helpful having that set up.”

Students like Greenstein registered through GU Votes’ online voter portal, bit.ly/guvotes, which Straky called a “one stop shop for voting at Georgetown.”

“You can register to vote, you can check your voter registration status, you can request an absentee ballot, you’ll even be able to see who’s on your ballot once we get close enough to the elections,” Straky said.

Since some states do not have online voter registration programs, the majority of students will need to mail in a voter registration form to their hometown.

GU Votes’ voter drop box program allows students to easily mail in their registration forms or absentee ballot requests by providing prestamped envelopes at numerous locations around campus, including The Midnight Mug, Uncommon Grounds and The Hilltoss. The drop box program launched Sept. 24, 2018.

These voter drop boxes will be available until Oct. 24, but there is a permanent one in the GU Politics Office in the basement of Healy Hall, according to Straky.

GU Votes is planning different ways to eliminate obstacles to student voting, and new programs are currently underway, he said.

“The university is very supportive of institutionalizing voter engagement overall,” Straky said, “We’re working on a few projects to make it even easier for students to have access to voter registration and access to ballot requests.”

GUSA Senate Candidates Campaign at Town Hall GRACE BUONO

Special to The Hoya

Twenty-six candidates who ran for the Georgetown University Student Association senate delivered their proposals concerning improved minority representation and mental health resource accessibility at a Sept. 23 town hall.

In addition to the 21 candidates who launched their senate campaigns last Wednesday, seven more freshmen successfully petitioned to join the race last week by collecting 100 student signatures on campus.

Twenty-six of the 28 total candidates who ran attended the event; each gave a 45-second speech and answering audience questions at the town hall Monday. Candidates Brandon Yusef (MSB ’23) and Juliana Arias (SFS ’20) were absent from the town hall.

When petition candidate Paula Guerra (COL ’23) initially saw the list of prospective senators seeking freshmen seats, the lack of diversity among the candidates motivated her to collect signatures to join the ballot, she said.

“Aside from wanting to be the diversity token, I felt like there just needed to be more representation of women in general and women of color,” Guerra said in an interview with The Hoya.

Zumanah Mahmud (MSB ’23) was one of the few female students who announced her candidacy for the freshman senate seats by the initial Sept. 17 deadline and thus did not have to petition in order to join the ballot.

Mahmud’s platform, which included developing and mandating club diversity and consent training on campus, also intends to expand re-

sources for minority groups on campus, she said.

“My priority would be to break down barriers for marginalized groups and get people access to opportunities and benefits,” Mahmud said.

Last year’s fall GUSA senate elections saw a significant gender imbalance as male students won all seven seats for the Class of 2022 and one female student, Hayley Grande (COL ’21), won one of four at-large seats.

Ingrid Wilder (COL ’23), another petition candidate, decided to join the ballot because of concerns she had with the inaccessibility of certain student resources such as the university’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services, she said.

“It just really frustrates me when we were being treated like customers and not people,” Wilder said in an interview with The Hoya.

Lack of engagement with GUSA was also a popular issue among the candidates.

Expanding student participation and activism in GUSA on relevant campus topics was at the heart of Kelvin Doe’s (COL ’23) campaign plan, he said.

“My platform is entirely focused on the people,” Doe said in an interview with The Hoya. “There’s no aspects of my own advocacy in there because I feel before we can fix anything else about GUSA, we have to work on getting people together and mobilizing on issues.”

In his campaign, Doe hoped to inform students about what GUSA’s role on campus is in an effort to make the organization’s operations more transparent, he said.

“As I’ve been running for GUSA senate, the number one response I’ve gotten is this: ‘What’s GUSA?”’ Doe said. “That’s the problem

with GUSA. Even though we represent you, the student, you, the student, you don’t even know who we are and it’s not your fault.”

Candidate Kwan Hopkins (COL ’23) was surprised at how few students attended the town hall.

“I thought this would be an event where the constituents would ask us questions; it wasn’t promoted as such, so that’s my mistake,” Hopkins said in an interview with The Hoya.

Despite some candidates’ dissatisfaction with turnout, others were pleased to be granted the opportunity to share their vision for the Georgetown community. The teamwork fostered at this town hall was encouraging, according to Henry Dai (SFS ’22), who ran for an at-large seat.

“I think tonight was a great opportunity to kind of spell out our vision. I enjoyed listening to a lot of candidates today,” Dai said in an interview with The Hoya. “I hope to foster a culture of teamwork where we get working on these issues.”

Strong ideas shared at the event gave freshman petition candidate Annie Taber (SFS ’23) hope for the future of GUSA, she said.

“It just reaffirmed that whoever gets it — I think we’re all going to be very happy for each other,” Taber said in an interview with The Hoya. “I think we all agree on a lot of baseline things.”

Freshman candidates who joined the race through petition include Sofia NegreteRetamales (COL ’23), Zahra Wakilzada (COL ’23), Sonia Soto Cruz (COL ’23), Alisa Colon (COL ’23), Guerra, Taber and Wilder, according the GUSA election commission Twitter.

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SPORTS

THE HOYA

FIELD HOCKEY

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

SEASON UPDATE • FOOTBALL

Georgetown’s Bye Week Halts Team’s Momentum AUSTIN BARISH

Special to The Hoya

FILE PHOTO: ELLIE STAAB FOR THE HOYA

Junior forward Cami Osborne, right, looks to drive past a La Salle defender last weekend. Osborne has recorded one goal so far this season, during the Hoyas’ recent victory over Villanova.

GU Captures Strong Victories Against Villanova, La Salle IYANNAH LANGA Special to The Hoya

After last weekend’s win and loss against Rider and Lehigh, Georgetown’s field hockey team defeated both Villanova and La Salle in their weekend games. The win over the Villanova Wildcats gives the Hoyas a strong 1-0 start in Big East conference play, while defeating the Explorers gives Georgetown another strong nonconference victory.

The Hoyas (5-3) faced off against the Wildcats (3-3) on Sept. 20 at home. The Hoyas started strong, with senior forward Lindsay Getz scoring her fourth goal of the season and the first goal of the game only 50 seconds into the action.

Furthering the team’s lead, senior midfielder Michaela Bruno scored in the first quarter, pushing Georgetown ahead early on. Wildcat senior forward Abby Siana chipped back Georgetown’s lead with a turnaround shot, bringing the score to 2-1.

Not giving the Wildcats any room to attack, junior forward Cami Osborne responded to the Villanova goal with a shot, scoring on her second attempt, assisted by junior back Ali Cronin. The Wildcats’ junior forward Emily Clarke put

one past sophomore goalkeeper Ciara Weets in the fourth quarter, bringing the final score to 3-2.

Villanova and Georgetown took six shots each, but the Hoyas put five of those shots on goal to the Wildcats’ four, while Weets made two saves, helping her and her teammates secure the win after Villanova sophomore goaltender Jordan McGinley made two saves in the Wildcats’ defeat.

Head Coach Christy Longacre expressed her satisfaction with the team’s win against a strong team like Villanova.

“Villanova is a solid team with some really talented players. We made some mistakes that they capitalized on, but our group was resilient today and we figured out a way to finish as a team,” Longacre said in an interview with GU Hoyas.

After Friday’s win against the Wildcats, the Hoyas faced off against the La Salle Explorers (3-4) at home Sept. 22, capturing another win and bringing their record to 5-3 (0-0 Atlantic 10). The game began relatively slowly, with each team’s attempts to score shut down by the opposing team’s goalkeeper. Senior midfielder Michaela Bruno was the first to score on either team after

stealing the ball from La Salle; this goal marked her second of the Big East season.

Despite being surrounded by defenders, sophomore midfielder Halle Gill was able to score her first goal of the season, increasing Georgetown’s lead by two early in the third quarter.

While this strike would be the last goal for the Hoyas in the game, it would also be the game-winning goal. Late in the third quarter, Wildcat freshman forward Casey Reilly scored her second goal of the season and the only goal for the Wildcats with an assist from teammate junior forward Rialee Allen, but their comeback attempt never gained the required momentum.

Despite the Explorers’ six penalty corners in the fourth quarter, they were unable to get anything past Weets, who had three saves, which brings her to 41 saves accumulated since August.

The Hoyas will play on Cooper Field against Quinnipiac on Sept. 27, who defeated the Hoyas 2-1 last season, and will follow with a trip to play against American University on Sept. 29. Georgetown and American last faced off on Oct. 23, 2011, where the Eagles won by a final score of 3-0.

WOMEN’S GOLF

Freshman Standouts Lead Hoyas to 10th-Place Finish BRENDAN DOLAN Hoya Staff Writer

After its trip to South Carolina for the Cougar Classic, the Georgetown women’s golf team took to the road again for the Nittany Lion Invitational in State College, Pa. The tournament was held at Penn State’s Blue Course. Out of a field of 12 teams, the Hoyas finished 10th after posting rounds of 302, 318 and 318. This plus-74 performance was good enough for Georgetown to finish ahead of Youngstown State and Ohio.

In the opening round, the Blue and Gray came out strong, placing in the top five. The first round included stellar performances from a pair of freshmen. Freshman Lauren May posted a score of two under 70, a career best. In the second round, May shot an 80, which put her tied for 24th along with fellow freshman Esther Park, who carded scores of 78 and 74.

After raving in detail about the freshmen’s performances, Head Coach Kate Schanuel succinctly analyzed her elite freshman and their immediate con-

tributions to the team, saying, “Her and Lauren are very, very strong for us right now.”

Junior Elizabeth Nguyen was the next Hoya on the leaderboard at 51st following her 13-over outing after the first two rounds. Nguyen managed to finish her second round strong, with two birdies in her last four holes.

Just behind her was senior Ashley Fitzgibbons, whose aggregate score of 158 put her just a shot behind Nguyen. Collectively, all of the Hoyas’ scores put Georgetown in 10th place with a cumulative score of 620.

In the final round, the Hoyas yet again tallied a total score of 318, maintaining their 10th place position. Park was Georgetown’s top performer with a weekend score of plus 13, tying her for 28th. May finished just two shots behind Park with a total of 231 and finished tied at 34th. Senior Kate Evanko finished 50th after a three-round score of 237, which put her just a shot ahead of teammate Fitzgibbons, who came in tied for 53th. For the duration of the tournament, Penn State’s Blue

Course played par 72 and is over 6,000 yards long.

After the tournament, Schanuel held up the play of the underclassmen like May and Park in an interview with GUHoyas.

“We have several new players and young players this year that are really developing well so far in their career here, in their short career, so the energy was up. The freshmen are going to be in the lineup for Princeton; we’re looking forward to them playing really well this coming week.”

Looking forward to the rest of the season with some optimism, Schanuel added, “So lots of positive stuff to take away from it; I think we just have to work out a couple of things in the lineup and get our upperclassmen to contribute, and they know that. So once we get that ironed out, we’re going to be really good.”

For their next tournament, the Hoyas will travel to Princeton, N.J., where they will compete in a 12-team pool again and will square off against all eight Ivy League schools, among other rivals.

GUHOYAS

Sophomore Baili Park reads the green before placing her ball at her mark for a putt. Park played as an individual for this tournament, carding a 243 across three rounds for the Hoyas.

The Georgetown football team has come out of the gates strong this season, leaving them in first place in the Patriot League. With conference games on the horizon, the Hoyas will look to keep their momentum going on the back of two consecutive home wins.

The Hoyas (2-1, 0-0 Patriot League) started the season with a loss on the road against Davidson (3-1, 0-0 Pioneer Football League).

The Hoyas’ offense took a while to get off the ground, not scoring until the third quarter. That quarter, however, Georgetown was firing on all cylinders, scoring 20 points with the help of three turnovers from the defense. Unfortunately, it was not enough to secure the win, as Georgetown lost 20-27.

The Hoyas rebounded quickly, returning home for two dominant performances against Marist (1-2, 1-0 Pioneer Football League) and Catholic (0-3, 0-0 NEWMAC).

The Hoyas won these games by a combined 112-3 thanks to a 43-3 victory over Marist and a subsequent 69-0 victory over Catholic.

Against Davidson, the Hoyas had struggled to stop the run, surrendering 355 yards on the ground. Since then, the Hoyas’ run defense has been strong, giving up just 52 yards against the Red Foxes and -8 yards against the Cardinals.

Georgetown began using two quarterbacks against Marist and continued to do so against Catholic. Senior quarterback Gunther Johnson played the full game against Davidson, but has since had to sacrifice some snaps to junior quarterback Joseph Brunell. Averaging 56 points per game in those games, the decision to play both quarterbacks seems to be paying off after only being able to score in one of four quarters at Davidson.

Time will tell whether the Hoyas choose to stick to this unconventional system or revert

back to playing just one quarterback.

The box score shows a variety of players for the Hoyas with standout performances out of the gates this season. The Hoyas have three rushers with over 100 yards on the season, including Johnson and sophomore running back Herman Moultrie III, who has taken the majority of the carries. In the air, yardage has been fairly evenly balanced between the two quarterbacks when they both play.

On the receiving end, yardage and touchdowns have been well balanced among five players who each average above 25 receiving yards per game. The Hoyas have been stingy on defense thus far, forcing seven turnovers and getting to the quarterback five times.

Sophomore defensive end Ibrahim Kamara leads the team with two sacks.

Georgetown is now in sole possession of first place in the Patriot League with two games left before conference play begins against Fordham (1-3, 0-0 Patriot League) on Oct. 12. The Hoyas will play both Columbia (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League) and Cornell (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League) on the road before conference play begins in two weeks. Georgetown lost to Columbia by a small margin

last year, 15-23, and will look to defeat the Lions this year.

The Hoyas are off to a stronger non-conference start than last year, especially in comparison to other teams in the Patriot League.

A year ago, the Hoyas started the season with a win before losing their next four games. Despite their rough start, they finished third in the Patriot League with a 4-2 conference record.

Georgetown’s toughest conference loss last year came against Colgate, who finished their great season 10-2 and 6-0 in Patriot League play, eventually winning the conference. The Hoyas were shutout, losing 38-0. Fortunately for the Hoyas, the Big Red appear to have fallen off, starting this season 0-4. Georgetown’s other conference loss last year happened in the last game of the season and was only by a one-point margin against Holy Cross, who ended up with a 5-6 record, including going 4-2 in Patriot League play.

Holy Cross is off to a better start than Colgate, with a record of 1-2, but the seemingly improved Hoyas should be able to turn last season’s loss into a win.

The Patriot League is open for the Hoyas’ taking and will be interesting to watch as the Hoyas compete for the top spot and a place in the FCS Playoffs.

FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Junior running back Jay Tolliver rushed past two fallen Catholic defenders in the Hoyas’ 69-0 victory over their local opponent Sept. 14.

ON THIN ICE

Reloaded Capitals Look Ready To Return to Glory

Maddy Welch Mark your calendars, because Hockey season starts Oct. 2, and the Washington Capitals will play the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the St. Louis Blues, on opening night. Calling the Blues “champions” of anything is still deeply confusing after decades of ineptitude, but so it goes. Today, we will discuss the Washington Capitals, their new roster members and the outlook for their division. The Capitals have retooled their roster following a disappointing early exit from last year’s playoffs, but they have a real chance to return to 2018’s glory.

The core of elite players that the Capitals have assembled is still intact. Top-tier talent can be found in every category of the Capitals’ roster, but some concerns remain following what the team would probably view as a premature exit from last year’s playoffs.

Braden Holtby has led the NHL in starts and wins since he took over as the starting goaltender in Washington in 2012, but he no longer seems to be the rocksolid presence in the net that he was a few years ago. His save percentages in each of the last two seasons have been the lowest in his career at .907 and then .911.

These lowered save percentages can be attributed to the Capitals’ weakness at defense compared to their highly potent offense, leaving Holtby as their primary defense against lots of highdanger shots. During the Stanley Cup run, Holtby temporarily lost the starting job for the first time in his career to Washington’s capable backup at the time, Philipp Grubauer. Holtby will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and the looming expensive contract may mean this season is his last as a Washington Capital, which would leave the team looking for a new starting goalie for the first

time since 2012.

The top line of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Wilson should continue to be extremely effective this year. However, Kuznetsov, one of the most impressive playmakers and perhaps underrated players in the NHL, will miss the first three games of the year because of a failed drug test from the summer administered after being seen in a video clip with cocaine. As a side note, I own three NHL jerseys: Patrick Kane, Evgeny Kuznetsov and James Neal. Neal’s dangerous play and Kane’s off-ice behavior have already made my choices morally dubious, and Kuznetsov’s positive drug test now makes it seems like my jersey collection is cursed. Alexander Ovechkin is 34 years old and now faces similar questions regarding his age to Tom Brady in the NFL. While they are both old for professional athletes who presumably will not be playing at all-time elite levels of their respective sports by the time they are 70, they both show no signs of aging yet, leaving the cliff of their performance levels sometime within the next handful of years.

Ovechkin’s age does not seem to have any negative effects on his performance as he has a real chance of breaking one of Wayne Gretzky’s once seemingly untouchable records if he scores 34 goals for the next seven seasons, which is unlikely even for a legend of Ovechkin’s caliber.

In today’s NHL, few players reach 30 goals, but Ovechkin consistently breaks through the 50-goal threshold, proving himself to be in a goal-scoring class of his own.

To round out the rest of the roster, the Capitals signed three players on the first day of free agency from the bottom-six forwards on their roster to sustain their impressive levels of scoring in the event that the top two lines take a step back from the levels of success seen over the Capitals’ past few seasons. Richard Panik will look to reinvigorate his career after a couple of tough years on the languishing Arizona Coyotes.

By signing Garnet Hathaway, the Caps have four of the top hitters in the NHL, indicating a commitment to their playing

style of combining elite talent with tough play — Ovechkin was also one of the NHL’s top 20 hitters last season.

Comparing Washington to their most direct competition, the Capitals’ division, the Metropolitan Division has undergone some transformation this offseason. The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost their star players, but the New York Rangers picked up one of those players and have added new talent with high draft picks. The Carolina Hurricanes continue to be a threat to the Caps after knocking them out of the 2019 playoffs in double overtime of game seven. The New Jersey Devils made some offseason moves, including the acquisition of P.K. Subban, and the New York Islanders were surprisingly good last year after returning much of their roster following a 2017-2018 season with minimal success.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have not been typically as dominant lately, but still have a roster containing some of the best players of all time, although they are seemingly less immune to age than Ovechkin. Despite the high levels divisional competition, the Capitals should make the playoffs this year —but teams that have been perennially unimpressive are beginning to make moves that could make the division a more challenging one.

The Washington Capitals will be a good team again this year because of the new additions to the forward core and their everskilled top line. They are well coached, have an effective system of offensive positioning which leaves them among the league’s top goal-scoring teams and have excellent players on their roster.

The only thing that separated the Caps from consistent second round defeats in the playoffs and a Stanley Cup championship in 2018 was a special team chemistry in which players across the roster outperformed expectations. We have seen what the team looks like on paper, but we will have to start looking for evidence of that needed magic next Wednesday.

Maddy Welch is a senior in the School of Foreign Service. ON THIN ICE appears online and in print every other Friday.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

MEN’S SOCCER

Hoyas’ Unbeaten Start to Season Comes to a Close LOUISVILLE, from A12

time, Georgetown’s Nikopolidis was called into action once again as he made a diving save on a low shot off of a heavy deflection from a Hoya defender to keep the game scoreless.

Moments later, Louisville would break the deadlock following a set piece from a corner kick. The ball was whipped into the box where a Hoya defender headed the ball clear toward the back post. However, a Louisville attacker then headed the ball back toward the middle of the box where another Cardinal was able to get on the end of it to head it in for the winning goal.

With this 1-0 defeat to the Cardinals, the Hoyas suffered their first loss of the season.

Louisville outshot Georgetown 12-11 and had five shots on target to Georgetown’s two. Nikopolidis took the loss in net despite making three saves.

The Hoyas will be back on the pitch Saturday, Sept. 28, as they host Big East conference foe, Providence University, on Shaw Field at 1 p.m.

forward Will Sands had dangerous shots that went just wide of the target in situations where the Cardinal’s goaltender would have been hard pressed to make a save.

Toward the end of regulation, Georgetown had a flurry of attacking play that put Louisville’s defense under immense pressure. However, the Hoyas were unable to muster any shots on target in the second half, and the Cardinals managed to get just one shot on target. At the end of regulation, both teams were still scoreless, and the match went to overtime.

The first overtime period was fairly uneventful as neither team registered a shot.

The best opportunity for either team in that period came when a ball was sent across the face of goal toward junior forward Derek Dodson. However, Dodson was unable to get a foot on the end of the cross, squandering that chance.

Early in the second over-

THE HOYA

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VOLLEYBALL

Georgetown Stays Hot With 3 Wins VOLLEYBALL, from A12

Invitational, Georgetown had complete control. In their most successful match of the tournament, the Hoyas won 3-0 after securing an early lead in all three sets to win 25-15, 25-16 and 25-17.

Barbosa led the team with 12 kills and an ace and scored 13.5 points. Freshman middle blocker Makayla Serrett made four blocks while Plutnicki had 29 assists, seven digs, two blocks and an ace. With each and every game, the underclassmen demonstrated their skills and the promise they bring to the team for the rest of the season as the team inevitably improves their chemistry to incorporate the freshmen into the mix.

Vujosevic had a successful performance last weekend in her second season at Georgetown, and she was named the MVP of the tournament.

Consistently in the top three

of the team for kills, aces and digs, she recorded 48 points across the three games, making her the lead scorer for the team. Vujosevic also was named to the Big East Week-

ly Honor Roll on Tuesday, marking the third time she has been named to the honor roll in the past four weeks.

The Hoyas look forward to playing two more games

this coming weekend. The team will travel to Providence, R.I., on Friday to play the Providence Friars and to Omaha, Neb., on Sunday to play Creighton University.

GUHOYAS

Freshman setter Emma Plutnicki (15) and senior right side Margo Snipe (18) are among the Hoyas on the court during this celebration, one of many for the Hoyas last weekend.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

7 Goals Pave the Way to GU Win

FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Freshman midfielder Dante Polvara enters the box after a successful run in a recent Georgetown home victory.

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OHIO, from A12

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FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Freshman midfielder Julia Leas stares down the opposition during the Hoyas’ latest game against Ohio University. Leas had an excellent performance, recording two assists and two shots, including one shot on goal in her ninth career game, all starts.

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control of the ball in the sixyard box upon receiving a pass from Carolan. The senior forward slotted the ball into the net in the 51st minute to propel the Hoyas to a 6-0 lead.

The Bobcat offense tried to generate some momentum to come back from the six-goal deficit but found few opportunities to do so.

One attempt came in the 59th minute with a shot on goal that was saved by junior goalkeeper Alyssa Navarrete.

The Georgetown defense kept Ohio to only one other shot for the remainder of the half, a shot which was saved

by Navarrete in the 71st minute. Overall, the Hoya defense held the Bobcats to

four shots and one corner kick on the day as compared to the Blue and Gray’s 16 shots and seven corners.

The Hoyas secured the victory with a seventh and final goal in the 65th minute by Germino-Watnick, who let off a shot from the top of the box, and Leas earned an assist on the play.

Leat and Navarrete combined to record the team’s second consecutive shutout and fourth shutout of the season. Royson has since been recognized as the Big East Defensive Player of the Week for her performance in Friday’s game. GerminoWatnick also earned a spot on the Weekly Honor Roll for her two goals and assist.

Germino-Watnick has now

been recognized with Big East honors for the past five weeks and Royson has now been recognized for two consecutive weeks.

Head Coach Dave Nolan saw his team’s victory in their last non-conference game of the season as a promising sign heading into conference play.

“We came off really strong in the first half and did all the things we wanted to do,” Nolan said in an interview with GUHoyas. “The big challenge in the second half was to make sure we made the same effort we did in the first.

I knew it was unlikely to score another five goals in the second half, but I was hoping we could keep the same intensity because we have to be able

to put together two similar halves, which is what we did.”

The Hoyas will next face Marquette on Sunday, Sept.

29, to begin Big East play.

Last year, Georgetown defeated Marquette in a double-overtime thriller, securing a 2-1 victory with a goal in the 102nd minute.

Nolan sees Marquette as a formidable opponent this season.

“Marquette is always a tough team to beat. We’ve had plenty of years against Marquette where we came up just short. The first conference game always has the most juice, so we just have to be ready for it,” Nolan said.

Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Shaw Field.

FREE KICK

Benefits of VAR Outweigh Struggles HAMPERS, from A12

the fact that overturned decisions drastically alter the emotions of fans. One moment the team’s supporters are euphoric, thinking they have sealed a game, only to find out seconds later that a borderline VAR decision has put the team back on its heels. This dynamic is foreign to soccer fans, who are accustomed to the more than 150-year-old game being played without video reviews.

However, VAR has brought the sport a long way from the demonstrable refereeing errors which routinely tainted games in previous years. There are too many examples to cite, but as recently as last season, in which VAR was not in effect, Manchester City dropped points

in a close title race due to a Wolves player scoring a goal off a clear handball. Yet another example is when Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off in tears in the Champions League group stage after a poor red card decision.

In the aforementioned Tottenham-Leicester City game, an uncontroversial VAR decision disallowed a Leicester City goal thanks to replays showing the goal scorer to be clearly offside. Had VAR not existed, the incorrect decision would have stood and sparked its own share of controversy from that game.

When discussing VAR, it is important to remember why it was introduced in the first place. The level of outrage prompted by incorrect calls which could have been fixed

with one look at a replay was more potent than the current outrage over some decisions being supposedly too marginal.

Relative to other major sports, soccer contains very few crucial moments per game. Goals, penalty decisions and red cards each deserve to be analyzed with as many resources as possible so that the referee can make the most informed decision.

Some may argue that marginal decisions should prompt the referee to default to the initial call on the field.

This position is defensible, but more defensible is the argument that the advanced technology will yield correct calls most of the time, even if by millimeters. The skepticism of VAR’s accuracy

should be tempered by the fact that multiple assistant referees, stationed in a video operation booth, are involved in the replay process.

The laws of the game should be applied in all cases, and if the reviews suggest a marginal infraction likely occurred, the corresponding decision should be made.

Regardless of any adjustments to how VAR is implemented, decisions will inevitably upset the team that the call harms. We shall see if, given time, fans will begin to accept overturned calls as part of a fairer and more just game.

Dean Hampers is a senior in the College. FREE KICK appears online and in print every other Friday.

Sports

Men’s Soccer Georgetown (6-1) vs. Providence (6-2) Saturday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m.

Shaw Field

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

NUMBERS GAME

TALKING POINTS

WOMEN’S GOLF Strong performances from freshmen are not enough as Hoyas finish in 10th place at Nittany Lion Invitational.

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“

We came off really strong in the first half and did all of the things we wanted to do.”

Head Women’s Soccer Coach Dave Nolan

MEN’S SOCCER

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Seconds it took for GU field hockey to score the opening goal against Villanova.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

GU Suffers 1st Georgetown Offense Explodes Against Ohio Loss at Louisville DREW SEWALL Hoya Staff Writer

The No. 2 Georgetown University men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday to the No. 17 Louisville Cardinals in Louisville, Ky. This match broke a six-game winning streak for the Hoyas.

The first half was a backand-forth affair as both sides traded strong scoring chances. Louisville (4-1-2, 1-0-1 Atlantic Coast) had the first real chance of the match in the 19th minute. Sophomore goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis was called into action early for the Hoyas (6-1-0, 1-0-0 Big East) as he blocked a shot from the Cardinals. The rebound bounced straight back to a Louisville attacker who put another effort on

net. However, junior defender Rio Hope-Gund dealt with the danger well and kept the game scoreless by clearing the ball off the goal line.

In the 33rd minute, Georgetown had its best scoring opportunity during the first half when junior midfielder Paul Rothrock hit a low strike on net that was saved by Louisville’s keeper.

The rebound bounced back to Rothrock, who sent it across the face of goal, but no Hoya could get on the end of the cross, leaving the game to reach half goalless.

The second half was far less eventful than the first as neither team was able to generate much going forward. Both senior defender Dylan Nealis and freshman

FILE PHOTOS: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Senior Casey Richards, left, and freshman Hannah Deljkic, right, played well for the Hoyas against Ohio.

See LOUISVILLE, A11

RACHEL GAUDREAU

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Sophomore goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis clears the ball in a recent game. Nikopolidis has allowed 3 goals on 15 shots on goal this year.

On Friday afternoon at Shaw Field, No. 12 Georgetown women’s soccer cruised to a 7-0 victory over Ohio University, with both the offense and defense clicking on all cylinders.

Georgetown (6-2-1) attacked the Ohio (5-3) defense just moments after the whistle blew, earning three corner kicks within the first five minutes of the game.

Scoring broke open for the Blue and Gray when sophomore defender Charlie Kern recorded her first collegiate goal off a corner by senior forward Paula Germino-Wat-

nick in the fifth minute.

The Hoyas struck again eight minutes later, this time off sophomore defender Jenna Royson’s foot. Graduate forward Amanda Carolan and freshman midfielder Julia Leas combined for the assist to find Royson inside the box in the 13th minute.

Shortly after the goal’s ensuing restart, Leas let off a shot of her own that ricocheted off the post. The Blue and Gray maintained this offensive pressure and again found the back of the net in the 15th minute to take a 3-0 lead. The goal came when Royson powered a shot from outside of the 18-yard box that deflected off a Bobcat (5-

VOLLEYBALL

Hoyas Take 3 Straight at Home TIAN SHI

Special to The Hoya

After an undefeated weekend at the William & Mary Tournament, the Georgetown women’s volleyball team swept their three matches last weekend against Morgan State, Binghamton and Florida International University in the Hoya Invitational. This two-day tournament in Washington, D.C., brought great success for the Hoyas, with strong performances with lots of kills and assists from seniors and freshmen.

The success of Georgetown at the Hoya Invitational brought the season record to 10-4. On Friday, Morgan State (6-7) proved a tough

opponent, with the Hoyas winning the first two sets but losing the third set to a tie break before grabbing the win after a close fourth set eventually taken by Georgetown, 25-20. Senior outside hitter Iva Vujosevic finished the game as the top Georgetown scorer, with 16.5 points, 12 kills and four aces.

Sophomore outside hitter Elissa Barbosa gave the Hoyas a lead late in the first set, serving to freshman setter Emma Plutnicki, as Plutnicki finished the game with 30 assists. These two underclassmen demonstrated great potential after finishing as two of the top-five scorers for the game, and they continue to demonstrate what have been some of their most reliable

skills so far this season.

Victorious, the Hoyas headed into the evening to play Binghamton (0-12).

Georgetown took an early lead with freshman right side Peyton Wilhite and freshman libero Kendall Flaharty serving throughout the Hoyas’ strong start. The Hoyas continued their strong all-around performance, finishing the game 25-8, with sophomore defensive specialist Jessica Cusi serving and kills by Vujosevic, Barbosa and Wilhite to cement the weekend’s second victory.

The second set brought some trouble for the Hoyas.

Despite Georgetown’s strong start, Binghamton took the lead toward the end of the set before holding Georgetown

off in the set 27 to 25, outkilling the Hoyas 14-9 in the process. Hungry for another win, Georgetown did not have as strong of a start as it needed in the third set, but the team was able to come back from a 12-5 Binghamton lead. With Plutnicki’s 14 assists and Vujosevic’s four kills, the Hoyas were able to secure a win. The last set proved easier than the rest; Georgetown took the game 25-11, resulting in a 3-1 victory over Binghamton.

The spotlight performances from the younger players on the roster continued into their next game Saturday afternoon against FIU. In this last game of the Hoya See VOLLEYBALL, A11

GUHOYAS

Freshman setter Emma Plutnicki (15) and freshman middle blocker Makayla Serrett (17) watch their teammates celebrate one of the many points won by the Hoyas in a successful weekend at the Hoya Invitational, the team’s second straight perfect weekend.

Visit us online at thehoya.com/category/sports

3) defender into the back of the net. Royson’s goal marks her third goal in three consecutive games.

Georgetown’s offensive dominance continued throughout the half as they outshot Ohio 10-1. The Hoyas also tallied four corner kicks to the Bobcats’ one. Ohio recorded its only shot of the half in the 25th minute, which was ultimately saved by freshman goalkeeper Anna Leat.

The Hoyas closed out the half with two more goals, increasing the lead to five.

In the 27th minute, Carolan scored her fifth goal of the season after receiving a pass from sophomore forward

Caitlin Moon from the right side. This goal marks Carolan’s 28th of her career and earns her the sixth spot in Georgetown’s all-time scoring list.

Senior midfielder Sarah Trissel added to the scoring with a finish off an assist from senior defender Meaghan Nally and junior forward Jenna Menta. Menta sent a throw-in into the box, hitting Nally who in turn found Trissel for the finish.

Georgetown opened the second half just as they did the first, landing a goal in the first five minutes after kickoff. This time, Germino-Watnick took See OHIO, A11

FREE KICK

Dean Hampers

VAR Essential Despite Issues With Controversy As the soccer world gets accustomed to Video Assistant Referee, the community must also come to grips with the inevitable controversies that come with the system.

Since debuting on the world stage in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, VAR has spread to every major domestic league in European soccer. While the introduction of this technology has recently generated controversy, VAR remains an important, albeit still-evolving, tool to improve the fairness of the game.

For those who are unaware, VAR allows professional soccer referees to look at the events around the soccer field in extremely slow motion to determine whether or not a goal should be counted or a penalty should be awarded. This technology helps with goals where the ball may not have fully crossed the goal line or a player may have been offside.

Last weekend, Tottenham Hotspur appeared on track to notch a Premier League victory when the team celebrated a 2-0 lead over Leices-

ter City in the 64th minute.

However, further replays suggested that in the buildup to the goal, Korean forward Son Heung-min may have been millimeters offside. After a two-minute review, the referee disallowed the goal, and Tottenham subsequently turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 defeat.

The impact of such a marginal call on the result of a game has led to charges that VAR has gone too far.

Some argue that there is not enough certainty in the technology to make such tight decisions with such major ramifications, especially in a sport where one goal makes a massive difference, compared to technology changing a basketball score by two points or a baseball game by one run. In the example of the Tottenham offside call, it is difficult to be sure that the camera frame being analyzed represented the exact moment when the pass was struck.

The frustration with the technology is magnified by See HAMPERS, A11